Sidewalk Counseling

Planned Parenthood Protest

~ richeyjo ~ Leave a comment

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Fifty people prayed and sang on the sidewalk in front of Detroit’s Cass Avenue Planned Parenthood Center on the cool, clear Saturday evening of April 13 as part of a Prayer Vigil (#protestPP) at 142 locations nationwide. 

Pedestrian and car traffic was brisk.  One heckler was persistent, but valiantly ignored as everyone focused on praying the Rosary and the intercessory prayers led by Deacon Richard Bloomfield from Our Lady of the Scapular in Wyandotte. 

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As the shadows lengthened with the evening sun and after singing a few hymns, candles were distributed and lit, but most were extinguished by the wind, much like the babies who entered this place in their mothers’ wombs. 

The Divine Mercy Chaplet was prayed, and people were asked to contact legislators and write letters to editors, or take other pro-life actions. The Deacon gave his blessing,  a group photo was taken, and the group dispersed to their homes.

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Participants came from Downriver and Detroit Parishes, Upper Downriver Right to Life, Central Wayne County Right to Life, Southern Downriver Right to Life, St. Joseph Oratory, Holy Redeemer Parish, Grosse Ile, and more.

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Photos by Richard Evich.

Quadalupe Workers Need Your Help!

~ richeyjo

is

The Guadalupe Workers are busy with several tasks–and we really need help!
Firstly, a mother whom we met a few years ago at the Ann Arbor Planned Parenthood was recently deported; her four children, however, were left behind.  Two of those children are older and will remain with their Aunt here in the U.S.  The mother, however, has asked the Guadalupe Workers to bring to her the youngest children, including the child rescued three years ago at the Planned Parenthood.  The paperwork is done and the plane reservations are made.  The trip, though, is leaving a large hole in our bank account, to the amount of about $4,000.  
Secondly, the Workers have begun putting together the first Michigan Sidewalk Counseling Symposium, scheduled for September 29.  This symposium is a cooperative effort with Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, Sidewalk Advocates, and others.  Confirmed speakers include Walter Hoye, Anne Scheidler, David Bereit.  These speakers are requesting only travel expenses in order to be with us on that day; yet, as you know, those expenses can be formidable (Walter and his wife are coming from California).
Thirdly, the Workers are still homeless.  In our last newsletter, we expressed the desire to own our own home in Detroit.  Just keeping up with the mother requests over the summer, though, has kept our account at subsistence  level.  So, we are still homeless, still looking.  Fine tuning the request a bit, specifically what we seek is a larger home (2,000 sq ft) preferably on the southwest side.
Finally, our commitment to being on the sidewalk remains essential to our work.  This summer, we’ve been going out on weekdays, thereby avoiding the escorts.  By God’s grace, we’ve witnessed several turn-a-ways and have gladly accepted some costs in helping these mothers.  
Please help us in any way you can; especially, remember us in prayer when we leave August 13 to return little Ernesto and his sister to their mother.  We are flying into Mexico City but will need to drive north about three hours in order to meet their mother–and I’ve heard horror stories about driving in Mexico! (Though it can’t be worse than Chicago.)

 

Thank you,
Edmund Miller,
President of Guadalupe Workers