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Loving Life

The Miracle on Walnut Street

“I shall not die, but live and declare the deeds of the Lord.”  Psalm 118:17

Folks at the visitors’ center say Macon is the place where soul lives, but in the heart of the city, The Kolbe Center’s mission is to be where souls live.

The pro-life ministry is dedicated to the Catholic martyr who gave his life at Auschwitz so a man with a wife and children could live, St. Maximillian Kolbe (coal-be).

In the shadow of church spires, the deeds of the Lord are carried out daily at the center that bears his name at 833 Walnut St. The mere presence of that refuge for struggling mothers and those worried they might be pregnant is a testament to the prayers of the faithful – and Divine Intervention.

In 1988, pro-lifers effectively shut down Macon’s only abortion clinic with their persistent protesting and wreath-laying at the dumpster where fetal baby parts were discarded. The doctor later vowed never to perform abortions again after a teen died days after a procedure. He surrendered his life to Christ, and Macon has not had an abortion clinic since.

The battle wasn’t over though, and that’s where the true miracle happened at 833 Walnut.

In 2018, the Summit Center quietly secured planning and zoning approval for a women’s clinic offering abortions at the old medial office on Walnut between Spring and New streets. By the time the public learned an abortion clinic would be operating downtown, it was too late to protest against it. The vote had been taken. P&Z said there was no legal basis to reverse its decision since abortion was legal.

Pro-life people from all denominations did not give up and held regular demonstrations outside the future clinic site. The St. Maximillian Kolbe Center for Life, which opened four years before, pledged to maintain a perpetual prayerful presence as expectant mothers arrived to terminate their pregnancies.

Nearby business owners fearing disruptive picket lines, went to court asking a judge for a rehearing before P&Z because the prior agenda made no mention of an abortion business, only a women’s clinic.

The judge threw out the case because it reached the clerk a day after the 30-day filing deadline, although another judge had signed the document the day before.

Just when the pro-life locals thought there was no legal way to stop the slaughter of innocents, God moved on the heart of a Kolbe benefactor. He purchased the building. Summit Center no longer had a willing landlord and Macon would still be without an abortion clinic.

As Kolbe once said: “The most deadly poison of our times is indifference.”

Had our prayer partners not stepped forward, God only knows how many babies’ lives would have ended within these walls where life is now cherished and nourished. May they live to proclaim the deeds of the Lord.