Persecution May Be Closer Than You Think: Mike Stockwell

Hi everyone.

This week in our series "Persecution May Be Closer Than You Think", we will feature Mike Stockwell.

Mr. Stockwell is a street preacher from New York but he travels around the Country and even out of the Country to bring the Gospel to the lost. He will preach anywhere from America, to Jamaica, to England. Mr. Stockwell is with Cross Country Evangelism. I have had the privilege of meeting
Mr. Stockwell and he is a wonderful man of God. For those of you who have read some of my older blog posts, you may have read about Mr. Stockwell and the persecution he faced.

On July 6th, 2016, Mr. Stockwell was on a missions trip in Bristol, England. On this day Mr. Stockwell and 3 other men went out preaching. They were right outside the John Wesley Chapel. They set up to preach in the open air. Everyone took a turn to preach the Gospel. When the last man got up to preach, the police arrived. Someone had complained about the men preaching. The police asked one man to step down. The man complied and stepped down and talked to the officer. Another man then stood up to take over for the other preacher. The police told him to be careful what he said, and the man started preaching. Soon the police told him to stop preaching and told him that he was not welcome there. The police said that he was trespassing and needed to go, but the man said that he was going to continue to preach. The officer told him that if he did so he would be arrested, the man continued preaching and the officer put him under arrest. While he was being arrested they also arrested the other man who had been preaching before him. 

Mr. Stockwell and his friend Don Carns were standing off to the side. When the men were being taken away no one said anything to Mr. Stockwell and Don. These two brothers were wondering how they could not be part of what was happening and see what was going on. So they went up to the police to ask what was going on. The police asked if they were with the men and when they said yes they arrested Mr. Stockwell and Don as well. 

Mr. Stockwell did not know what they were being accused of or what charges were being brought against them when they were arrested. They were taken into custody and were held for 7 hours. They were all held in different cells. But not to be stopped from sharing the goodness of Christ while in jail, the men sang songs. After 7 hours they took the men in and took fingerprints, mugshots, and they took a DNA sample. After 7 hours Christian Concern got them out of jail. 

A few days later they had to go give their testimony. The inspector questioned them and when they were done he said that they would be notified whether or not they would be prosecuted for the charges that were being brought against them. Later they were charged. At this point Mr. Stockwell still did not know really what the charges were. When it started it was things like Islamophobia and Homophobia and Hate Crime. A few months later Mr. Stockwell and 2 other men had to go to court. Before court, Don Carns' charges were dropped so only the three men had to appear in court. Mr. Stockwell still did not know what the actual charges were. During court they dropped another man's charges so only two men were left to stand trial for these charges that were being brought against them. It was a four day trial.  

Christian Concern stated "They were charged under Section 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 for using"threatening or abusive words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, thereby, and the offence was religiously aggravated." They also wrote concerning the charges against the other men, the "remaining three were additionally charged with offences under the Public Order Act 1986."

The prosecutor in the case said that publicly quoting parts of the King James Bible in modern Britain should "be considered to be abusive and is a criminal matter". The prosecutor also told the court: "although the words preached are included in a version of the Bible in 1611, this does not mean that they are incapable of amounting to a public order offence in 2016." The prosecutor also argued:  
"To say to someone that Jesus is the only God is not a matter of truth. To the extent that they are saying that the only way to God is through Jesus, that cannot be a truth."

Both men were charged guilty under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 at Bristol Magistrates' Court. The men were both ordered to pay 2,016 pounds each, in fines and costs.

Mr. Stockwell said:
"Our motivation for public preaching is love. We want people to have access to the good news about Jesus Christ. I am shocked that God's message of love, is now considered hateful and dangerous. Today, speaking God’s truth seems to be a hate crime, according to some.

"There is a very disturbing pattern here. We declare Jesus' message and critique rival beliefs such as Islam. Some people don't like what we say, and threaten violence to silence us. Then, instead of defending free speech and protecting us, the police shut down free speech to avoid public disorder. And then a court convicts us of provoking disorder and risking violence!

"Something has gone badly wrong. This gives a green light to Islamists and other groups to silence speech that they don't like, simply by threatening disorder or violence.

"Freedom of speech is under assault. People should be free to express their beliefs in public, without risk of harm, violence or other repercussions."

Mike Stockwell and Robert Gray with my sister and I at
the Fellowship Conference New England.

On June 29, 2017, almost a year after being arrested in Bristol both men were acquitted in an appeal hearing at Bristol Crown Court!

Praise God for acquitting Mr. Stockwell of these charges. But again you can see in Mr. Stockwell's story that persecution does not just happen in the Middle East and Asia and Africa. It happens in countries like America and England. The world hates God and hates those who share His message. Sin is everywhere. Those who hate God are everywhere. Pray for the messengers of Christ throughout the world as they spread the Gospel to the lost, pleading with them to turn to Christ in repentance and faith!


Pray for Mr. Stockwell as he continues to preach throughout the country. That he would be given favor in the eyes of the authorities but if it be in God's plan that he again faces persecution from the authorities for preaching the Gospel that the trials would be used by God to conform Mr. Stockwell more to the image of Jesus Christ his Lord and Savior! Mr. Stockwell says that if he is in court he wants to be able to say "Thus saith the Lord". He wants to be guilty for preaching the Word of God, not speaking his own opinion. We should honor such men who are faithful to preach the Gospel no matter the consequences!

 

Back row, left to Right, Jimmy Hamilton, Mike Stockwell, Don Carns,
Myself, Mommy, Robert Gray, Scott Smith, James, Marguerite,
Front row, left to right: A friend's son, 2 of my siblings in the
stroller, my sister behind the stroller, my little brother and
Daddy.

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."  2 Corinthians 5:20
With love in the Lord,
Virginia

Persecution May Be Closer Than You Think: Brian Ingalls.

Hi everyone,
People know that Christians are persecuted in other countries but what about the Christians who are persecuted here in America? I am starting a series of posts about Christians who are being persecuted by the government, both here in America, and in England.

The post this week will be about Brian Ingalls. Brian is a street preacher here in Maine. He is faithful to be outside Planned Parenthood in Portland and his presence and actions there have caused a little commotion.

Before my family was involved in abortion ministry in Portland, the city put in a 39-foot buffer zone around Planned Parenthood, that was succesfully challenged and deemed unconstitutional. Now Christians have been restored their right to stand on the public sidewalk directly outside Planned Parenthood.

However, even though we are allowed to stand close to Planned Parenthood, the persecution has not stopped. Maine Attorney General, Janet Mills, filed a civil rights complaint, against Brian, threatening fines of up to $5,000. What was Brian's crime? He was preaching too loudly outside Planned Parenthood. In the Attorney General's previous complaint she did not only want Brian to have to quieter outside the Portland Planned Parenthood, she asked that Brian not be allowed within 50 feet of any Planned Parenthood in Maine.

"Under the Act, it is illegal to make any noise that can be heard inside an abortion clinic after being warned by a police officer." Since Brian was being so loud in preaching outside Planned Parenthood, he was issued a preliminary injunction. Later, in a huge legal victory, a United States District Judge issued a preliminary injunction so that the Attorney General and Portland Police officers could not enforce the noise provision of the Maine Civil Rights Act against Brian. This was a huge victory for free speech. Before this, Brian stayed away from Planned Parenthood because he did not trust Planned Parenthood or Portland Police to treat him fairly or honestly so he stayed away from Planned Parenthood until the judge put a preliminary injunction against the police.

Later that District Judge's decision was overturned. Brian still has the preliminary injunction. He is not allowed to preach so loudly that he can be heard within any Planned Parenthood building in Maine. If he can be heard inside any Planned Parenthood in the state he can be arrested. No warning, just arrested. The noise ordinance is not applied to other people but only the pro-life group. This restriction on free speech is unconstitutional because it is applied based on the content of Brian's words, not merely how loud the speech is.

Brian is extremely careful how loud he is outside Planned Parenthood. He does not preach anymore, he is afraid that if he says something too loudly, he might get in trouble. However that does not stop him from coming out to Planned Parenthood and being a voice for life and for the Gospel. He just keeps his voice quieter. But there are other preachers to take his place until justice is served.

Brian will soon be going to court, hopefully justice will prevail and the injunction will be dropped.

We hear of persecution in other countries, but America is different, right? But we are not exempt from persecution here in America. Our government that was founded on Christian beliefs is now trying to silence free speech. They pervert justice. They try to silence the preaching of the Gospel. And as we will see in later posts, they will even arrest Christians for preaching. America was once a land where we had liberty, but now the liberty to preach the Gospel is being taken away. But nothing will stop the spread of the Gospel in our land! Though they may be few, God will raise up preachers of righteousness who are willing to risk their freedom, who are willing to fight the legal battles to secure our rights, men who are willing to be arrested for preaching Christ and Him crucified for the sins of His elect! God will raise up men and women of faith who love Christ more than their own freedom, who love the lost more then their own comfort. Are you one of these people? Are you willing to sacrifice your time to take the Gospel to the lost people of our country even if it means you are threatened and maybe even arrested? Is the Gospel worth that to you?

Not everyone will have to face the persecution Brian is going through. But the question is, are you willing to face that kind of persecution for Christ? Because this is what our country is coming to. Christ is worthy of all of our lives. He has commanded to preach His Gospel and that is what we will do by His grace until our dying breath!

With love in the Lord,
Virginia

Talk About Abortion And Then Prepare Yourself For The Responses And Be Prepared For Names Like "Predator Cult Leader"!

Hi everyone,
As I wrote in my last post, I had written a letter about the school walkout on Wednesday, April 11th to honor the victims of abortion. I posted that letter on a Facebook page "Informed Citizens Of RSU 13". I am a student in RSU 13. I also posted that the students had a right to walkout because they were allowed to participate in the walkout to honor the victims of the Parkland shooting. I said that if the school applied a double standard I could get them some legal help.

Someone liked the post and some put an angry emoji on it but that was fine. Daddy then posted a comment and people started talking. There were disagreements but that can be expected when you talk about abortion in our culture. However, it then turned into people saying things like, "Call the ACLU", "Get a lawyer" and accusing us of making children run out in front of cars because we stood on public property and passed out literature. The post received over 30 complaints and it was taken down.

This was then posted:

People started commenting. 

Actually the law agrees that our family is allowed to do this. The thing that we dare push on children? A Gospel tract by Paul Washer. So intimidating. 

Why am I focusing on organizing children? Because they are not being told the truth about abortion but are given the liberty to go around doing things that could lead to pregnancy and when someone tells them to have an abortion they need to know that is not an option. 

We have every legal right to hand Gospel tracts to children and in our state we also have every legal right to take a video of anyone we wish in a public place, even if they are children. 

Now taking videos in public places and posting them on Youtube is exploitation. I never knew. Some police officers wear body cameras. Why is Daddy a sicko for using a body camera? I have been assaulted on the street before and the camera is for protection and can come in useful for legal matters. 

This lady was reported to Rockland Police Department for Social Media Threat. People can try all they want to try to shut us down but we have the legal right to do these activities. We have now moved our location though so that we are not as close to the crosswalk. Even though we were within our legal right to stand where we were, we moved and now hopefully one accusation will be taken away. Our tracts are not threatening or disturbing except for the fact that they expose the truth about our sin and tell you to repent. The Gospel can be a great offense but we will continue to follow the command of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and preach the Gospel that God may be glorified!

There was a lot more on that post and we have screen shots of the whole discussion. However the post has now been deleted because after comments were disabled someone was still going on and editing previous comments and adding more content. Pray for the salvation of this woman who has such a hatred for God and His messengers.

Just for clarification, my father is the "predator cult leader" mentioned.

That was just some of that Facebook conversation. I also posted my letter, (see my last post) to some newspapers. It was posted in 3 of them as a Letter To The Editor. Portland Press Herald titled my letter, "Join school walkout calling for end to killing of fetuses through abortion". That is not what I said in my letter but they got to pick the title. But they also took the liberty to change my letter and still put my name on it even though they changed data of the number of abortions that take place.

Here is what I wrote, "Every day in our country over 3,000 babies are murdered by abortion. The death of these 17 students is tragic and never should have happened. Tragically the answer to the question "Am I Next?" is "Yes" for 3,000 children who will never have the chance to live outside the womb of their mother."

Press Herald's version said, "Every day in our country, nearly 2,000 babies are murdered through abortion. The deaths of the 17 students in Florida are tragic and never should have happened. Tragically, the answer to the question “Am I next?” is “yes” for 1,788 children who will never have the chance to live outside the womb of their mother."

They also edited what I wrote which they have the right to do but they took liberty to change the numbers. My number agrees with WHO (World Health Organization,) and their number comes from the CDC. 

Bangor Daily also edited the post. Here is their version.

But this is what you get for submitting a letter to the editor to someone who does not share your beliefs. The newspapers have the right to edit it though.

The school walkout went okay. My family were the only ones on the public sidewalk. Students may have walked out but we did not see them. The school never answered whether or not students would be allowed to walk out anyway.

Pray for those of my generation, that they would be filled with a passion to see abortion abolished in our generation! But more importantly pray that they would repent and believe in Jesus Christ! That they would have a desire to protect the unborn children because they are created in the image of our Creator God! That they would realize that the Gospel is the answer to ending abortion!

On Friday we went to Planned Parenthood in Portland. It was our family, Jeremy, Dan, and James. We had a police officer on duty this week. His name was Matt. He was a nice guy besides the fact that he was standing there without protecting the unborn who were being murdered, perverting justice, and not fulling his oath to protect human life. Besides that he was a nice guy.

Daddy got to have a discussion with a man named Will. He was talking to Daddy and they are supposed to go out for coffee next Friday morning. The discussion is in the video below.

Will part 1
Will part 2

After the discussion Daddy had a spell. His spells can make him not able to walk or talk. This causes concern among Portland police officers when they see it happen. I have written before about officer Bealls who is a Portland police officer and a volunteer deathscort for Planned Parenthood. She was there yesterday as a deathscort. The officer on duty, Matt, held Daddy's walker when he was trying to sit down. Officer Bealls is the one who will talk to me while we were at Planned Parenthood. She wants to make sure we do not need her to call a medic when Daddy is not feeling well. I bet most people involved in abortion ministry do not get sympathy from the deathscorts, but somehow Daddy does. We do not know how God is going to use this whole situation, but we would appreciate prayers.



Next week, our family will be going to spend time with friends. Then we will be driving 3 friends to the abortion mill for ministry on Friday.

Prayer
Please be in prayer for Daddy as he meets with Will for coffee Friday morning. Daddy does not do well with stress, and after a stressful situation he can shut down and not be able to speak or walk. Pray that he will not shut down and will be able to think clearly during the discussion. Pray also for the salvation of officer Bealls and Will.

With love in the Lord,
Virginia

Student Walkout For Abortion

Hi everyone.
I am sending this around to new stations and other people who can spread the message. Please join students around the country to stand for the lives of the unborn who are murdered every day in our country! (I am a homeschool student but we are planning to be outside a local highschool anyway.) Stand up for #LIFE and be a voice for the voiceless. Please share this around!

Here is what I am sending out:
Hello,
My name is Virginia Cowperthwaite. As you have probably heard there was recently a student walkout where students walked out of school for 17 minutes to honor the 17 students killed in the recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Now, Brandon Gillespie is organizing a 17 minute walkout on April 11, 2018, at 10AM to "honor all the lives of the millions of aborted babies every year". Every day in our country over 3,000 babies are murdered by abortion. The death of these 17 students is tragic and never should have happened. Tragically the answer to the question "Am I Next?" is "Yes" for 3,000 children who will never have the chance to live outside the womb of their mother.

Will you join students as we stand for life, as we use our voice to speak for those who have no voice? Will you join us as we say "No More" to the slaughter of innocent babies all over our country? All human beings are created in the image of our Creator God at the moment of conception and deserve the right to life without fear of being murdered.

Please share the message as we cry out to our fellow country men, No More! I ask that you share this message far and wide and encourage students to walkout on April 11th to show the country that we will use our voice to protect the voiceless!

Sincerely,
Virginia Cowperthwaite, Age 14

Here is a link to the Fox News story about the walkout.