Victory in Sarasota, FL!n

Victory in Sarasota, FL!

By Tom McGlade

After 30 years of killing children and over 50,000 innocent lives taken, the Sarasota Women's Health Center - known as the North Trail Mill, the citadel of child sacrifice in our area, CLOSED DOWN! On January 22, those who persevered to the end, some of us for over 14 years, went to celebrate and worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords who finally said, "ENOUGH!" We set up our PA system on busy US 41. We prayed, sang and gave testimony of our God's great power.

Although we always hated going to the mill, we knew that it was really God's hand upon us that enabled us to persevere in standing at those horrific gates of hell these many years. Our children knew that our weekly routine always included the Tuesday and Friday praying, standing, preaching and beseeching the mothers to make the choice for life and Jesus Christ. Years ago, when our children were small, we would bring them to the gates of hell equipped with blankets, books, snacks and toys. Then, when they were old enough, they, too, joined in standing in the battle for truth and righteousness. They experienced God's hand in their lives as He gave them the boldness to not shrink back from the evil forces of darkness that were forever working to stop the furtherance of the Kingdom of Light. As time went on, our children grew up and now they, too, in turn have begun to take their own children to those very gates of hell, knowing first hand the vital importance in training them to actively stand firm for the gospel of Jesus Christ amidst a perverse generation.

Through the years, warriors have come and gone. Those horrid gates of hell actually became a training ground for many, a battle zone where those who were able to withstand the tremendous pressures of the forces working against them were discipled by the loving hand of our Almighty God. For He uses the "smith" to fire the coals to forge and mold His weapons for His purpose (Isaiah 54:16a) as his people are forced to learn perseverance, long-suffering, self-control, and every other fruit of the Spirit if they are obedient to the call; there is no other way to be able to persist in the fight without fully relying completely on the power of the Spirit of the Living Lord for everything. As His people, we have to keep our eyes on Him and our hearts right - we want and need His anointing if we are to be in any way effective for the kingdom of God ! He is producing overcomers!

Beside the pressures and injustices of injunctions, lawsuits, jail sentences, and the threat of losing our children to a corrupt system, we faced worse enemies, like discouragement, fear, the lack of self-control and the falling short in our Christ-like compassion and Agape love. We had to die to ourselves and live for our Lord and King if we were to see lives saved and souls delivered. It was imperative that we lived and dwelled in that secret place of the Most High under His love and protection. He called us to the battle, and our lives and our children's lives were His. We had to depend upon Him as our Source of everything!

Through the years, He has blessed us unimaginably with His faithfulness and goodness. We have grown in His love, peace and the joy of the Lord has truly become our abiding strength. Through our at the North Trail Mill, we have seen many come and go; however, He has in recent years, blessed us by surrounding us with those who love the Lord Jesus Christ with all of their hearts and are able to withstand the tests and trials; they have stood firm to the end. We are continually comforted and encouraged by those who truly are overcomers!

Although we would love to have seen this place of child sacrifice close shortly after the fight began fourteen years ago, and He mercifully did decrease the killing of children dramatically as soon as the work began, we submitted to His will that He would close the North Trail Mill in His time. This place which for thirty years stood as an indictment against all of us in the Church of Jesus Christ and was there to break our hard and stony hearts, served its purpose in many of our lives. We thank God that week after week our hearts broke before Him as we faced the horror of a society that kills their own children and a church which is powerless to stop it and by its silence condones it. We praise the Lord that He used this hammer in our lives.

We glorify His name that the gates of hell at the North Trail Abortion Mill were pushed back; however, the fight is not over. Now, as we face an empty building and closed gates, we turn to the next place which is further down the North Trail, to Planned Parenthood, another place of confrontation and battle against the forces of darkness - another opportunity to lift up the banner of Truth and Righteousness, another opportunity for God's weapons to be sharpened and molded further into the image of our blessed Lord and King!