First Fruits Friday - I Love Jesus Too
I love Jesus, too!
“Creating a culture of hope where the beauty of life is celebrated and healing is received” is the Vision of Seneca, Choices for Life. On the contrary, the abortion industry’s vision is to kill as many unborn babies as possible. They do this by increasing the demand for abortion and with the state of our nation, we are seeing that demand increase at a rapid pace. Seneca’s placement next door to the abortion facility is providential. God wanted us to be a last beacon of hope for all mothers who feel overwhelmed and alone in their pregnancies. Our mantra is “you are not alone!” Offering immediate help on the sidewalk is lifesaving!! As one of our clients shared last year during Mothers Matter, journeying in our Case Management program “is a God-send!” Together the immediate and long term care for women is what Christ has allowed Seneca to provide because of the generosity of our donors and volunteers!
Just a few weeks ago, the Montgomery abortion facility closed. Praise be to God for this miracle! It’s a wonderful day when we see a place of destruction close its doors permanently. However, the women from Montgomery and the surrounding areas of Alabama are simply migrating to Columbus to procure their abortions. Columbus has been absorbing more Alabama clients than ever before, recently the number of women coming in for abortions have been significantly higher. The average number of abortions in 2020 was around 20 per week, however in 2021, we have seen the numbers increase, between 30-35 aboritons per week. Seneca is in need of more financial support to match the growing needs of the women we serve, just like the mother you will hear about today.
On a busy, rainy abortion day, our advocates were offering life-saving support to the mothers arriving for their abortion appointments. One particular mother solemnly arrived in our parking lot. The look in her eyes was that of despair and devastation. Her heart looked broken as she raised her hand to her forehead, it was almost as if she was saying to herself “I can’t believe I’m here.”
Despite the downpour of rain, the advocate approached her gently, asking her to roll down the window to chat. This mother complied and rapport was built through a gentle conversation with our advocate. The first thing the advocate did was welcome her with love, gave a brief introduction and asked if she might be pregnant. The woman indicated she was pregnant, had other children at home, but she was very sick. The advocate told her that Seneca was here to help. After a short conversation in the rain, the advocate noticed the lanyard hanging from her rearview mirror, it simply read: “I love Jesus.” The advocate said: “I love Jesus too, why don’t you come inside and we can help you figure out a plan to empower you and your family.” The mother entered Seneca and immediately began to feel nauseous. Come to find out, her previous pregnancies were filled with nausea and vomiting. It was noticeable that this woman was desperate as she vomited multiple times while inside Seneca.
After an intake and brief assessment of her needs, the Executive Director and Medical Director collaborated on how we could help this mother best. Seneca’s team met her where she was at. By bringing in the life-saving power of Jesus Christ through the sidewalk advocates, along with the immediate medical support that ultimately empowered this mother to choose life. This mother was so relieved to get the medical help as well as the resources in case management, and a listening ear from our sidewalk advocates, that our vision to create a culture of hope was realized in this moment!
Just like the mothers we help on the sidewalk love Jesus, we love Jesus too! We believe in a God of miracles, we are praying you will join us as a donor, supporter, and volunteer. We humbly ask you to pray through what Jesus Christ is calling you to do to become part of our team. We have a fantastic Seneca family but we are small. Our prayer is to grow our medical volunteers, to grow our sidewalk and client advocates, prayer partners, healing team, and to grow our donations so we can help more mothers just like the one you read about today. Our Mothers Matter online fundraiser is running May 3-9th, you can make a donation in honor or in memory of a special mom in your life this Mother’s Day. Make a donation of just $100, and the mother you have honored will receive a special gift from our mothers matter team. Text “mm21” to 41-444 to make your life-saving donation today!!