The "Hand of Hope"

Have ya'll ever seen a picture that made your heart just melt? I did last week. But, before that... a little background information...

I just started volunteering at a pregnancy center here in town. I found out about it at a girls' conference this past February. As part of the Masterpiece conference, they had an evening coffeehouse setup with booths and information tables from different ministries where we could get involved. As I walked by one table I overheard an older lady talking to a couple other college girls about her ministry's need for homemade quilts and baby items. My ears perked up and I stopped to listen in. :)

The more I found out about Hope Pregnancy Center, the more I got excited about possibly volunteering with them. My summer in Africa taught me that I really do like the behind-the-scenes service; I do enough front-lines stuff and I need a break and I need to serve those who I will probably never see again and cannot do anything to repay me.

My research into VVF and women's health issues in Africa as well as the book "Half the Sky" (EXCELLENT READ!) showed me the huge needs women facing crisis pregnancies are going through. And I'm realizing that crisis pregnancies are more than girls that were stupid/got themselves into trouble. And the more I talk to people who are Pro-Life, the more I get frustrated by the fact that most people only care about the baby and overlook the intense needs the mother has!

So, as soon as I got back into town and realized that lovely bus 26 drops off right by Hope, I went to see how I could volunteer. I left with a dauntingly thick application that requested 2 recommendation letters, my salvation testimony, and an interview scheduled with the volunteer coordinator.

Then I went through a weekend with 14.5 hours of training. And then a 3-hour video on "abortion apologetics." And now I'm in weeks upon weeks of training and shadowing counselors before I will be able to counsel clients. But it's all good.

Some people have asked me why I volunteer at Hope. That's a really long conversation, but here are the top reasons:

• if I was facing a crisis pregnancy--whether because of pre-marital sex, just having moved to a new country (there are a lot of international graduate students/families here in College Station), needed some financial assistance, or just needed a Christian woman to talk with--I would want to have somewhere like Hope
• I'm accumulating tools for my "toolbox." More people skills, more counseling training, more knowledge about controversial topics, and more opportunities to pour into people.
• there's nothing like being able to offer an expectant mother a handmade baby blanket
• it's one little life at a time
• it's meeting someone at probably their greatest need so far and introducing them to Someone who will truly never leave them, will truly forgive them, and will truly provide for them
• it gets me off campus and out of my bubble of college life and into the community

So anyway... about the picture. During training we were discussing under what circumstances/if ever abortion was acceptable and how the marvels of modern medicine were making many of those pre-natal complications irrelevant reasons for abortion. Then we heard the story of Samuel who was diagnosed with spina bifida and in 1999 underwent pre-natal corrective surgery. 

And if you ever doubt that the little one inside is an independent and viable life, let this picture speak for itself... and see if it melts your heart.

The Hand of Hope

(photo copyright Michael Clancy 1999, http://michaelclancy.com/wordpress/)