Many of the visitors to this page are people whom I have never met.
Some of you do know me personally and already know that I volunteer
at a crisis pregnancy center (aka "cpc").
I am sharing today about my "typical" day at the cpc.
If you don't
live in the United States, then maybe you aren't very familiar with what
crisis pregnancy centers do or what a volunteer faces. This is just my
experience and many other volunteers may face different things.
"Typically",
my schedule is every other week and I go in on Thursday afternoons and
stay until closing in the evening. That's what I call the baseline and
have stuck to that schedule over the past 8 years. I would love very
much to go "officially" once a week but other things going on in my
life have prevented going "official" on that. However, even though I
am there every other week, I find myself there sometimes on my "off"
weeks either filling in or helping with projects or the regular training
classes for new lay counselors.
As with any non-profit, there are events like the Walk for Life, the banquet and our Baby Bottle Campaigns.
For
those who are not familiar with the Baby Bottle campaign, we have
hundreds of plastic baby bottles that are distributed to the many
participating churches and groups who support us. The participants fill
these bottles with coins, dollars and/or checks. We often do this
three times a year revolving around Mother's Day, Father's Day and the
date that the Roe vs. Wade decision was released (but the pro-life world
claims that day as Sanctity of Life Day). It is just one of many ways
we are able to keep the costs of keeping the lights on and some of the
other operations going.
Our
particular establishment is centrally located in the town. We
are down the street from a Planned Parenthood. They are not allowed to
do surgical abortions but they do refer to the local abortionists here
in town and they perform the chemical abortions. I do pray for them
but it's often in the form of praying for their permanent shutdown. I
want their workers to become born again and work for saving the lives of
the defenseless. We aren't a large place but God's business gets done
and He is
SO GOOD to us!!! We also have the joy of having a mobile ultrasound
unit that parks a few times a week at many locations. We also have it
for community events and it has been instrumental in changing women's
minds for life. It's a beautiful gift and solution that God gave us
when the Enemy sought to go after us a few years ago.
We are thankful for the many
volunteers and the donations that we receive. One of the many things we
do is to give pregnant moms free items such as baby clothes, maternity
clothes, baby food, formula and diapers. We often get donations of car
seats, cribs, strollers and swings. Of course, we need to distribute
this fairly so there is a system to how much we can give to each mom or
family but again, it is all free.
Another free service the
cpc offers is the pregnancy test. Any female can make an appointment
or walk in off the street and receive a free pregnancy test. There is
even a chance to retest if necessary. We are very upfront on the phone
and in person that we are not an abortion facility and we don't refer
for abortions nor do we distribute birth control. It's all about TRUTH.
We also have a lot of information and resources to
send pregnant moms out to the different agencies that exist in town.
We want the women and girls to know that they are not alone and that
there are many places that will give them aid. Oftentimes, they have no
idea what is available to them and they are given no hope by friends
and family when they meet a crisis pregnancy.
"Typical"
is in "quotes" as you can see. It's either busy or it's not. The
lobby will be quiet or it will be buzzing and filled with crying
children! If we see a lot of clipboards all set with clients, we know
we will be hopping. I give a LOT of credit to the ladies who work at
the front desk. They have to be multi-taskers here and I am not one of
them.
When it's time for me to go meet with a client, I
do my best to take a few minutes to pray before I go to the lobby and
guide her to the meeting room. My prayer is all about having her see
God and feel His love in that room. I ask God to just use me to speak
truth lovingly and boldly to her so she may hear the Gospel clearly. I
pray for her salvation and that He would decrease me in that room. I
struggle with my own personal ambition and believe me, I do NOT want the
glory for what He does in those rooms. That flesh of mine is strong
and I am constantly warring with it.
There are some
butterflies sometimes when I meet a new client. There's an anticipation
of how the session will go but I love it. One never knows what kind of
person we will see. Will she be scared or nervous? Will she be
irritated from waiting in the lobby? Will she be full of joy and
kindness? Will she already be a Christian? Sometimes we get women who
are married, happy, Christian and all they need is just a free test.
Those are pretty straightforward and we celebrate the joys of a new
blessing in her life.
I do like meeting the girls
and women and sometimes we hear and see some pretty sad cases. I just
want to love on them. Sometimes they have never been treated very well
anywhere else and so it's wonderful to be given the chance to show them
the love of Jesus Christ. They sometimes can't believe a place exists
where they will be listened to and that someone will actually CARE what
they have experienced. It's not to say that all of the clients I have
met have been sweet and kind. Sometimes we have some rough moments with
the clients and that's where the rubber meets the road on loving
them. When I say I want to show them the love and I am at war with my
own flesh, it's that reminder that I can't love them in my own
strength. It takes seeing them through the eyes of Jesus and loving
them in HIS strength and HIS love. I have sometimes had moments of
failing miserably but I give this up to Him and say, "Okay, Lord, let me
start over and do this YOUR way".
Sometimes I get
to take a client into our area where the baby clothes are and help them
get some baby clothes (or maybe they need the maternity clothes). They
are usually very thankful for the items we give them and some do not
want to overstep asking for too much. There are those who do start
asking for more than their share but we just explain that there are
others who deserve to receive items too. Sometimes they bring their
other children and I often I get the sweet opportunity to hold a baby or
a toddler while the mom finds her baby items. By the way, all of these
items are donated by the different groups, churches, and individuals.
It is the generosity out of this love of Jesus that we are able to give
these women and their families these resources. We make sure that only
the clean and gently-used clothing are offered. Cribs and other
furniture items have to be complete with all parts included. NO JUNK!
It's a joy to be with my other sisters-in-Christ who
are the other volunteers. If we don't have too many clients or the
clients just don't show up for their appointments, we get a chance to
fellowship. If the volunteers are new to the cpc or they are new to
that particular time and day, it's fun to get to know them better.
Sometimes these are the only times we see each other so it feels like a
reunion of a long-lost loved one! The other volunteers are from other
churches and some are there to do the peer counseling and others are
there to sort baby clothes, assist with mailings and projects. Some
have been through the 25+ training and some have not. The training is
for those who want to peer counsel, but sometimes we ALL help with the
tasks in some way or other.
My husband knows when I
get home whether it has been a day where I saw many happy moms or
whether I dealt with a mom who is considering an abortion. He only
needs to see my face or hear my answer of "it was rough today" to have a
general idea what took place. He is involved there too but he is more
involved with training new counselors. My husband is awesome by the
way. He has supported me from the beginning and when I first started
there, he made sure that dinner was on the table when I came home in the
evening (I was on a different day and time then). He has been
involved with many events like the Walk for Life and he is generous in
heart for many aspects of this ministry.
Yes, there
are those days that are just rough. The women are full of fear and
anger at what they are facing and are sometimes taking it out on the
volunteers. We just do our best to give her all the information at hand
and to encourage her to have an ultrasound. We have to pay attention
to her circumstances of her surroundings. Maybe she is being
pressured. Is she being trafficked? Will she be able to withstand the
pressure of her family, friends, maybe even her employer once she leaves
our cpc? We just let them know that even though they make the final
decision, we are there for them no matter what. We want them to know
they can come back to us and we'll still love them.
Every
once in awhile, I get to chaperone with one of the clients in an
ultrasound. We have super awesome, well-trained nurses who conduct
these ultrasounds. They are excited to show the girls and women their
babies and depending on gestational age of the babies, we can see some
pretty cool things. It's exciting when the babies are able to be seen
moving about or they are waving or sucking their thumbs.
All-of-a-sudden, it just hits home that that little baby is REAL and the
mom realizes "Oh my...that's MY baby". We have seen a total softening
of the face and misty eyes at the very recognition that this baby IS a
miracle sent by God. She is given a pair of handmade baby booties and
prenatal information. Those are further concrete messages that someone
cares to help her. We have learned that it's about over 90% of a
changed mind from abortion to life when the father sees the image
(although he has no legal say in this decision). It's more around 80%
for women to change their minds after they see their babies on
ultrasound.
It is a time of celebration when a client
changes her mind to keep her baby. There have been cases where we
thought the girl went through with the abortion only to find out she
didn't and she comes back to show us her baby. Sometimes we know and
sometimes we don't. When they leave, we just have to entrust her in
God's hands. If we can stay in contact with her, we can help her in
different ways through her pregnancy. We also have male advisors to
minister to her boyfriend or husband. That's always great too, when the
boyfriend and husband are supportive and we want to make sure they know
they can talk to a solidly Christian man to encourage him in those
roles as protector, leader, (hopefully future) husband and father.
A
woman who has changed her mind will receive a layette of baby clothes,
baby blankets, toys and other baby items. If she knows what the sex of
the baby is, we give her a layette of blue or pink and if not, we have
layettes in green and yellow. It is very helpful to her.
Overall,
the ministry exists to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The baby
clothes, diapers and pregnancy tests are secondary. We want all the
people who visit our pregnancy help center to hear the GOOD NEWS of
Jesus Christ. We want for them to hear they can have eternal life. We
have seen some glorious things happen as a result of Jesus transforming
the lives of our clients and sometimes even their families.
There are many of these centers for pregnant women across our nation. They
all run them fairly similarly but regionally, they have unusual
circumstances they have to face. A big city like New York or Los
Angeles will be facing a lot of inner-city activity and problems like
theft and vandalism. Some of those places have 5-10 abortion businesses
on one street or neighborhood alone.
I am always
interested in other places nationally but also internationally. Do you
have a pregnancy resource center in your city? Does it operate in many
of the same ways we do? If you have anything to share, please feel
free to share. If there are questions about crisis pregnancy centers
(aka pregnancy resource centers), please ask. Pray to God how you can
contribute to a local center or how your church can participate in
helping this community asse
t. As I have expressed before, pray for these places for their protection and for the staff and volunteers. Pray for the buildings, the resources and for the clients who visit the cpc's. If you have one in your city, ask if you can have a tour of it and ask what kinds of needs they have. Sometimes we need plastic bags for the baby clothes and diapers! Ask if they need help with cleaning their carpets. If you are handy in fixing things, ask if they need any repairs or any other concerns handled. They are often operating on a shoe-string budget (remember that cpc's don't receive millions of dollars that Planned Parenthood bilks out of taxpayers). They may have those areas covered but it's always nice to have back-up! How will God have you join?
1 Corinthians 12:12-31
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For
by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or
Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.For in fact the body is not one member but many.
If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. And
God has appointed these in the church: first apostles, second prophets,
third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,
administrations, varieties of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all have gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
