Registrations for the fall 40 Days for Life aren’t even half-way over, and ALREADY more cities are registered than participated in the entire spring campaign!

For info, see: http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply

*** And we just got word of an exciting development that will help build on this momentum. ***

This Friday, a brand-new, world-premiere documentary about 40 Days for Life — filmed by an Emmy-award- winning director — will be airing in 128 million homes around the world!

It’s the latest installment of “beingHUMAN,” and it’s airing Friday on the EWTN global television network.

Watch preview:

Last fall, the first installment of this high quality, documentary-style program, helped launch the first ever national 40 Days for Life, and gained a “Telly Award” for television excellence.

Now the second installment will air this Friday to help launch the fall 40 Days for Life campaign.

This episode, “being HUMAN: 40 Days for Life II,” interviews volunteers, national leaders, and former abortionists on how 40 Days for Life is renewing hope in communities across the nation.

It focuses on the stories and successes that prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil have accomplished through 40 Days for Life campaigns that have now spread across the country and around the globe.

This show is a great opportunity to get people in your community involved in this initiative.

Please spread the word to friends and family via email, at your church using the pre-made bulletin inserts, and encourage everyone you know to watch the show this Friday, July 25, at 6:30 PM (Eastern).

Watch previews, see guests appearing on the show, and download bulletin inserts:

http://www.beinghumanshow.com

WHAT:  “being HUMAN: 40 Days for Life II”  

DATE:  Friday, July 25  

TIME:  6:30 PM Eastern (3:30 PM Pacific)  

WHERE: Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) – available in most markets

God is SO good!

Yours For Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

OK, registrations for this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign are officially underway… and things are pretty crazy around here!

In the first 24 hours of accepting applications for this fall’s 40 Days for Life, DOUBLE the number of cities had signed up compared to the first day of registrations last fall, and since then, the numbers have only continued to grow.

More than half the states in America already have cities registered, and there are multiple registered international sites as well!

Media outlets are abuzz with the news of the excitement surrounding 40 Days for Life. Here are just a couple of the many articles:

Yesterday’s LifeNews.com story:

http://www.lifenews.com/nat4054.html

Top story earlier today on Catholic News Agency:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=13287

By all indications, this fall is going to be BIG.

Just a couple quick things…

Here’s the direct link that will take you to the letter describing everything your community will receive by participating in 40 Days for Life:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply

Also, following the technical disaster we experienced Tuesday night that disconnected more than 400 people from the “Quick Start” training teleconference and webcast, we re-recorded the entire call and decided to make the audio recording and written transcript available to everyone.

Whether you feel called to lead a local 40 Days for Life — or you just want to see it happen in your community — this training will help you find out exactly what is involved in conducting a lifesaving campaign where you live:

Listen Online Now (click “Play” button to start audio):

Download MP3 (click to play, right-click to save to your computer):

http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/quickstart.mp3

Download PDF Written Transcript:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/docs/qstranscript.pdf

Please share the recording and transcript of this training call with others who could also benefit.

If you have any questions that need to be answered to decide if this is right for your community, send them to: info@40daysforlife.com

We’ll do our best to answer quickly!

Well, that’s all we have time for at the moment.

Expecting GREAT things for this fall,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- We got word about some BIG breaking news that we’ll be able to share with you next week. (Hint: think 128 million homes, next Friday night…) Keep your eyes open for an exciting message from me Monday!

Just a quick note…

The application to participate in the September 24 - November 2 nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign is now LIVE!

You can check it out at:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply

WARNING: That is a pretty long page. I tried to keep it shorter, but describing everything you get by registering took up a lot of space.

Hope to work with you this fall!

Blessings,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Before I could even send out this e-mail 21 cities have already submitted applications!

PLEASE don’t feel too frenzied when you’re reading everything. We are taking registrations from today until Tuesday, July 29, at midnight Pacific time.

Take your time to make sure that you:

1. Have PRAYED about this
2. Have STUDIED the pre-registration training
3. Have TALKED with your family
4. Are willing to LEARN and FOLLOW DIRECTIONS
5. Are serious about ENDING ABORTION in your town

This is just too important to do half-way.

When you are ready to take the first step, go to:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/apply

With only two days left until the doors open for registrations for this fall’s nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign, we wanted to give you a unique opportunity to finalize your decision about whether 40 Days for Life is right for you — and right for your community.

You are invited to join me and 40 Days for Life national team members Shawn Carney, Carmen Pate, and David Brandao for a one-time-only training teleconference and web simulcast where you will learn exactly what it takes to get a QUICK START in conducting a successful 40 Days for Life.

It’s absolutely FREE to participate in this live educational call. Here are your details…

WHAT: 40 Days for Life “QUICK START” Teleconference and Webcast

WHEN: Tuesday, July 15, at 9 PM Eastern (8 PM Central, 7 PM Mountain, 6 PM Pacific)

FORMAT: Simulcast! (Attend via phone or webcast — it’s your choice)

HOW: Register online at: http://www.40daysforlife.com/quickstart

On the call you will discover:

• What 40 Days for Life is — and what it’s NOT…
• Why the fall of 2008 is such a crucial time to conduct a local 40 Days for Life…
• Who should participate in 40 Days for Life — and who SHOULDN’T…
• Important considerations in determining your personal role in this effort…
• How to assemble a core team of people and assign roles to conduct a local campaign…
• Ways to prepare your community for 40 days of unified prayer and fasting…
• How to plan for an effective — and peaceful — prayer vigil outside a nearby abortion facility or Planned Parenthood center… 
• Secrets of coordinating grassroots educational outreach across your community…
• How to get hundreds — or possibly thousands — of people involved in your 40 Days for Life…
• What kind of financial investment will be required to have a successful campaign…
• How your community can apply to participate in this fall’s nationwide 40 Days for Life…
• What tools the 40 Days for Life national team will provide to help you conduct a life-saving campaign in your town…
• …And much, much more!

In addition, you can ask any question that’s on your mind about leading — or participating in — a local 40 Days for Life campaign. We’ll stay on the phone as long as possible to answer as many questions as we can.

As an added bonus ONLY for participants on the live teleconference, you will have the first opportunity to get a “head-start” on applying to participate in this fall’s campaign and gaining access to all your tools, templates, and training.

There is limited space on the teleconference and webcast, and with the intense level of excitement about this fall’s campaign, we could easily fill every available spot — so sign up now!

Just go to:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/quickstart

Look forward to talking with you on the phone — or via the Web — Tuesday night!

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Can’t make the live call due to a schedule conflict? Register anyway. The entire event will be audio recorded and we’ll let you know as soon as the recording is ready for you to listen:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/quickstart

We haven’t sent the first press release about this fall’s campaign, and the media buzz about 40 Days for Life is already beginning to build!

Yesterday, I was on the phone fielding numerous interviews for radio shows about the upcoming fall 40 Days for Life.

One of them — a full hour discussion on the nationally syndicated “Point of View” talk show — featured broad-ranging discussions about:

• The history of 40 Days for Life
• The rapid nationwide and international growth of the campaign
• The lifesaving impact of this initiative
• Ways to raise awareness and get other people involved in a local campaign
• When and how people can register for this fall’s 40 Days for Life
• How people will be equipped and empowered to conduct a successful campaign

But, in my opinion, the best part of the show was hearing the testimonials from five of the previous 40 Days for Life local leaders talking about their experiences with the campaign.

These were ordinary people God used to accomplish extraordinary things!

You can now hear the audio recording of the entire radio show here:

Listen Online Now (click “Play” button to start audio):

Download MP3 (click to play, right-click to save to your computer):

http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/pov.mp3

Or you can just listen to the short audio testimonials here:

Listen Online Now (click “Play” button to start audio):

Download MP3 (click to play, right-click to save to your computer):

http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/5leaders.mp3

And while you’re at it, take a quick look at the 290+ cities that have already expressed interest in participating in this fall’s 40 Days for Life:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

If your town isn’t on the map yet, follow the simple instructions to get listed and begin connecting with other local people who may want to participate in a 40 Days for Life campaign.

In addition to Australia, Brazil, Canada, and Latvia, 49 states plus the District of Columbia are now actively interested in conducting a
40 Days for Life!

(And if you know any pro-lifers in Idaho, let them know how much we’d love to see them on the map.)

Don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what God has in store for this fall!

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- If you haven’t yet seen the dynamic North Dakota case study video we released yesterday, here are just a few of the comments pouring in about it:

“Thanks be to God for the inspiration He has provided for people to be involved in this work. This video is an excellent tool, not only to encourage new people to jump in, but to reinspire tired pro-life workers to jump in with more vigor! This is not the time to bury our heads in the sand - we must do everything within our power to end abortion. God is with us, who can be against us?” 

– Jan England, Sacramento

“WOW!!!! What a great video! We will begin our second campaign this fall in the Twin Cities. The saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ holds true here. I encourage everyone to link this to their home page, send an email blast, spread the word and get the body of Christ out on the street in peaceful vigil.”

– Brian Walker, St. Paul

Watch it online now:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=120

After a few technological glitches and setbacks, the video case study I’ve been promising is FINALLY ready for you:
 

The 39-minute video is a comprehensive case study of a very successful 40 Days for Life campaign that was held in Fargo, North Dakota.

Shawn Carney and I flew to Fargo a couple weeks ago to meet with the local 40 Days for Life leaders and film this, and I think you will be richly blessed.

You’ll hear from their entire campaign team — as well as other volunteers and leaders, including a local radio station owner, the North Dakota leader of Concerned Women for America, and Catholic Bishop Samuel Aquila.

During the video, you will learn…

• How to get a local 40 Days for Life started
• Ways to begin creating an impact in your town
• The lifesaving results of a local campaign
• Wise advice to consider before deciding to conduct a 40 Days for Life in your community
• The great blessings you can experience

You’ll also see footage from a live rally that we held a few feet from the front door of the last remaining abortion facility in the entire state of North Dakota.

This is the most important piece of pre-registration training we have yet made available to you, and is highly recommended for anyone who is even thinking about participating in 40 Days for Life.

If you want to save more lives from abortion where you live, then you will want to make the time to watch this powerful video.

If you don’t have a fast Internet connection to watch this, make a point to go to a local library or somewhere else to watch this.

YES, it’s that important!

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Keep in mind that registrations begin in less than a week — Wednesday, July 16 — and will go until July 28. More than 275 cities are already on the map expressing interest in holding a local campaign, and the numbers keep growing. It’s going to be an exciting fall!

Do you want to see the life-saving impact of 40 Days for Life happen in your city this fall?

Would you like to connect with other people in your area who are interested in doing 40 Days for Life?

If so, you’re invited to try out the new networking tool on the 40 Days for Life web site where you can indicate your interest on a map and connect with other interested people in your area:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

It’s fast, it’s easy, and best of all it’s FREE!

Here’s all you have to do:

1.) Go to: http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

2.) Look down the list of communities where people are interested in conducting 40 Days for Life. If your town is already listed, click on the link and then follow the simple instructions to connect with others in your area.

3.) If your town is not listed — and it probably isn’t yet since this new technology was just released — then click on the link at the bottom of the page that says “Add Another Community” and follow the instructions to set up a listing for your town where you can begin connecting with others.

It’s that easy!

As others begin to join your community, you can make postings to the whole group or send a private message to just one other person. You can pray together, decide if 40 Days for Life is right for your area, and begin making plans together.

When new people visit the 40 Days for Life web site, we’ll send anyone who lives in your area to the listing for your community so you can connect with them also.

You do not have to use this tool to participate in 40 Days for Life, but we set this up as a free resource to help you…

…And we hope it does!

A quick disclaimer — this is a cutting-edge “Web 2.0″ social networking tool, and we tried to make it as easy as possible (so even people like me could use it.)

We’ve tested and tweaked it, and tried to make it extremely simple, but if you run into any problems, just let us know by e-mailing: info@40daysforlife.com

Here’s your link one more time:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/location.cfm

Hope you find this helpful!

Yours For Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Please let your friends, family members, co-workers and fellow believers all over the country know about this so they can also connect and get involved.

P.P.S.- REMEMBER: registrations for this fall’s national 40 Days for Life begin on Wednesday, July 16. Hope this tool helps you connect with others who have interest in conducting a campaign in your community!

I spent the last few days in meetings and events in Fargo, North Dakota, and filmed a VERY powerful case study that covers every aspect of conducting a successful 40 Days for Life campaign.

(I’ll be posting that video here at the beginning of next week — free of charge — and you are going to absolutely LOVE it!)

As a result of that trip, I wasn’t very accessible by e-mail and was quite stunned to find 881 unread messages in my inbox while flying home.

The buzz and excitement about this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign is unlike anything I have EVER seen in my 10 years of pro-life work!

The challenge is that there’s just no way I can personally respond to every question, so I decided to give you a resource that will provide a comprehensive overview of 40 Days for Life and answer 95% of the questions we’ve been getting:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/docs/special_report.pdf

The newly-updated “40 Days for Life Fall 2008 Campaign Special Report” is filled with 34 pages of dynamite info about 40 Days for Life and how to conduct a life-saving campaign in your town this fall, from September 24 - November 2.

Download and print it out now, then schedule a few minutes this weekend where you can curl up in your favorite chair and study every word:

http://www.40daysforlife.com/docs/special_report.pdf

By the time you’re done reading, I believe you will have a good sense of whether 40 Days for Life is right for your community or not.

If you need the free Acrobat reader to open a PDF file, it can be downloaded at:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Be on the lookout for more exciting pre-registration training coming to you over the next few weeks.

Enjoy, and have a blessed weekend!

In Christ,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- Every indication is now pointing toward this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign being the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization IN HISTORY. To be honest, we’re a bit overwhelmed by that, but we know that with God, all things are possible!

P.P.S.- Due to many, many requests, we’ve decided to have a longer registration period than past campaigns to accommodate people’s busy summer schedules. The dates to register for this fall’s campaign are going to be July 16 - 28. That’s less than three weeks from now, so be sure to mark your calendar!

Whenever you get an e-mail with 20 exclamation marks in the subject line, you know it’s one of two things…

 1.) A spam message

  -OR-

 2.) Something REALLY exciting

After getting off an airplane Friday coming home from a talk in Indiana, I jumped in my car and fired up my laptop to quickly check e-mail, and there it was: “Prayers Answered!!!!!!!!!!! Aaron’s Abortion IS CLOSING!!!!!!!!!”

I opened the message to verify what I suspected, and sure enough, the notorious late-term abortion facility in Dallas, Texas — site of the second 40 Days for Life campaign in history — was shutting its doors for good!

Grabbing my cell phone, I dialed my friend Karen Garnett, Executive Director of the Catholic Pro-Life Committee of North Texas (the group that led the 40 Days for Life outside that Aaron’s Abortion center three and a half years ago.)

(David Bereit with Karen Garnett at the White House in April)

Karen answered and confirmed the amazing news. Her voice was almost quivering with excitement.

She only had a minute, as she was about to go on the air for a live interview with a Dallas radio station, so we agreed to talk later.

On Saturday evening I was able to get her on the phone for about twenty minutes and she agreed to let me record our discussion so I could share it with you…

…And you won’t believe what she shared!

Listen Online Now (click “Play” button to start audio):

Download MP3 (click to play, right-click to save to your computer):

http://www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/dallas_closing.mp3

With less than a month before registrations begin for this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign, God has given us another beautiful gift to show what can happen in a community when dedicated people pray, fast, and put their faith into action.

Would you like to see this kind of impact in your hometown?

It can happen.

Ask the people of Dallas, Texas, who are now gearing up to conduct 40 Days for Life campaigns at TWO locations this fall.

(Photo from original 40 Days for Life in Dallas, outside now-closing Aaron’s abortion center)

Ask the people of Rockland County, New York — site of the other abortion center that shut down less than two months ago, following a local 40 Days for Life campaign.

If you want to see abortion end in your city, you owe it to yourself to listen to Karen share how 40 Days for Life — and the ongoing faithfulness of many people over many years — led to the closure of a late-term abortion facility.

Her words will give you great hope!

Maybe YOU’LL be the next one sending out an e-mail sharing the exciting news from your city: “Prayers Answered!!!!!!!!!!! The local Abortion Center IS CLOSING!!!!!!!!!”

Yours for LIFE,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- This case study begins the pre-registration training to help you and others decide if 40 Days for Life is right for your community this fall. We certainly weren’t planning to begin this way, but realize there’s no better way to start than with a view of the possible end result! Please post any comments as a reply below!

Even as we’ve been aggressively working behind the scenes preparing for this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign, people have been pounding us non-stop with e-mails, wanting to register NOW so they can get started…

…In fact, more than 500 cities have already expressed an interest in joining the fall 2008 campaign!

Now, I fully realize that some of these cities may not actually go through with it, but based on early indications, this fall’s 40 Days for Life promises to be the largest and longest grassroots pro-life mobilization in history.

Based on the questions coming in — as well as the feedback from the 139 cities that have previously conducted 40 Days for Life campaigns — we’ve decided to give you a lot of information, tools, and training BEFORE registrations to help you:

• Discover what 40 Days for Life is, and the measurable results it has generated
• Decide if 40 Days for Life is right for you and your community
• Discern your personal role in this fall’s 40 Days for Life campaign
• Get others excited and involved
• Plan for community-wide prayer and fasting
• Prepare for a successful prayer vigil at a  Planned Parenthood or other abortion center
• Gear up for highly effective community outreach efforts
• Assess what a successful local 40 Days for Life might cost — in terms of time and money
• Expand the effectiveness of pro-life efforts in your town, saving many more lives!

The fall campaign will be held from SEPTEMBER 24 THROUGH NOVEMBER 2, ending the Sunday before America goes to the polls to elect new national leaders — a crucial time for people of faith and conscience to join together in a massive, unified effort of prayer, fasting and peaceful action.

The registration period for the fall 40 Days for Life will begin in mid-July — sign-ups are tentatively scheduled to begin on July 16.

One of the biggest things past campaign leaders told us they needed was more time to prepare.

Well, we listened.

To help you prepare effectively, over these next few weeks we’ll be sending you a number of short, focused pre-registration training materials including:

• Videos
• Audios
• Multimedia presentations
• Downloadable training guides
• Planning checklists
• Printable materials

By the time registrations begin, you will have already had time to test the waters and ensure that 40 Days for Life is a good fit for your community BEFORE making any commitment.

And you will have the tools and training you need to prepare for an even more successful campaign.

It’s going to be an exciting journey over these next few weeks, and I can’t wait to get started!

Yours for Life,

David Bereit
National Campaign Director
40 Days for Life

P.S.- We want to make sure we answer as many of your questions as possible prior to beginning registrations. If you have ANY question at all about this fall’s 40 Days for Life, please post it as a reply at the bottom of this blog posting.