Announcement: For those of you who have not yet heard, God has blessed our family with another baby due in October!
Back in February, our family started an 18 day trip from Maine to Florida and back with multiple stops in between, covering a total of just over 4,000 miles. Driving the whole way. It was awesome! We had a lot of fellowship with other Christians along the way, and some great ministry opportunities.
We left Maine February 14th and went to the Boston, Massachusetts area. We stayed with a friend there, and greatly enjoyed our time. We actually stayed with this friend both on our way down and on our way back.
After we left there the first time we went to Tennessee and spent a couple nights with friends. These were friends that we had met in Key West who now live in Tennessee. They have 8 children. We enjoyed visiting with them.
After we left Tennessee we went to Georgia. There we stayed with a family of 10 who have a farm. Being someone who likes animals, I enjoyed being able to tag along with them for chores one night. We had met this family when we were in Georgia years ago. For those who do not know, our family used to travel around the country as missionaries working with different Churches. We traveled to a lot of different places and met a lot of different people.
While we were in Georgia, we also got to spend time with other friends who we have known for years in the same town. We used to live right near them and we met with them for Church when they had a meeting in their home. They are very hospitable and their fellowship is a blessing. We also visited these same two families in Georgia on our way back. After we left Georgia the first time we went down to the Tampa, Florida area.
While we were in the Tampa area we stayed with friends who we had known from that area when we used to work with Churches around the country. They have 3 kids. Spending time with them was amazing.
On the Saturday we were in the Tampa area, we drove over to Clearwater and went to Bread & Roses abortion mill and did some ministry there with Dick and Deb Maxwell, and a few other Christians. We had a great time meeting these brothers and sisters in Christ and ministering alongside them, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking to mothers and fathers planning to murder their children.
On that Saturday that we were there, two people turned away from the abortion mill. One man came with a woman. The man got out of the vehicle and went with the deathscorts, but the woman remained in the vehicle the entire time. The man then came back and as he pulled out he said "I took y'alls advice, I'm out of here."
Another woman started pulling into the driveway. A couple Christians went over to the car and talked to her. She would not admit what she was there for, but she ended backing out into the street and leaving. No matter what she had come there for, she did not even make it all the way into the parking lot. Praise God for these turn aways and please pray that God would save their souls.
After we left Bread & Roses, we went with Dick and Deb and Michael, (another man who was ministering at Bread & Roses) to "Flag" which is the world headquarters of Scientology. Just up until a little while ago, I did not know what Scientologists believed, so I checked Kingdom Of The Cults, out of our Church library and learned a lot about them. Scientology is a cult that was started by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1900's. They do not believe in the God of the Bible, they do not have a biblical understanding of Christ, they believe in reincarnation, and L. Ron Hubbard believed that it was beneath contempt to tell a man he must repent, that he is evil. Contrary to what some may believe, you cannot be a Scientologist and a Christian.
Flag is a strange place. There are tons of Scientologists! We arrived and Michael walked with us to the other side of building where the buses drop off Scientologists. There are lots of cameras, and security guards. It was a strange place but I am glad we went. I am also glad that there are Christians who are bringing the Gospel to these people. Please pray for the Christians who are ministering to these people.
On Sunday we enjoyed the opportunity to go with our friends that we were staying with to a gathering of believers and got to meet other brothers and sisters who we did not yet know and see others who we had met years ago.
After we left the Tampa area we went to Winter Gardens. We stayed with friends there and had a great time.
On Monday morning we drove over to Orlando. We got to meet John Barros and minister alongside him at Orlando Women's Center (OWC). Mr. Barros ministers outside OWC 5 days a week. He has been doing abortion ministry full time for about 9 years. He also may have done abortion ministry before that but not full time. Now here is an amazing thing: Mr. Barros has seen at least two thousand women choose life! I was not there all day but at the end of the day Mr. Barros reported that 4 women chose life and 4 more women turned away. It was an awesome day!
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| Mr. Barros outside OWC |
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| Left to Right: my sister Naomi, Mr. Barros, and myself. |
Another woman had told Karen, a Christian counselor that was there, that she was not pregnant. However she came back later. She came back out of the building and Mr. Barros asked if she was getting out of that place. She told him that she got her money back. Mr. Barros was able to pray for her as well. She then gave him a hug.
It was amazing to see God's work outside that place. Please pray for Mr. Barros, Karen, Stephen and others who minster outside that murderous place.
On our way home we went to Raleigh, North Carolina. We got to stay with Patte Smith and had a great time of fellowship with her. Mrs. Smith is very active in abortion ministry. She has been doing it for over 25 years. Some of you have seen both Mr. Barros and Mrs. Smith in the film "Babies Are Murdered Here".
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| Mrs. Smith and I. |
We had a great time meeting brothers Phillip, Tommy, and Ray who minister at an abortion mill in Raleigh. We joined them for ministry there one morning. We did not see any turn aways or baby saves, but there was some great preaching by Phillip and Tommy. We were also blessed by a lady who brought us cold bottles of water while we were out. Along our trip we met faithful brothers and sisters who are passionate about abortion ministry and there is a lot to learn from them. Please pray that God would raise up more Christians who will go out into the public sphere and proclaim Christ and Him crucified.
It was a great vacation/ministry trip. Some people may not think that ministering outside 3 abortion mills is a great vacation activity, but I do. We are not the type of family that goes to Disney World for fun. We prefer spending time with other Christians and doing ministry. Just in case anyone was wondering if we did any normal vacation things while we were gone, we did go to the beach for a little bit, while we were in Florida.
We are very grateful to all those who hosted us along our trip. The fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters was very good.
On our way back home we went to Redeeming Grace Fellowship in Portland and enjoyed fellowship with the saints there.
Our family is now hoping to start a ministry in Rockland, Maine, which is right here near us. We were thinking about doing ministry outside a Maine Family Planning office which is located in Rockland. We knew they referred for abortions so we thinking about doing ministry there. However we also found out that they actually provide medical abortions at that location. It is also located near the public library, recreation center, a nursing home, and New Hope For Women. We are planning to do ministry in that area and would appreciate your prayers.
Please also pray for those of Pro-Life Missionaries of Maine who are still ministering outside Planned Parenthood in Portland, Maine. Pray also for Christians around the country who are bringing the Gospel to the streets.
With love in the Lord,
Virginia
