Every Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 8 AM a few people from Church of the Resurrection go to the Aanchor abortion clinic in Glen Ellyn to pray, try to talk to the women going in, and tell them about other options including CareNet (right across the street). One of the members of the Sanctity of Life Team recently wrote, “Praying outside the abortion clinic means we can be there to help if a mom has a last minute change of heart (a Carenet clinic is open across the parking lot during times the clinic is open). Sometimes seeing people praying outside the clinic can be a deterrent from customers going in. And finally, when I am there, it stops abortion from being abstract in my mind. I see these desperate, confused moms, and I think about the tiny baby growing inside their wombs and I know I can’t become discouraged. I need to keep praying for these moms and babies, and our government, until abortion is illegal and all women know there are other choices.”
Church of the Resurrection member Darcie Dezell wrote the following reflection after her first time praying outside the clinic:
“Krista Scheidt and I went to the Aanchor abortion clinic early on a Saturday morning. We bundled up, got some tea, and parked in front of a business a few doors down from the clinic. I really wasn’t sure what to expect. What I found was around 15 people quietly standing on the parkway in front of the clinic. They were entirely respectful of the men and women coming to the clinic, and simply called out to the women with a message of care, love, and resources, encouraging them to keep their babies.
I was surprised by how ‘not weird’ it all felt. We simply stood there praying for the women, the babies, the doctors, the boyfriends and husbands. I felt a strong sense of witnessing; that my standing in front of this clinic was a way to give witness of God’s love and purpose in the world, and a way to honor the humanity of these babies. I also knew that I was, in many ways, a witness to evil. And simply my presence in the face of evil was God-honoring and powerful. It was a moving experience and, I pray, an effective and worshipping one.”
