This month we are highlighting Lisa Searle, one of our Healthcare Team Managers. Lisa assists our affiliates with medical questions and oversees the Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline. Before joining the Medical Impact Team almost two years ago, she served for two years as an Abortion Pill Reversal Hotline Consultant. Lisa brings to our team 19 years of nursing experience with four of those years spent serving within her local pregnancy help center. She brings so much wisdom to our team and is always willing to offer education and assistance to advance the pregnancy help community. We count ourselves blessed to have her on the team!
Where did you grow up and go to school?
I grew up in the heart of eastern North Carolina. Goldsboro is a little town known for pigs, pickles, and planes. Goldsboro is home to the Seymour Johnson Airforce Base. Mount Olive Pickle Company is not too far from town. You will find some of the best Eastern North Carolina BBQ as you drive through headed to the coast which is only two hours away. Barton College is in Wilson, North Carolina. I attended Barton College and earned my nursing degree.
Share with us about your family.
My husband and I are celebrating 17 years of marriage this month. God has blessed us with two children, Costin, 16 years old and Asher, 9 years old. We share our home with two dogs Izzy and Sarge, our crazy kitty Petunia Butterfly, two African Dwarf Frogs, Bobby and Chunky, as well as Karen, the snail.
What was your favorite part of helping clients in the pregnancy center?
Spending time with the abortion-minded client is what I love to do.
Getting to know her, building trust to form a lasting relationship. I enjoy providing abortion education, introducing the client to her baby during her first ultrasound and guiding her down a path of life-affirming choices.
Tell us about what brought you to Heartbeat International.
While working in the pregnancy center I learned about Abortion Pill Rescue Network and was encouraged by my peers to join the team of nurse consultants. I worked as a nurse consultant for two years prior to becoming a part of the Medical Impact Team. I accepted the position of Nurse Manager with Heartbeat International in November 2019.
Tell us about your experiences sharing APR with others through presentations.
Educating the community on how to help a woman who is desperately seeking to reverse her abortion is life-changing and the impact goes beyond what we can predict. The audience is receptive and amazed at how this treatment works. Likewise, I stand in awe at what God has given us—a treatment that can give women a second chance at choice! It really is amazing.
Tell us about your experiences helping clients on the APR Hotline and now overseeing the Hotline as one of the Healthcare Team Managers.
There are currently four Healthcare Team Managers who rotate through the hotline schedule. We each oversee the hotline one week out of the month. The hotline consists of 34 nurse consultants, 3 Nurse Advocates, and a total of 42 shifts per week. The days are tough. We experience spiritual warfare, and the battles are difficult.
Our team believes in the mission of APRN. We are strong in faith and have been called to this position for such a time as this. We fight to save the lives of babies and to protect women and families from the pain of abortion. The devil attempts to deceive and divide but we stand firm that the devil will never win. Our faith in God, our leadership, and our commitment to each other get us through the toughest days. Oversight week is one of the most exhausting weeks, but it is also full of rewards. Making a difference in the lives of women, children, and families makes it worth every second.
Tell us about working on the Medical Impact Team.
Educating Pregnancy Help Organizations on how to best meet the needs of their community is important. I enjoy helping organizations develop medical policy and procedures that will allow them to be successful when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, abortion, STI, and disruption of sexual integrity within their community.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
I love educating people and I get to do it often here at Heartbeat International. Whether I am teaching the abortion-minded client about reversal or the Pregnancy Help Center about starting medical services, I am sharing useful information that can be used to make the world a little better.
What are your favorite things to do outside of work?
Visiting the beach and spending time with friends and family is great self-care for me. You can find me on the dock enjoying God’s beautiful creation.
What is something else you would like to share?
When I was 13 years old, I discovered my love for Women’s Health while volunteering as a Candy Striper in the Labor and Delivery Unit of the local hospital. As a young nursing student, I took a job in an abortion clinic because of my desire to help women and to also increase my knowledge in Gynecology. The time spent in the abortion clinic revealed a painful truth about abortion but most of all has given me an undying passion to protect the preborn and those affected by abortion. After leaving the abortion clinic, I went on to enjoy a successful career in obstetrical nursing. Prior to joining the team at Heartbeat International, I spent four years as a nurse manager of a Pregnancy Center where I was given the support I needed to begin my healing journey. I am grateful to God for his grace and mercy and for giving purpose to my past.
