|
(for Friends of Pink or Blue) Volume 2 May 23, 2003 Hello, dear friends of our ministry, and of the ‘Pink or Blue?’ project. We have made substantial progress in raising funds to expand this musical outreach into more pregnancy care centers here in Pennsylvania and around the country. I’ve shared the project at two Catholic churches, a United Methodist church, and an Open Bible church in the past four weeks. These meetings raised over $1200, and we have almost enough raised to order 1000 more CDs for distribution to PCCs. We have seven more churches we will be sharing with between now and the end of July. We will be sharing on TV stations in Ohio and Virginia. Several new participants in giving away ‘Pink or Blue?’ at their PCCs have written to encourage us. I’d like to include some of their remarks: ********** I met David at the Heartbeat International Conference held in Pittsburgh, PA. He shared with me the vision for this CD ‘Pink or Blue?’, and gave me fifty of these CD’s to take back to our Pregnancy Crisis Center. I thanked him and told him that I would use them in some way at the center. The first time that I listened to this CD, I thought how different it was, the lyrics, the music. It was unlike any music that I had ever heard. I found myself wanting to listen to it over and over again. What really got me was the messages in the songs. These are powerful songs that carry powerful messages about life. In each song, God’s message is definitely to be heard. I believe this CD will minister to all abortion-minded clients. If you are looking for something different, a powerful tool to be used in ministering to the abortion-minded client, this is it! ---Michelle Waldrop, Director, Brighter Day Ministries, Covington, GA Thank you so much for your ministry of 'Pink or Blue?' I still cry every time I hear the song. I have sent this CD to a center in Sheridan, WY. It is very new, and not up and running yet, but they will have a good start with this special CD. I also sent one to Casper Pregnancy Center. I know the director there and she will be so blessed to have this. I also sent one to Green River, a new center that will be opening very soon, so you see David, your ministry is moving across the west with just one phone call to me. I have put this CD in the hands of people that I know will be blessed by it. Thank you for your willingness to serve the Lord in this wonderful capacity. God's blessings on you in your endeavor to get the word out. ---Jackie Greer, Director, Abba's House, Riverton, WY Hi David, It was such a nice time speaking with you last week. I received the CD’s. I have listened to the CD. It is wonderful and I can see how it will minister to these girls. God bless and have a great day. ---Jeniece Learned, Director, Pregnancy Services, Sharon, PA Dear David: I want to personally thank you for the 50 CD’s and booklets that you gave to our ministry. What a blessing! It’s so nice to hear from people like you that take abortion seriously and want to do something about it. ---Marietta Montalvo, Founder, The CROSSing Maternity Home, Pottsville, PA ********** It is our desire to be able to make these available to any center that wishes to distribute them at no charge to the centers. With over 3500 PCCs in the US, it will take a mighty outpouring of support within the church to achieve this, but the beauty is, as more churches get involved the cost per church is miniscule. How miniscule is it? I was lying on the altar at Restoration Fellowship in Shenandoah, PA over a year ago, even before the taping had begun for ‘Pink or Blue?’ The LORD told me, He would give me 100 churches that would partner with our ministry. I did not have any idea who they would be or how they would "partner" with us. More recently, God put an idea in my spirit that I call "A Penny a Day--You Can Make a Difference". The concept is simple. Each church commits one cent per day per adult member on an ongoing basis. That amounts to thirty cents a month per adult. A church with 100 adults gives $30 a month. A church with 20 adults gives $6 a month. A church with 500 adults gives $150 a month. Now imagine 100 churches with an average membership of 150 adults. The monthly support would be $45 per church, or $4500 per month, with no individual committed to more than one quarter and one nickel per month. $4500 would enable us to distribute about 2500 CDs per month, a whopping 30,000 CDs in a year, each one packed with a powerful message of God’s love going to a young person who desperately needs to know that God loves her. All this is based on one cent per day per adult member!! To date, 35 churches have contributed in some form, either by letting me speak at one of their meetings and ask for donations, or in a few cases, by sending a contribution after hearing about the project. I never call asking for any donation, but rather for the opportunity to share the project with the fellowship. It is amazing the number and variety of churches that have opened their door, but equally amazing is the number of churches that do not deem this project worthy of their support. Only about 15% of my calls are returned, and it is almost a full time job contacting churches to ask for the opportunity to present this project. I believe the church has neglected to address this terrible sin in our land and that our refusal to confront this issue grieves God. One reason for this problem, I believe, is that only a few men have a revelation from God concerning how precious life is to Him, born and unborn. We can’t grasp how much He loves us, so how could we possibly understand how much He loves each "fetus". (Did you know "foetus" is the Latin word for baby?) Life is sacred. No one has the right to destroy it. If we don’t speak up for the unborn, no one will. Often, my interaction begins by sharing about the project over the phone and getting a mildly enthusiastic reaction from the pastor. Next I send information via e-mail and internet which communicates the CD contents, booklet text, songs that can be listened to, and who we are. Then in a lot of cases I’m told, "I’ll be meeting with the elders to discuss this." This usually begins a process I call "elderination". Somehow the leaders of our churches are so involved with trying to make their church thrive or pull it out of its slump that the cry of the unborn falls on deaf ears. Instead of jumping at the opportunity to reach out to young women and champion the protection of the unborn, they keep putting off making a decision and usually saying "it’s a wonderful project, but it doesn’t fit in with their plans at this time." There is a spirit of deafness and blindness that throws protection of the unborn way, way down on the list of priorities for that church. The other major stumbling block is that Baptists are looking for a Baptist to share this ministry, Presbyterians are looking for a Presbyterian, Assemblies of God are looking for an Assemblies of God, and Lutherans are looking for a Lutheran. The Body of Christ can’t seem to get together on anything. (Do you disagree? Let me hear from you.) We play right into satan’s hands, and the destruction of the unborn continues. So often as we trot out II Colossians 7:14, If my people who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. There is a lack of repentance within the church concerning tolerating the abortion promoters by refusing to speak out against the taking of innocent life. I wrote a lyric almost 20 years ago, and it is as true today as it was then. Four thousand unborn killed each day/ While the church neglects to pray/ They shake their heads and say it’s such a shame/ They say the world system is to blame When it comes to the unborn, we are typically like the priest and the Levite in the parable of the good Samaritan. The nation of America is marked for destruction unless it repents of its evil, of which the killing of the unborn is perhaps the greatest evil of all. As a Jewish person, I know most Jews cannot believe that Jesus loves them, because so many Christians stood idly by while Hitler put their families into concentration camps and killed millions of them. I didn’t watch the TV miniseries about Hitler, but for over fifty years his name has stirred all kinds of images of evil because of his wickedness. While he was chancellor of Germany, however, he did evil under the guise of good and had over fifty million devoted followers. There is an evil just as great in our land that has been going on for thirty years and Christians don’t want to talk about it. It’s past time for talking. It’s time for ashes and sackcloth and crying out to God for mercy. It’s time to get free of the blindness and the deafness that deceives us into believing God accepts this killing as a necessary evil and only asks us to vote pro-life and attend a march once in a while. How can we take God’s incredible mercy for granted and think our own destruction will not come? Our ministry and the ‘Pink or Blue?’ project are not devoted to warning people about God’s coming wrath. All we want to do is reach out to young women who are at a crisis in their lives with God’s offer of forgiveness, acceptance, and love. Just a week ago we received an e-mail: Hi you don’t know me. My name is Allie ____. I got your cd Pink or Blue? I would like prayer for my family as we are going through a difficult time with the baby girl I am carrying. If you have any more CDs please let me know. We spoke to Allie. She got her CD at one of our participating centers in Albany, OR. She said she listens to the music all the time and her family does, too. Please, please, please, please... I hope my message hasn’t come from a wrong attitude, and that I am not finger-pointing. Those of you who are pastors and church leaders are only on this list because you do care about the things I’m writing about, but I hope you know that your desire to be on the frontlines is not shared throughout the church, as it needs to be. Pray for us that we can continue to give ‘Pink or Blue?’ CDs away, and that the churches’ hearts will soften so we can partner together in this 100% God-breathed and God-directed ministry. I’ve not felt so in need of prayer and encouragement for several years. I am very blessed to have so many wonderful friends, and that helps when I’m dealing with "brothers" in the Body who act like I’m not welcome in their family. Once again, thank you for your help with ‘Pink or Blue?’ We have come a long way, and you are making a difference! David Benrexi
[ HOME
][ Archives ][ The
"Pink or Blue" Project ][ Listen NOW!
]
|