by Debra Neybert,Training Specialist

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  - John 1:14

Out of a heart of perfect love, the Father gave us His greatest blessing, his beloved Son, Jesus.  He was with Father from all eternity; then the time came for him to step out of eternity and into time.

The Lord of all Glory, the King of Kings, The Eternal Word, who spoke the worlds into being, descended, laying aside His glorious crown, His royal robes. He stepped into a servant’s garment and became Emanuel—God with us!

One word that is commonly translated as “blessing” in the original Hebrew means "to kneel or cause to kneel.” It’s the word that’s used in Psalm 95:6, “Let us kneel before the Lord, our God, our Maker!”

Jesus, essentially one with God and in the form of God willingly bowed so low; born in Bethlehem considered “little among the thousands of Judah.” (Micah 5:2) There He was, born in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, taking on flesh and dwelling among us.

The practice of swaddling was typically done two times in life; at birth and at death.  Jesus once wrapped in Kingly apparel, came in complete humility, even to the point of obscurity, and then again “humbled Himself to death—even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

As we unwrap our gifts this Christmas, let us remember the greatest gift, the greatest blessing…. Jesus Himself, unwrapped, the gift of Salvation! Because he bowed low, we are lifted high, seated with Him in Heavenly places, crowned with love and compassion, and clothed in heavenly apparel. Oh what a Savior, Emanuel, God with us!

by Betty McDowell, Director of Ministry Services

I think almost everyone has a bucket list—things you want to do before you “kick the bucket”. It may be in the back of our mind, it may be written in a journal, or it may be an app on your iPhone.

Some of the things I’ve been blessed to check off my bucket list are dreams like going on an African Safari, visiting Paris, leading a women's retreat, and writing something from my heart that’s worthy of publishing. As fun as it is to dream, it’s even more fun to see those dreams fulfilled.

No matter our age, our health, or our resources, all of us can dream up a bucket list. And, as followers of Christ, our bucket list should be influenced and shaped—even inspired—by God Himself. Trust me, I would never have imagined becoming a writer or speaker without the influence of the Holy Spirit.

We serve a God who wants us to accomplish the seemingly impossible. Our God created an incredibly beautiful world, and He longs to show it off to you. Our God also created amazing, beautiful people that He wants you to meet. And, our God created you with a unique set of gifts and talents that He longs for you to use for the good of others.

A God-inspired bucket list will always be headlined by ways you hope to be used for the glory of God and the good of others.

Seeing an end to abortion is at the top of my bucket list. God inspired? I think so. God continues to amaze me, as I see the Heartbeat International network grow, and as I read the testimonies of lives changed and babies saved through ministries across our nation and God’s world.

Serving with Heartbeat and playing a small part in the fulfillment of our mission and vision is both humbling and rewarding. It may not have been on my childhood bucket list, but the list God has given me along the way has brought so much more joy and satisfaction than I could have imagined.

So what are you waiting for? Maybe it’s time for you to dream, and add to your God-inspired bucket list. Dream big, and add seeing an end to abortion to your bucket list.

Our God reigns, and in His name, “all oppression shall cease.” Let’s pray that He will bring about an end to the oppression of abortion this Christmas season.

In Fishhoek, South Africa, "Marc and Veronica" hold their newly adopted baby girl and praise God that, after six long years of waiting, He has answered their prayers.

Cradling their daughter, "Jenna", in their arms at the site where she was left by her birth mother, the beaming parents know firsthand the value of the work Baby Safe International is doing.

For Marc and Veronica, the thought of Jenna’s probable fate without Baby Safe’s life-saving innovation is unimaginable. At just a day old, Jenna would likely have been a victim of infanticide—infant exposure—had it not been for the availability of Baby Safe’s deposit box, which empowers desperate mothers with a real choice to preserve the life of their baby.

In South Africa, “baby dumping,” as it is called, is an increasingly common occurrence in both rural and urban areas. Some babies are found in plastic bags in rubbish heaps, others in storm drains, abandoned fields, ditches, alleys, or even in rural homemade toilets.

Some of these children are found, thankfully, alive, while others are found dead—upwards of 500 in the Western Cape of South Africa in 2010 alone—and still more are never found. This sad fact tells us that baby dumping is, by its very nature, widely unreported.

Baby Safe, a nonprofit Heartbeat International affiliate, specifically targets this injustice in its region, just outside of Cape Town, by producing and distributing “baby safes,” where mothers can leave their babies anonymously as a real alternative to the horror of infanticide.

The box has a variety of safety features to insure that proper care will be given to the baby who is left by his or her mother. When a baby’s weight is detected inside the safe, a team of dedicated staff are immediately notified, while a safety backup system assures the baby will be promptly rescued by Baby Safe volunteers.

Through the production and distribution of these boxes, Baby Safe is carefully building a network that enables desperate mothers to choose life for their babies. This network is spreading throughout South Africa, and has broken through the northeastern border to Swaziland.

While its visible efforts are focused on providing an alternative to infanticide for desperate mothers, Baby Safe’s long-term vision is to connect with at-risk women before they reach the point of dumping their babies, with holistic direction that includes Bible studies, parenting classes, nutrition education, and even exercise and dance classes.

To learn more about Baby Safe, and to find out how you can help, visit TheBabySafe.org.

Becoming a Life Affirming Specialist is easier than ever! Heartbeat International now offers a dynamic online training that meets the training and educational requirements you need to become a Life Affirming Specialist in as little as two days.

To learn more about becoming enrolled this course click here.

The course costs just $100 for Heartbeat International affiliates and $115.95 for non-affiliates, and is designed to provide instruction on key topics everyone involved in life-affirming ministry should know: abortion, adoption, peer counseling, fetal development, sexual integrity, and—most importantly—the biblical basis for why we are pro-life.Each course is taught by carefully selected professionals, and steers you toward key resources for further learning.

At the conclusion of this training, you will have earned 14 hours of approved credit, and a certificate in Peer Counseling Training. When you’ve completed this course, you'll have met two-thirds of the qualifications to become a Life Affirming Specialist. As long as you meet the final requirement—two years (1,000 hours) experience in a life-affirming ministry or the formal educational equivalent—you're ready to apply for your designation the same day!

by Ellen Foell, Heartbeat International Legal Counsel

For years, our children begged us to add a dog to the mix of our already busy family. Finally, when our twin sons were 11 years old, we relented and welcomed Gabby to our family.

When we picked her out at the animal shelter, Gabby was still a puppy—active, untrained, mischievous, and always hungry. It had only been about three weeks since we brought her home, when that puppy energy and our busy family life collided.

Before we left to spend the evening at the local zoo, I planned ahead and put a 12-quart pot of beef vegetable soup on the stove—out of harm’s reach, of course—on the back burner where Gabby couldn’t reach it. Everything was going according to plan, as we came home, ate dinner, and the boys headed upstairs to get ready for bed.

The situation went south, however, when I was interrupted from cleanup detail by two boys needing tucked into bed. Without thinking to put the soup back to its proper location on the back of the stove, I answered the summons. But no sooner had I entered their room, than the three of us heard a loud crash and an unmistakable yelp!

We arrived on the scene to see Gabby, standing in the middle of the kitchen floor, lapping up beef vegetable soup as quickly as she could. There was soup everywhere—on the cabinets, under the refrigerator—some had already spread to the living room carpet. It was a nightmare.

To make matters worse, I instinctively scolded the dog, which caused her to lie down—right into the soup. My follow-up rebuke led to the next mishap, as she stood back up and shook her entire body, flinging soup into every conceivable nook and cranny that hadn’t already been tainted by the initial spill.

Since the entire mess was really their fault (they had asked for the dog, right?), I yelled at my sons, “Go straight upstairs to bed!” Paul pitifully asked, “Mama, you aren’t going to send Gabby back, are you? I’ll help clean up the mess, Mama. Don’t send her back.” One withering look from his frustrated mother was all Paul needed to dutifully trot off to bed.

Instantly, I felt terrible.

And so, in the wake of this disaster, I found myself gingerly navigating my way through a soggy bog of soup and upstairs to my boys’ room to apologize to them, reassuring them of my love and care for them. At the same time, I had to ease their concerns about Gabby, who they now assumed was on her way back to the shelter.

I said, “Boys, you need to know that Gabby is part of our family now, and just because she does naughty things, it doesn’t mean we are going to send her back. Things don’t work that way when you’re a family.”

As I soon found out, I was totally unprepared for my sons’ reactions. Sam reminded me that I’d signed a contract with the animal shelter, so of course I wouldn’t take Gabby back. True enough, I supposed. But Paul nearly broke my heart when he piggy-backed on Sam’s appeal:

“Yeah, just like you signed a contract with the adoption agency in Thailand that promised you would take care of us and keep us even when we do naughty things.”

In that moment, I was struck with just how sad and pathetic it would be if all that held us together was some kind of paper-and-ink contract, signed many years before.

Still trying to take all this in, I answered, “Boys, a contract is not what makes us a family. Love makes us a family—God’s love, and the fact that God has chosen us for one another.”

In that moment, I wanted to convey a sense of security, a sense of belonging, a sense of family—even a sense of uniqueness in having been chosen and adopted that far out-weighs any sin, imperfection or mistake. My family is not my family because of paperwork, contractual agreement or any other impersonal force. My family is my family because we love each other.

And isn't that what our Heavenly Father has been trying to teach us all along? His acceptance of us, His children by faith in Christ, is based on His love, and His love alone. Just like my love for my children, God’s choice of us is no mere contract, or impersonal set of paperwork. It’s deep, personal, and real—even to the point where “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

By taking on flesh and dwelling with us—and by dying in our place and defeating death for us—Jesus identifies with us in such a deep, personal way that Hebrews 2:11 says, “He is not ashamed to call us brothers.” In other words, we’re family, and since we are, we have no need to appeal to contracts, paperwork, or performance.

Our status as God’s family, His sons and daughters, is infinitely secure because it’s based on the love of the God who always makes good on His promises. This faithful God is the God who is eternal, infinite, all-powerful, and extravagantly near.

Each one of our children—three adopted and one birth child—was placed into our family by God Himself, and we are constantly affirming each one with the words, “You are ours. God has chosen you for us and us for you.”

In the same way, I hear my Heavenly Father say, “You are mine. Nothing changes that. I have chosen you. You have been adopted as my daughter, and I love you.

“Even when you spill the soup.”

by Julie Parton, Ph.D.

To:              Jesus Christ, Commander-in-Chief, Spiritual Armed Forces
Subject:      Request for Transfer

Dear Lord:

I am writing this to You to request a transfer to a desk job. I herewith present my reasons:

I began my career as a private, but because of the intensity of the battle, You have quickly moved me up in the ranks. You have made me an officer and have given me a tremendous amount of responsibility. There are many soldiers and recruits under my charge. I am constantly being called upon to dispense wisdom, make judgments, and find solutions to complex problems. You have placed me in a position to function as an officer, when in my heart I know I have only the skills of a private.

I realize that You have promised to supply all I need for the battle. But Sir, I must present you a realistic picture of my equipment. My uniform, once so crisp and starched, is now stained with tears and the blood of those I have tried to assist. The sole of my boots are cracked and worn from the miles I have walked, trying to enlist and encourage troops. My weapons are marred, tarnished, and chipped from constant battle against the Enemy. Even the Book of Regulations I was issued has been torn and tattered from endless use. The words are now smeared.

You have promised You would be with me throughout; but the noise of the battle is so loud and the confusion is so great, I can neither see nor hear you. I feel so alone. I'm tired. I'm discouraged. I have battle fatigue. I would never ask You for a discharge. I love being in Your service. But, I humbly request a demotion and transfer. I'll file papers or clean latrines! Just get me out of the battle, please, Sir.

Your faithful, but tired,
Solider

***********************************************

To:                  Faithful but Tired Soldier, Spiritual Armed Forces
Location:        The Battlefield
Subject:          Transfer Request

Dear Soldier:

Your request for transfer has been denied. I herewith present my reasons:

1. You are needed in this battle.
2. I have selected you, and I will keep My Word to supply your needs.
3. You do not need a demotion & transfer. (Believe me, you'd never cut it on latrine duty!)
4. You need a period of “R&R” - Renewal and Rekindling.

For this reason, I am setting aside a place on the battlefield that is insulated from all sound and fully protected from the enemy. I will meet you there and I will give you rest. I will remove your old equipment and “make all things new.”

You have been wounded in the battle, My soldier. Your wounds are not visible, but you have received grave internal injuries.

You need to be healed. I will heal you. You have been weakened in battle. You need to be strengthened. I will strengthen you and be your strength.

I will instill within you confidence and ability. My words will rekindle you with a renewed love, zeal, and enthusiasm. Report to Me tattered and empty, and I will refill you.

Compassionately,
Your Commander-in-Chief

Heartbeat's International Coordinator Molly Hoepfner shares about her time in Serbia

Walking the Novi Sad streets, Molly Hoepfner and Betty McDowell pass row after row of square, grey buildings—standing monuments that remain 20 years after the breakup of Communist Yugoslavia.

Yet, even amid the seemingly unvaried landscape of drab, graffiti-covered structures that line the busy streets of Serbia’s second-largest city, an occasional flash of color bursts through a new, freshly painted edifice.

Little by little, life is returning to Serbia.

On behalf of Heartbeat International, Molly and Betty were there to see to it that even as life returns, the long-forgotten value of human dignity and life would truly take root.

Molly and Betty led a four-day volunteer training conference Oct. 4-7, hosted by Serbian pregnancy help organization executive director Vesna Radeka, who is one of more than 300 non-U.S. Heartbeat affiliates.

The conference included training on The LOVE Approach™ and Talking About Abortion™, two of Heartbeat’s signature programs, and welcomed a total of 50 attendees from five nations that were part of Yugoslavia as recent as the early 1990s—Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia.

“They got The LOVE Approach, they really got it,” Betty, Heartbeat’s director of ministry services, said. “Vesna had written scenarios that fit the culture, and that was really exciting. It was exciting to see The LOVE Approach really translate, and to see that it works in any language, any setting. It’s truly ‘Love in every language.’”

The conference is believed to be the first of its kind in the region, which has undergone constant political upheaval and deadly clashes between ethnic groups throughout the last century.

The fledgling growth of unity in the Eastern European pro-life movement was one of the highlights for the Heartbeat mini-envoy, particularly considering the deep entrenchment of the culture of death in the post-Communist region.

“We kept promoting the message that, ‘We’re better together,’” Molly, Heartbeat’s international coordinator said. “They really embraced that, even though that’s not how they tend to think.”

With a population of just over 7 million, Serbia reports an average 23,000 abortions every year. However, unofficial data, reported by The Southeastern European Times, estimates the annual average at 150,000 abortions—twice the number of live births—giving Serbia the highest abortion rate in Europe.

As Molly related, one woman who attended the conference said her mother had undergone 10 abortions after giving birth to her older brother and before giving birth to her, which was a tragically common story among the conference’s attendees.

“I’ve read about survivor’s guilt, but to see it so blatant and prevalent in that room was just so painful,” Betty said.

“This is generational,” Molly said. “Woman after woman after woman at this conference—whose average age was 35-40, stood up and said that they were either an unwanted child or that they grew up with abortion as a way of life.”

Abortion on-demand was legalized in its current form in Yugoslavia in 1977, but has been prevalent in the culture since just after World War II, when abortion was legalized in cases citing socio-medical grounds.

The conference’s attendees, many of whom are actively involved in bringing the sanctity of life message to their local public school systems, welcomed further training on how to speak the message of life into culture that has systematically devalued human life for several decades.

In addition to training related to The LOVE Approach and Talking About Abortion, another Heartbeat resource, the Sexual Integrity™ Program, played a major role in the conference training.

“These women are really stepping out in faith because it’s still so opposite of what their culture is saying,” Molly said. “They’re really going into uncharted waters because they’re in the infancy of pregnancy help centers even though their culture is much more entrenched in death than ours was by the time these centers began.”

Each year, November is recognized as National Adoption Awareness Month. While all adoption-related issues are important, the particular focus of this month is the adoption of children currently in foster care.

The first major effort to promote awareness of the need for adoptive families for children in the foster care system came in 1976, when Massachusetts governor Mike Dukakis initiated Adoption Week, an idea that grew in popularity and spread throughout the nation.

President Gerald Ford later made the first National Adoption Week proclamation, and in 1990, the week was expanded to a month due to the number of states participating and the number of events celebrating and promoting adoption.

During the month, states, communities, public and private organizations, businesses, families, and individuals celebrate adoption as a positive way to build families. Activities and observances across the nation, such as recognition dinners, public awareness and recruitment campaigns, and special events shed light on children who are in need of permanent families.

The month also includes National Adoption Day, traditionally a Saturday, which is observed in courthouses across the nation, where thousands of adoptions are finalized simultaneously.

Even in non-election years, elected officials at all levels are supportive of efforts to build adoption awareness. Both current officials and candidates should be receptive to invitations to participate in events with family appeal.

November is the perfect opportunity to make sure adoption is easy to talk about at your organization. One way is to order a subscription for one of Heartbeat's recorded webinars. Effectively Presenting Adoption to Every Client is a great resource for approaching the topic of adoption, and Parenting Choices complements The LOVE Approach Training Manual well while specifically addressing adoption. This kind of training is critical because, as Brittany's testimony makes clear, A Compassionate, Informed Counselor Makes the Difference in adoption.

Building a Culture of Adoption: It Starts at Home holds some practical tips for discussing adoption in a Maternity Home setting as well as our Cultivating a Culture of Adoption webinar.

We encourage you to embrace National Adoption Awareness Month and serve as champions of adoption every day!

As war rages on overseas and natural disasters hit close to home, one thing is certain—women in those affected areas will still need the real support offered by the pregnancy help movement.

Life-affirming organizations are by no means immune to the damage caused by trauma, and yet, they often become rallying points in their communities for aid in addition to their normal functions. Affected pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, non-profit adoption agencies, and abortion recovery programs will need prayer and financial support in the weeks and months to come.

Heartbeat International offers you a way to help, through our Helping Affiliated Life-Affirming Organizations (HALO) fund.

Heartbeat affiliates help each other in many ways, including through our own affiliates’ generous donations. Please consider giving to the HALO fund today, as we come alongside our friends who will struggle to rebuild in order to provide women with the compassionate support they need in order to choose life for their unborn children.

As always, keep an eye on your inbox and check PregnancyHelpNews.com for the most up to date information.

Unless pregnancy help organizations are there to set the standard for true compassion and support for women, someone else will—namely, Planned Parenthood.

In the wake of disasters, Planned Parenthood and abortion activist organizations arrive not with needed material aid, food and shelter, but with abortifacients, including the abortion pill. These pills only increase the death toll in the darkest hours.

There is no better time than now to come alongside your brothers and sisters through the HALO fund. You can give online today.

Heartbeat collects information on organizations potentially in need so that we might be able to direct resources, if available. If you are aware of an Heartbeat affiliated organization in need of support, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with their information and situation.

by Ellen Foell, Legal Counsel

Last month’s article, “The Robe of Restoration”, got me thinking a little about another son who received a robe of restoration.

In Luke 15, we read the familiar story of a prodigal son who received a robe of restoration. Like Joseph, the son of Jacob, this son’s story also involved a robe. As a beloved son of a wealthy man, he probably owned several robes, signifying his honored position.

But unlike Joseph, whose special robe was taken from him, the prodigal son forfeited his robe, selling it for something better, flashier, more trendy. He demanded his inheritance from his father, and left home to pursue wild living.

The end of the story is also familiar: The son returned home, and his lavishly loving father blessed him with the best robe in the house!

As I was reading Luke 15 recently, I was struck by the image of the prodigal son, walking down the homeward path, dreading the moment he’d have to face his father.

As a teenager, the very thought of facing my father after I’d done wrong filled me with terror. Truth be told, the thought of facing my mother filled me with even more terror! I can still remember the pounding of my heart as I walked down the hallway, going to face my parents after I’d failed them.

Like the son in Luke 15, I would rehearse the conversation in my head, and sometimes even in front of a mirror—so as to ensure that my facial expression reflected “sincere” remorse. I would rehearse my approach, come up with words to say how I hadn’t meant to do it, or how it had been an accident, and how I’d never do it again.

Isn’t that what it was like for the son in this story?

Well, if we look at the text, it describes the state of mind of the son: Moving from euphoria to deep depression and disillusionment. When the son left home, had money, he had time, he had no boundaries, he had friends, and he had wild living. But he soon became impoverished. The party died and his so-called friends left him lonely and broken.

Isn’t that often the case? Our sinful tendencytoward God-neglecting self-reliance only leads us to loneliness and spiritual bankruptcy. Without the help of God himself, we find ourselves trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle of joy-robbing, isolating rebellion.

That’s why, even in his initial poverty, the son was not quite desperate enough to face his father. He thought he could help himself by hiring himself out. Again, watch how our self-reliant tendencies only lead to further misery. Try as he might to pull himself up by his sandal straps, the real problem with the prodigal son was always an issue of the heart.

We find it hard, as did the son, to face the father and ask him to change our heart. It seems easier to try and fix ourselves than to confess our short-comings and face our father.

What happens when even our best efforts come to nothing? The story tells us that in the midst of pigsty and slop, the son finally had an “aha” moment. He finally came to his senses, owned up to his hopeless emptiness, and set off to face his father.

But while the son made his way home, dreading the moment he was to face his father, a shocking display of the father’s grace awaited him. Filled with grace and eager to forgive, the father had never given up on his rebellious son.

I love the description of this scene: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20, NASB).

What was the father waiting for?

Did he wait for his son to return in order to get an accounting of how he’d spent the inheritance?

Did he wait in hope for a blow-by-blow retelling of every stupid decision?

Did he yearn for a well-rehearsed apology for every poor attitude and wounding word spoken?

No, the father waited in hope that his son would one day break the horizon, and come on home.

To be sure, something changed in the pigsty. But the real point is how everything changed when the son experienced his father’s undeserved, intimate, and unbreakable embrace.

In that moment—experiencing true grace and forgiveness—the son’s heart was changed, and he finally understood what had been in his father’s heart all along: Unconditional love.

Have you experienced the unconditional love of our God, who doesn’t demand an accounting, but instead, rejoices to demonstrate his incredibly patient love and mercy toward the children he loves?

This is a love that frees us to live joyfully, as we remember that our God is a father who delights to do good to his children—especially when we don’t deserve it.