Heartbeat International recently heard from our friends in Slovenia, and it is amazing to see what God has done in their ministry within the last year! As 2017 comes to a close, here’s an update from Zavod Biser (Institute Pearl):
"Zavod Biser (Institute Pearl) is a new organization founded in February this year. Our ministry is counseling women in need in cases of unexpected and unwanted pregnancy, based on the concept of an excellent German organization from Munich, Profemina. We adopted their approach and customized it to our Slovenian reality. We have our seat in Maribor, the second largest town in Slovenia.
A lot of things have happened in our Institute Biser/Pearl this year. We opened our website at the end of May: http://www.zenskaodlocitev.si/ . This is the first website with a wide breadth of information for pregnant women in need in Slovenia. During the summer, we contacted many hospitals throughout the country to allow us to deliver our materials. Reactions were mainly positive, which seems to us as a very positive sign. In September, we organized our office in the center of Maribor and started with advertising on Google.
In the middle of October, the first pregnant woman contacted us. Since then, we have counseled 32 women by phone, online or by personal contact. Two pregnant women chose life, and we are looking forward to the birth of their children in June 2018!
At the same time, we are working on fundraising. Just before Christmas, we will open our fundraising website, Slovenija 1000plus, following the model of Kristijan Aufiero’s 1000plus.
It is unbelievable that so many women in Slovenia live under such pressure because of unexpected pregnancy. We have incredibly liberal abortion legislation, contraception is free of charge, and gynecologists are free of charge. First feedbacks are encouraging in the way that we have a lot to do. We see many challenges for the coming year.”
While there will always be challenges ahead, Heartbeat International is overwhelmed with joy when we hear that our international friends of the movement are thriving and growing, and we give thanks to God for His many good gifts. As we close out this year, we are excited to see what He has in store for 2018!