THE MIRACLE ON FARWELL
By Dan Miller, Pro-Life Wisconsin State Director
It was a cold, Friday morning in Wisconsin. It was a day like any other on Farwell, except it was Good Friday, one of the holiest days of the year.
For years, Pro-Life Wisconsin has held a Good Friday Pro-Life Stations of the Cross at St. Rita’s Catholic Church – and then processed solemnly over to the abortion facility on Farwell Avenue in Milwaukee, WI. It always draws a big crowd. That year was no different.
On April 22, 2011 there were about 125 persons present as we prayed in front of Affiliated Medical Services (AMS) for an end to abortion. Just as we were almost through, a young man approached us from the crowd asking if we could pray just one more prayer. I looked to the State Director of Pro-Life Wisconsin (PLW) at the time, Peggy Hamill – and gave her one of my, “why not?” looks. He said it wouldn’t take more than seven minutes. He was prepared – and distributed copies of the prayer among the faithful pro-lifers. It was the Chaplet of the Holy Face of Jesus, which adores Jesus’ five senses using Psalm 67. Never having prayed it before, I asked him if he would lead the prayer, and he did.
Just before we wrapped things up, I noticed a lot of police in the area, but they weren’t there for us! They were directing traffic. The traffic signals had lost power. I didn’t think much of it – as things like this happen all the time in a city with a dying infrastructure. Then, I noticed the neon sign in AMS’ window was no longer glowing. The vitamin store next door had a similar sign, and it too was not glowing. Next, we noticed many of the employees coming outside to speak with the plethora of volunteer abortion escorts. They all looked very concerned about something. Amid the buzzing conversations going back and forth, I heard “flashlight” mentioned several times. Sure enough, their power had been cut, and the employees and escorts were hustling to their cars to grab flashlights.
Next, a wave of customers came streaming out. With 125 people on the sidewalks, it was very difficult to sidewalk counsel, but we did what we could. Realizing that we just weren’t going to get an opportunity to counsel them each individually, I raised my voice to all of them walking away, “Go home to enjoy Easter for what it really is – NEW LIFE! Don’t come back! This is a sign from God! Today is Good Friday – the day our Lord and Savior died on the cross for our sins!” The abortion escorts were in a frenzy trying to achieve damage control, as you could imagine. I continued to “group counsel” them as they walked further and further away from this place of desolation. Some wouldn’t turn around – but many did. They even smiled at me! I have no idea if any babies were saved from abortion that day, but my heart tells me there were some, and that is good enough for me.
After everything had settled down, we processed back to St. Rita’s Catholic Church and people went back to their homes to attend their own church’s Good Friday services. A friend of mine, Joe Floryance, gave me a ride back to AMS to pick up my car. Joe and I stood there, talking and praying – taking in all that had happened. Joe looked across the street to the pregnancy resource center, Women’s Care Center (WCC) and said, “Hey Danny, come here! You’ve got to see this!” I walked over to his vantage point and tried to see what he was pointing at. “Their lights are on!” Joe said.
Puzzled, I replied, “Is that strange, or WHAT?!” Looking for a probable explanation, we looked around some more. All the other lights on Farwell, Prospect, and Ogden were out. I blinked real hard and walked a little closer to the WCC and looked again. Sure enough, their lights were burning brightly as if nothing had happened!
Typical me – the Doubting Thomas – I called the WCC right then and there to see if they had a generator or any other way to produce electricity – and they said, “We’ve got some pretty good donors, but there is NO WAY that we have money for something like that!” I dug deeper, asking one of their board members to do some checking for me. He called the utility to find out what happened. They were very apologetic about them not having power.
He said, “No, we are not calling to complain. We were wondering how it is that we had power that day!” The power utility said, “It would be IMPOSSIBLE for you [WCC] to have power at that time. You are on the same grid.” From that day forward, we called this event, “The Miracle on Farwell.”
To this day, no one can tell us who that man was that encouraged us to pray the Chaplet to the Holy Face of Jesus. Was he an encounter with an angel?
If you are still listening to this inspiring story – I know you believe in the power of prayer!