Guidelines for Counseling
(taken from an email by Patte Smith, SWC)

• BE ON TIME
• THE WORD
• HOW TO RESPECT ONE ANOTHER ON THE MISSION FIELD

BE ON TIME
Please have respect for your brothers and sisters in Christ and arrive on the sidewalk in time to greet all of the women and men who are killing. Make a commitment to be there at a particular time, and KEEP YOUR COMMITMENT.

Keep in mind that those who have arrived earlier than you have already been through the ordeal of engaging many lost (and sometimes hostile) neighbors. They are more familiar with the women and men at the killing place than you are. Please allow the missionaries who are the earliest to arrive to hold more of the "court," so to speak. Stand and pray and listen for a bit when you arrive. The missionaries who are already there have been pleading with the abortion-bound and they know what they has been said to them and have heard the women and men's responses. If you are late, you will not have been privy to the interactions that have taken place in the time leading up to your arrival.

It is good to keep in mind that since the earlier first phase of our ministry is the "Good Samaritan" model, the missionaries who arrived on time have been tirelessly spending themselves in offering practical help and friendship in kindness and compassion to every single woman and man who has come to murder their baby. If you come later, the missionaries may very well be in the second phase of ministry, which is the Law part of the Gospel, which is more confrontational regarding the willful sin of murder and a biblical call to repentance. Which brings us to another suggestion ....

THE WORD
The sin of presumption is definitely one of the most frustrating parts of our missionary labor to the lost at the killing place. We meet so many lost women and men who are inoculated against the Gospel by the false message in today's modern churches--which believes in utilizing grace but does not utilize the Law of God. (Galatians 3:24). Be reminded that one of the abortionists at Orlando Women's Center and many of the women who work at the death mill are professing Christians. Long-time clinic worker Sonya prayed over a woman IN JESUS' NAME after she delivered her dead infant inside the killing place at six months gestation. Another abortionist at EPOC has been seen regularly attending church. With this in mind, we are not to be timid about confronting the women and men who are killing with the strong language of the Scriptures regarding murder.

Once we have pleaded with everyone with the Good Samaritan model (offering practical help and educational information regarding fetal development, violence of the murder to the baby, risks of child-killing surgery, and information on adoption) for the first hour or so, it is time to use the Gospel to proclaim the Law of God. The Gospel message that Jesus sent His disciples out to preach was "Repent or perish!" We should not be ashamed to preach this same Gospel message which Christ gave to His apostles. (Insert from editor: Though we must always do this firmly, let us never lose the compassion that changes hardened hearts, nor offer outright condemnation to those whose hearts we are trying to change. It has been my experience that fire and brimstone do not save babies; compassion, understanding, and the offer of tangible help does.)

How to Respect One Another on the Mission Field
DO NOT INTERRUPT! If someone is already engaging an individual (or the crowd), do not talk over them or divert the conversation. This can sometimes be very hard! We have all violated this simple courtesy at one time or another. We are under a lot of stress because babies’ lives and other’s souls are at stake, and we feeling desperate to do whatever we can before it's too late. But please, submit yourself to the Lord when you are tempted to interrupt anoher missionary when they are speaking to someone.

There are two reasons why you MUST wait until you are given the opportunity to speak:

• #1) The lost person cannot hear two (or more people speaking at once). It causes confusion and contributes to chaos, which is just what the devil wants.
• #2) It undermines the authority of the missionary who is already being faithful to interact with that lost person (or those lost people).

The only exception to this guideline would be if the missionary who is speaking is finished and indicates to you that they need your help because they have "given it their all" and recognize that they are not "connecting,” etc. & want to hand it over to someone else. Sometimes a sidewalk counselor will even call you over so that you can reason together with the abortion-bound mother or father. We could all use help every now and then.

DO NOT APOLOGIZE FOR or DISMISS WHAT ANOTHER MISSIONARY SAYS! Each of us comes from a different background and experience in our own personal lives and in our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the reasons that our missionary labors together are precious and powerful. We learn so much from one another! If you do not agree with something another sidewalk counselor has said, do not side with the lost person AGAINST your brother or sister.

Also, do not interfere with or undermine the prophetic words of the Gospel. It is not all about our comfort or the comfort of the lost, it is all about Jesus and pleasing Him as our Master and Savior and the Great Commissioner. If you have an opportunity to speak to a lost person AFTER they have listened to another counselor's words, be sure not to dismiss their words.

For instance, if one of the other missionaries has told the person you are speaking to that they are murdering an innocent person if they kill their baby, ADD to what they have said by asking: "What do you think of God's command, "You shall not murder?" or say "If your baby is made by God and is a person in her own right, taking her life is murder, right?" If you have another view, say something like ,"Let me put it this way ... " and then speak in your own words with your own voice. When a person who has come to kill a baby would complain to me about the harsh words of another counselor I would often quietly say: "My friend cares very deeply about you and your baby. She knows that your baby is going to be dismembered. How can you blame her for being upset?" You would be surprised how often that seemed to really hit home for the "offended" party. A baby is being led to slaughter. There is a reason for our strong admonitions and warnings. This is a matter of life and death.

Insert from editor: Read your Bible often. Have some scriptural verses on hand that may speak to a person on any level regarding abortion. Pray the rosary. Respect those who are praying at the mill; do not interrupt their prayers with chatting unless it is relevant. We need both Marthas and Marys at the mill--those who pray and those who work. Both fight the battle.

God bless you.