Brownsville — Sams Memorial Stadium was filled with Brownsville officials and residents to see Texas Governor Greg Abbott attend a National Day of Prayer celebration.
The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 and is held the first Thursday of May, when people from different religions and faiths come together, and pray for the United States of America.
“We gather at a time when prayer is needed more than ever,” Abbott said. “Yes, we must pray for our friends, but we must also pray for our enemies.”
Abbott said he has fought for God and fought those who sought to remove God from the public square.
“When those who fought against God to remove the Ten Commandments monument on the Texas Capitol grounds, I fought back,” Abbott said. “I defended the Ten Commandments monument all the way to the United States Supreme Court. We won. That monument still stands today.”
Abbott also talked about a time when he questioned God. A tree fell on him in 1984, causing him to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.
“One day I was jogging, and a large tree crashed down onto my back,” Abbott said. “Breaking my back, making me paralyzed, unable to ever walk again.”
Abbott questioned whether he would be able to work or even support his wife, Cecilia.
When Abbott experienced the incident, he questioned God as to why He would let it happen to him.
“But then I felt God’s grace,” Abbott said. “I can see how God had been by my side the whole time. I reached out for God and God reached back, and I felt God’s grasp. God filled me with healing and with hope.”
While there were people in the stadium waiting anxiously to see Abbott, protesters gathered outside the stadium and chanted, “No justice, no peace.” Some were able to get in with the crowd to display posters regarding issues such as Texas Senate Bill 4 and LGBTQ rights.
Tracy Saldivar from Awesome Women in Action was one of the protesters in the group outside the stadium.
“(Abbott) is a hypocrite,” Saldivar said. “He’s praying for our community while he is eliminating resources for disabled children, lunch programs for children, just all kinds of resources for our most vulnerable to society, and then he wants to come pray with us?”
