Back home in Washington, D.C., they perform the same acts daily in front of the Supreme Court - to ``identify with those who do not have a voice,'' said Jesse Engle, 18, a member of the Washington- based antiabortion group Bound 4 Life.

On Wednesday, the Christian groups' demonstration outside the Hospice House Woodside on 102nd Avenue was ``part of building the infrastructure'' for a rally of thousands there if the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube is removed, said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, director of the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition.

``We've installed our portable toilets, garbage cans, and we have bottled water and a sound system,'' Mahoney said of preparations outside Schiavo's hospice.

``If Terri's tube is removed, immediately a national call will go out to faith- and value- based groups across the country, who will send members here immediately,'' Mahoney said. ``It's a call we don't want to make, but we are preparing to do it.''

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer has ordered that Schiavo's feeding tube be removed Friday.

Doctors called by Schiavo's attorneys and the court say most of her brain was destroyed after her heart failed in 1990.

Terri Schiavo does not have a living will. Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, and Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have been locked in a battle over Terri's wishes for almost seven years.

In 2000, Greer ruled that her feeding tube regimen could be discontinued at the discretion of her husband.

For those gathered between police barricades outside the hospice Wednesday, the court rulings were an afterthought.

Their focus was on the New King James Bible's translation of Proverbs 31:8: ``Open your mouth for the speechless in the cause of all who are appointed to die.''

``Our cause is mainly antiabortion, but now Terri Schiavo is in our DNA. We just want her feeding to continue,'' said Aysha Rogers, 24, an Oregon resident who moved to Washington to spend six months with Bound 4 Life.

Mahoney helped organize the trip to Pinellas County for the members of a few Christian groups from the Washington area. They arrived Tuesday and are staying at local churches. Their plan is to work in shifts holding 24-hour prayer vigils outside of the hospice.

Mahoney said he met with local police to inform them of the thousands of people he expects could arrive as early as Saturday on narrow 102nd Avenue to protest the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube.

Across from the hospice Wednesday, a local merchant prepared for a major influx of national and international news media as early as Friday.

A woman working at the largely industrial warehouse complex who would not give her name sold parking spaces for $100 per day. She had a long list of customers: local, national and international media who have reserved parking through the weekend.

NOS public television in Holland expects to be part of Friday's throng. Producer Tim Veplamcke's two-person crew is flying to Tampa today.

``Our news hour follows the Schiavo case once in a while,'' Veplamcke said. ``There is great interest in Holland in euthanasia.''

Reporter Steven Isbitts can be reached at (727) 541-2336.