A DAD’S GRIEVING HEALING HEART

When I found Project Rachel I was desperately trying to cope with THE most tragic event of my life. As a father who wasn’t given a say in the decision to abort, my grief was overwhelming. I kept overthinking things, living in the past, wondering if there was anything I could have done differently.

Through Project Rachel I have come to understand that is all part of the healing process.

Project Rachel has helped renew my faith in God and trust in His divine plan. I now believe that my beautiful baby girl (Angelica) is ALIVE, in Heaven, with her Creator.

I strive constantly to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God so that I may one day spend eternity with my little angel in Heaven.

Praise God for Project Rachel. And, to all those suffering from abortion, I pray that you will find the healing you need in your life through God’s grace and unconditional love.

THANK YOU!! ...for your prayers, your words of encouragement, for your faithful contributions, for being pro-life to all you meet.

NEW WEBSITE NEWS!

Nova Scotians United for Life maintains the website www.projectrachel.ca which is dedicated to informing others of our Project Rachel ministry that provides post-abortion healing for women and men.

We are pleased to announce that we have set up an additional website www.nsul-pr.com which will serve to provide information and resources on various life issues: abortion, end of life issues such as MAID, chastity, sexually transmitted infections, contraception, natural family planning.

And although www.projectrachel.ca will continue to be our main Project Rachel resource page, we even have a series of pages on our new site dedicated to Project Rachel including one with many testimonies.

Please check out the new www.nsul-pr.com!

RCIA AND PROJECT RACHEL

(Right of Christian Initiation of Adults)

I found Project Rachel after entering RCIA where one of the handouts was a Project Rachel brochure! I had been silently battling my abortion experience for years. I had an abortion as a teenager and I was hesitant to reach out at first because I thought there was no place for my feelings of grief and regret, and I feared I would be judged and blamed.

But I found an open, kind, and non-judgmental group of women, most of whom had journeyed with Project Rachel themselves before becoming facilitators.

Project Rachel is giving me the space to process my abortion experience and the confidence to reach out and mend my relationship with God, my child (Celeste) in Heaven, and my loved ones here on earth.

NSUL TOWN HALL MEETING

NSUL is excited to announce we will be hosting our first annual Pro-Life Town Hall meeting in 2022 at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Dartmouth.

Our objectives are:
✓ to initiate an annual event where we can equip supporters with tools to effectively spread the Pro-Life message from conception to natural death,
✓ to facilitate round table discussions to uncover ideas on how we can convert those who maybe indifferent or closet supporters,
✓ to provide an opportunity for those of us who often feel alone in our pro-life efforts, to forge a community and relationships of like-minded men and women.
✓ Date TBA.

“Every new child is a sign that God wants the world to go on." -- John Powell, SJ

Smile, it's good for LIFE!
"I am in shape. Round is a shape!" - George Carlin

FREE GROUND

Recently, we were contacted by a woman inquiring if we knew where her dear son, stillborn in 1965, might be buried.

We contacted the Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Office and were told about an area inside the gates of Holy Cross Cemetery, on the left, just beyond the Columbarium that is designated as Free Ground for such burials.

After all these years, what a blessing for this woman to finally find out where her child was buried! Now there is a place where she can go to pray to and honor the brief life of her dear son Christopher.

FREE! Just ask!

- Project Rachel finger rosaries
- 12 week old fetal model
- gold/silver 10 week old precious feet

SPIRITUAL ADOPTION OF AN UNBORN BABY

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen felt the only way to overcome abortion was through prayer and sacrifice/fasting.

He suggested that we ask the Lord to allow us to spiritually adopt an unborn child who is in danger of abortion. We can choose a boy or a girl and give them a name and then mark down the date of their adoption.

You are encouraged to pray the following prayer daily for 9 months, along with sacrifice and fasting. Then, for the next 3 months, offer the Lord thanks and praise for the child’s life.

This is Archbishop Sheen’s spiritual adoption prayer:
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn child, (name the child) that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion.

(Free prayer cards, with this prayer on them, are available from Nova Scotians United for Life.)

TEN COMMANDMENTS OF FORGIVENESS

At a recent Mass, Father John MacPherson listed the "Ten Commandments of Forgiveness". Here is how they could relate to Pro-life values.

• 1) Forgiveness is not easy. We need God to help us. So too is deciding to preserve life. Ask God to help us start the process.

• 2) Forgiveness is not forgetting what happened. One needs a change of heart. A pro-life choice often requires a change of heart against the world view.

• 3) Forgiveness doesn’t mean denial and does not accept injustice or overlook evil. Aborting a baby is the ultimate injustice to an innocent child. One should pray for all those involved in the abortion including the doctors, and any who may have counseled, encouraged, or coerced the woman to choose abortion.

• 4) Forgiveness is not indifference. When damage has been done, the goal is to repent and amend one’s life. Having an abortion can create huge feelings of guilt. As pro-life people we are called to believe and proclaim that God loves each one of us regardless.

• 5) Forgiveness isn't the approval of a wrong. Comforting one who has had an abortion and counseling her at Project Rachel is the loving thing to do. It's done in hope the person will heal and be lovingly reconciled with God and their dear baby.

• 6) Forgiveness recognizes people are of far more value than their mistakes or sins. Project Rachel values people and does not define a person by their abortion. Instead? By their unlimited potential!

• 7) Forgiveness is allowing a person to start over again, and the letting go of grudges. Rather than be considered a lost cause for her decision, Project Rachel reveals to such women that they are loved by the God of “Second Chances” and invited to even name their babies!

• 8) Forgiveness recognizes the humanity of the person who wronged us. In issues of life and death, supporting the pro-life movement does everything to uphold human dignity.

• 9) Forgiveness surrenders the right to get even, and instead, absorbs the hurt, thus ending a cycle of hurt, blame and revenge. So even when a mother chooses an abortion, against the father’s wishes, healing only happens when the blaming stops.

• 10) Forgiveness means we wish the person hurting us well. As pro-life people, it means letting go, and letting God be the final judge. We want the woman to realize that she is forgiven by a most merciful God for the choice she has made and that she is free from the bonds of abortion.

THANK YOU!! ...to those who generously sup- port us; to those who faithfully pray for the unborn and for those in need of post-abortion healing; to the priests who hear the confessions of our Project Rachel women/men; our NSUL staff, Project Rachel facilitators and our board members.

GOOD NEWS ...Please rejoice with us as we celebrate the marvelous Forgiveness of God that 3 Project Rachel women are experiencing this Christmas. Two of these women have finished the 10 Sessions, while the 3rd gal has 5 Sessions left to go. We met with one woman in per- son, while the other 2 we have journeyed with, very successfully, using whatsapp on our phones! Each of these women wishes to share a part of her journey with you.

Before I found Project Rachel I truly didn't think that healing from my abortions was even possible. I was a bundle of angst and tension always looking for something deeper to satisfy the emptiness. I had never really spoken to anyone about what I had done. I swept it under the rug pretending like it hadn't happened.

I carried this guilt and hatred of myself around for so long and was so tired of it. I finally came home to Christ, but still could not find the forgiveness I needed.

One day in church, during praise and worship, I heard the words Pro Life like a whisper in my ear. I took that as a sign that I would be volunteering my time with the organization. Little did I know that God had a wonderful program waiting for me at the other end of the email I sent to Nova Scotians United For Life that would start me on my healing journey.

I reluctantly called the facilitator and the moment we started speaking I knew this was where I was supposed to be. I realized that God had forgiven me long before I was even aware of the abundance of His mercy.

The Project Rachel program has helped me heal when for years I thought it was impossible to do so. God is the only way to heal from this painful decision.

A LETTER TO GOD As part of Project Rachel’s Session 10, the women are asked to write a letter to God.

Dear Lord,

I know that You have been with me since the beginning and are still with me, as I navigate through the days and moments of my life. Praise You Lord.

So many times I have burdened myself with heavy struggles, unable to carry the magnitude of my choices, trapped under my decisions and unable to move forward. You gave me strength to go on. You carried my troubles. Praise You Lord.

Your gift of prayer has uplifted me and consoled me many, many times. Praise You Lord.

Thank You God for leading me through my hurts and past my sadness to the places of healing and forgiveness. Praise You Lord.

When I reflect on our relationship I know that You have been my greatest source of comfort and strength, and that pain and suffering has only hurt me when I have wandered too far from You.

I trust in You, Lord. I accept that I have hurt myself through my sins. I surrender to Your plans for my life and I am so thankful for my communion with You.

Thank You Lord for my life and all the joy You have given me and all the joy to come. Thank You Lord for being my greatest companion and my one true love. Thank You Lord for the peace and contentment knowing You brings me. Thank You for drawing me closer to You Lord. I love You with all my heart Lord.

Sincerely,

Your Daughter,

P.S. I feel a letter falls short in expressing a lifetime of gratitude. Such immense gratitude could never be conveyed by words. Its gravity could only be measured in the feelings for You that I hold in my heart.

Smile, it’s good for LIFE!
(a very shy person): Gee, I have been social distancing long before it was required!!

AMAZEMENT

If you open your heart and let the Light of the world penetrate your worst moment, you will not only experience gratitude because of His Mercy but be amazed at how much He loves you. A relentless Love. A Love that breaks down your walls.
       
How do I know this? Because I’ve experienced it first hand. Abortion stripped my soul of dignity, self-confidence and hope but most of all of my beloved child. It’s taken over 30 years of digging and beneath the layers of pain, sorrow and grief lies much hope.
      
Hope in a Sacred Heart that is so filled with compassion and sees the real you. The you created with plans for greatness beyond what you could have imagined.
       
My amazement grows everyday, as the more I surrender, the more He gives His heart to me. I can now embrace my role as a mother and begin to see what that really means. And just when you think your heart can’t take any more love and forgiveness He presents to you Mary - His mother, to guide you on this journey.
       
Mary soothes the scars with her precious maternal balm and prepares you to meet your child, the one you will enjoy and love for all eternity!
    
(In Session 5, Dec. 16/20, we were reviewing how this PR woman felt in the recovery room after her abortion.  One of her comments was —- “who would have thought the recovery would take 30 years?)

DO YOU REMEMBER?

“On October 1, 1988 at Saint Joseph’s Parish, Halifax, Father Joe Christensen created the PINK and BLUE
PROJECT.   
       
The posters read: UNBORN BABIES ARE SPECIAL PERSONS, LET THEM LIVE.   
       
In December 1988, St. Joseph’s applied for and received copyright protection for use of the Pink and Blue logo.  In early 1992, the copyright ownership was transferred to Nova Scotians United for Life.”

SPECIAL MASSES

On Friday, Aug. 27 and Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021, Project Rachel will be one of the sponsors of the Daily TV Mass that is live streamed from the
Loretto Abbey Chapel, Toronto.  The Daily TV mass is associated with the Vision TV Network.
     
Our special intention will be ‘in grateful thanks to God who has reunited us with our dear babies through this Project Rachel post-abortion healing ministry.’
       
Please join us for these Masses of forgiveness and healing.

THE THINKING FETUS - by Carol Levy
      
I can’t wait to be born and comb my mommy’s hair and have my daddy hold me.
I can feel, I can look, I can see and I know if you want me or don’t want me.
Let me live and be a part of God’s creation.
Pray that governments will enact laws to stop abortion.
     
(We are so grateful to Carol who has deep compassion for the unborn. She distributes the ‘precious feet’ in her seniors’ residence.)   

GRANDPARENTS and ABORTION

When we find out that one of our children has had an abortion we may feel upset and angry.   

Here are a few suggestions to help you turn these negative emotions into affirmative actions.
❤ name your grandchild (who is alive in the Lord);
❤ thank God for this dear grandchild;
❤ pray for your son’s or daughter’s soul;
❤ forgive, forgive, forgive;
❤ offer them Project Rachel information, or read up on it yourself so you will have a more gentle understanding of their pain, and
❤ contact Project Rachel and let’s chat. Do not let the abortion divide you from your child, your grandchild and from God.   (projectrachel.ca)