God to 40 Days for Life: Well done, thou good and faithful!

Got this from our local chapter:

Dear E40DFL Supporters,

Another 40 Days for Life campaign has come to an end– and we can look back now at lives FOREVER CHANGED. During these 40 days, there have been … … 508 lives saved — that we know of — because of God’s response to your prayer!
From past campaigns, we expect the number to KEEP GROWING, as our local campaign leaders get their final reports in.
In the coming days, keep an eye on your inbox for some exciting news and developments that have been in the works during this campaign and for the past few months!
But for today, let’s look at some of the ways lives have been changed during 40 Days for Life — and thank God for his abundant blessings during this time of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion.

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AUSTIN, TEXAS
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A volunteer spoke a teenaged couple approaching the abortion center and learned that the girl just found out she was pregnant. She was afraid of telling her parents and wanted to go behind their backs to get a judicial bypass — a court order — in order to have an abortion.
Her boyfriend was not in favor of the abortion, but reluctantly said he supported her because it was her decision.
“I showed them what her baby might look like, based on how far along she thought she was — six weeks,” said the vigil participant. “I also discussed alternatives and resources that I could connect her with.”
The couple walked into the abortion center, but soon left “with smiles of joy and satisfaction. They decided to not to have an abortion,” said the volunteer.
“Praise God!”

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OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS
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The 40 Days for Life team in Overland Park had gotten a call from the 40 Days for Life leaders in Columbia, Missouri. Planned Parenthood’s Columbia abortionist had quit, so this office was sending women to Planned Parenthood in Overland Park for abortions.
A volunteer spoke to a couple who had shown up for an appointment in Overland Park. He asked the couple if they were from Columbia — they looked shocked — and said in fact they were. So he shared some pro-life information with them.
They never made it inside the building, however. It was closed! No one had shown up for work that day — there was no explanation.
Later, another couple showed up, knocked, tried the intercom — nothing. There was still no one there. They also took information from the volunteers and left.

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LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
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A young woman stopped to talk to a 40 Days for Life prayer volunteer outside the abortion center.
“She was pregnant,” the vigil participant said, “and gave me many reasons as to why she should have an abortion.” She said the father was not around, she used drugs and she wouldn’t be a good mother.
“I simply reminded her that God had a plan for her and her baby, and that He would take care of her. I referred her to the pregnancy resource center a few doors down from Planned Parenthood.”
They prayed, and the volunteer gave the young woman a hug, after which she said, “I’m out of here.”
As she left Planned Parenthood, she rolled down the window and waved goodbye. “She was crying,” said the vigil participant. “I’m still praying for her.”

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SHARONVILLE, OHIO
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A vigil participant in Sharonville says a woman pulled into the driveway and stopped to talk to her.
“She thanked me for praying,” said the volunteer. “She said that a few days earlier she was driving by and was considering an abortion. She has five boys and is pregnant with a girl. Her husband of twenty-plus years has left her.”
This woman told the 40 Days for Life participant, “Never feel that what you are doing is in vain. It was your prayers that changed my mind and saved my little girl and me.”
“I prayed with her for quite some time,” said the volunteer. “It was extremely powerful.”

Here’s today’s “bonus” devotional from Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life.

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DAY 41 INTENTION
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Pray that the witness of 40 Days for Life bears abundant fruit, and that we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until God welcomes us into the gates of heaven.

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SCRIPTURE
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On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
— Matthew 16:18

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REFLECTION by Fr. Frank Pavone
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When we read this verse, we usually think that the Lord is promising that the church, which is His Body, will withstand all the attacks launched against it. Of course, that is true.
But when we think about it more carefully, we realize that in a battle, the gates do not run out into the battlefield to attack the enemy. Rather, they stand still to defend the city from the enemy attacking it. So when the Lord says that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, who is doing the attacking? It is the church storming the gates!
The church, all of God’s people in Christ, is called to take the offensive, to run into enemy territory, and to gain ground for Jesus Christ. We do not wait for an invitation; we already have a command. We prepare, but we do not wait for circumstances to be perfect; we already have one who has gone before us.
During these 40 days, we have stormed the gates. We have taken the offensive. We have pushed forward the boundaries of the kingdom. And we must keep doing so, in numerous ways.
Indeed, the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of falsehood will flee in the presence of truth. The gates of sin will melt in the presence of grace. The gates of death will fall in the presence of the church, the People of Life!

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PRAYER
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Father, we praise you. We have heard the voice of your Son, and therefore we can make our voices heard. We have done battle with the power of evil, and therefore we can have compassion on those still within its grip. We have been freed from the kingdom of darkness, and therefore we can bear witness to your Kingdom of Light.
May the witness of all your people through these 40 Days for Life bear abundant fruit, and may we begin again each day to storm the gates of hell until You welcome us into the gates of heaven. We pray in the victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Good work, troops! Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!