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(for Friends of Pink or Blue) Volume 1 April 22, 2003 This message is for the men and women who have blessed this project and there are too many to name. The list includes the musicians who put so much heart and skill into creating the wonderful sound. We have had so many people tell us they love the music. We also want to thank all our friends who donated to this project so we were able to fulfill our first order of 1000 CDs and give away 1750 CDs to date. We want to thank our friends who lead local churches for opening your doors to us to share this project with your fellowships. Without your help we could not have expanded this project into 21 states. We want to thank the television and radio people who honored us by letting us share about the 'Pink or Blue?' project on your programs. Finally, we want to especially thank the pregnancy center directors and counselors for your selfless devotion to the very women we are trying to reach. Apart from you, there really is no purpose to this project. Because of you, the CD we recorded last summer is reaching out to young women with the love of God. Many of you know our story, but a quick summary is in order. It was my heart's desire for many years to be able to help bring an end to abortion, and I had asked God: Lord give me a song/ To stop the killing going on. Many songs were written in the mid 90's, but with no apparent effect. In 1997 I met Sherry Jones in Nashville. She was a poet with an anointing on her writing. She inspired me, because it seemed whatever she wrote was from the heart of God. I put a few of her poems to music. One was 'Pink or Blue?' and the song literally tore me up, it was so powerful. At that time of my life, I rarely played for more than a few people at a time, and so it seemed like a great song without an audience. It was four and a half years later, when I was returning from a weekend in Canada with three Teen Challenge students that the Lord spoke to my heart, telling me to record 'Pink or Blue?' and make it the title song on our next CD. It was just three days before the September 11th attacks. That morning I woke up with a lyric on my mind: I could cry for several hours/ When I think of all this pain/ Things sure are different/ But God is still the same. I thought about the constant destruction of human life and how little concern there was, even within the church. It made me feel sick, but I had this glimmer of hope that God was going to do something to change hearts. My initial thought was we would put together a collection of ten songs for the church ending with 'Pink or Blue?' which makes a powerful statement about the reality of life in the womb. Soon, I realized that the Lord wanted us to record songs that we would be giving away at crisis pregnancy centers. I knew next to nothing about CPCs, or pregnancy care centers (PCCs) as they are more accurately called nowadays. But I knew this was how God wanted to do things, and my wife Jo said she thought so, too. We had very little money to get started, but I got a package deal that included 20 hours of studio time and 100 CDs. Our first two CDs each took around 80 hours to record and mix. Somehow we were able to record all the tracks, with seven different musicians, mostly one take, never more than three takes, in 16 1/2 hours, and mix it in the remaining time. The musicians and the studio engineer were so in tune with the Holy Ghost we were in awe. Then we used the 100 CDs to raise enough money to do 1000 CDs. We had a few centers that were referred to us by friends who wanted to participate, and we called others who were listed at www.pregnancycenters.org until we had given away 950 CDs. We used what remained plus 100 that were given to us by Kingdom Co in Mansfield to raise more funds to do a second 1000. Raising money for this project has been a learning experience. The first 1000 were financed by friends and three churches I had attended in the past. I have felt that this project's success or failure really depends on whether God's people care about what we're doing or not. I've found that wherever I go to talk about this project, a good many people care a great deal. I offer the CDs, our 'You Can Make a Difference' booklets, and bumper stickers to anyone who will donate to this project. It is easy to share about this project, and God's people have a heart for what we're doing. The hard part is getting the pastors of the churches to take this seriously. I received a letter this morning from a PCC in eastern PA, who wrote me: "I have filled out the form you sent me with names of local churches. I am sorry I did not have the pastor's names. I got them out of the phone book. We have not had much support from the local churches with our ministry. It seems that the topic of "abortion" is not something they want to become involved in." This is a very sad situation. I can only remember once in over twenty years of attending local churches was there ever a speaker who addressed the issue of abortion. It won't go away if we don't talk about it. God's people are responsive. Now we need to pray that leaders will have the courage and the wisdom to get involved and get their people involved. For many years, the pro-life agenda of the local church was to go to a march once a year or carry a sign or organize a protest. The things we do once or twice a year don't produce any lasting results. It is only through consistent effort that we can make a change. I want to ask everyone who is reading this letter to join with me in asking God to open doors, for people who are carrying His message and doing His will to be welcomed in the local churches. I have been very blessed with opportunities to share this project, but only because I'm persistent and keep asking. Very few are showing intense interest when I call for the first time. I have to capture their interest and persuade them to let me come. Sometimes I want to cry, because God's people aren't outraged at the killing of the unborn. We want to grab every opportunity to talk about what a great country the USA is, but a great country doesn't destroy life. Let me repeat that: A great country doesn't sanction the destruction of life. I want to encourage every person who cares about protecting life. I'm your brother. I'll do whatever I can to help you. I'm here to listen to you, talk to you and pray for you. I've called a lot of churches that could have been interested in this project but weren't and I feel sorry for them. I have had a much more friendly response from the Catholic churches than the Protestant. We need to pray for the eyes of our leaders to open. I had thought I could apply for some kind of grant and get mad money to make CDs and give them all away. We have a very legitimate goal of being in all 50 states by the end of the year. But, I'm convinced that God wants me to challenge Christians to do something and get in the face of pastors of local churches and try to reach as many as I can. What value do I see in this project? I believe when a young woman shows up at a PCC she has taken a step toward choosing life which is what every woman really wants to do, I believe. Unfortunately, many will be buffeted with the lies about abortion after they go home. Some women are coerced by their own parents to have an abortion. The CD they take home will tell them through the power of music that God loves them and their baby. The act of giving a nice CD in the spirit of love will help build a relationship between counselor and client to help the young woman withstand the lying voice telling her she's dirty and she can't be a good mother. Secondarily, I want every person in the body of Christ to share God's displeasure about the killing of innocent life and seek God's wisdom and direction for their life. Every one needs to do something. When I was young there was a famous case where a woman named Kitty Genovese was brutally killed while 38 neighbors all watched. No one tried to stop the killer or even called the police because they were afraid and they didn't want to get involved. No one in the church wants to perform an abortion, but who will speak up for the victims? It's time. We all hear the athletes saying: "First of all I want to give all praise and honor to my LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST," but I've never heard Bob Costas or Marv Albert or Al Michaels say "Amen". I'm praying for a courageous athlete to say, "I want to dedicate today's victory to the 4000 innocent lives that were taken.......at abortion clinics today." One gal wouldn't salute the flag at college basketball games this spring, and it was front page news. We need to pray for a courageous person to seize the opportunity. What would the civil rights movement be without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King? I'm praying for teenagers and youth leaders to look for constructive activities to express their outrage at the killing of the unborn. I'm praying that the people who fill the pews and put their money in the offering will DEMAND action from their churches. It takes courage to confront and wisdom also. If the church keeps ignoring the killing of the unborn, or considers it less important than evangelizing China, God help us! I'm praying for a blockbuster movie that tells people the truth about the abortion industry. I'm praying for a movie that makes a hero out of a woman who chooses to have her baby when everyone is saying abort. I'm praying for a candidate who really is pro-life, not symbolically pro-life like most of our Republican leaders, but someone who will speak the truth, that abortion is murder and a disgrace to our country. It is even worse than slavery which was also upheld by the Supreme Court in 1859. The killing of a "first tri-mester fetus" is 100% as horrible as any "partial birth abortion" but sadly our leaders would be happy if we just got rid of the "partial birth abortion" and say they're pro-life. (I'm disgusted with that.) I'm praying for new creative ways to reach out to the unborn. This is an amazing project, but I'd love to see more amazing projects than 'Pink or Blue?' Movies, plays, songs, paintings, comics, sculpture--the message needs to go forth. I hope you will write to me. (Yes, you!) If it seems like I'm being hard on the church, I am. I'm still waiting for a letter from any pastor whose church I've shared this message in--- a letter stating I'm a capable speaker and this is a worthwhile project. One pastor gave me a list of six churches in his denomination to call, and four of them opened the door to me because of their respect for him. I wish there were more like that. They tell me how busy they are, but what I'm asking for only takes a few minutes and can save me hours of cold calls. Pray that I will get a little more help from the leaders of the churches. It will be to their benefit as well as mine. We'll be moving our web-page to a new domain without pop-up ads and slashes in the next few days: Our new address will be www.mydaddylovesme.org Jo and I will be interviewed on Family-Life TV-23 on Thursday and Friday. The programs air at 7am, 3pm, and 7 pm, and can be watched on the internet at www.familylifetv.com. The name of the program is "Share". When I say "You Can Make a Difference!" I believe it with all my heart. This is what needs to be communicated to God's people, and the local churches is the best place to do it. Please pray for more open doors for me to share this project and the message that goes with it. Thank you, every one for your help. I love every one of you. Let me know how I can pray for you. I've got nothing better to do! Because you are precious to God. David Benrexi Zephaniah
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[ David Benrexi ] |