**This post is written... uh, fluidly. Basically, this was for me to get out, so it's kind of all over the place! Sorry! Hopefully it's at least clear enough to barely follow!**
1 year ago (April 2014), I had the privilege of attending a training for trainers on the content of pregnancy and abortion in India. I was VERY pregnant, so the topics that we covered hit home even more than they usually do. This is a topic that God has given me a passion for even before we lived here. In America, I was part of a cooperation that prays over abortion clinics. In a 40-day period of prayer, people are outside of the main clinics of cities all across America. During these 40 days, people are continually sitting outside- 24 hours a day for 40 days. I went every Thursday from 10-11, and I took baby Corinth with me when I went. I remember praying through so many verses from the Bible that talk about how precious, important, and intentional life is to God (and so should be to us.)
I had NO CLUE then that I would soon live in a country where abortion is not seen as wrong in any way by a majority of the population, and is seen as a simple procedure- no big deal. I have even met and talked with church leaders and pastors' wives who have said to me, "but if we don't want the child, then it's not wrong to abort it." Several times over this matter my heart has split in half. Half of my heart boils up and is extremely angry, raging against the (in my opinion) stupidity of others to think that it's 'no big deal.' The other half laments, full of sadness for the people who don't know, the people who don't understand, the people who don't care, and mostly the babies who aren't given a chance. I love my boy baby, but I love my girl baby too. Why would I not? How is she any less of a blessing to me than he is? She's not! She's a HUGE blessing to me, and my life would be completely incomplete without her. I just wish the culture here could see that girls and women are blessings! No one truly sits and thinks, "I wish I had never had a mom. She's been such a burden to me." Then why do so many people think this way about baby girls? (Hate to break this to you, but your mom was once a baby girl. So was your grandma, sister, wife, aunty.)
After the training I attended in April, I was so excited to go out and start training. I didn't get to do anything with it over hot season (April-October) because it's just too hot, plus I had a baby and wasn't going to bring a newborn out in 120+ degree weather. (Our high last summer was 124, in case you were wondering. And we only have power about 1/3 of the day, in case you were wondering that too!) Anyway, I did my first training with my friend and our language helper in December and it was great! Since December, I have done a training every month in a different location with a different group of women. It has been great! I love doing it, and have loved the feedback they give afterward.
The last training I did was last week, while we were in a small town doing our 5-day long language immersion. I mentioned to them that I'd love to do a women's training if it was possible. They said that a group of 50ish lactating moms come every Thursday for a child development program and that they'd love for me to teach them. Well, okay! That was easy! I was so excited to teach them! I did an abbreviated hour version of my 4 hour training, with Noah on my hip the entire time. :-) Anyway, afterward, a woman, named Ooma, came up to me and told me her story. She has 3 children and is currently 15 weeks pregnant with her 4th child. She said, "I don't want anymore kids, but now I know that abortion is sin, so I guess I have to keep the baby." I smiled, encouraged her, reiterated to her that God creates every life for a specific, special reason, and prayed for her. Please pray with me that she keeps this baby and that she sees the great blessing that her child is to her.
Please pray also for the millions of women who have abortions- India and China have the highest rates, but America isn't too far behind. Please pray for everyone to understand that life in the womb is LIFE. Please help women stand up for their babies when they are being forced to have abortions. Please pray for the value of human life and female life to increase. Please also pray for me- that my heart would have compassion as I live in this culture, and that I would lovingly share truth with those all around me who don't know. Thanks.
1 year ago (April 2014), I had the privilege of attending a training for trainers on the content of pregnancy and abortion in India. I was VERY pregnant, so the topics that we covered hit home even more than they usually do. This is a topic that God has given me a passion for even before we lived here. In America, I was part of a cooperation that prays over abortion clinics. In a 40-day period of prayer, people are outside of the main clinics of cities all across America. During these 40 days, people are continually sitting outside- 24 hours a day for 40 days. I went every Thursday from 10-11, and I took baby Corinth with me when I went. I remember praying through so many verses from the Bible that talk about how precious, important, and intentional life is to God (and so should be to us.)
I had NO CLUE then that I would soon live in a country where abortion is not seen as wrong in any way by a majority of the population, and is seen as a simple procedure- no big deal. I have even met and talked with church leaders and pastors' wives who have said to me, "but if we don't want the child, then it's not wrong to abort it." Several times over this matter my heart has split in half. Half of my heart boils up and is extremely angry, raging against the (in my opinion) stupidity of others to think that it's 'no big deal.' The other half laments, full of sadness for the people who don't know, the people who don't understand, the people who don't care, and mostly the babies who aren't given a chance. I love my boy baby, but I love my girl baby too. Why would I not? How is she any less of a blessing to me than he is? She's not! She's a HUGE blessing to me, and my life would be completely incomplete without her. I just wish the culture here could see that girls and women are blessings! No one truly sits and thinks, "I wish I had never had a mom. She's been such a burden to me." Then why do so many people think this way about baby girls? (Hate to break this to you, but your mom was once a baby girl. So was your grandma, sister, wife, aunty.)
After the training I attended in April, I was so excited to go out and start training. I didn't get to do anything with it over hot season (April-October) because it's just too hot, plus I had a baby and wasn't going to bring a newborn out in 120+ degree weather. (Our high last summer was 124, in case you were wondering. And we only have power about 1/3 of the day, in case you were wondering that too!) Anyway, I did my first training with my friend and our language helper in December and it was great! Since December, I have done a training every month in a different location with a different group of women. It has been great! I love doing it, and have loved the feedback they give afterward.
The last training I did was last week, while we were in a small town doing our 5-day long language immersion. I mentioned to them that I'd love to do a women's training if it was possible. They said that a group of 50ish lactating moms come every Thursday for a child development program and that they'd love for me to teach them. Well, okay! That was easy! I was so excited to teach them! I did an abbreviated hour version of my 4 hour training, with Noah on my hip the entire time. :-) Anyway, afterward, a woman, named Ooma, came up to me and told me her story. She has 3 children and is currently 15 weeks pregnant with her 4th child. She said, "I don't want anymore kids, but now I know that abortion is sin, so I guess I have to keep the baby." I smiled, encouraged her, reiterated to her that God creates every life for a specific, special reason, and prayed for her. Please pray with me that she keeps this baby and that she sees the great blessing that her child is to her.
Please pray also for the millions of women who have abortions- India and China have the highest rates, but America isn't too far behind. Please pray for everyone to understand that life in the womb is LIFE. Please help women stand up for their babies when they are being forced to have abortions. Please pray for the value of human life and female life to increase. Please also pray for me- that my heart would have compassion as I live in this culture, and that I would lovingly share truth with those all around me who don't know. Thanks.
