Week Two At The Winter Olympics

By

Ken and Jo Scott

 (Following is the follow up story about the pro-life witness at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.)

Never A Dull Moment

Bible Baptist Church

The second week in Salt Lake City we stayed at the Bible Baptist Church of Salt Lake.  This is one on fire church.  Although, I'm sure that they'd never seen anything like our van and the two others that showed up in their parking lot, they were thrilled to have us. Pastor Warneke told all of us to park out at the end of their parking lot so that all the passing traffic would be able to see the pictures.  This is a big change for us.  Most places either won't allow us to park, or make us hide around back when we're not on the street.   Pastor said that he got lots of calls, both negative and positive.

Bible Baptist provided the missionaries to the pre born, many others, and ourselves with free housing in their gym while we were there.  They also, at their own expense, provided 3 meals a day for all of us.  If we were going to be on the road at lunchtime, (which most of us were) they packed us a lunch.  The dinner meal stayed up and hot until the last crew came in from street preaching.  Sometimes that was 11:00 P.M.

Every morning except Sunday the Bible Baptist Church people hit the neighborhoods of Salt Lake City with literature written by church members Cindy and Richard Benson, X-Mormons.  They have a wonderful testimony and the booklet includes some information on the discrepancies between Mormonism and Christianity.  Brother Benson has the entire city mapped out on grids.  The plan is to get this out to everyone in Salt Lake.  By 8:30 in the morning several teams are in the neighbors and putting the Benson's booklet on every door.  I don't know about every team that went out, but the one I went with everyday ran from house to house.  Boy, am I out of shape.   .   

While I was out with this team every morning we were able to pass out our booklets in several polygamist communities.  I was somewhat shocked, because I really didn't think polygamy was so open in Salt Lake.  

By 1:30 the church people, the missionaries to the pre born, the street preacher, and us were on the streets in Salt Lake and Park City Street Preaching, handing out literature and carrying the abortion signs.    There were Christians everywhere!    What a blessing!  We've never seen anything like it.  You could see what God had in mind for the Olympics.  You couldn't go anywhere without seeing a Christian witness.  

Abortion Pickets

Several teams of abortion protesters along with the vans went to the abortion clinics and Planned Parenthood every morning.  Planned Parenthood, as usual, was extremely agitated.  They're now covering the faces of all their clients as they enter and leave their facility.   There was lots of good preaching on the sidewalks outside of PP and little to no interference from the police.

Mountain View Women's Center was picketed for the first time last Tuesday.  The first week of the Olympics we were only able to get pictures of it.  The picket was a real eye opener for the rest of the tenants in the building.  The 14 dentists in the building had no idea that they were sharing their building with a butcher.  At first abortion pictures in front of the building confused them.  When they found out that we were correct, they were angry with the properly manager, and let her know it.  The property manager called the police to have us removed, but she was told we had the right to be there.  

A couple more pickets here and we believe that this butcher will be forced to move.  The problem is that Utah is new to the abortion abolition movement.  There are some people interested in picketing the clinics, but they need training.  We will be working with them through the mail.  Pray, they can get something off the ground.

Utah Women Center is connected the Justice Building, and they were up in arms.  There was a constant presence here also, with little or no interference from the police.

Missionaries to the pre born were everywhere with us and sometimes worked on their own.  What a fantastic group of adults and young people.  It is a blessing to know and work with them.  Whenever they hit a location their young people cover the surrounding areas with gospel tracts and pro-life literature.  They are well organized and extremely effective.  

Red Cross
 

The Red Cross tents and trucks were highly visible where ever you went in Salt Lake and Park City.  Ken taking pictures of them sent them running for cover, but as you can see in the pictures they didn't all get away.  On Wednesday a Red Cross official saw Ken and I picketing one of their tents and he was irate.  He told me that they had stopped distributing the safe sex kits and we should leave them alone.  I think the protests the first week and continued pressure the second week really gave them a black eye, not to mention, a bad temper.   About fifteen minutes after the official yelled at me I personally witnessed a young man coming out of the Red Cross tent with two Safe Sex kits.  I couldn't get the camera in time to get a picture of it, unfortunately.  It never occurred to us that it was our story that put the pressure on the Red Cross.  It's amazing what God can do when you make yourself available.

Mission to Mormons

The Mormon Temple is where we feel we were the most effective this past week.  Every night the Mormons put on a show called "The Light of the World", it's estimated the 25,000 people would cross the street from the temple to the convention center each evening from 5 to 7.  The missionaries to the pre born, the vans, us and street preachers from all over the country were there to greet them.  What a sight!  God's word everywhere.

Ken was able to get a parking place for the van right by the temple, which left him free to street preach.  The van always makes our picket look twice as big as it really is.  After about an hour of the van at the meter the cops came to close the meters around the temple for the rest of the Olympics, but were not able to get Ken to move, so they gave in and let him stay there until after the crowd was in the convention center.  

The crowds had to stop and wait for the traffic lights, so they were a captive audience of sorts.  Many of the people were angry because their young children were exposed to the graphic pictures.

Child Sees Evil

  We were able to explain to them that our children, (the ones in the graphic pictures) never got a chance to see a picture.  Also, that as long as America is going to kill these children, they're going to live with them, because we're not going to let them forget.  

We used the booklet by the Bensons along with pro-life literature and gospel tracts as witnessing tools here.  According to some X-Mormons that we talked to on the street, the Mormon Church is changing its stance on abortion.  They said that it's causing quite a rift in the church.  Most church members that I talked to were unaware of the controversy.  Although, some months back the Mormon church published and article in the Salt Lake newspaper about how the spirit doesn't enter a child's body until after it's born.  

Thanks for all that you do Neal, we really appreciate all your hard work.  If it weren't for you these stories and pictures wouldn't get out.

If you have any questions let us know.  
God Bless,
Ken and Jo

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See all the pictures they took.

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