“Honoring Rev. Flip Benham” Friday, July 25th
Honoring of Flip
The last evening rally was a tribute to Reverend Flip Benham, outgoing National Director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America. Rev. Flip had served as National Director since 1994, having received his commission from Pastor Keith Tucci (National Director before Flip and after founder, Randall Terry).
Flip is known for his uncompromising stand on the issues and his leading Norma McCorvey to the Lord. After worship, a plaque was presented to Rev. Flip commending him for his tireless efforts on behalf of the Lord’s preborn children. A slide show and video tribute by Flip’s family was played on a large overhead screen. OSA children and young people then invited Flip and his wife, Faye to the stage. The young people took turns praying over the couple. Allysa complied a scrap book of gratitude and the children presented in to Rev. Flip while on stage. At the end of the night, a large cake with the OSA logo was devoured by hungry and grateful members.
OSA will be forever indebted to Rev. Flip for his uncompromising and unwavering commitment to end child killing. We love you Rev. Flip. Thank you for making the theology of the churches, biography on the streets.
Cal Zastrow’s Poem
Flip Benham – The Lion of the Tribe of Rescue
Babies are dying, let’s go to the streets
Let’s humble our hearts, it’s now time to weep
Will we go Rescue and will we obey?
Will we show up for the babies today?
Here cometh the evil, here cometh the night
Will we be slaves, or rise up and fight?
Flip hears the cry of innocent blood
He sees the evil come in like a flood
If you obey you could go to jail
Flip trusted God, who never could fail
Our nation and churches in peril and trouble
Will we repent, or be crushed into rubble?
Smashing the idols, Flip ran to the roar
It’s time to block the deathpit door
How strong is our faith, God sees and He knows
The babies need us to interpose
Will we just cheer? Will we just clap?
Or will we step up and fill in the gap?
We didn’t just talk, we didn’t just pray
Flip led us well, God’s judgment is stayed
Flip Benham has picked up and carried his cross
The Lord has been faithful, you’ve suffered no loss
The Lord has been faithful, you’ve suffered no loss.
(by Cal Zastrow – July 26, 2014)
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
“Passing the Mantle” Thursday, July 24th
Baton Rouge Outreach
On Thursday, OSA visited Baton Rouge, LA. Tom Raddell of Cleveland Ohio set up his powerful, professional display of graphic panels at the state capital of Louisiana. The 200 foot wide and 8 foot tall displayconsisted of pictures of human atrocities and genocide, presented along side of pictures of aborted babies. Each panel connected abortion, America’s modern Holocaust, to historical evils.
Christians also visited the Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge on Thursday. The clinic kills on two days a week, Tuesday and Thursdays. When clinic staff heard OSA was considering a Tuesday ministry outreach, the clinic shut down. When OSA members showed up on Thursday instead, they found the clinic shut down that day too. For the week Christians witnessed the Gospel and stood for life, Baton Rouge was a safer place for preborn children.
This Clinic Stays Closed
The same could be said for the cities of New Orleans and Metairie. The mantra by abortionist supporters this week was, “This Clinic Stays Open.” A radical group called “Pink House Defenders” from Mississippi’s last remaining abortion clinic joined with local pro-abortionists. They clinic escorts helped the prolife movement by representing an intimidating presence to any would be abortion patients. The group of feminists, lesbians, and communists wore pink vests labeled “Pro-choice Clinic Escorts” and held blue signs reading, “This Clinic Stays Open.”
Women’s Healthcare Center in New Orleans pretended to remain open. Clinic escorts ushered in abortion supporters as though they were “patients” scheduled for appointments. OSA’s sharp-eyed children pointed out that after a few moments of being inside the clinic, the “patients” would leave the building dressed in pink clinic escort vests, holding blue signs. The “patients” then lined the sidewalk. The pro-abortion mantra should have been, “This revolving door stays open.” Although Women’s Healthcare Center’s door stayed open, no pregnant women walked through it. As far as we know, baby murder was arrested and stopped the week Christians ministered the Gospel of the Kingdom at the gates of hell.
Louisiana State University
At Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, OSA members from California, Texas, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Virginia, and Florida joined with evangelist Jason Storm and T. Russell Hunter of Abolish Human Abortion. The outreach consisted mostly of young adults, teenagers, and children. The young people of OSA were blessed to observe Jason and Russell evangelize.
The young people were engaged and passionate about leading the lost to Christ. The Holy Spirit was with the children as they shared the Good News and held signs revealing the ugliness and sin of abortion. They were not ashamed of the Gospel (Romans 1:16).
Valiant (14), Jeremiah (12), and Victor (14) spoke to a young agnostic student (17) visiting the university. As the boys gave out tracts, the young man asked what their religious beliefs were. Jeremiah responded that they were Christians. The young man asked if Christianity was their parents’ faith. The boys responded that they were Christians of their own accord. Referring to the large signs of aborted babies, the young man than asked why abortion was wrong. He stated, “It’s the woman’s choice.” The boys replied that abortion is murder. Val added, “God doesn’t like murder.” The young man left to enter the student commons. He came back outside after having googled questions about Christianity. The three boys spoke to the young man for about thirty minutes, lifting the name of Jesus. When the conversation concluded, the boys were pumped. A fire for evangelism was lit.
The youngest member of the LSU outreach, Jubilee (7), was an uncompromising witness for Christ. She approached a secular professor and politely but boldly asked, “Do you know Jesus?” The professor was silent. “You know he died for your sins, right?” More silence. She continued,“What do you think of abortion?” More awkward silence. “You know they’re killing babies?” At that, the professor walked awkwardly away. Jubilee continued her evangelizing on the public sidewalk. Eventually she entered the student commons and gave a lonely looking businessman a tract. With her cuteness factor, Jubilee was a lethal Gospel weapon.
Loving Our Neighbor
Another team of Christians visited Javonne Turner’s neighborhood. Turner is the clinic manager of the Delta Clinic of Baton Rouge. The team handed out flyers inviting her neighbors to “adopt her” as a prayer focus. The flyer asked people to pray for her salvation.
Turner’s owns a second business— a day care for children. Early in the morning, OSA saints visited her day care center, Brown Bears Child Care, with signs asking her to stop killing image bearers of Christ.
A local newspaper reported on the event. The news outlet nailed it. Charlotte Guedry of the Creole wrote:
Drivers along Hwy. 44 are getting to see something not often seen in Ascension Parish this morning, as a group from Operation Save America are gathered to “pray for the soul” of a local daycare owner.
Javonne Turner, according to the Secretary of State’s website, is listed as a registered agent of Brown Bears Child Care. According to protesters, she is also employed by Delta Abortion Clinic in Baton Rouge. When checking with Delta Abortion Clinic, a “no comment” answer was given. The group feels that raising awareness will help members of the community “adopt this woman and lead her to Christ.”
The group are a mix of people from across the country who gather whenever they feel there is a need to make a statement. They were handing out flyers, asking local residents to adopt Turner and “pray for her repentance and salvation.” They also asked that her “sins be exposed,” and that “letters be written, asking her to stop the killing of innocent children.”
Operation Save America’s mission is to “take up the cause of preborn children in the name of Jesus Christ. We employ only biblical principles. The Bible is our foundation; the Cross of Christ is our strategy; the repentance of the Church of Jesus Christ is our ultimate goal. As the Church changes its heart toward unborn children, God Himself will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and bring healing to our land. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only answer to the abortion holocaust. It is upon our active repentance in the streets of our cities that the Gospel is visibly lived out. We become to the church, to our city, and to our nation living parables which rightly represent God’s heart toward His helpless children.”
Operation Save America representatives claim that Turner is being hypocritical with her views on children by working at both an abortion clinic and a daycare facility. However, their literature also asks residents to not berate Turner. “Javonne Turner is our neighbor,” they state. “As Christians we are called to love her. Our actions may bring her to Jesus and eternal life.”
According to the Gonzales Police Department, the right to peacefully protest is legal as long as the protestors do not step onto the property of the daycare facility, but stay on the right of way.
A call to Brown Bears Child Care was answered, and a request to speak to Ms. Turner was made. The woman who answered the phone said, “we have no comment,” when she asked why I was calling.
Passing the Mantle
Finally, Thursday night’s rally brought a transition to OSA. Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, assistant to the director, was set in as National Director of Operation Rescue/ Operation Save America. Rev. Flip Benham (National Director since 1994) and Pastor Keith Tucci (National Director before Flip and right after founder, Randall Terry) laid hands on Rusty and passed the mantle of leadership to him. After the mantle was passed, faithful Christian men surrounded Rusty and prayed over him, as Curtis blew the rams horn. At the conclusion of the setting in, Rusty’s challenge to the brethren was, “You have bled with Keith. You have bled with Flip. Now bleed with me.”
Jesus gave His life for us. Are we willing to suffer for Him?
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
“Somebody is doin’ Something” Monday, July 21st
On Monday, Operation Save America sent teams to locations throughout the city of New Orleans. Word in Warfare showed up at the building site of the proposed Planned Parenthood. The saints unsheathed the Sword of the Spirit and proclaimed the Word of God over the area throughout the day. By Friday the entire Bible will be declared before OSA departs from New Orleans.
A team was sent to the University of New Orleans to share the Gospel with summer students. Monday also found the OSA members at abortion clinics and at overpasses holding giant signs. The morning traffic report cited “protestors” on the overpass as causing delays. Thousands of vehicles were confronted with the horrible truth of what our nation is doing to God’s little image-bearers.
OSA also reached beyond the city of New Orleans to touch Shreveport, the third largest city in the state of Louisiana. A team led by Cal Zastrow traveled over eight hours round trip to minister the love of Jesus and the truth about abortion to the residents of the “port city.” OSA arrived at a huge hospital complex where the abortionist has an obstetrics, gynecology practice and hospital admitting privileges. OSA members began the public awareness campaign and within a minute the security guard and police arrived. The team then moved to the busiest entrance that had a traffic light. They pulled out the signs and passed out literature. They prayed, played the guitar, and worshiped the Lord.
As OSA witnessed, residents of Shreveport stopped. A number of people were so touched by the witness they pulled over, reached into their pockets, and gave money. Five dollars. Ten dollars. Fourteen year old, Sam stood in the median with a giant poster. A person pulled over and gave Sam a hundred dollars in support of the work.
Seven locals joined OSA’s outreach. Another five stopped and got out of their cars to help when they viewed the signs. One woman was particularly moved. She noticed the aborted baby signs. She and her husband are parents to five adopted special needs children. The mother was there to take her disabled daughter to a doctor’s appointment. Her daughter needed her arm and leg braces fixed. When the woman observed the witness, she told her daughter, “Somebody is doin’ something. We gotta stop and help.”
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
Taking Territory, Wednesday, July 23rd
On Wednesday, Operation Save America teams canvassed New Orleans. Two teams arrived at the local abortion clinics. Another team led by Pastor Dale Sochia traveled to Barre Mcneely Investments to confrontLarry McNeely, the general contractor trying vainly to build Planned Parenthood. Pastor Dale’s team set up in front of 4925 Jefferson Hwy, in Jefferson, Louisiana and gave the company heaven. BMI called the police to claim OSA was trespassing on private property when, in fact, OSA was on the sidewalk. BMI tried to convince the police that the sidewalk was within their property line. Pastor Dale knows the legal requirements for construction. When the police arrived, he asked that a proper survey be conducted.
After the survey was completed, OSA had MORE public space to witness in then the actual physical sidewalk. OSA then had access to the sidewalk and a twelve foot wide swath of cement directly in front of BMI. Despite the survey results, BMI claimed the twelve foot swath was part of its parking lot and driveway. To abide by the law, OSA members walked back in forth in the 12 foot wide area so as not to block BMI’s “driveway” on public land.
The contracting company thought it would circumvent the survey and the law by blocking the public area with a line of orange cones and tape. In doing so, BMI inadvertently made the public witness of its company easier. With the cones up, the space was no longer a driveway. OSA members were now under no legal requirement to keep moving, since there was no danger of blocking a driveway on public property. OSA members were than free to stand directly in front of BMI with their signs. OSA took territory today! Please contact Larry McNeely, the general contractor of BMI, 504-324-9140 lmcneely@barremcneely.com) and let him know lovingly, but firmly that he needs to stop the construction of Planned Parenthood. The blood money will curse his life (Deuteronomy 27:25).
While OSA members confronted BMI for its complicity in child killing, another team was sent to the proposed construction site of Planned Parenthood. The team practiced “Word in Warfare,” the concentrated focused reading of the Bible as a form of prophetic prayer and confession. As Christians surrounded the site in prayer and worship, others grouped together in small numbers to read the Word aloud. Others held posters of aborted babies and waved at passing cars.
During the “Word in Warfare,” senior citizens sat on lawn chairs under umbrellas, their precious Bibles in their laps; little children sat on the grass and toddlers reclined in strollers as mothers and fathers read the Bible out loud as a family; young people gathered quietly in groups and took turns reading the designated chapters. Until the rain. It began as a sprinkle. Soon it was a shower. Undeterred, the faithful Christians opened umbrellas, put on raingear and plastic bags as overcoats, used the large posters as makeshift canopies, and retreated under small tents set up for shade. Still the reading of the Word continued. So did the public witness.
As people prayed that the heavens would open and God would hear the prayers and confession of repentance, the heavens really did open, just not as expected. The shower turned into a downpour. The street and construction site flooded. Muddy streams overflowed the sidewalks. Flash flood warnings buzzed and vibrated on cell phones. The sand already placed as part of the foundation of the proposed mega killing center was washed away in the deluge. Not only has the building project been ground to a halt, but the work they have done, the Lord is washing away. Glory to His name!
The drenching was so great, the elderly, the children, the young people all looked liked they went swimming in their street clothes. In a show of supplication to God, the wet and wearied Christians stayed at the construction site. They moved to vehicles and read and prayed from the side of the road. After about an hour, the sun broke out and the rain ended. The Christians piled out of cars and vans and finished their Bible readings outside. Photographers from the Advocate and representatives from other media took pictures and filmed the soggy saints. At the conclusion of the “warfare,” saints worshiped and kneeled in prayer, grateful for the opportunity to stand for the Lord through the rain.
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
Operation Save America visited the heart of the Big Easy with the truth of God. The residents of the “Mardi Gras City” heard the Gospel preached on loudspeakers, read the Gospel message in tracts, and saw the Gospel message of life on poster boards. The Word of God penetrated the city of corruption.
Tuesday marked OSA’s funeral procession and memorial service in honor of Amos, a victim of abortion. Amos means “to carry” and “borne by God,” a fitting name for a precious unborn child carried in his mother’s womb. Sadly, Amos’ mother chose to end his life. He was then borne by God to eternity. Today, Amos was carried somewhere he probably wouldn’t have chosen- his own memorial service.
As bagpipes played a dirge and young people marched with flags reading “Justice for the Unborn,” pallbearers carried Amos through the French Quarter. A hundred or more mourners followed in silence. The funeral procession began in Jackson Square, a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, and ended in front of the St. Louis Cathedral, the “Jewel of the French Quarter.”
Mourners gathered on the steps across from the cathedral, one of the oldest in the United States. A simple white casket lay on a table, surrounded by flags and mourners. In the background, a tall American flag waved from the grounds of the cathedral.
When the memorial service blasted over the sound system, bystanders stopped to take in the scene. Rev. Flip Benham, National Director of OSA, addressed the gathering. He was followed by Beck Puckett who shared from Amos 1:13, “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge the their border.”
Becky compared America’s sin of abortion to Ammon’s sin of abortion/population control. Shelly Clegg shared her moving post-abortion testimony. And spoke on the need to protect and cherish all human life-preborn and those born with special needs. Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life gave the eulogy. His message was “Blessed are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.” He explained the importance of honoring the memory of the victims of abortion and reminded the city that God made life in His image. For this reason, human life is sacred. Even in death, victims of abortion must be remembered. Their care, even in death, must not be forgotten.
At the conclusion of the service, mourners were invited to come forward and view the body. As the crowd approached, a song cut through the bustling noise of the city. The refrain was, “God have mercy.” Over and over, the city heard, “God have mercy. God have mercy.” The spirit of God fell. His presence came in power. The young people in OSA were particularly touched. It was as if God lifted the veil of deception and ushered the youth into a private viewing of abortion. Tears streamed down their faces. A spirit of brokenness and repentance overwhelmed them. The face of each young person registered the horror and grief that is abortion.
One of the nicknames for New Orleans is “the City that Care Forgot.” That nickname proved untrue today. Care came wrapped in the body of Christ. Care was heard in the message of the Gospel. Care was seen in the love of the person who gave out Gospel tracts. And as person after person approached the casket, person after person cared for Amos and the little lives of unborn babies.
As “the City that Care Forgot” felt the care of the Lord, an unseen, unnamed person slowly lowered the flag at St. Louis Cathedral’s to half-staff. In a public display of mourning, New Orleans grieved her sin. For just a moment, “the City that Care Forgot,” remembered.
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
The Macedonian Call, Sunday, July 20
“Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them” (Acts 16:6-10).
Sunday marked Operation Save America’s second official day in New Orleans, Louisiana. Local churches invited OSA to minister in New Orleans and the surrounding areas. To have their invitation, covering and blessing, is a great boost to the Lord’s work against the gates of hell.
Once in a host city, OSA extends a “Macedonian Call” to other area churches. After a continental breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning, representatives from OSA attended close to 40 church services throughout the city. They worshiped with the churches, greeted the pastors and church leadership, invited them to lunch, passed out materials that articulated the vision, and invited these congregations to our Solemn Assembly Sunday evening. Later, they gather the church contact information and give it to the local pastoral leaders to follow up after OSA has completed their mission in their city.
At the Unitarian Universalist “church” in New Orleans, Deanna Waller, Jay Rogers, Mary Claire, Ken Scott, Russell Hunter, Toby Harman and others presented the truth of the Gospel in this synagogue of Satan. As God would have it, the “church” was filled with students from a “social justice” training school. According to Rev. Flip Benham, OSA National Director, the team presented a “dynamic witness.”
During an open “meditation” time, Deanna shared the Word of the Lord. When the female “pastor” took issue, Deanna reminded her that, “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones” (Luke 17:2). In violation of their “sacred tenants” of peace and tolerance, Deanna and others were summarily escorted out of the service.
Other saints stayed and dialoged until the conclusion of the service. It created no small stir. The “social justice” candidates ran to the Christians and asked them many questions. Our brethren gave them the reason for the hope that lies within them and defended the faith. Seeds of truth were sown. may the Lord water them in Jesus’ name.
After lunch, the saints traveled to two abortionists’ neighborhoods for public awareness campaigns. Awareness campaigns involve disseminating information to notify communities that one of their neighbors murder babies. OSA members visited Mary Gardner’s and Roshanda Dean’s home, both of the Women’s Health Care Center in New Orleans. The flyer given out in Dean’s neighborhood read in part, “Roshanda Dean is our neighbor. As Christians we are called to love her. Our actions may bring her to Jesus and eternal life. Encourage her to repent of the mass murder of the Lord’s preborn children.”
According to Cal Zastrow, the outreach at Dean’s neighborhood was “very well received.” People did not know there was an abortionist in the neighborhood yet “nobody was hostile to us.” The saints held large signs. The young people worshiped the Lord with violins and guitars. OSA members were even able to minister and pray for a few individuals. Just before they left, a representative from the sheriff’s department approached them. He mentioned that there had been five fatal shootings in the area recently and thanked OSA for caring enough to come to their troubled neighborhood.
The Campano family participated in the “awareness campaign.” As they and the Zastrow family ministered together, a group of people came out of a house and began asking questions. One of the people, a teenage boy, listened with particular interest. Frank started preaching the Gospel. Frank told the teenager that God sent them all the way from Florida and Michigan to minister the Good News. The Holy Spirit fell on the teenager. He started weeping.
Sunday evening called for a city wide Solemn Assembly. During this evening rally at Williams Boulevard Baptist Church, Rev. Flip reminded the saints “We must first get the plank out of our own eye to see clearly to remove the specks from New Orleans.”
With a blast of the shofar (Horn) the meeting was called to order. The saints of God reported for inspection before the Holy One of Israel. The divine purpose was to take ownership for our personal, church, and national sins. Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas led the way to deal with the personal sins of those present. The Scripture read to prepare the way was taken from Psalm 139:23, 24, which states, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”
The penetrating questions presented to those gathered to prayer was, “What are we saying, doing, thinking, or acting that is contributing to the moral corruption and demise of our nation? What besetting sins do we struggle with that impedes the much needed awakening and revival our nation desperately needs?”
Bishop Otis Kenner followed up on personal sins. He went after the spiritual strongholds of the saints these sins opened to defeat them in their obedience to God. Ghet Gallagher, Dr. Byron Clay and the nephew of Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the sins of the church. The call was to repent of our apathy, indolence, and indifference in a time of great injustice. The church has failed to be the salt and light that is suppose to check the spread of moral decay that invokes God’s judgment upon our nation.
Finally, Pastor Rod Aguillard, his son Steven, and our host pastor, Tim Williams concluded the Solemn Assembly with our national sins. Pastor Rod declared that the walls of America are down in America, God’s hand of protection has been removed, and our nation is swiftly heading towards great calamity. He exhorted us to repent and rebuild the wall by prayer and action.
Our host pastor, Tim Williams, led us to our knees to humble ourselves before the Lord. He called us to repent of pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. Our nation glories in its shame and boasts in its abominations.
Our Solemn Assemblies sets the right spiritual tone for the entire week of Gospel outreaches. Bishop Kenner who helped to lead in prayer told Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas today, “I went home and I could not sleep. My heart burned within me!” Coincidentally, that was an answer to a prayer as the saints marched into New Orleans, “May our hearts once again burn with the revelation of God.”
Today Bishop Kenner joined with the saints as we took the Gospel of the Kingdom to the streets of New Orleans to defeat the culture of death in Jesus’ name!
Operation Save America, New Orleans, 2014
The Saints Come Marching In, Saturday, July 19
Today marked the commencement of Operation Save America’s New Orleans National Event. Christians of various denominations, ethnicities, educational backgrounds, and professions joined together to share the Gospel of the Kingdom on the streets of New Orleans.
After three days of fasting and prayer, OSA members from as far away as California, Nevada, Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Florida, and Connecticut gathered in Louisiana. Others traveled shorter distances and rolled in from Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and other southern states. OSA members poured out of rental cars, 15 passenger vans, airport shuttles, trucks, and vinyl covered “Truth Trucks” covered with pictures of aborted babies.
New Orleans is known for sweltering heat and humidity, a concern to the elderly, frail, and those with small children. Undeterred, several saints of the Lord answered the call to stand “for the least of these” in New Orleans. Driven by the Lord’s command to “rescue those unjustly sentenced to death” and to “do unto others as ye would have them do to you,” OSA members arrived at the abortion clinic on Causeway to plead for the lives of unborn babies and the souls of the lost, despite the summer heat. God blessed their obedience. His mercy showered on the saints, literally. The heavens opened and released rain on the group, keeping the temperatures down and the saints refreshed.
When the Saturday’s outreach was over, members shared a splash in the hotel’s large outdoor swimming pool or dined together at local eateries. OSA is a diverse gathering of pastors and saints that live out their faith with a multigenerational vision. They come together as great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, young adults, and children. The bustling OSA crowd made the hotel lobby look like a Hallmark greeting card for traditional values.
As far as we know, it did not appear there were abortions committed at the death camp in Metairie, LA. Local pro-lifers described the Causeway Medical Clinic as looking markedly different from its normal Saturday operations. Abortion supporters far outweighed any apparent pregnant women. OSA leaders believe pro-abortion supporters put on a theater production, lining the walkway with yellow vested “deathscorts” and ushering in a handful of “actors” to give the appearance of an open clinic. Can someone spell, STAGED?
As his fashion, Rev. Flip Benham patrolled the gathering to speak encouragement to God’s people. He shared his years of wisdom and insight and shored up the saints. He equipped the saints to do “battle,” even as he searched for the lost.
Saints used the time on the street to share the Gospel of the Kingdom to abortion supporters. OSA leader Chet Gallagher, Pastor Bill Shanks of New Orleans, Assistant to the Director, Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, and Pastor Bill Dunfey from Ohio addressed the “deathscorts” over a sound system. The appeal was personal and compelling.
The Causeway death camp was besieged by prayer, worship, and the public proclamation of the Gospel. Saints walked the sidewalks praying and interceding. Led by Mario More’s strong baritone voice, Anita and Alyss Villavaso, Maranatha and Sophia Thomas, Kimberlee Puccio, and Charity Johnston sang worship songs. Anna and James Johnston and Josiah Thomas played guitars.
Later, the saints visited the home and neighborhood of abortionist Mary Gardner. Reverends Flip and Rusty and Pastor Bill Shanks went to Gardner’s house. The men of God approached the front door to deliver God’s mail, “Repent of the sin of child sacrifice and the shedding of innocent blood and to receive the tender mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Gardner was not home but the message was left. Saints lined her neighborhood streets with signs that revealed the violence of abortion, leafleted the neighborhood to warn the neighborhood that a serial killer was in their midst.
Finally, the neighborhood was encouraged to pray for Gardner, that she might use her medical skills to save life rather than destroy life. As often happens, the truth caused “trouble” for the community. But who brought the trouble, really? Just like Elijah, OSA members respond, “We have not troubled the neighborhood, but your abortionist neighbor has forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed after the idol of child sacrifice. Have we become your enemy by telling you the truth?”
Local and national leaders of Operation Save America spent Friday preparing the way for OSA’s New Orleans National Event (July 19th- 26th). Pastors Bill Shanks of New Covenant Fellowship and Dale Sochia of King Jesus Ministries led their churches to the Women’s Health Care Center on General Pershing Street in Kenner, LA. They were joined by Operation Save America’s National Director, Rev. Flip Benham of North Carolina; Assistant Director, Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas of Texas; and retired police officer and OSA leader, Chet Gallagher and his lovely wife, Joann of Nevada.
The children ministered through chalk drawing on the sidewalks and young people held signs of live babies and victims of abortion. Women counseled abortion minded couples as they entered, men preached, and others quietly prayed as worship music filled the air.
Four babies were saved (three left the clinic and one turned away) and many had the Gospel presented to them. One young lady with rainbow colored hair and tattoos heard the Good News from Pastor Bill. She spent a half hour asking questions about the nature of the Kingdom of God. Please pray for her salvation.Dalton and Angela, a couple engaged to be married, arrived for an abortion. They had a baby and a toddler with them. After speaking with Reverends Flip and Rusty, they decided to let their third child live. Pastor Dale encouraged them to make their relationship right in the eyes of God and offered his church and services for a Christian wedding. He even offered to provide refreshments for a reception. All of this was offered free of charge. OSA leaders will follow up with Dalton and Angela. Please pray for them.
A feminist abortion supporter, wearing half a dozen bracelets adorned with skulls, also heard the Gospel of the Kingdom. She pulled her car over to the side of the road and got out. She wanted to know OSA’s next witnessing venue, presumably to oppose us. But the Lord turned the tables. She spoke to Rev. Flip and others and was confronted with the truth of her sin and the need for her Savior. She was challenged to forsake idols (goddess worship and self-worship), repent, and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. As she continued to engage the Christians, she was touched by their love for children and the disenfranchised. Please pray for Sherry.
Ken and Jo Scott, OSA leaders from Colorado, stopped in Shreveport, LA on the way to New Orleans to conduct an “awareness campaign.” Thanks to the loving intervention of the Scotts, abortionist Dale. V. Bauman was confronted with the Gospel and given an opportunity to repent. The Scotts visited three locations of which Bauman is affiliated. They disseminated information at his office and private practice in Bossier City, LA; Willis Knighton Medical Center, in Shreveport, LA, where he has hospital admitting privileges; and his home in Bossier City, LA.
The Scotts gave out tracts reading, “Pray that abortion is stopped and Bauman turns from the practice of killing innocent babies and repents to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior. This message was presented to Bauman’s affluent neighbors. Bauman resides in Stone Bridge, a wealthy community with a guard shack at the entrance. He lives in an expensive home surrounded by a manicured golf course and serene ponds.
The Scotts visited Bauman’s office and private practice, placing information under the doors of each office building. They even slid one under the door to Bauman’s private office. The Scotts also leafleted the Medical Center, placing tracts in bathrooms and in the chapel. At one location, the police were called but the Scotts accomplished the purpose and left for New Orleans without incident.
At 11:30 am today, OSA held a press conference at the Planned Parenthood building site on S. Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans. Most of the local news stations showed up, as the men of God from OSA addressed the city of New Orleans. They lovingly yet firmly presented the vision and mission of Operation Save America to the “Big Easy.” When OSA first came to the city in 1995, there were eight free standing abortion clinics. Today, there is only one left. There is another one in the surrounding city of Metairie. OSA leaders explained that there is unfinished Kingdom business that needs to be completed: New Orleans must become abortion free in Jesus’ name!
Please pray for the Word of God to go forth in power, as OSA begins its national event tomorrow, July 19th.
