RESCUE ROCHESTER Standing for Life in
Western New York
This will be written in a bit different format; sort of blog
like but at a snail mail pace. My attempt will be to document the mission trip
to Jackson, Wyoming, from May 17-23 and the trip to Chicago, IL. May 23-25th
then mail it out as our June newsletter. We will see how this works. As I write
I am viewing our plane come into the gate in rainy ROC airport. It will be
about 12 hours of travel throughout this day. Hopefully we will see some sun in
Wyoming, but the forecast is for snow and cold rain. I bought myself a FROG
suit at Dick’s Sporting Goods just before departure. Got to see Keith and Bryce
at the store and Keith was able to get me 25% off! ****Made it to Detroit on
the way to Salt Lake City, Utah but have a couple of hours to wait before
boarding. But did
get to give out two gospel tracts, one on the plane to my seat neighbor and
another at lunch at Popeye’s Chicken. Arrival in SLC, Utah will be around 7:00
PM MT that’s 9:00 PM DST. It’s going to be a long travel day. The last leg of the trip from Salt Lake City to Jackson I
sat with a survival/nature guide. Colin asked my line of work and I stated I
was a missionary. Being that we were flying out of Salt Lake City he assumed
Mormon. Later as we conversed I told him I too was a type of survival guide.
Seeking to caution and lead people from the spiritual wasteland of life with
out Christ to the safety of His love and redemption. I was able to give him a
gospel tract after I explained the message.
Jackson, WY Wednesday May 18- Saturday May 21st - Wednesday through Friday we had opportunity to distribute leaflets at the local high school. As in Rochester, the local admin attempted to confiscate all gospel and pro-life materials from the students at the door of their school. Thursday May 19th, we again
appeared at the local high school; this time we came with Malachi signs.
The
reception by the administrators was chilly and the parents were
downright
hostile. We were able to dialogue with students though with some
success. Dawn
stopped me and asked if she could ask me a question regarding rape. Are
we
saying that a woman who has been traumatized by rape should have to
carry and
be reminded of that violent act for a year? My response rape is a
tragedy, a
horrible injustice, but why compound that violent act by making that
woman be
an accomplice in the violent act of killing that child; and then live
the rest
of her life with the knowledge that she killed her baby? We closed with
informing her of the current state of our laws, that abortion is legal
up to
the time of birth of a full term baby. She was incredulous and insisted
that could not be. I quoted her the Doe vs. Bolton case that legalized
abortion in all 50 states through all 9 months. She could not believe it
yet said she would look it up.We traveled from the local high school to the community hospital where abortionist Blue has privileges. Throughout the week the standard of the gospel and life was raised on the main thoroughfare of Jackson, Wyoming in front of the plaza that houses Dr. Blue’s practice and down the street for 2 or three blocks. Concerned Christians showed the city of Jackson what each abortion equals, a dead baby and wounded mother. We also lifted up Jesus and the gospel through worship and preaching. Each message pleaded with the hearers to repent and receive the mercies of God and each message contained the warnings that the innocent bloodshed through our national abortion holocaust was calling down God’s righteous judgment on a wayward nation. We distributed 100’s of leaflets that asked the citizens of Jackson to Adopt Abortionist Blue and Pray that God would change his heart that he would stop his child killing practice.
After the first day all of our sound permits were revoked and a contingent of pro-aborts graced us with their presence. Abortion became the talk of the high school and the focal point in the whole community. The pictures of Baby Malachi, a late term child found dismembered in a Texas abortion clinic cut away all the smoke and spin that covers a woman’s right to choose. And all week long, this bastion of liberal tolerance was a hot bed of anti Christian rhetoric and a number of angry outbursts. Anger NOT that children were being killed by Dr. Blue’s in his clinic, defiling the pristine Teton Mountains, BUT anger that anyone would dare show pictures that reveal the horror of the choice to kill a unborn child. We received a record number of finger salutes from the citizens of Jackson, finger guns were displayed and shot, obscenities shouted. Go home was the common refrain. The gospel of the Kingdom of God came to Jackson and disturbed the false peace exposing the underlying disdain, and at times outright hatred of Christians and the message of repentance toward a holy God.However we found some refuges of welcome. Mt. View Baptist Church which local pastor John King opened to host our rallies. This church welcomed us with open arms; they had eyes to see that Jackson, Wyoming, set in the awesome snow covered Grand Tetons, was in desperate need of a Savior. Teton County boasts the highest per capita income in the USA, yet; we received reports of an epidemic of teen suicides. Secondly, the local rescue mission, Good Samaritan Mission and the local Catholic Church. At these two places meals we were offered lunch and dinner. And at Good Samaritan we were afforded the opportunity to teach the morning and evening bible study or bring the scripture message before dinner. The police liaison meetings were attended by Chet, Pastor Mark and myself, and seemed to be working to relieve some of the pressure that was present to silence our message. Still six vehicular assaults occurred against our picketers and sign holders. One man purposefully drove his car into a sign carried by one of our people. The car actually destroyed one of our signs and that driver was charged with reckless endangerment. He was a prominent citizen of Jackson and that locals have set up a defense fund. Pastor Mark and his church people as well as all Christians who dared to expose the evil of abortion in Jackson, Wyoming were “bleeping” warned in a phone call recorded by Pastor Mark’s voice mail, “…that if we were found in Jackson or near on this man’s property we would be “bleeping shot” in our “bleeping…bleep!” So much for seldom is heard a discouraging word! This hate speech was turned over to the FBI agent assigned to investigate pro-life Christians, and he assured us that this threat was going to be taken seriously, wink, wink... On Friday eve after the service a person entered Mt. View Baptist Church, scribbled messages on a Sunday school white board and destroyed all the literature we left for the church. Amazingly this person came to the church Sunday, interrupted the service then admitted to the acts of vandalism. After refusing to publicly apologize to the congregation, the sheriff was called. She boasted she would just deny her admission but to her chagrin all her comments and gestures were captured on the church’s sound and video equipment during that Sunday service. On the last day of the event we awaken to find out that the town government sought and were granted a Temporary Restraining Order to keep us out of the town square during the annual Elk Fest. We had already notified the town that we would not bring the graphic pictures to this event but were looking to exercise our Constitutional rights to leaflet the adults present with non-graphic pamphlets and engage those present with conversations. The TRO restricted all abortion related speech, our right to assemble and our right to offer literature to those attending the festival. During another police liaison meeting, where appeals were made to the authorities, Pastor Mark and Chet Gallagher decided this unjust ruling needed to be challenged They were arrested and charged with contempt after preaching in the public square and holding leaflets and attempting to distribute them. Soon they will again visit our friends at Mt. View Baptist Church and the city of Jackson, Wyoming. They have a court date in June.
Next stop, Chicago, Illinois, May 23-25th, where we were part of an outreach that exposed the gruesome mess medical waste giant Stericycle had fallen into. Medical waste disposal is a lucrative business and Stericycle Inc. disposes of legitimate medical waste from clinics hospitals and drug stores all over the country. But this business had made an unholy alliance and was making dirty dollars servicing abortion clinics around the nation picking up dead babies and disposing them as garbage. Stericycle also holds the contract to service Planned Parenthood facilities all over the nation. They pick up dead babies as medical waste and transport them to their incinerators to be burned as garbage. We sought to leaflet the stockholders meeting in the Doubletree Hotel, and picketed and leafleted outside. Next, we leafleted CEO Mr. Mark Miller’s neighborhood. At one house, after explaining why I was there and offering information, the kindly elderly woman declared, “Mark is my son, would you like me to give him this information”. I said, “Yes that would be wonderful!” Our last stop before leaving Chicago was Stericycle’s corporate headquarters. Then it was on home and after a 24-hour delay, we made it to good old Rochester.