Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993 TAG: 9302240147
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FISHERSVILLE LENGTH: Long
VANDALS FORGIVEN; BROKEN CROSSES BURNED IN MEMORIAL TO ABORTIONS
Founders of the Field of Blood in Augusta County haven't let vandals discourage their desire to see similar memorials around the country.\ The gusting wind numbed fingers and ears, and kept putting out the long fireplace matches the Rev. Joe Hughes wanted to use to set the fire.
Hughes wouldn't be deterred. He called on the Rev. Shane Lilly, one of his associates at Foursquare Gospel Church, to pour more kerosene on the pile of broken sticks and straw.
That was all he needed. One more match and the kindling caught. In just a minute or so, a 20-yard-long bonfire was burning and popping furiously, forcing onlookers to back away even in the subfreezing temperatures.
The fire would be purifying, Hughes told a handful of spectators Tuesday before starting the blaze. Burning the remains of the more than 1,000 broken red crosses would prevent their being snatched up as souvenirs by those who oppose the "Field of Blood" memorial to the estimated 4,400 abortions performed in the United States each day.
The crosses, neatly lined up in 50 rows of 88, are clearly visible to those traveling Interstate 64 through the Shenandoah Valley. That has been a source of controversy since the site was dedicated and filled with the 30-inch-high crosses last summer.
A sign proclaims the purpose of the memorial to interstate travelers. Its originators - the members of the Foursquare Gospel Church - wanted people to come and look and meditate there.
The flood of protests by supporters of abortion rights was expected, Hughes said. The vandals who struck in late January were not.
About half the crosses were broken off or pulled up and stacked in three rough piles early in the morning the Sunday after a big anti-abortion protest near the church. Two of the piles were ignited before authorities were alerted by a passing motorist.
"The people who did this are forgiven," Hughes said in a brief service in the field. "This is a place of healing."
Back in the warmth of the 10-year-old church, Hughes announced that the field is being leased to a newly formed nonprofit group called Field of Blood International.
Though its executive committee now consists entirely of members of Foursquare Gospel Church, Hughes said it was being formed as a nondenominational "pro-life, pro-family, Christian organization."
Hughes described an organization whose goals - which he acknowledged will cost up to $1.5 million to fully attain - seemed aimed at squelching most of the criticism many anti-abortion organizations face.
Besides promoting other Fields of Blood across the country - churches in Ventura, Calif., and Richmond already are talking about creating their own, he said - the organization is geared toward "healing and education."
"Healing is the newest thing in the pro-life movement," Hughes said.
The new organization hopes to sign up homes whose owners would be willing to take in a woman for the course of her pregnancy. The Field of Blood organization would provide educational, financial and vocational assistance to the women, he said.
A large house to accommodate up to 10 pregnant women also is planned. The goal would be to have women back on their feet financially and physically when they leave the "nurturing homes" with their new babies.
A "mobile help center" also is in the works, he said. It would visit abortion clinics throughout the state to offer "prayer and the word of God" to those who have received or are contemplating abortions.
A "Project Awareness" program would be used at shopping centers and schools to show videos of actual abortion procedures in an attempt to persuade viewers that "abortion is murder."
"We have to face it. Even if abortion were illegal, some women would still have abortions. . . . We must change people's hearts" if abortion is to end, he said.
The Field of Blood group, which hopes to raise at least $44,000 this year, also has plans to renovate the Fishersville memorial to include sidewalks, an information center and a permanent exhibit of medical instruments used in abortions.
New crosses, replacing the ones destroyed by vandals, are scheduled to be set up and rededicated this spring.
The organization will continue its practice of allowing women who have had abortions and their families to place a name they might have given a child on a cross as a memorial.
The church's ministers hold a short dedication service in the field whenever a new nameplate is attached to a cross, Hughes said.
He isn't worried about more vandalism. "We can only pray . . . and trust the Lord. We're not placing sentries. There will be no watchdogs."
"We would like the state to put up a sign" at the interstate exit directing visitors to the memorial, he said.