Life Chain SA
A Short History
Please Let Me Live is a small pro-life ministry based 45 miles north of Sacramento, CA. God entrusted LIFE CHAIN to us in 1987, when we built America’s first Chain through our small sister towns, Yuba City and Marysville. We call LIFE CHAIN “a serious first step to pro-life activism.” It’s a serious step in that it requires us to stand publicly for one hour, while holding a pro-life sign and praying through the prayer topics on the back of our sign. That brief experience has led thousands of Christians across North America to join local pro-life groups and work as volunteers throughout the year.
The first Life Chain, with over 2,000 participants, elevated prolife out of the “handful of fundamentalists” mindset at our daily newspaper to a level of high respectability in Yuba and Sutter counties. It enabled us to unite our local churches and to inform our local media, law enforcement, public officials, and area citizenry about the unmerciful killing of preborn boys and girls in our community and beyond. By 1990, after additional Life Chains, timely picketing, prayer vigils, full-page ads, billboard campaigns, and comprehensive door-to-door distribution of pro-life literature, surgical abortions ceased in our bi-county Yuba-Sutter area.
In 1989, Bakersfield took LIFE CHAIN into Southern, CA with 7,500 participants, and Riverside, CA followed with 6,000 in attendance. In 1990, Orange County, CA increased participation to 17,000, while Fresno, CA had 10,000, San Diego 20,000 (and a month later 28,000), and Sacramento 16,500.
National Life Chain Sunday ’91 saw 373 Chains built in the U.S., with 771,000 participants. On National Life Chain Sunday ’92, more than 800 U.S. cities and towns held Chains, with participation of 975,000, while Canada had 80,000 participants at 97 Chains. National Life Chain Sundays ’93 saw over 900 Chains built in America and Canada, but attendance taking was discontinued due to our excessive preoccupation with numbers and a lack of emphasis on prayer.
From 1994 through 2002, approximately 900 Life Chains were built annually in North America; and while attendance declined significantly during those years, prayer increased substantially. Year 2003 saw an increase in the number of Chains, which grew to just over 1300 North American Chains in year 2007. For that growth, LIFE CHAIN is sincerely grateful, and we thank our Lord and Savior for His provision, protection, and enduring grace.
Resource: http://www.nationallifechain.org/