Bachmann says God 'will heal our land'
12:23 AM, Jul. 4, 2011
Written by JENNIFER JACOBS AND ALYSSA HOOGENDOORN
God will come and heal the land and bring "a new day to the country," presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told an audience at an evangelical Christian church in Waukee on Sunday.
Bachmann shared several personal stories, including about her own spiritual awakening and how a miscarriage became part of the reason she wanted to care for children who had known brokenness.
Later on Sunday in Le Mars, protesters greeted the Minnesota congresswoman, who was on the second day of a new bus tour in a full-size coach emblazoned with her name.
Sean Lang, 21, and Justin Wentz, 22, both of Le Mars, held signs that read "Real Catholics wouldn't vote for a woman" and "Amend the Constitution to outlaw Michele Bachmann."
Onlookers shouted at them, "You guys need to get a job. A real job." When Bachmann walked back to her bus, a man held a Bachmann campaign sign in front of one of the protesters' posters.
Energy is "the most easy problem for America to solve," Bachmann said during her stop at the Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor & Museum in Le Mars.
"We have 25 percent of the world's coal here. Trillions of cubic square feet of natural gas here. We just built one of the world's largest lines of natural gas here," she said. "We have got more oil in three Western states in shale oil than all of Saudi Arabia. Did you hear that on your local nightly news? Are you kidding? We've got it. I say let's go get it."
In the morning stop at Point of Grace Church in Waukee, three sheriff's deputies stood guard from the rear of the stadium seating, looking down at a crowd of at least 200.
In her 21-minute talk, she didn't urge churchgoers to come to the GOP straw poll this summer, nor did she mention the Iowa caucuses, or the president, or even the word "Republican." Instead, she focused on God and her personal history.
She stumbled a bit on standard lines she usually delivers smoothly, getting a little tongue-tied when citing a Bible passage, for example.
Nevertheless, Bachmann, a religious conservative who is firmly opposed to all abortions and to gay marriage, seemed comfortable in the pulpit position, among a crowd of believers whose faith is similar to her own.
She noted that the church members had a replica painting of "Prayer at Valley Forge" in the lobby, the same image of a kneeling, battle-ready George Washington that Bachmann has in her office in Washington, D.C.
"We, too, are at a crucial time today. And I think it is for us to remember, that if we do as Chronicles tells us, if we humble ourselves, and pray and confess our sins, and turn away from our wicked ways, and ask an almighty God to come and protect us and fight the battle for us, we know from his word, his promise is sure. He will come. He will heal our land. And we will have a new day."
God is not partial, she said. "What he will do for one, he will do for all. And it is the same with nations as well. And as we seek him, he's there for us. I have seen it. I have lived that in my own life since I came to him, out of his grace, in his mercy, back on November 1st of 1972."
The date is a reference to when Bachmann, at age 16, gave her life to Jesus Christ.
Bachmann said the day after high school graduation, she and a youth group traveled to Israel to see "where it all began." To loud applause, she said: "And I want you to know that I stand with Israel."
She also shared that she'd had a miscarriage after her first two children were born - an experience she first mentioned on the campaign trail last week in South Carolina.
"I became pregnant with our third baby, and it was unexpected, but of course we were thrilled to have this baby," she said. She miscarried after about three months.
"I'd never known anyone who'd had a miscarriage. And it was a profound experience for both of us. It changed us," she said.
At that moment, she and her husband, Marcus, prayed and said they would accept as many children into their lives as God wished, she said. They went on to have three more biological children and care for 23 foster children.
Bachmann continues on the campaign trail today, with a stop in Clear Lake for a Fourth of July celebration.
