One Night for Life

Dear Friends for Life:

In case some of you didn't hear this story about what happened on our prayer vigil, I was asked to write it down and share it.

My special thanks to those six prayer warriors who first joined me and witnessed this event. (Hector C., Jim R., Don M., David M., Connor F....and one nice lady named Joanie.)

It is a bit long...but it's a worth a few minutes.

One Night for Life

This story occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday, October 20th, outside the Palomar Pomerado "Health Building", where a small group gathered to hold a prayer vigil next to the San Marcos abortion clinic.

I had gone there at midnight to set up for our church’s one day contribution to this 40 Day Prayer vigil. Within two hours, five other men, and one woman from our church joined me. We had set up a table with some candles, and had begun praying a few rosaries, and two of the young men had brought their guitars, and were singing some beautiful Christian songs.

It was 2 a.m in the morning, and although this abortion clinic had been strategically placed right across from a state college, it was very dark and quiet, with only an occasional car passing by once every five minutes or so. We talked about the 200 plus lives that had already been saved by these vigils around the country, where mothers had come out and informed those praying that because of their presence there, that they had chose life for their baby, and I remember commenting to my buddy Jim R., "If I could ever have one of those moments, where I knew I saved a life, that would be one of the best days of my life–-to know I had saved even one young innocent life, would be awesome."

About 2:30 a.m., we had just decided to start on another Rosary, and the sorrowful mysteries. The Rosaries we were saying had special intentions for the unborn and for their mothers, that were prayed before and after each of the mysteries.

Jim started us on this round of the rosary by saying, "On these first three beads of the rosary, let us pray for all the unborn and for the mothers that come to this clinic today, that they chose life, that they know by our prayers that they are loved."

Right then, I looked to my right, and there was a young man, a stranger to our group, standing right next to me. He was a clean cut, good looking young man, that looked like a marine. He was standing there quietly listening to our rosary, and to our special intentions, and I offered him a sheet of paper with the words we were praying, and he politely, but firmly said, No.

After about 10-15 minutes, he was still standing there, and we were on the third or fourth sorrowful mystery, and I offered him some rosary beads, and again, he simply said: No.

We prayed for about 10 more minutes and when we were done, he said. "Wow, Coincidences, coincidences, coincidences!"

We asked him what he meant, as he was dying to tell us, but first he had to tell us that "he wasn’t a believer."

He said, "I don’t mean any disrespect, and I respect that you guys have faith, and you guys don’t believe coincidences just happen, but I don’t share your faith."

I was closest to him, so I did most of the talking, and I asked him what he meant.

He said: "First of all, I’m lost. I’m totally lost, I’m out here in the middle of nowhere, and I have no idea where I am."

I asked him where he was going, and he said: "Camp Pendleton". I told him he was about 30 miles from Pendleton.

He again tells us he doesn’t share our faith, but then again tells us: "Coincidences ...coincidences."

He’s dying to tell us, so eventually, he just comes out with it.

He says: I’ve been dating this gal for a while, and a couple days back, we found out she was pregnant. For the last couple days, we’ve been discussing what we were going to do, and 45 minutes ago, as I was driving around lost, she calls me, and texted me, and says: "I’m going to have an abortion."

He says: "I’m lost and driving around, and there’s nobody for miles, and I see you guys. I parked about 500 yards up the road. I walk up to you guys to ask for directions, and as I walk up to you, I get this text from her: "I’m going to have my baby, I’m not going to have an abortion." At that moment, and for the next 20 minutes, I hear you guys praying for the unborn and for their mothers, and for the mothers to chose life."

He says: "I’m going to text her back and tell her I’m going to support her and the baby."

We’re all very quiet, and some of the younger guys in our group, look like their mouths are wide open....and I say to him: "You may believe in coincidences ..or that things just happen randomly, but at some point, you’ve got to acknowledge that you’re being here, in the middle of nowhere, where six of us are praying for the lives of the unborn, and you saying "you were lost", were not just coincidences, and that what just happened here tonight, was no accident.

He thinks about it for a while, and I could tell he’d been drinking a little that night, so he responded with his stock set of atheist defenses he has ready to draw on any occasion, and ignoring for a moment the gravity of what just happened.

He says: Do you all believe in the Devil?

I said, Of course! There’s a God and a Devil, just as there is good and evil in this world.

He says, as if he’s now proven something: "If there’s a Devil, how come you never hear about him bothering any atheists?"

I said, "The Devil doesn’t bother atheists because he already has won their souls. There is a battle between good and evil and battle for all of our souls. The saints, and all of those who get closest to God, or those who stand up for God and his commandments, are those most likely to suffer the attacks of the Devil or demons. I’ve studied a lot of saints, and I’ve read about their great suffering and enduring of demons or other hardships, which are all attempts to undermine their faith and commitment to God. It is because they suffer and endure, and remain faithful, that we remember and honor them as saints.

He again takes pause, and he says: "I wasn’t always an atheist, I was raised a Christian, and I know about the first saint, and the first martyr of the Christian Church, Saint Stephen, and I was named after him. I am Stephen."

I said, "You want to hear one more, you’ll call a coincidence? ....All of us here at this prayer vigil are from St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, named after the first martyr of our faith."

At this point, all around me are in amazement and awe of what has been happening, and what has been said.

Unfortunately, for the young marine, he had alcohol in him, and other demons, that were clinging hard to his new age atheism, and he tried his best over the next 10 minutes to throw at me all of his cliff notes and stock reasons for his lack of faith. After some time, realizing that I was not going to make a convert by getting through all of the alcohol or other blockades he had put up to ever believing, I decided to end our discussion when he went so far at to even deny that "any one named Jesus ever existed."

I said, "Look Steven, it’s obvious you’re never going to get me to believe that there is no God, or to deny that there was a historical Jesus, and that he was man and God, and that he died and was resurrected.....But, in the morning when you wake up, think about all the things you are calling coincidences. Think about your decision to support your child. As a father it is right and good that you should defend and protect your child...and think about where that comes from. I know it comes from God the father, who made us in his image and likeness...and just as God wants to love and protect us from harm, we have that same virtue, in each of us. And, know this: Every man here will support you and your girlfriend’s decision to choose life, and we will give whatever medical or financial support she needs, and if she doesn’t want the baby, we will help put her in contact with someone who will love and raise the baby."

I told him I had to go walk the lady in our group to her car, but that we would all be there to support him and his girlfriend. When I came back about 10 minutes later, he was gone, and I asked the group about him. They said they gave him my number and Don’s number, and that he acted as if he was going to keep in touch with us.

At that moment, I was still kind of frustrated over the long debate I had had with him, and what appeared to be my always pointless attempt to convert or convince atheists that there is more to life, than just random events. I shared this with Jim.

Jim looked me dead in the eye, and in his most serious tone he said with a huge smile on his beaming face: "Mark, what are you talking about? You just got a save!"

I said "What!"

He said, "It just happened, you were waiting for the moment, and you almost missed it, you just got a save."

I said, "I don’t know about that."

He said, "Mark, if you’re not out here, none of us are here, none of us are praying for the unborn, and that young man does not come up to us and announce that he and his girlfriend chose life."

I thought about it that night, and I’ve thought about it a lot since. It wasn’t the moment I had been looking for, where a pregnant woman tells us she saw us praying and it changed her heart, and that she chose life, but it was pretty good."

The very fact that I was so consumed with my apparently futile arguments, and the act of being engaged in argument itself, almost cost me a chance to recognize the workings of the Holy Spirit, and His works in all things. It was not me, or my acts that saved that life, but through some of our works and through the prayer of thousands, the Holy Spirit can show us that God cares and is moving among us. That our prayers for life may be answered in many different ways, and that whenever we see any progress we should be ready for the moment, and rejoice in all victories for love and life.

God Bless the people of 40 Days for Life for their leadership and may God Bless all 155 people from my little church of St. Stephens, for their willingness to stand, kneel, and be counted in this effort to save lives.

Mark G.

Ephesians 5:6-14

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them, for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it is said,

"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light."