Just the Right Time for A Pro-Life Witness

Belinda didn’t want to go for an abortion in the first place because as a Christian she knew it was wrong. However she felt like she had no choice because her boyfriend, the father of her child, refused to help her in any way as he wanted her to have the abortion. If she didn’t go through with the abortion she would be  homeless almost immediately. 

She postponed her appointment by a day and then got up as late as possible, hoping against hope she would miss her abortion. She made her way slowly to the abortion centre, alone.  She asked a few people for directions to the abortion place, all of them told her not to go there, to keep her baby instead. When she arrived, Lorraine, one of Good Counsel's counsellors met her at the gates of the abortion centre. Belinda was grateful for the offer of help but decided to go inside anyway. Inside the abortion centre was extremely busy, there were lots of women waiting for their abortion. Belinda was shocked by the large numbers, and thought about how many babies lives were going to be ended that day. She decided that she would accept Good Counsel's help and that her baby was not going to die that day.  She

went back out and spoke to Lorraine, who told her that the Good Counsel Network could help find her accommodation and help her financially, she was very happy when she heard this and decided to come to our centre to find more about the help that was available to her. She turned up homeless with her suitcase at our centre. Here we placed her in temporary accommodation and helped her financially throughout her pregnancy and well beyond it. When her son was born she moved into a flat we helped her to find. Belinda found part-time work while her son was small. She now works full time. Her son is a practising Catholic, doing well at school and is hoping to go to university to become a lawyer.

Lorraine pointed out to Belinda that if she had attended her original appointment on the previous day or if she had come on time on the day of her new appointment she would have missed meeting Lorraine who would not have been there at those times. But God had another plan for Belinda and her son!

Help us reach out to Mother’s like Belinda with prayer, help and support by attending the 40 Days for Life Vigil near you.

The vigil in Brixton will run for 12 hours a day, 8am until 8pm, seven days a week from Ash Wednesday until Palm Sunday 29^th March. If you could spare an hour or more to come and pray with us, it would be of great help. The vigil takes place at the corner of Brixton Hill and Brixton Water Lane, London, SW2 5BJ. For more details or to book please call Gabriella on 07745711064 or 02077231740

Saving Lives with Good Counsel this Lent

 

Save whatever you can each day for the 40 days of Lent, 50p, £1, £5, £10 or whatever you can give , and donate the proceeds to help expectant Mothers who choose life in difficult circumstances. In October last year we said that, "We met a young woman a little while ago who was recently married and was living with her husband’s family. They tried to force her to have an abortion against her wishes, to the point of making her homeless while pregnant! We have stepped in to provide the help that she needs and she is able to continue her pregnancy because of your support." We are very pleased to say that with you support and prayers this young Mother has now given birth and is doing well, but still needs our help.

Payment can be made weekly in Lent or in a one off donation if that is easier for you.
You can also share our post far and wide with your pro-life friends.

Online Bank Transfers can be made to: The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel Sort Code: 40-06-30 Account Number: 13994678

Card Payments by Phone: Call 020-7723-1740 Monday - Friday 10-6 (excluding 12-1).

Via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/GB/fundraiser/charity/135949

Cheque
Please make cheques payable to The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel and sent them to:
The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel,

PO Box 46679
LONDON
NW9 8ZT

You can also download Standing Order and Gift Aid forms here https://www.goodcounselnet.co.uk/donate

Good Counsel, a victim of our own success!

As you may well know, over the last 15 years the Good Counsel Network has counselled many thousands of abortion bound Women. In 2011 we more than doubled the number of women that we saw compared to the previous year and this year we look set to increase the number yet again, although we have less counselling staff and volunteers than in previous years. All of this is quite stressful for all of our staff and volunteers so we would ask you at this time to please keep us all in your prayers.

With the increased number of babies being saved from abortion we have seen a drastic increase in the types and amount of support that we need to offer to women in order for them to be able to choose life for their children.

"Annabel" came to us after meeting a volunteer during the 40 days for life prayer vigil outside Bedford Square abortuary this Lent. It was clear to our counsellor that Annabel was set upon abortion due to a total lack of support from her ex-boyfriend and that under pressure from him she may well have returned to the abortuary and had the abortion. It was clear that she needed to be moved from her current accommodation to avoid the daily harassment from her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. This could have all been done at no cost to ourselves if we had had sufficient time for advising landlords of the move, dealing with deposits etc. but it was clear that her baby did not have this time as her living circumstances were intolerable. We therefore paid her first month’s rent so that she could move quickly. Although we have not insisted on Annabel paying all of this money back to us she has insisted on taking out a small standing order to repay this money to us over a long period of time.

Today we have a number of lifesaving financial commitments that we cannot meet. To ensure that no lives are lost due to our current financial situation I would ask you to kindly donate anything that you can at this time via a bank transfer (The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel Account Number: 00287036 Sort Code: 23 83 95 Bank: Allied Irish Bank) or send a cheque addressed to “The Guild of Our Lady of Good Counsel” to P.O. Box 46679, London, NW9 8ZT. Or you can donate here.

We are trying to increase the number of regular donations that we receive through standing orders to avoid urgent appeals of this nature but at this time our monthly outgoings are larger than our income. If you think you could help with a monthly or quarterly donation by standing order please print off this form.

Lastly and most importantly I would say, whether or not you can support us financially at this time please say this novena to St Philomena for our intentions.