Taking care of the unborn

How can we use the resources available to us to meet the needs of expecting mothers?

With the help of her pastor, May set up a counselling office for women with unwanted pregnancies. Now the whole church is involved in providing support and resources for both women and families with troubles.

My name is May. I started serving in the church 10 years ago after accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. After I married, my husband and I became co-workers in the church. However, I felt that my gifts were not fully developed and used.

While serving in the church, I discovered that I was good at counselling sisters and helping them to be set free by applying the word of God. Therefore, I decided to study counselling and obtain a counselling certificate, hoping that one day I would have the opportunity to serve the Lord through counselling.

Two years ago, my heart was deeply touched when brother Tan preached about the protection of life. My heart went out to the women who were considering abortion, and I longed for an opportunity to care for and serve these women. I approached my pastor and shared my thoughts with him. Unexpectedly, he agreed that we should do something for those women. With the help of the pastor, who also was the director of a local hospital, I was able to set up a counselling office in autumn of 2017, specifically providing counselling services for single mothers who faced challenges and were considering aborting their babies.

I was the first person to work in the counselling office, and I am very grateful that I could serve using my gift. Three months later, although I was physically and mentally exhausted, I still firmly believed that the job was assigned by God. But I felt helpless because sometimes the women I met would still choose abortion. I felt strongly that this was not just my own ministry, but also the church’s ministry. So, during a Sunday worship service, I stood up and witnessed, calling on the whole church to get involved and pray for this work and for the pregnant women. Since then, the church has regarded this ministry as their own, praying for the work, for the pregnant women and for those of us serving in the ministry. Some sisters in the church volunteered to accompany the women and take care of them, helping me to be more effective in my work and empowering me. I organized volunteers to provide support and resources for families who were unable to take care of their newborns, so that the children could be looked after and raised properly, with the love and attention they need.

Today, I feel supported and encouraged, full of enthusiasm, because I can use the gifts God has given me together with my brothers and sisters.

READ THE TEXT PSALM 139:13-16

13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You that You created us. Thank You for these words that remind us that You knew us before we were born, that You care for the unborn. We ask for Your blessing on those who are pregnant, particularly those in difficult circumstances. Help us to see how we can serve them. Help us to use the resources in our community to bless them.

We worship You. Amen.

DISCUSSION:

1. How do we serve expecting mothers in our community?

2. How can I encourage others to make wise choices and to be all that God has created them to be?

3. How can my life draw people to Christ?

4. How can my associations, Bible community, or church be an ambassador of love? Can we see that our walk with Christ challenges us to care for those in need? How can we use the resources available to us to meet the needs of expecting mothers?

F Rev. Kotobesoa – General Secretary