Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God! 1 Peter 4:1-2

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation. 1 Peter 4:12-13

Jailed in Canada

A friend I met on the Head West Tour, Todd, and I, drove up to Canada to join Brother Bill Whatcott in Regina, Saskatchewan, only we met some surprises at two border stations. At the first one, north of Grand Forks, North Dakota, customs went through my pickup, looking first at the literature I had, the contents of my briefcase, then later our bags. When they saw the photos of the aborted babies, the large signs (including Jeremiah 1:5 and Romans 6:23), and literature such as the 850 pieces entitled, “Do homosexuals go to heaven or hell?," they said they were going to “detain me,” and determine whether to charge me with smuggling. They handcuffed me and put me in a jail cell for over an hour.

I overheard immigration talking about my FBI file with all my cases related to prolife ministry. Finally the customs official released me with no charges, but said immigration had refused us entry. He said we would have to apply for a permit in order to get into Canada. After consultation and prayer, we decided to try again at a different spot. We were led to believe that it would be unlikely for them to check my ID on their computer again. This time, I took out everything except the Christian literature against sodomy, which was for a particular Christian in Canada to distribute door to door. I let my friend walk across the border, since we didn’t have time to get him ID. Now my second attempt, at a secluded border station north of Montana, happened to be on the day a new customs official was being trained. There were two guards there instead of one and, to make a long story short, they arrested me for trying to enter again and denying that I had tried previously. They confiscated the literature and four Christian tapes from a Voice of the Martyrs Conference (Richard Wurmbrandt). They picked up Todd along the same road that I was supposed to pick him up, so we got to spend most of the next 9 days in jail, together! Being in jail with another Christian is much better than being in alone. Having a Bible with you is a great blessing as well. While being driven to the jail in Estevan, Saskatchewan, the officer stopped the radio dial when Todd recognized a preacher’s voice. J. Vernon McGee was talking about Daniel’s sufferings and what the devil meant for evil, God meant for good. We were encouraged by the timing of that message! We spent three days in jail before going before a Provincial Court Judge. They told us that if we pled not guilty, we would remain in jail until October, when they would have the trial. So much for a speedy trial. They never mentioned the possibility of a jury trial. I told the Judge that we had come to Canada to do good, that I was a Christian and wanted to speak up for the preborn. I read Jeremiah 7:6-7 which were God’s requirements for His people to dwell in the land He gave them: “...if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers....” The Judge looked very stern the entire time I spoke. He responded by finding us guilty and giving us $300 fines in addition to the jail time Immigration wanted. He said, “You are NOT welcome in Canada...we have enough of your kind here.” Since we had another 6 days to wait in jail, before our immigration hearing, the jail time was taken in place of the fine. We spent that time in a medium security prison in Regina. Todd and I were put in a dirty, graffiti covered, two man cell, only large enough for a bunk, small metal desk, open toilet and sink. The water made our throats sore, so we drank the coffee and tea they brought around regularly. They took us into downtown Regina for our immigration hearings, where they had a closed circuit television hook-up with two officials in another Province. The Canadian Mounted Policeman told me before the hearing, they could do one of three things. Order a departure, where you have 30 days to leave the country, an exclusion, where you cannot return for a year, or deportation, which means we could never come back. The policeman thought it likely they would give us one of the two lesser punishments. The “hearing” amounted to each of us hearing them deport us. The entire experience was a wake up call for the one world order, where nations will share “files” on their citizens to keep them in check. Two Canadian National Police drove us to the border.

We wore the old smelly clothes we were originally arrested in, and had a small bag of our property items, but the jail didn’t give us back the money we had on us. We were dropped off in the small Montana town of Plentywood. We went to the Assembly of God Bible study that night, and the Church put us up in a hotel. The next day, the Pastor took us back to the border and paid $107 Canadian to get my truck back. He also changed a flat tire on it. We were not allowed to cross the border, even to retrieve our vehicle! The postmaster in town heard of our plight, and gave me $200 for us to get home. He was a strong prolife Catholic. Todd and I rejoiced at how the Lord had provided for us! I spent time in the jails meditating on 1 Peter 4. We were able to be a witness there too.

The Head West Tour

At each stop, I usually passed out literature to cars stopped at the intersection where we set up our signs. There were three stops that had hi-lites for me. In Sioux Falls, we toured a Christian Pregnancy Help Center that was once a Planned Parenthood (PP) killing center. The Director said it was filthy on the inside when they bought it, and the entrance was like a bomb shelter. There was a hole in the wall where the abortionist used to look out the window during rescues and pickets and release his anger. The room they use for ultra-sound imaging, which saves babies now, was an old killing center room for Planned Parenthood. In Billings, we visited the PP killing center in a well-to-do area downtown, across from a Methodist Hospital which refers patients there. Most of the nurses in the hospital, I offered literature to, were as cold hearted as the PP employees. We held signs around PP on the sidewalk. This was a great victory in itself, because only 1.5 years ago, my buddy Cal was arrested on the very same sidewalk, simply talking to people, praying, and offering literature. He didn’t even have a sign! The American Family Association Law Center had to sue the City of Billings to get that right restored. While holding a sign at a different stop in Billings, I got to pray with a woman on the sidewalk, who expressed conviction and remorse for her past sins. While passing out lit to cars in Omaha, Nebraska, a young woman gave me a donation, but then began crying, explaining that she had a past abortion. I encouraged her to ask Jesus to forgive her and that I would pray for the Lord to give her grace and strength to help other women not make the same mistake. Once forgiven and restored, God can use her for good. The day after our last stop in Omaha, Todd and I decided to stick around to picket Leroy Carhart’s abortion chamber in Bellevue, just south of Omaha. Carhart was the killer who sued the State of Nebraska for their law banning partial birth abortion. The wicked Justices on the Supreme Court gave him what he wanted with the wicked logic, that if they ban that type of abortion, they may have to ban D & E abortions (Dilation and Extraction), which is just as brutal and gory, since the abortionist uses forceps to decapitate the baby. Carhart’s abortion mill looks like a condemned warehouse with boards in the windows where sandbags used to be. In the 2 hours we were there, we saw about 3 or 4 women go in, but one of them left soon after arriving. We warned the workers of the seriousness of their sin, and exhorted the neighbors to love their neighbors (in the womb) as themselves.

Middle School Outreach

I visited the four middle schools in Appleton and the two in Neenah, a nearby city, last April and May. We passed out lots of gospel tracts, mostly from Ray Comfort, and prolife literature, some of which included color pictures of what abortion does. At Roosevelt School, I had students flocked around me, all wanting the 12 week plastic model of the preborn baby. Many wanted the precious feet pins I had as well. Since I anticipated some letters to the editor on all this, I decided to write one before leaving on the Head West Tour. It took them a month to print it. Eight days later, they printed an angry response from a feminist who thinks I should preach to men rather than women and children about abortion. Little does she know, or want to admit, that I am more than happy to preach to ANYONE about abortion.

Wichita Event and Wisconsin Tour Coming Up

Today, Todd and I plan to leave for Wichita, Kansas. Operation Save America has planned a week of major prolife activities, centered around delivering Wichita of their nationally known, notorious late term abortionist, George Tiller, and his killing center, which includes a crematorium to burn up the bodies of the 2nd and 3rd trimester babies he murders. I will be able to see many prolifers from around the country that I’ve gotten to know. It is our prayer that the work begun during the Summer of Mercy in 1991 would be finished now. As soon as I get back, I plan to be a part of the Missionaries to the Preborn, Wisconsin Tour. Once again we will expose the evils of Planned Parenthood to cities all over Wisconsin. We plan to carry signs on sticks during the EAA Convention (Experimental Aircraft Association). Thousands of people flock to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for this, only a 25 minute drive from where I live. Thank you once again for your prayers in the past and for these upcoming activities.

Your Brother in Christ,
Mark Gabriel