Choose Adoption - Day #1

Wow!! Not what I expected. There is so much to process but I'm going to write it raw - literally - straight from the street.

First off, I was very fortunate to have the fearless Yumiko Nakagawa and Dave Swaim out there with me today. It was a huge boost not being alone on day one. Let me give you a brief rundown of what happened and then follow that with a few reflections.

We arrived around 9:30am and immediately found a host of protestors on the street in front of the clinic. They were typical protestors, predominantly Roman Catholic, all over 50 years old, and all Caucasian. Many had signs, some had rosaries and a few were handing out literature to random pedestrians. For the most part they were actually pretty pleasant, simply doing their best to save a life.

The problem came with a priest who was there. He was not respectful or pleasant, but harsh and mean. As women would enter or exit the clinic he would begin to scream "This is a killing facility, don't murder your baby!" and then quickly enter into a song "Lord, have mercy" or he would pray.

There was a biker who stopped and began yelling at this priest, which I find hard to blame him for, but the priest did not relent. Eventually the biker rode off and as he left the priest yelled "Jesus loves you" to which the biker passionately responded "I don't want his f***ing love, he's f***ing dead, and I hope you f***ing die too!" Needless to say, I was sick to my stomach at this point and wondering just what I was getting myself into. And the thought of sitting next to these protestors and perhaps being found guilty by association became a bit scary. So Yumi, Dave and I decided to do some scouting and research first.

We talked to a number of the protestors there and got a ton of information. Almost all of the abortions apparently happen in the morning, between 7:30am - 11am (tues-sat). The organizer of the protestors who has been doing this for decades said that this clinic alone does about 20 abortions per day. If that is correct that means this one clinic performs over 5,000 abortions each year (which is probably about right since this is Boston's primary abortion clinic and there are an average of 1.3 million abortions each year in America).

After about an hour of discussion and research we found a spot, sat down and I put out my sign. We sat there for about an hour and a half. Nobody talked to us but people did read my sign. I heard one young woman say to her friend with a surprised and enthusiastic tone "I like that sign!" So I was encouraged by that. But overall our time was free of any drama or incident.

And now that day one is over here are my three initial reflections:

1. We need to quiet the voices of those that only serve to harden the hearts of those that pass by. I am convinced that the screaming priest saved no lives but did inspire deep frustration and bitterness. I cannot imagine how hard it must be for young women whose lives are already spinning from an unplanned pregnancy who then have to walk past a priest screaming "Murderer!" in their ears. This Sunday I am preaching on the woman caught in adultery in John 8 and that priest this morning sure looked like a Pharisee with a rock. Seriously, "Lord have mercy!"
   
2. This is going to take a long time. If I had any warm and fuzzy visions about the effectiveness of this strategy they are gone now. To find a woman who will make this crazy and difficult decision to let us adopt her child will not be easy. And I'm not sure a clever sign or a desiring couple will change that. We definitely need a little bit of Holy Spirit for this job.
3. There is hope. One young woman who was going to Planned Parenthood this morning for her abortion did turn back and went instead to a crisis pregnancy center nearby (called "A Woman's Concern") to consider the options of parenting or adoption. So there are women who do change their minds in the last moments.
   

My greatest sadness is that I will only be there one morning per week which means the women who go in the other 4 days will not see my sign. If that one courageous mother is out there I sure hope God puts me at the right place at the right time.

Thanks for reading...