Bringing light to the dark places
Posted by Matt Yonke on Saturday, December 22nd, 2007
Update: Pictures of the caroling day are up! Click here to check them out.
What a joyful occasion our "Empty Manger" caroling day was! Today we toured four abortion facilities across DuPage County bringing the light of Christmas and the love of Christ to those darkest of places.
As Eric continually reminded us, the abortuary is the opposite of Christmas. Christmas welcomes life into the world, the Life that was the Light of men. The abortionist destroys the life that is so desperately trying to enter the world. This poignant contrast pervaded our day.
We began in Hinsdale at the ACU Health Center. About forty people gathered to offer praises and sing. The next stop was the Aanchor facility in Glen Ellyn. Around 70 people braved the cold and the dangerous proximity to the traffic on Rt. 38.
Next we headed south to Downers Grove to visit the Access Health Center. Access shares a parking lot with Women's Choice Services, a crisis pregnancy center run by our very own top-notch attorney Peter Breen. Peter was kind enough to provide us with coffee, donuts, and a tour of their center before we once again braved the cold.
After Downers Grove we headed to that most ubiquitous of facilities, Planned Parenthood Aurora. And boy were we in for a treat. Since they read our e-mail, they were ready for us. Four surly looking deathscorts were there as we arrived with a boombox playing all manner of oddly chosen music. Some of it seemed Christmas oriented, some of it not. All of it was clearly intended to drown us out.
But try as they might, one paltry boombox didn't stand a chance against over 100 hearty pro-life voices! Our carols rang out loud and proud, and were definitely heard by several women entering the facility.
After PP we headed to Warehouse Church on Galena Rd. where the folks there had been kind enough to lend us use of their space. We had a lovely gathering over homemade cookies and hot chocolate.
For my part I was very pleased to meet Dan the Methodist face to face and many other pro-lifers who I hadn't had the privilege to meet yet. As a convert to Catholicism from Presbyterianism, I know well and firsthand how tense things can be between Protestants and Catholics. I was even more encouraged today as I saw and was part of this beautiful cooperation between two parts of Christendom united by our common call from the Trinity itself to stand up for life and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks be to God for the miraculous work He is doing here in Aurora and thanks to everyone who offered their time and their voice this morning! A Merry Christmas to everyone, and I'll see you all in 2008!
It’s great to hear that you were a positive and loving voice today–especially given the season.
I couldn’t help but notice the comment regarding the “boom box.” Now where exactly were the police and city officials requesting PP’s permit for this? See the following article & blog for more detail on this.
December 23rd, 2007 at 2:28 am
Matt,
Thanks for this post regarding the events at the carolling at the abortuaries, and reporting on each one you guys attended. I am sorry I wasn't able to attend, but I was with you all in spirit & prayers! Trust me, if I were there, horrible singing voice & all…you probably would have lost many carollers throughout the day!
Anyway, interesting addition of your conversion to Catholisism. If you don't mind me asking, what was the "turning point" for you that led you to make that decision?
December 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
I was also happy to meet Matt face to face as well as all the others who fight for the least among us.
I have been calling radio stations that should be putting some wattage on our cause to close Planned Parenthood, but my calls seem to have fallen on deaf ears. It seems to me that the call screeners though not heard, also can drive an agenda by not putting callers though. It is a form of selective censorship which cannot be proven, so I am planning on Emailing local shows and papers do drive awareness to this tide turning event on January 7 at Aurora City Hall.
I would like to encourage everyone to call their favorite media outlets to bring awareness to the fact that Planned Parenthood can be stopped by citizens who organize, won't be denied and have a righteous cause can bring down GOLIATH!!
If organized correctly, we can pick a day and all call and blitz them. They will get sick of the calls and address the issue to stop the calls.
Although I am not behind any candidate for PResident, I have witnessed the Huckabee supporters get their concerns addressed in much the same way.
Cannot wait to hear your thoughts and enthusiasm as we march to the gates on January 7.
God Bless America!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:09 am
We are all one in Christ. Thanks to everyone who braved the cold. I wish I could have been with you too. I am completely humbled by your faithfulness and I know that this is truly why Christ came into the world. To be the light of the world. Thanks to you that light shines, even in the dark of the abortuary. May you all have a blessed and Merry Christmas!
December 24th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
L.K.
Thanks for asking. Obviously that's a long story, though one I'm very passionate about. Though I don't know if I want to open that particular discussion here. I think we're better off focusing on our similarities than our differences in this context! I would, however, be more than happy to discuss it with you or anyone else via e-mail. Feel free to drop me a line at "matt at prolifeaction dot org".
In Christ,
Matt
December 25th, 2007 at 8:48 am
It was a wonderful event. The pictures are great! I was wondering—are there any pictures that can be posted of the Chicago caroling that was going on at the same time?
January 4th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Mary Lu,
There are a couple on the Pro-Life Action League home page (www.prolifeaction.org) where we just put up a story about both caroling tours. I'll try to see if I can get some more and put them online on Monday!
January 5th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Ok, there's a couple new pic from Chicago up on the flickr site. I guess they don't take quite as many over there as we do here! Here's the link:
http://flickr.com/photos/21518309@N06/sets/72157603661010641/
Enjoy,
Matt
January 7th, 2008 at 10:33 am