INTERNATIONAL
Sixteen-year-old Kimberly entered the Richmond Metropolitan Crisis Pregnancy Centre, pregnant and feeling very confused. She already had an appointment for an abortion at a local abortion clinic. The counselors at the CPC showed Kimberly lots of love and encouraged her to choose life. In her own words:
“When I left the Centre I left just as confused as I was when in there except that I had two special friends to stand beside me in my decision. I also found out that if I would keep my baby, they could help me.”
Kimberly went to the abortion clinic for her appointment. After receiving a sedative, she was directed to a bathroom to put on a surgical garment for the abortion. While changing, she could hear the noisy sounds of a suction abortion in the next room.
“That’s when I broke down, everything was going too fast. She (the nurse) told me to go sit in a room by the window, and she’d get my mom. Ten minutes later she told me she couldn’t find her and that I should wait. By then, I couldn’t stop crying. I happened to notice how dark it was while I was looking out the two-story window. I prayed God to please let me know what was right. Suddenly it seemed as if everything was brighter, the sun had come out. It was then that I knew He really wanted me to keep and love this child.”
Kimberly left the abortion clinic. On her way out the door, she found her mother coming in to get her. The reunion was dramatic, a true expression of God’s grace in their lives.
“I could only start to cry and whisper, ‘I couldn’t do it.’ And she came and hugged me and cried. She said, ‘All the time I was walking around outside I prayed you wouldn’t do it!”‘
Kimberly is now carrying her baby to term, and growing up fast. On November 11, she went to her doctor for an ultrasound. She discovered her baby is healthy by all accounts and is probably a girl. In the letter from which quotes above are taken, she summed up her reaction to the ultrasound experience.
“It was then that I realized how happy my baby has made me. I feel I have a reason to live because I have someone depending on me. Well, I’ve made my decision and now I must live with it. I know it will be hard, but I also know it’s what God wants, and me too.”
Like many other women reached through Crisis Pregnancy Centres, Kimberly continues to receive help from her counselors at the Richmond Metropolitan CPC. In fact she closed-out her letter to the center with these words:
“I want to mention that my friends at the Pregnancy Centre still keep in touch with us and are still there to help and encourage me if I need it… I wonder where it would have ended if it wasn’t for Monica, Gail, and Tammy from the Centre. Thank you all.”
In 1983, the Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry of the Christian Action Council more than doubled in size – from 23 to 50 Centers across the U.S.! In addition we’ve seen our first CPC established in Canada.
As a result, thousands of women like Kimberly have received the encouragement, information, and practical assistance they need in order to carry their babies to term. A number have come to faith in Jesus Christ.
This work clearly illustrates that in ministry, we are “co-labourers with God.” Apart from Him no lives would be saved, and no hearts would be stirred to know and obey Him. But through Him, wonderful things are happening!
We took several steps this year to improve and expand the Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry. As the statistics indicate, these paid off.
1. The Christian Action Council supported as many as three workers at a time traveling to different parts of the country to establish Centers. We added an additional staff member t work exclusively with CPCs.
2. We produced educational and training videotapes for the Centers, so every CPC can now provide high-quality, ongoing training to their volunteers.
3. We completely revised and expanded our written materials for the Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry. This week we completed the “CPC Volunteer Training Manual” and sent it to the printer.
4. The Christian Action Council sponsored a series of four Regional Meetings for CPC Directors. The new training materials were introduced, with several new programs developed for the Center. In addition we gathered information so we now know what projects we will undertake next year to further assist our CPC’s.
The outlook for 1984 is amazing! Sixty Centers are currently developing and will need training. Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, slated for January 22, 1984, already is generating interest by new churched for CPC’s. After the event, we expect to receive thousands of enquiries into the CPC ministry.
Next year, with God’s help, we’ll work with new Centers in cities like St. Louis, Lincoln, Fresno, and Boston. In addition we’ll be in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
Evangelical missionaries have requested our help in establishing a Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry in Japan. Since the early 1950’s, over 50,000,000 abortions have been performed there. Millions of women are grieving as a result, and profiteers are taking advantage of them. Shrines have been erected through Japan where – for a price – priests offer prayers for (or to) the souls of the aborted “water babies.”
Early next March, we are sending a CAC staff member to Japan to work directly with Japanese pastors and laymen to establish Crisis Pregnancy Centers. The missionaries and pastors alike see the CPC ministry as an important evangelic outreach for the Church.
The growth of Crisis Pregnancy Centers is exciting because the ministries are effective. Many observers, friendly and otherwise, wonder how this is so. To answer that question, clients at one Center were asked what was most helpful to them.
It was thought that perhaps the services being offered were the key factor. After all, these are extensive, ranging from free pregnancy testing and video education on pre-natal development and abortion, to maternity clothes, baby clothes, childbirth classes, housing arrangements, referrals for medical care, adoption, or public assistance.
According to the clients, the services were not the most important part of the Center. Rather, it was the love and acceptance they felt from the people who worked with them.
For many clients, their only source of love and encouragement were the Christians working with them. Christ’s love and compassion in His people make the difference.
The growth of the Crisis Pregnancy Center ministry is phenomenal. Our prayer is that God will use these Centers to such a degree that the abortion rate will visibly drop in the United States. Although ministry alone will not change the law or shut down the abortion industry, it is dramatic proof that God’s Word is living and never returns void.
