The Hope Center: Equipping Pregnant Women to Choose Life Profile of Cindy O’Leary, Executive Director

By Joel Berry

Cindy O’Leary never expected to serve as Executive Director of The Hope Center, a crisis pregnancy center located in Woodstock, Georgia. The Hope Center recognizes the difficulties a young woman faces with an unexpected pregnancy and equips her to choose life. Cindy’s education and skill as a labor and delivery nurse, combined with her corporate management experience, demonstrates God’s providence in placing Cindy as director of this ministry.

Soon after Cindy enrolled as a pre-med student at Michigan State University, the prospect of spending many years in school lost its appeal. A self-described “people person,” she ruled out options that would confine her to a medical lab and decided to follow her older sister into nursing. While in nursing school, one nurse inspired Cindy to pursue a career in labor and delivery. “That,” Cindy said, “that’s what I want to be. I want to be that capable, I want to be that caring, I want to be that competent, and I want to be involved in these miracles in people’s lives.”

Upon earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Registered Nursing, Cindy married Ken, whom she met during her senior year. Ken had accepted a teaching job in Marietta, Georgia, where they established their life together. A labor and delivery nurse, Cindy also trained as a childbirth instructor, again motivated by the nurse she remembered from school.

Cindy said, “I saw her instill confidence in others. Somehow, just her presence, her demeanor, her confidence gave them confidence, and I wanted to be an influence like that in someone’s life.”

Cindy worked part-time as a nurse after the birth of her two children, then later entered the corporate world. “Initially,” she said, “I was a nurse in a case management program for high-risk pregnancy, then became team lead, and then manager. Corporations hired us to do a screening of all their pregnant women to see who might fall into a high-risk category, and through education and referral, minimize the risk of having those complications.” But this job eventually took Cindy out of maternity care and into disease management. With a desire to return to maternity care, and as the stress of the job increased, Cindy decided to search for a change.

Earlier in their marriage, both Cindy and Ken came to faith in Jesus Christ. Cindy described church attendance during her youth as “a place you go, and you sing in the choir, and you do this and that. We loved Jesus, but we didn’t know Jesus.” Shortly after the birth of their second child, Ken employed as a professional financial planner, suffered the impact of “Black Monday,” the worst stock market crash since 1929. Cindy described that experience as “a really, really dark financial time for us.” But God used that dark time to bring Cindy to Christ.

With a toddler and a newborn, and working only part-time, Cindy supplemented their income through a marketing venture founded by a Christian couple. She recalled, “I was going to rallies and seeing people talk about a relationship with Christ. And it was actually during one of those rallies that I said, “Lord if you’ll have me, and if this is true, this is what I want.” A friend then invited her into a yearlong Bible study of the Gospel of John, which Cindy described as “God’s perfect placement. That really began my walk with Jesus.”

Several years later, while employed in her corporate job, Cindy completed the Beth Moore study, “Believing God,” followed by a short-term mission trip. Cindy described the impact of these events: “I came back saying, ‘Okay Lord, I don’t know what this is, but I just have a sense you have something else.’” Searching for a new opportunity, Cindy attended a “jobs ministry” event at First Baptist Church, Woodstock, where a counselor told her, “Don’t quit your job. I can’t tell you how many people in the corporate arena feel exactly like you do, but one of the best things you have going for you is your job.” But God had other plans.

Cindy’s enrollment in the jobs ministry placed her on its email distribution list. She recalled, “After some research, lots of prayer, and first-time-ever fasting, into my inbox dropped a brief text message: Needed, executive director for The Hope Center. I said to Ken, ‘Think about it. Labor and delivery, corporate management, and evangelism like the mission field, all rolled into one job!’ Then I found out the salary, and thought, ‘I can’t do this unless it’s God. I have to at least walk forward and see what happens.’”

When Cindy called The Hope Center, the person who answered the call asked, “How do you know about this job? We haven’t even posted it yet!” Acknowledging God’s providence, Cindy quoted Proverbs 13:12: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” (NIV) She then exclaimed, “Fifteen years now and I could never have imagined how fulfilled my life could be!”

Among numerous mentors in her life, Cindy named two as the most influential, starting with her husband, Ken. “I don’t think I could even estimate just how much his faithfulness, his love, his confidence, his encouragement has given me. When I took this job, he told me later one of his thoughts was, ‘Well, I’m not going to retire.’ You know, that’s a sacrifice to think that way.”

After a pause, and with tears welling in her eyes, she identified the second person. “I have a picture of my dad on my desk—he passed in 2015. He was a great encouragement. He loved me. He was a stepping-stone to my relationship with the Lord. And I feel like I’m still making him proud.”

Thirty years ago, a small group of women had a desire to provide alternatives for pregnant women considering abortion. The Hope Center was God’s answer to their prayers. Over the past fifteen years, Cindy has witnessed many examples of God’s hand at work. God has expanded the ministry to include a mobile ultrasound unit, a medical clinic, and a thrift store, branded “Seeds.” A small group of prayer warriors, which Cindy refers to as “the intercessors,” meets on the last Tuesday of each month to pray for needs within the ministry. “Occasionally,” Cindy said, “there are significant needs within the ministry, whether for an individual, or for a project, or for guidance on where we think the Lord is leading. The interces-sors come in once a month and they pray. God always has a remnant for this important work.”

In the Center’s latest newsletter, Cindy wrote, “Had we the time, we’d reflect together on the year just past—2,019 appointments to equip pregnant women to choose life and to help families thrive in the love of Christ. We would celebrate the twelve salvations and two lives redirected to Jesus as a result of the Gospel being shared 128 times! But mostly, we would look ahead to where the Lord is leading us in 2021. He knows the plans He has for us, just as He knows the plans He has for you—plans for a future filled with hope!”

Joel Berry is an aspiring writer, soon to graduate from Dallas Theological Seminary with a Master of Arts in Biblical Studies. A CPA by profession, Joel serves as a spiritual mentor for men in his local church and leads an independent Bible study group for married couples. God used a difficult time to lead Joel to discover his love for writing, and to pursue seminary education at DTS. Joel desires to encourage believers to grow deep roots into Jesus Christ so they will remain steadfast in their faith.

Joel and his wife, Cheri, live in Roswell, GA and will soon celebrate their thirty-seventh anniversary. They have two wonderful sons and daughters-in-law.