“I have set before you life and death. Now choose life so that you and your children may live.”
– Deuteronomy 30:19
This praise report is short and sweet, not because I’m trying to shirk my responsibilities, or because I ran out of time. It’s because this story that came out of an event in which we participated is so profound.
For the past couple of years, we’ve participated in North Canton’s Main Street Festival in mid-August. This year we were out in full force. Candi who runs our Eva medical clinic; Holly, our client services director; Gina, from Hope & Healing; and our new men’s ministry leader, Geoff worked our booth. Geoff and Gina blanketed the event talking about what their ministries do while Candi and Holly worked behind our display doing the same. We do events like this to drive awareness and it’s a bonus if we get clients and/or patients from them. Sometimes we are even blessed with people coming up to us with stories of how we’ve impacted their lives, or someone they know, with their stories.
At one point a young man who looked to be in his 20’s ran up to our booth throwing his arms around each of our team members giving them a big hug. He went on to tell them how grateful he was that (our ministry) exists because he was adopted and knew he was saved from being aborted due to people like us being there for his birth mother.
The work we do is daunting. It takes a toll on our team at times. Hearing stories like this, while it may, or may not, be attributed to our organization, makes it all worthwhile. Last year, our Eva clinic saved 585 women from choosing to abort their babies and that’s only the ones they can document. Hundreds of other women and men learned how to be strong parents by coming to our parenting classes. Still more women and men found recovery from the crushing pain of abortion and miscarriage through Hope & Healing.
This little story had a big impact on us. We hope it does you as well.
Yours in Christ,
Paula