Prayer is vital to First Image. As we pray, together we raise our voices for God’s intervention, compassion, and love to encounter the hearts of those we serve.
I was recently called to go to one of our PRC’s as a support in a potentially volatile situation. There had been an intense argument within a family that had come to the Center for a pregnancy test.
Lila, a fourteen year old girl proved to be pregnant. Understandably, this created anguish and chaos among her family. The girl’s mother and siblings were there with her that day. And her father had just returned home from business on the east coast when he was told his daughter was likely pregnant.
The family “discussion” over Lila’s pregnancy had become so intense that the staff called me over in case the father got out of control. He was insistent that Lila immediately schedule an abortion. His anger was making an already tense situation much worse as they were trying to deal with the fact that Lila was pregnant.
An ultrasound was conducted and, with some difficulty, Lila’s father was persuaded to wait outside while Lila, alongside her mother, met with a peer counselor. However, the father was so upset that he kept going back into the counseling room to reassert his wishes to his daughter.
Lila and her mother did not want an abortion; her father was insistent that his daughter terminate her pregnancy.
This is a scenario that can happen with an unplanned pregnancy, especially with a minor. It’s just one example of the kinds of agonizing decisions and family and personal conflicts that we encounter in the lives of those we serve in our PRCs.
In this instance, our Center staff wisely navigated the difficult task of informing Lila that her father could not legally force her to get an abortion, while not seeking to undermine his family’s respect for his parental authority.
The family continued arguing as they left the Center that day. We stopped and prayed for them. We asked God to intervene in their lives with His grace. This is true for every client who comes into our PRC.
We caringly provide accurate information, encourage her, without pressure, to continue to carrying her baby, supply the range of resources, support and referrals needed to parent or make an adoption plan, and share the love and truth of the good news of Christ whenever she is receptive to spiritual help.
Everything we hope to give is dependent upon God’s grace as we pray for her immediate and eternal welfare and the life of her baby.
I trust you can see why your prayer and engagement with First Image is essential.
Your prayer and support puts you in that ultrasound room, with a woman and her boyfriend, husband, or other family members. Together with our staff and volunteers, you join in prayer for God’s intervention, the opening of blind eyes, and the infusion of hope and courage to give life to her baby in the face of enormous implications for the rest of her life, no matter what she decides.
We were so thankful that Lila has come back to the Center for an additional ultrasound and referrals. She has decided to birth her baby. We continue to prayerfully be available to her and her family as she faces her future.
I invite you to give this month so that families like Lila’s can see their baby via ultrasound, and have their hearts opened to support the life of that child and her mother, rather than choosing abortion.
-Larry Gadbaugh, CEO
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