|
For best results,
view this page on a full-screen computer
LifeSavers Ministries Weekly Ministry Focus
Volume 1, Number
19
May 15, 2000
------------------------------------------------------------
Contents:
Counselors console man after unsuccesful attempt to save
his baby (and other ministry reports)
Scripture Focus: Psalm 59:1-5
Prayer Focus
Poland improves women's health by passing pro-life laws
Bishops condemn "Catholics for a Free Choice"
"The Empty Cradle" - a poem by Terri Palmquist
Thank you to First Baptist Church of Greenacres
Upcoming events
This week's schedule
Next week's schedule
Special instructions for volunteers
Publication information
------------------------------------------------------------
Counselors console man after unsuccessful attempt to save
his baby (and other ministry reports)
Here are a few selected reports from
last week's
ministry activities:
Terri and
Mary Ann spoke to a young man whose
girlfriend was in the abortion
chamber. They
convinced him to go upstairs to
plead with her not to
abort the baby. About an hour
later, he came out
sobbing very hard. He couldn't
even stand up. In
spite of his pleas, she aborted the
baby. He had tried
very hard to talk her out of it, but
it just made her more
mad. Mary Ann got on her
knees, trying to console
him. When he finally got in
his car to leave, he was
still crying. He told Mary Ann
and Irene "thank you
for weeping with me."
"Jasmine," 20, came back to the LifeHouse with her
boyfriend for a follow-up pregnancy
test (see Weekly
Ministry Focus #15). She
attends a large local Bible
Church (Mennonite Brethren).
This time, her test was
positive. But now Jasmine says
she will keep the baby
(on her previous visit she said she
would have aborted
the baby). She's afraid to
tell her mom, and asked
Terri for advice on how to break the
news. Terri gave
her a "Hope for the
Future" Bible and a baby gift.
"Tanya," 20, heard about the LifeHouse from a
friend,
so she came in on Monday.
Tanya told Terri that she
is a Christian. Her pregnancy
test was positive. They
were in a hurry, because they were
on their lunch
break, so Terri only showed them a
portion of the
"Harder Truth"
video. However, Tanya still said she
intends to abort the baby.
Terri asked Tanya's friend
how she felt, and she shook her head
and said "you're
going to make me cry," as they
left. Terri gave Tanya
a "Hope for the Future"
Bible, and begged Tanya to
please talk to her before she makes
a final decision.
On Sunday night, Terri called Tanya,
who said that she
is scheduled for an abortion on
Monday. After Terri
pleaded with her to keep the baby,
Tanya said "God
knew us before He formed us, and he
knows that I'm
going to have this abortion, so if
He doesn't want me
to have the abortion, He can stop
me."
"Delilah," 31, came to the LifeHouse for a
pregnancy
test. She told Terri that she
is single and attends a
local church, and said "I have
four kids already, and I
don't know what to do."
However, her test was
negative. Delilah said that
she works in the medical
profession and sees women who come
in after botched
abortions. She said that she
had an abortion a couple
of years ago at Good Samaritan
Hospital.
"Sabra," 20, came to the LifeHouse for a
pregnancy test. She is
married, but said that
she is pro-choice and would abort
the baby if
she is pregnant. She attends a
large community
church in the Rosedale area.
Thankfully, her
test was negative.
Judy
DiGiorgio, who has been the Nurse Practitioner
at the Family Planning Associates
abortion chamber
for over ten years, has reportedly
quit. According to
the report, she is now teaching
nursing.
------------------------------------------------------------
Scripture Focus: Psalm 59:1-5
Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
Set me securely on high away from those who rise up
against me.
Deliver me from those who do iniquity,
And save me from men of bloodshed.
For behold, they have set an ambush for my life;
Fierce men launch an attack against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord,
For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against
me.
Arouse Thyself to help me, and see!
And Thou, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the nations;
Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity.
[heart] Meditate on this scripture today, interceding with
these words on behalf of the children who are
scheduled to die today. When you deal with hardened
people who are "treacherous in iniquity' (like
"Tanya"
above), bring your frustration before the Lord by
meditating on this scripture.
------------------------------------------------------------
Prayer Focus
Ask God to use the teddy bears to touch
women's hearts today as they enter the abortion
chamber. Pray that the women will read the
message on the tag.
Pray that the women who receive Bibles today
will read them and that the Holy Spirit will speak
to their hearts through His Word.
Pray for "Jasmine," (see report above),
asking
God to draw her closer to Him during this
pregnancy. Pray that she will maintain her
commitment to keep the baby, and that God will
help her know how to break the news to her mom.
Also ask God to guide her and her boyfriend as
they make decisions about their future together.
Ask God to convict the hearts of the
California Senators who are considering SB 1945,
which would treat anti-abortion crime like hate
crime.
------------------------------------------------------------
Poland improves women's health by passing pro-life laws
Abortion restrictions in Poland have
proven to been
overwhelmingly successful. After 44 years of being
dominated by Russia, with abortion being legal and funded by
the government, Poland passed pro-life legislation in 1993.
The abortion rate in Poland has
decreased from 160,000
to only 250 per year, according to Dr. Jack Willke of the
Life
Issues Institute. Some had feared that outlawing
abortion
would result in an increase of illegal, back-alley abortions,
and women injuring themselves by desperately trying to abort
their babies at home. These fears have been proven to
be
groundless.
"There are fewer gynecologic
admissions to Polish
hospitals today than there were when abortion was
legal,"
Willke said. "There are fewer women dying of
gynecologic
problems."
Poland's experience also shows that
fewer women died
as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, neonatal births
declined and induced abortions performed to save the life and
health of the mother also became more rare after
anti-abortion
laws were passed.
- Focus on the Family CitizenLink, May 10, 2000
------------------------------------------------------------
Bishops condemn "Catholics for a Free Choice"
In the strongest possible terms, the
US National
Conference of Catholic Bishops Thursday condemned
"Catholics for a Free Choice," saying they cannot
consider
themselves a Catholic group. This comes as a reaction to the
ongoing campaign of CFFC to oust the Vatican from the UN,
an effort the Bishops call anti-Catholic bigotry.
All people of faith, not just
Catholics, should call the
Office of the President of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops and thank them for this important statement.
You can reach them by phone (202-541-3100) or fax
(202-541-3166).
- Catholic Family & Human Rights
Institute, May 12, 2000
------------------------------------------------------------
"The Empty Cradle"
This poem was written by Terri Palmquist for the "Empty
Cradle" memorial service held last Friday.
The poem is
also available on-line at:
http://palmquists.glorifyjesus.com/poetry/EmptyCradle.html
An empty cradle rocks back and forth
from a mother's hand
She longs for the child God gave her
although it wasn't planned
Unfortunately she chose the way
that so many do
Now the baby no longer lives
and her heart is torn in two
An empty cradle rocks back and forth
from a father's touch
It's amazing how a tiny child
can affect a man so much
At the time he never questioned
what was being done
Now every night he begins to wonder
"Did I have a son?"
An empty cradle rocks back and forth
by a gentle breeze
Along beside it is a grandma
praying on her knees
She asks God to heal her hurts
and take away her pain
Her grandchild's life was aborted
and she'll never be the same
Our Father God gently rocks
a baby fast asleep
As He looks at this little child
a tear rolls down His cheek
"This wasn't the plan I had for you,
precious tiny one,
You could have had much joy in life
by serving Christ, my Son."
Copyright 2000 by Terri Palmquist
------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to First Baptist Church of
Greenacres for adding LifeSavers Ministries
to the Missions budget!
------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Events
Thursday, May 18 at 6 pm: An
introduction to
Natural Family Planning will be held at 201 New Stine
Road, Suite 120 (Dr. Wedemeyer's Chiropractic Office).
Kara Lucas, a Fresno NFP teacher with the Couple to
Couple League, will speak. If you are interested in
learning
NFP, or if you would like to teach or promote NFP, you are
encouraged to attend. For more information, contact
Kathy
Ancheta at 832-6200.
Sunday, May 21: Carl's Jr.
LifeSavers
fundraiser. When you present a special coupon,
Bakersfield Carl's Jr. restaurants will donate 10% of your
total order to LifeSavers Ministries. (Coupons are
available
at the LifeHouse, or from Terri Palmquist, so be sure to
pick some up today, and give them out to as many people as
you can!) Coupons are also available on-line at:
http://LifeSavers.glorifyJesus.com/events/2000May21Carls.jpg
------------------------------------------------------------
This week's schedule
[If you are unable to be physically involved in this
ministry, please use this schedule to help you pray for
those who are on the front lines.]
Monday, May 15
Heather 8 - 9
Colleen
8 - 10:30
Jose
8 - 10
Irene 10
- 2
Mary Ann 10 - 3
Terri 10:30 - 5
St. Joseph's
1:30 - 2
Tuesday, May 16
Heather
8 - 9
Lewis 7:30
- 9:30
Carlotta
7:30 - 9:30?
Jose 8
- 10
Albert & Ione
10 - 12
Fr.
James
10 - 12
Irene
10 - 2
Terri 10:30
- 5
Debbie
1 - 5
------------------------------------------------------------
Next week's schedule
Monday, May 22
Heather 8 - 9
Colleen
8 - 10:30
Jose
8 - 10
Susan 8:30 - 10:30
Irene 10
- 2
Terri 10:30 - 5?
Debbie 1
- 5
St. Joseph's
1:30 - 2
We need
help
10 - 12
Tuesday, May 23
Heather 8 - 9
Vince 7
- 9
Lewis 7:30 - 9:30
Carlotta
7:30 - 9:30?
Jose
8 - 10
Albert &
Ione 10
- 12
Fr.
James
10 - 12
Irene 10
- 2
Mary Ann 10 - 3
Terri
10:30 - 5
We need
help
9 - 10
------------------------------------------------------------
Special instructions for this week:
No
signs of any kind.
Main
focus: giving out Bibles and teddy bears.
Special instructions for May 22-23:
Normal
activities, no special instructions.
This is part of a three-month experiment testing the
effectiveness of various tactics. Thank you for
cooperating with this effort.
------------------------------------------------------------
Publication information
The LifeSavers Ministries Weekly Ministry Focus is
published every Monday by Tim and Terri Palmquist, PMB
1911-166, Tehachapi CA 93581
(http://Palmquists.glorifyJesus.com).
All expenses of this
publication are paid for by the Palmquists; no funds from
LifeSavers Ministries are used in any way to publish or
distribute thie Weekly Ministry Focus. Issues are
available
without charge at the LifeHouse on Mondays and
Tuesdays. To subscribe to the Weekly Ministry Focus by
mail, we request a suggested donation of $30 per year to
cover postage and handling. To subscribe by e-mail,
just
send a message with the subject "Subscribe" to
"LifeSavers@glorifyJesus.com"
(we request a suggested
donation of $10 per year). All donations are optional.
LifeSavers Ministries P.O. Box 40972 Bakersfield
CA 93384
http://LifeSavers.glorifyJesus.com
The LifeHouse 2428 H Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
http://LifeHouse.glorifyJesus.com
For more information, call 661/323-BABY
(661/323-2229).
|