Kick Off Rally 2013

The time has come again for another 40 Days for Life campaign here in Cedar Falls. We look forward to the day when this is no longer necessary, but until then, we will stand with Christians around the word and pray for an end to abortion. We will kick off this year’s campaign with a rally at Valley Lutheran School on Greenhill Ave. on Sunday, September 22 at 6:30 pm.  Linda Bartlett will be the guest speaker for the rally. She will speak about post-abortion care and ministry. Linda has been a pro-life leader for over 20 years and is the co-founder of the Lighthouse Center of Hope, a caring pregnancy center in Iowa Falls. She is also on the board of Word of Hope, the healing ministry of Lutherans For Life.

\After the rally, those who are able will walk over to Planned Parenthood, the site of the prayer vigil, for a brief time of prayer. If you are unable to walk, feel free to drive over and join us there. Those who drive may help escort the walkers back to Valley.

40 Days for Life will officially begin Sept 25 and will run through Nov 3. We need to get the prayer vigil slots filled, so please head on over to our 40 DFL website and sign up on the prayer vigil: http://40daysforlife.com/cedarfalls.html.

Midpoint Rally

Ten days ago, participants in the Cedar Falls 40 Days for Life joined together in prayer and singing for a midpoint rally outside of Planned Parenthood.

It was a cold, rainy day, but at least twenty people came out to pray.

From one of the hymns that was sung:

“Praise the One who breaks the darkness with a liberating light;

Praise the One who frees the prisoners, turning blindness into sight.

Praise the One who preached the Gospel, healing every dread disease;

Calming storms, and feeding thousands with the very Bread of peace.” (LSB 849, v. 1)

We pray that Jesus will shine His Light on the darkness of abortion and free those blinded and held prisoner by the devil’s lies so that all, born and unborn, may experience the peace of God’s free grace and forgiveness.

Prayer Warriors

Our first week of 40 Days for Life is off to a great start! The weather has been beautiful, and we have had a great turnout, keeping our vigil hours covered from 6 am- 6pm. We have about 90 people involved, and so far 35 have been to the vigil to pray. 21 more are signed up already.  There are 84 hours per week to cover. If everyone signs up for just one hour per week, we can keep our hours covered!

Remember to check the vigil schedule at 40daysforlife.com/cedarfalls. You can sign up for a time right on the website! Here are a couple of pictures of some lovely ladies praying outside Planned Parenthood this past week:

 

Keep up the prayers that God will bring abortion to an end:

“Therefore I [Jesus] tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Kick-off Rally

This past Monday, we kicked off our 40 Days for Life campaign here in Cedar Falls with a rally at Valley Lutheran High School. We concluded the evening with a march over to Planned Parenthood, the site of the prayer vigil. The event was a great success, and about 70 people (despite the KWWL story’s reporting of 50) came out to hear Sue Thayer tell her story. We were inspired by Sue’s testimony of God’s work in her life and in Storm Lake through the closing of their Planned Parenthood clinic. Today, on the first official day of 40 Days for Life, we pray that God will bless our efforts and that this campaign will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in Cedar Falls!

I planned on bringing my camera Monday, so I could post pictures on this site, but I forgot. Fortunately, the story was covered by both KWWL and the Courier. You can see those stories here:

KWWL:

http://www.kwwl.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=7762839&at1=News&h1=40 Days of Life&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier:

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/days-for-life-participants-organize/article_b4f09ea8-4003-5695-be8b-ae9895aeb8c5.html
(You’ll have to bear with me. I’m new to blogging and can’t figure out how to embed these links, so you’ll have to copy and paste to view the stories.)

The Light of the World

“Jesus Christ is the Light of the world, the light no darkness can overcome.” (Lutheran Service Book, Evening Prayer)

On Tuesday night, a small group of pro-lifers from the Cedar Valley met for a Cast the Vision rally to do some planning and spread the word about 40 Days for Life. We met in a beautiful, brand-new school, and…we had no light. It was growing dark, and we could not find a way to turn the lights on. One person commented that Satan will do what he can to stop us, but the light of Christ still shined in the darkness.

This evening, I have been doing some research on abortion and Planned Parenthood for a speech I am giving tomorrow as part of our 40 Days for Life outreach. As I read about the horrid methods of abortion and try to contemplate the unfathomable number of souls lost, the world seems as darkness to me. It is unconscionable what human beings do to one another. The world seems overcome by darkness.

But…

Jesus Christ is the Light that no darkness can overcome. Christ has won the battle already. He has defeated darkness, and we have hope in Him.

For these 40 days, may the light of Christ shine through us so that we can bring light to the dark places of our community.

“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4

Welcome to 40 Days for Life in Cedar Falls, IA!

Welcome to 40 Days for Life! We are excited to begin a new campaign this fall, from Septemper 26-November 4. If you are unfamiliar with 40 Days for Life, please see a more detailed description on the “about” page. The most important thing to remember about 40 Days for Life is that it is a community-based pro-life campaign that is focused on three components:

• Prayer and fasting
• Peaceful vigil (outside the Planned Parenthood clinic in Cedar Falls)
• Community outreach

It is our hope that God will use our efforts to transform this community. We pray that this campaign will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our community–and across the United States!

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)