Inspiring Life Through Weakness

Who among you is strong? In our world, strength is valued highly, as it should be. It’s the football player who wins the awards, the soldiers who get parades, and the marathon runners, cancer survivors, and Nobel winners that gain glory.

But Biblically, who does God, our Creator, consistently choose to do his work? The midget tax collector, the blind, the meek, the poor, the lame, the prostitutes, and the liars, and you and me. He chose Moses, the stutterer, David, the little brother no one respected, and Rahab, the prostitute. As a man, Jesus spent his days among lepers, the sick, the lame and the dying. So what does this mean for you and me?

Pay it forward! When you’re down, help someone else up. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others. Reach out and touch someone. Each of these phrases has been said by countless people as they help someone in need. Whether taking a meal to a sick friend, mowing the lawn of an elderly neighbor, running an errand for someone without a car, or praying for a friend in need. Each time we choose to help someone else it seems that we, in turn, help ourselves.

Each of us knows the feeling you get when someone says, “Thank you! No one has ever done that for me”, or “I really needed a friend and you were there. You’re the best!” We immediately feel a lift in our own spirits, a hop appears in our step, and our day looks a little bit brighter.

It would seem that when we are at our weakest, we act stronger. It is when we are in the midst of tragedy that our hero selves come out.

Just a few months ago, our eyes were glued to the TV screen after the earthquake practically destroyed Haiti, watching and cheering the countless workers, volunteers, doctors, and locals who continued to defy all odds to bring aid, water, and hope to that nation and its people. For me, emotions ran high as I watched Haitians, deprived themselves of life’s most basic dignities, put aside their own needs to work late into the night searching for the any sign of life in the rubble and sharing meager rations with a neighbor now sharing a home in a makeshift tent. It is indeed true that most often, it is those most injured, most troubled, most lost who are able to just do good! When we are weak we quickly begin to realize that we are not the proverbial hands reaching into the mire to save those lower and less fortunate than ourselves, but rather that we are fellow strugglers who are lifting our hands to help those around us, to bring hope, and to inspire life!

My son, Micah, a Pediatric ICU nurse recently sent me this story:

It is somewhat odd to find joy at a funeral…yet here I sit, tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. Around me the mourners sit, gathered to pay tribute to an angel named Gracie. Gracie was 2 years old, and 16 of the 24 months of her life were spent in the ICU, yet around me is a crowd of people who Gracie blessed.

I took care of Gracie for several months, on two separate occasions. I saw her at the brink of death more that once, squeezing life back into her heart late one night. I held her through her opiate withdrawals after a month of sedation. I pulled the breathing tube from her lungs as she stopped breathing, and I held her momma’s hand as she passed from this life into the arms of our Daddy Jesus.

And here I sit, at her funeral, seeing the hundreds of lives that she touched in her 2 short years. I see people who took strength from her struggle, joy from her smile, and hope from her shimmering, larger than life baby blue eyes. And I stand at her coffin humbled by the blessing she brought in her tiny broken body!

She taught me this: When we hurt the most, when this world threatens to overtake us with its heaviness, IN THAT MOMENT is our greatest chance to truly love those who hurt around us, for only in that pit of despair can we understand. Gracie inspired so many because during her short life she was able to smile and laugh, even with a literally broken heart. Can we not, within our feeble trials and tribulations, do the same?

And so I ask myself the same question, can we not do the same through our own pain and suffering, shortfalls and failures? How is that you and I can turn our weaknesses to helping someone else become stronger? Could you sit and listen to a lonely old man in a nursing home? Perhaps you could walk into the soup kitchen instead of past it and serve a meal. Inspire life by sharing a bit of your own story with someone in need, young women in a crisis pregnancy, a father whose girlfriend aborted his child, a mother stressed out about the lifestyle choice her daughter is making.

Strength does come from weakness as we begin to realize in helping others that there, but by the grace of God, go we! The hurt, the dying, the confused, and the rebellious all yearn for the love of God displayed in your hands rocking them to sleep, in your feet walking with them through loss, in your words that lead to forgiveness and hope, and in your own tears, silence and laughter. And in doing so, I would imagine that your trials take a back seat, your backs stand a little straighter, and your hearts beat a little stronger. And we perhaps begin to realize, it’s not about “me,” but about “we!”

Terry Williams is the Care Net Regional Consultant for Texas and Executive Director of Central Texas LifeCare in San Marcos. She has been involved in pregnancy center ministry since 1991. Terry can be reached at terrywilliams@centurytel.net.

Why are Young Americans More Pro-Life? Just Ask Them.

The news is out. A recent Gallup poll shows that young Americans age 18-29 are more strongly pro-life than polls showed in past years. This same poll in the mid 1970’s showed the same age bracket as one of the most supportive of abortion in all circumstances.

While pondering these findings, I found myself ecstatic! And then I asked the all important question of WHY? What is it that has changed these past 30 years to show a decrease in support of abortion?

One could look at the same findings for an elderly age bracket and say, “Well, as one gets older and finds himself in the care of others, the value of life takes on a whole new meaning.” But that’s not the case. This is the youngest age bracket polled.

So, I decided to conduct my own little poll of peers who fall into this age 18-29 category. What I found is not necessarily backed up by scientific statistics... yet, this is the authentic view from some people who actually fall into the “younger generation” category. It seemed only natural to go directly to the source in order to find out what really has changed the mindset of abortion since the mid 70’s. Here’s what they shared with me...

Many changes have occurred in our nation since the 70’s, but one drastic change has been seen with the technology of ultrasound. While ultrasound can be traced back to 1880 (the SONAR days), it wasn’t until the early 1980’s that computer software was merged with ultrasound technology. Since that time, we have seen vast improvements in image quality, as well as the introduction of 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds. By now, you can look at the screen and decipher whose nose, eyes, or even lips your baby has received. And, with the baby’s heart beginning to beat around week 5-6, ultrasound technology has shifted our culture to “seeing and hearing” the baby in person, instead of just hearing from the doctor where the baby is developmentally.

Another drastic change since the 70’s has been the introduction of the worldwide web, and in this specific case, we didn’t see mainstream public use until the 90’s. But in the past two decades alone, the internet has grown from something you heard about from your neighbor who happened to be a computer enthusiast, to something that, if you’re like me, you can’t live without. With today’s accessibility to internet through venues like the iPhone, you can look up any and all questions with instant answers - literally at your fingertips. That’s not to say that the answers will always be right, but there is a wealth of information out there to judge for yourself.

Finally, another shift since the 70’s is the presence of the Church. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times: “What the younger generation wants in the Church is authenticity.” They don’t want the truth to be sugar-coated, they just want the authentic truth. In the midst of that authentic truth is the topic of abortion. It’s no longer the third rail of ministry group discussions - it’s now such a widespread topic of conversation across our nation. More and more young people are speaking out about abortion, and the Church is starting to rise to the occasion through small groups and Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, just to name a few.

So what does all of this have to do with the Gallup poll? Well, it would seem evident that ultrasound is giving us more hard proof that there’s a baby inside and not just a clump of cells.. And it would seem evident that young people have more access to information at their fingertips, which only causes more hunger for more information. And it would seem evident that the Church is beginning to impact young people as the topic of abortion is more prevalent.

These answers weren’t shocking or surprising, but in fact they were comforting. That comfort was knowing that Care Net and the ministry of pregnancy centers are in the midst of all three of these answers. Whether it is ultrasound machines in our more than 1,190 pregnancy centers, internet ads for Option Line where answers and support can be found 24 hours a day, or an ever-growing compassionate outreach to meet these young women where they are, Care Net is present in the answers. There might still be a long road ahead, but it’s definitely a move in the right direction.

Historic Pro-Life Victory in Virginia!

Every day, pregnancy centers across America celebrate when a woman is empowered to choose life for her unborn child. Today, in Virginia, pregnancy centers are witnessing a different type of victory. Care Net sent out the following press release in response to what has occured in the Virginia legislature over the last two months. We're thinking the news is kind of inspiring...

PREGNANCY CENTERS ENJOY HISTORIC VICTORY
IN VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE

LANSDOWNE, VA – In just a few short weeks, pregnancy centers in Virginia have witnessed an historic victory in the 2010 state legislature. At the beginning of the session, abortion advocates launched an attack on these faith-based charities. The attacks consisted of an erroneous and biased report and discriminatory and unnecessary regulatory legislation. Less than two months later, not only had the hostile legislation been thrown out by its own sponsors, the entire legislature passed a resolution praising the work of Virginia pregnancy centers.

In the words of the Virginia Family Foundation, “What a difference a few weeks – and the truth – makes.”

Just one week after the legislation against pregnancy centers was introduced, it was dismissed in both House and Senate subcommittees after legislators heard testimony from pregnancy centers directors, former center clients, medical staff, Care Net, the Family Foundation and Virginia Catholic Conference. A few weeks later, pregnancy centers held a day at the state capitol where staff and volunteers came to further educate legislators about their organizations’ work. Thanks to the ongoing support of the Family Foundation and Americans United for Life, a resolution praising pregnancy centers was introduced in March and passed in both the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate this week.

Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde joined Virginia legislators in praising the work of pregnancy centers. “We are so proud of Virginia pregnancy centers for this recognition and their decades of humble service to women in this state. It’s not a surprise to Care Net that when people hear the truth about the good work you do, they want to praise you.”

A sample “Joint Resolution Honoring Pregnancy Centers” is available in American United for Life’s 2010 Model Legislation & Policy Guide.

Inspiring Pregnancy Centers, Despite Ongoing Attacks

Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde posted today on the PCCList blog about the ongoing attacks on pregnancy centers. She first addresses the issue of undercover fake clients being sent into pregnancy centers by abortion advocacy groups:

"In general, the fake clients that enter pregnancy centers do so with the specific objective of claiming they were mistreated in some way. In other words, they are going to accuse the center of mistreatment regardless of how professional and legally compliant the center is. These are not objective measures of pregnancy center professionalism."

She speaks directly to centers, encouraging them to be on guard, to employ best practices, but ultimately not to be fearful:

"Pregnancy centers are wise to anticipate these attacks but not to be fearful of them -- what is meant for harm, can be used for good. The best way to prepare is first to ensure that your center is serving with excellence, from the moment that woman calls or visits your website to the moment she leaves."

She also encourages pregnancy centers to engage in pro-active outreach to leaders in places of influence - ensuring that they, not NARAL, are the first to introduce their ministry to such individuals:

"...we encourage centers to make it a point to introduce their ministry to leaders in their community -- not just church leaders, but city council members, newspaper editorialists, state legislators, and others in places of influence."

Would you like to become a pregnancy center advocate in your community? One of the best tools for educating others about pregnancy centers is the new national report, "A Passion to Serve, A Vision for Life." Download or purchase a copy and share with friends and leaders you know.

For the full blog post, visit the PCCList blog, a news service of Baptists for Life.

Let Freedom Ring!

By Lorey Carter

Most of us are familiar with this phrase because of its use during the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. We hear a lot about the civil rights movement during Black History Month, justifiably so. After all, it was a pivotal time in this nation and although it was a very painful time, it resulted in a long overdue change in the way black folks were to be valued and treated as American citizens. It was the next major step toward realizing what the U.S. Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Unfortunately, while segregation laws were disbanded, racism and discrimination did not end with the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It still goes on today in various forms. We see discrimination today most visibly in the criminal justice system. For example, data collected from state courts by the Justice Department shows that a higher percentage of black felons than white felons receive prison sentences for nearly all offenses, and also that blacks receive longer maximum sentences for most offenses. One has only to speculate why African Americans make up 12% of the population, yet they make up 38% of those incarcerated in state or federal prisons. In addition, 10.4% of all black males in the United States between the ages of 25 and 29 were sentenced and in prison, compared to 2.4% of Hispanic males and 1.3% of white males (Bureau of Justice Statistics).

I recently saw a movie entitled “American Violet” based on a true story which illustrates how racism factors into arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations resulting in injustice and disparate impacts on the African American community.



I have witnessed first hand racial discrimination and it troubles me greatly. I once worked as a law clerk for the public defender’s office and heard attorneys make racial slurs about their own clients. I’ve been pulled over in a car for “DWB” (driving while black) only to be released when there was nothing to cite me for. I would never minimize the importance of drawing attention and fighting to end this injustice against the black community.

However, I also see racism and discrimination carried out today in another form that is even more insidious than what we see in the criminal justice system. Many of the targeted victims of this discrimination have been indoctrinated to be willing accomplices in their own exploitation. I’m yearning for the day when as many African Americans are willing to draw attention to and fight to end this discrimination against the black community as they are the discrimination in the criminal justice system. I’m talking about abortion. I’m talking about a history of reproductive discrimination instigated by eugenicists and carried out by Planned Parenthood and others who believed that African Americans were a threat to society and therefore set in motion a plan to prevent or discourage us from reproducing.

There is traceable evidence exposed in a new documentary entitled “MAAFA21” proving that African American women have been systematically targeted and have been offered the “choice” to abort, initially through coercion and later through insistence that the opportunity to abort is a civil right.



According to the propaganda exposed in Maafa21, to be denied the opportunity to abort amounts to denial of a woman’s reproductive freedom. Today, we have the targeted victims (African American women) embracing this ideology and many are demanding their “right” to abort.

The opportunity to abort one’s child is not a civil right. It is not an expression of a woman’s reproductive freedom. It is participation in exploitation of the woman and her unborn child. This form of discrimination is so insidious and even more damaging than racism in the criminal justice system because one of the victims (the baby) is dead and the other victim often believes that her abortion was a good thing. That is heartbreaking.

Sadly, the percentages which denote the disparities seen in the criminal justice system as a result of discrimination (12% of the population is African American and 38% of those are incarcerated) is tragically similar to the disparities seen in abortion where African American women make up 12% of the female population, but have 37% of the abortions (Alan Guttmacher Institute).

Thankfully, this tragedy is not going totally unnoticed.

There are a growing number of African American leaders, including pastors who are beginning to sound the alarm in our community exposing the truth about the impact of abortion and how it is threatening our legacy as a people. I have the pleasure of working directly along side of some of these leaders in Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia and Detroit to reach African American communities that have some of the highest abortion rates in the country. Care Net is committed to partnering with these leaders to develop pregnancy centers in these underserved communities so that African American women facing unplanned pregnancies will not be solely surrounded by abortion providers, but will have access to practical support as they make life-affirming decisions about their pregnancy. And for those women who have already experienced abortion, these centers will also provide recovery counseling to them.

The word is getting out via the media as well. A recent billboard ad campaign “Black Children Are An Endangered Species” in Atlanta last month is generating awareness and getting national media attention. This provocative billboard leads you to the website, Toomanyaborted.com, which gives the facts about the impact of abortion on African Americans in a powerfully compelling way. The creator of the website and campaign is Ryan Bomberger, a very talented African American designer, who has partnered with Georgia Right to Life. ABC News recently interviewed Catherine Davis from Georgia Right to Life and Bomberger about the stir caused by this campaign.



Bomberger will be partnering with Care Net in the near future and will be sharing his marketing expertise with our affiliates during our national conference in September. I’m looking forward to seeing him inspire our affiliates to be more effective in communicating the message in the communities where they serve.

I’m honored to work with anyone committed to standing in the gap for life. But as an African American woman, I am encouraged by the emergence of more and more African Americans joining in. For me, for Care Net, and the African American leaders I’ve met, this is not a political issue. It is a life issue. It is a moral issue. It is the essence of social justice. In decades to come, when Black History is told, we will know that we did what we could to preserve future generations because we actually believed these truths to be to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that will be the kind of Black History that we can all live with.

Lorey Carter is Director of Underserved Outreach at Care Net. She can be reached at lcarter@care-net.org.

“Unborn” Music Video Communicates the Duality of an Unplanned Pregnancy

By Elise Pino

Caitlin Jane’s exquisitely executed music video for her song “Unborn” gently communicates the duality of an unplanned pregnancy, reminding its viewers that two uniquely intertwined lives are at stake.

As the video unfolds the viewer experiences the uncertainty, anguish and ultimate joy of a young, single mother wrestling with the decision of whether or not to continue her unplanned pregnancy.



In listening to the song’s lyrics, however, one is drawn into the heart and mind of the young woman’s unborn child, lovingly calling out to her mother and asking for a chance to be born and to experience life outside the womb.

Ultimately, Jane’s music video serves as a poignant reminder of the two precious lives impacted by the decision to carry an unplanned pregnancy to term. “Unborn’s” lyrics echo the loving message communicated on a daily basis in pregnancy centers across the country, “God makes no mistakes; both [mom and baby] are wonderfully, fearfully made.”

Elise Pino is Center Services Manager at Care Net and can be reached at epino@care-net.org.

Abstinence Education Wrongly Blamed for Teen Pregnancy Rate Increase

By Toneia Mayes

In response to an article in The New York Times entitled, “After Long Decline, Teenage Pregnancy Rate Rises,” it is apparent that there are a few matters on this issue of abstinence education that need to be brought to light. The article implies that there may be a correlation between funding abstinence education and a 3% increase in teen pregnancy rates from 2005 to 2006.

This article states:

“While it is difficult to pinpoint precisely how different factors influence teenage sexual behavior, some experts speculate that the rise in teenage pregnancy might be partly attributable to the $150 million a year of federal financing for sex education that emphasized abstinence until marriage, avoiding all mention of the possible benefits of contraception.”

This statement is false. While it is true that most Abstinence Education (ABED) programs do not actively promote or encourage condom use, they do discuss condoms and give accurate statistics. Most programs discuss condoms while highlighting their limitations, but they do site that condoms are 85% successful at preventing pregnancy when used consistently and correctly 100% of the time. ABED students will never hear an educator try to convince them not to use a condom; however, they will explain that the only 100% effective way to avoid not only pregnancy but also STD's and emotional consequences is sexual abstinence.

To contrast the two approaches to sex education, Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSED) focuses on risk reduction via condom use or limiting the number of sexual partners. ABED focuses on the value of abstinence while extensively citing the risk of sexual activity at a young age with or without a condom.

And the debate over these two approaches just got much more interesting.

In a study released Monday, February 01, 2010 by the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, abstinence education has been validated as effective. The study states: “…a high risk population of 6 and 7th graders receiving abstinence centered education reduced sexual initiation, reduced the number of sexual partners (a crucial determinant in acquiring an STD) and further showed that abstinence instruction did not deter the use of condoms (a common charge brought by anti-abstinence critics).” Read more about this ground-breaking study at the National Abstinence Education Association website.

To take away the abstinence message from our youth because "some experts speculate that the rise in teenage pregnancy might be partly attributable to (that message) ..." is saying that our teens do not have a right to make an informed decision because of a speculation.

To imply that teens do not need to hear the benefits of remaining abstinent until marriage is to imply that condom use is somehow our teens best or only option and that is just not true.

With sexually experienced teens themselves saying that they wish they would have waited (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 2003), it seems that one of the best things we can do to meet their need is to teach them skills in decision making and help them deal with peer pressure to engage in sex.

Toneia Mayes is a Care Net Regional Consultant and a consultant for Community Based Abstinence Education grants. She can be reached at toneia@cox.net. For more information on the effectiveness of abstinence education, visit the Institute of Research and Evaluation website.