LOCALLY SOURCED
Community of Care Kara Beth Vance
Partway through the first semester of my sophomore year at Wheaton College, I learned that one of the very first friends I had made freshman year, was pregnant. I’ll call her Erica. The father was her boyfriend who was also a student at Wheaton. I was initially shocked and confused. Even though I had come from public high school and thought I had seen everything, I didn’t expect any of my Wheaton friends to get pregnant. If Erica was pregnant, that meant she and her boyfriend were having sex—and I knew sex before marriage was not what God intended. This pregnancy, and new life, had come out of sin. There was tension in my mind and heart about that. But our God is compassionate. He knows our weakness and he meets us in it. I both watched and was a part of how our community came around Erica that year as she continued at Wheaton while her baby developed and it became more and more obvious to the wider Wheaton community that she was expecting. It was the first time I remember seeing the gospel applied regularly in conversations and friendships. Erica was not and is not defined by past sins. She sought to trust the Lord under her new set of circumstances, and we sought to encourage and practically support her and the new family as best we could. Whether you are a Wheaton student, or just work and live in this area, you may also know someone who is or will face an unplanned pregnancy and is fearful or doesn’t know
they don’t see any other options, and things feel hopeless. Ministries like Caring Network, or we as Christians in ordinary relationships, have the great joy and responsibility to openly share that there is hope. Even our bad decisions do not diminish the grace of God available in Christ Jesus. It is really important that we talk about abortion in the church. If we never talk about it, people might conclude that abortion is beyond the reach of Christ’s atonement and mercy, and remain in the darkness of guilt and shame. A friend of mine used to pastor a church in inner city Boston. In a normal Sunday sermon probably in the early 90s, his application pointed to the sin of abortion. At the end of his sermon, multiple people in his congregation were in tears. Women and men, some of whom were leaders in the church, were standing up to confess that they had previously had abortions, or participated by encouraging them or paying for them. They repented and God brought revival to this small church and they were on fire to share the good news with others and to care for other women and men in their community who faced unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. Christ shed his innocent blood to atone for our sins, even the shedding of innocent blood in abortion, so that we might repent of our sins and have new life in him. He sets us free from the bondage of secret shame and guilt to worship him and walk in good works he has prepared for us. I am involved with the work of a pro-life missions organization that works with local churches in countries where abortion is especially prevalent, training them in what we call the Four Questions: What does the Bible have to say about the value of human life, including the unborn? What does the Bible have to say about the shedding of innocent blood, including abortion? What hope is there for those who have participated in abortion? And what should we do in light of these things?
where to turn. They may be considering an abortion. Our local pregnancy resource center, Avenue Women’s Center, is connected with our church’s partner ministry Caring Network. Caring Network is on the front lines of serving women and families who are facing the crisis of an unplanned pregnancy, by welcoming them with unconditional love, counsel and resources and walking with them during a difficult season. Many women communicate that they decide to get abortions because
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In churches and trainings of Christian leaders in China (where abortion is advertised like contraception), Vietnam, Cuba, India and South America, Christians are being convicted by the Holy Spirit that they have sinned in getting abortions and ending the lives of their unborn children, but they are also casting themselves on the great mercy of God and experiencing the healing of Jesus more deeply. There is no sin, no dark hidden corner of our hearts, that the grace poured out on us in Christ’s death and resurrection doesn’t reach and transform. That is really, really good news.
