Satan's Minion

Photo by Google Maps Street View

Recently, while standing outside of our local abortion clinic, we had an interesting encounter with the apartment manager from the building next door. I have no idea what her name is, but I’ll call her “Ann” for ease of reference in this article. We had actually had a brief run-in with Ann previously; when she called us cowards for leaving before police arrived (I had to leave for work, and the police had already been there, but said nothing to us).

 

Our Amplifier
(Photo by autotoys.com)

This time around, Ann came over with a video camera to record us preaching in front of the abortion clinic… in case we left again before police arrived. After recording us for a few minutes, she began arguing with us about how we’re harming her tenants due to the noise. She also tried to tell us that what we were doing was illegal, that we needed to have a permit in order to use amplification. Unfortunately, we lost sight of the goal and engaged her instead of continuing to preach. We did try to share the Gospel with her. She professed to be a Christian, because of various things that she had done. Once we informed her that going to church and doing good deeds won’t make her a Christian, she got really agitated.

A short time later, the police arrived and she talked to one officer while another came to talk with us. The officer stated to us that we were doing nothing illegal and we’re allowed to preach with amplification until 10 pm. He did ask a favor of us… to move the speaker to the other side of the driveway coming out of the abortion clinic so that it wasn’t in front of Ann’s building. As a courtesy to the officer, who was very nice to us, we complied with his request. It was his attempt to appease Ann, but it didn’t work.

Our original spot

After the police left, Ann decided to harass us some more. We told her what the officer told us, but it wasn’t good enough for her. She began saying that she was going to call “friends in high places” (my wording, she actually named people and positions) to change the laws so that we would no longer be allowed to preach there. I informed her that we weren’t afraid of her or her connections, and that she was trying to prevent the Gospel from being proclaimed. She became very upset when I began quoting scripture about false conversion (see Matthew 7:21-23, 2 Corinthians 13:5). I told her to repent and trust in Jesus, so she said, “Don’t tell me what to do!”

Shortly before she left, I let my pride get the best of me and said a few statements that didn’t need to be said. All of a sudden, her demeanor changed and a smile came across her face. I realized my sin and the devil’s purpose for this whole ordeal. Once she left us, I prayed for repentance and preached one last time. While driving my friend to his car, I admitted to him that I had sinned. He replied, “I know.” We parted ways, praising God for His grace and mercy.

May the Lord give us wisdom and self-control as we proclaim His Gospel at the abortion clinic.