Our first official stop on this tour was in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was only about 25 degrees out, a surprise to all the missionaries, and wet and rainy. As we set up the signs, Bruce went into a convenience store. Upon exiting the store, a man stepped from the shadows and said, "Mr. Murch!, Bruce Murch!". It was an undercover police officer with a badge on his belt. He claimed to remember Bruce from a visit last April in which the Murch Family joined the church of Pastor W.N. Otwell at the abortuary in Shreveport. Upon further reflection, Bruce specifically remembers that he did NOT give his name to officers during that confrontation. It turns out this officer was part of the "Joint Terrorism Task Force". This means they work together with the FBI. Your tax dollars at work! Aren't you glad your money is going to help track down domestic terrorists like Bruce Evan Murch, Pastor Matt Trewhella and other desperate criminals? Nothing came of the encounter. It seemed to just be a way of letting Bruce know that they were watching him.

      

In the early morning light, missionaries set up on a busy stretch or road in Shreveport in the rain. Beverly Murch holds a sign as the little Murches slept in the van. 

 

Hannah Murch (10) and Elizabeth Roberts, who traveled with the Murch Family on this tour and attends their home church hold a picture of a baby at 8 weeks of life and a Christian flag on the streets of Alexandria; Signs were generously displayed on this street corner near the entrance to the busiest Wal-Mart we had ever seen.

In Baton Rouge, many locals showed up. They carried with them huge banners that were probably 8 feet high by ten feet across. They were very effective.  The police tried to thwart our efforts to hand out literature, forbidding us to step off the curb at any time under threat of arrest. One officer threatened Bruce with arrest because he paused for a moment to take a picture on the median before he crossed to the other side of the street. In spite of this harassment, much literature went out.

  

Missionaries unload the trailer and get their assignments for where to line up. Locals show their incredible banner.

  

Beverly Murch hands out literature to traffic stopped at the light. A young local woman, wife of a preacher, stands with us as she carries her first child along. This couple stayed with us for the duration of the Louisiana segment of the tour.

 

This local man, enraged by the bloody photos of aborted babies, swerved up onto the grass within about three feet of an elderly man holding a sign. He got out of his car and immediately several men from the group came to help. The man cursed and screamed and threatened violence. It was obvious that he had abortion in his history somewhere to be so disturbed. He tried to get away, but a motorcycle cop came and stopped him. He was frisked in the street, but the cop refused to arrest him, just warned him and sent him on his way.

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