We are a little community. There is more to us than just tne interaction between the sidewalk counselors and the abortionist's customers. There is the interaction between sidewalk counselors and the neighborhood folks. Let me see, there is Connie, Charles, Carl, and now Jamie who comes to talk with us before getting on the bus to visit her boyfriend.

Connie has physical and mental problems and she is lonely, Charles's leg always hurts and he has some financial problems, Carl is homeless, and Jamie told me she is poor but she kept her babies. I have learned a lot from them. Although they struggle more than most with various hardships, they do not despair, or complain. I believe God brings His Dearly Beloved Son to me through these friendly and caring people. They are a witness to me of His love, they are the face of Christ.

Every person took my referral card and information to a CPC today. All but two women left. One of them was a Hispanic women accompanied by a man. I tried very hard to talk with him. He would not look at me, until I asked him if he is Catholic. He shot me a hard look, but would not speak. I took that as a yes. He quickly went inside the abortion center. The other woman never came back out; she is alone.

I felt bad calling Kathy to check up on her because she was not here this week, and this place is really her turf. She is on vacation, refreshing herself before coming back to fight in the battle. We talked a bit about the women who refuse to accept the truth that the life inside of them is a separate person from themselves. They do not have four eyes, four ears, two noses and in half of the pregnancies, a penis! They deny personhood to the fetus, they reason this by rationalization, not by truth and honesty. Kathy has been sidewalk counseling for ten years. She heard my frustration and she advised me to read Mark 6. "If any place will not receive you or hear you, shake the dust off your feet..." Ah yes, just the encouragement I needed to keep on keepin' on.

Chris came with his huge gruesome aborted baby pictures. I looked at him and gasped. His face was a mess. Yesterday he got into a "discussion" with a woman who just walked out of the center after her abortion. She was headed to her boyfriend's car; he was in the driver seat. She told Chris that God understands abortion, then Chris quoted Bible passages to her refuting that. They argued. Then the boyfriend attacked Chris while she kicked him when he went down on the pavement. The police came but Chris won't press charges. I don't know why Chris does that. She already had the abortion. The abortion center atmosphere is highly charged and very intense, emotions are raw. We all know that what we do puts us at risk of being hurt, but we are careful. Chris is so confrontational that he increases the risk for everyone. He has been attacked several times.....his face will heal....this time. I am concerned for Chris, and troubled by this incident.

Stan and I prayed the Rosary, Chaplet of the Divine Mercy on our knees, and other prayers. Chris moved away, as always, while we prayed. The two women did not come out of the center. After praying, Stan walked me to my car while Chris took over in front of the door singing and preaching about Jesus. I said hello to a man working on a traffic light as we walked past him, and I thought it was odd that he did not respond. Seconds later he called out to us and said, "Wait a minute, I want you to know that you are doing the right thing here, and you should keep on keepin' on." I looked at him and said thanks, and saw the face of Christ once again.