World mag piece details pro-life Pastor Hoye’s imprisonment
Lynn Vincent at World magazine has written a moving piece detailing the events leading up to pro-life Pastor Walter Hoye’s imprisonment and the testimony of his 3 weeks in jail:
For 19 days in March and April, Walter Hoye was locked in a cell with 29 other prisoners at the Santa Rita jail near Oakland, CA. There were times when he wished he could have stayed longer.
When the metal door first clanged shut behind him on March 20, Hoye, 52, decided the space was really more of a cage than a cell. A metal grid penning in prisoners. 15 bunks lining two walls. 2 toilets and a urinal for all 30 men, and a shower that inmates had gradually transformed into a pornographic shrine.
As Hoye made his way to an empty bunk, a few prisoners, mostly black and Latino, dogged his path. “You smuggle in any drugs, man?” one of them asked.
“No,” Hoye said quietly.
Then the veteran inmates left him alone, he told me, except for “one of the brothers who was kind enough to help me make up my bed.”
A few minutes later, another man walked over to Hoye’s bunk and jabbed his finger at a newspaper he was holding. “This you?” he said, eyeing Hoye skeptically.
Hoye peered at the Oakland Tribune headline: “Anti-abortion pastor chooses jail.”
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said.
In the next moment, the inmate was striding up and down the length of the cell, announcing, “Hey, he don’t have to be here! He turned down probation! He doing straight time for what he believed in!”…
Through a special arrangement with World magazine, Stanek readers can finish reading this subscription only article here.
[HT: KC; photo courtesy of World]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Thank you to World Magazine for allowing the article to be accessed without a subscription.
Wow… I read the entire article, and this man is amazing. He has real guts, because he has real convictions. Every pro-life citizen in America needs to be PROUD of this gentle pastor, and the black community especially should be thanking God above for Hoye’s courage.
Pastor Hoye, THANK YOU for truly defending life. You are an American hero. You are a hero of the faith!
Everyone should read the whole article. This brought tears to my eyes. He said, “I’m sure my adversary meant my incarceration for evil, but God used it for good.” What an amazing story!
Walter Hoye is my new hero.
I just love how God knows exactly what He’s doing even when it seems like things have gone from bad to worse. He put Pastor Hoye in a place where he could reach the souls who really needed to hear the truth.
Bringing freedom to the captives…
That was fantastic, and I am humbled. Oh that I would be that brave. Praise God for Pastor Hoye.
What a wonderful and amazing man. I don’t know if I could be as brave as he is.
It was great to read how God used that situation for good as well.
This article’s a must-read. That’s what it’s all about right there. God is so wonderful. I love how His message of hope and redemption is so eagerly received by those of us who need it most. Yet it’s hidden from the wise, prudent, rich, proud . . . they don’t know what they’re missing.
God is so good. It’s making me rethink my approach to the Hal’s, Danielle’s, YLT’s, Human Abstract’s, etc. The pastor’s fellow inmates had “ears to hear” what the pastor had to say because they couldn’t believe anyone would choose to go to jail. They wanted to find out what made the pastor tick (plus, they didn’t have anywhere else to go, or anything else to do.)
The pro-death posters here seem only concerned with maintaining they’re RIGHT to choose to kill an innocent life. That is all they know and all they want to know. And God allows them that freedom to choose. It’s called free will. Just like their choice of where they will spend eternity, smoking or non-smoking.
I’m amazed at how they can look at the CBR images and have no sympathy for the tortured, murdered babies at all. Then again, like Auschwitz, Rwanda, Darfur, etc., it’s just one more example of how evil and hard the human heart can get.
It seems about all we can do is speak God’s truth in love and be obedient, knowing God will sort everything out on the Final Day. Jude 20-25
God Bless Pastor Hoye!
Pastor Hoye seems to be a good community organizer.
This article brought tears to my eyes. Jailed?! I can’t fathom how it got that far, I really can’t. This wasn’t some kind of a competition between us and them…it’s offering help to those who so choose to accept it. It’s saving a life. This man offered his help in such a gentle way. This article actually scares me in regard to what our world has become…and is still becoming.
It’s a measure of this man’s stature that none of the usual slime throwing has appeared in this thread so far. What can they say? None of their slime will stick on this man, he talks the talk AND walks the walk. If only we all could stand as tall as this gentle man.
God is so good. It’s making me rethink my approach to the Hal’s, Danielle’s, YLT’s, Human Abstract’s, etc. The pastor’s fellow inmates had “ears to hear” what the pastor had to say because they couldn’t believe anyone would choose to go to jail. They wanted to find out what made the pastor tick (plus, they didn’t have anywhere else to go, or anything else to do.)
….I wonder if they would go to jail to defend the right to kill the unborn? Would the pro deathers go through persecution for their cause?
good question, xppc. There are lots of things I believe in strong enough to go to jail if necessary. A woman’s right to legal abortion is probably one of them.
good question, xppc. There are lots of things I believe in strong enough to go to jail if necessary. A woman’s right to legal abortion is probably one of them.
Posted by: Hal at April 28, 2009 4:59 PM
So you wish death on the baby. That is just like the Muslims. They think allah will reward them if they have a Jihad against Christians.
Do you know why you despise the sanctity of life and the innocent unborn? does it cut into your sexual freedom thinkin g of a little child as a remnant of a night of pleasure?
The pastor Hoye was in more freedom and his fellow inmates are in bondage. You are also in bondage hal and your eyes can’t see it.
good question, xppc. There are lots of things I believe in strong enough to go to jail if necessary. A woman’s right to legal abortion is probably one of them.
Then go! At least in jail you can’t kill your own children. Anyone you pick on there has a fighting chance.
Posted by: Hal at April 28, 2009 4:59 PM
“There are lots of things I believe in strong enough to go to jail if necessary. A woman’s right to legal abortion is probably one of them.”
—————————————————-
HAL,
I do hope you have the opportunity to demonstrate the courage of your convictions.
You really won’t know what you are made of til you are tested in the crucible of present reality.
Think of the image of that lone man in Tianimen China courageoulsly boldly standing in the middle of the road defying that tank.
I promise you, you will not know if you have the stones until you are faced with the choice.
yor bro ken
Jacqueline, I don’t have to go to jail, abortion is already legal and there does not appear to be in any danger of prohibition.
xppc, I don’t “wish death on the baby.”
ken, you are right, we never know until we are tested. I have taken small steps in the past on principle, which could have resulted in some jail. Always worked out without that becoming necessary. I certainly went to my share of peaceful protests, but there’s not much chance of being arrested if you behave yourself.
HAL,
I just watched Denzel Wasington’s ‘The Great Debaters’.
I believe you would enjoy watching the movie.
The last debate is about civil disobedience.
yor bro ken
“Think of the image of that lone man in Tianimen China courageoulsly boldly standing in the middle of the road defying that tank.”
Let’s not confuse courage with stupidity. Nobody ever won a fistfight against a tank and China is still Communist 20 years later. That foolhardy kid threw his life away for nothing.
What this pastor did isn’t much more impressive. He tossed three weeks of his life into the trash because he couldn’t abide by a simple policy instructing protesters at abortion clinics to maintain an eight-foot distance between patients and employees.
God bless Pastor Hoye!! The harvest is ripe….
God Bless Pastor Hoye. I think he helped that young man Terrell. I am sure someday when he’s out of jail that perhaps he’ll be at a pro life rally holding a sign that says “I regret my lost fatherhood!”
No, the bubble ordination was clearly a violation of free speech rights. Pro Aborts don’t want abortion vulnerable women to get love and support and to continue their pregnancies.
God bless Pastor Hoye!! We need more like him!
Pastor Hoye and Lila Rose should join forces. Watch the pro-life sparks fly!
Not much of a martyr if he could have gotten out without jailtime. Just another name it and claim it pastor looking for a camera and a few bucks. I feel bad for the fools that fall for his urban legend scam of persecution..
“He tossed three weeks of his life into the trash…”
If you believe that touching the lives of other human beings is a waste then that is just sad. What this pastor has done is very honorable. God bless him! :)
God bless Pastor Hoye. May God raise up more good men like Him. And if they are not willing, may He raise up Deborahs.
What this pastor did isn’t much more impressive. He tossed three weeks of his life into the trash because he couldn’t abide by a simple policy instructing protesters at abortion clinics to maintain an eight-foot distance between patients and employees.
Posted by: Ahab at April 28, 2009 7:09 PM
Looks like you aren’t honest Ahab. This Preacher did keep his distance and another protestor followed him around to shove their poster infront of his message. The judge ignored evidence.
Ahab, do you know why you are not honest? We saw the video. He did not break the rules.
.Oh by the way, there are seveeral hundred new Christians in China in the last decade. There ae more practicing Christians in China than in America. Our church did home bible studies many years ago on CD rom. They were smuggled into china and duplicated by the thousands. They do not look like a bible. We had the mandarin language lessons and god is blessing them.
Hmm. Let’s see. If you would READ the whole article, you’d see that Pastor Hoye DID maintain his distance and even asked for permission before sharing his message. It was the clinic employees and the “clients” that approached HIM. The escorts even said during the trial that the Pastor was respectful. Doesn’t sound like the wanton, lawbreaking fanatic you seem to want to paint him as.
And for the person who doesn’t “wish death on a baby”… uh, really? REALLY? Then what do you call an abortion? Hmm. Oops!
Check this out if you want medical testimony regarding this issue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFm8II88b0 It’s a really well-done video and makes a great point.
Thanks for the special arrangement of letting us read that!!! Truly inspiring!!!
“Looks like you aren’t honest Ahab. This Preacher did keep his distance and another protestor followed him around to shove their poster infront of his message. The judge ignored evidence.
Ahab, do you know why you are not honest? We saw the video. He did not break the rules.”
This man was found guilty by a trial of his peers after they reviewed the evidence against him. And somehow I find it very unlikely you reviewed the hours and hours of video evidence used against Hoye.
“Hmm. Let’s see. If you would READ the whole article, you’d see that Pastor Hoye DID maintain his distance and even asked for permission before sharing his message. It was the clinic employees and the “clients” that approached HIM. The escorts even said during the trial that the Pastor was respectful. Doesn’t sound like the wanton, lawbreaking fanatic you seem to want to paint him as.”
I did read the whole article, in fact. I’m supposed to accept, at face value, what a blatantly biased pro-life magazine/article says, even though a legitimate jury trial concluded otherwise? I’m convinced this man could have been standing there with a shotgun threatening people and pro-lifers would still find some way to lionize him and make him out to be misunderstood and wrongly persecuted.