The Jehovah's Witness' Story

           On Monday our client advocate welcomed an anxious woman into her counseling room for her pregnancy test appointment. According to the client's basic information, she seemed to have no reason for anxiety. She wasn’t a teenager. She wasn’t a student. She wasn’t unemployed. She was a stable thirty-one year old woman. She seemed mature and established in her life as a mom. The stress in her demeanor, however, contradicted the facts in the file. Once our client advocate began the conversation, the burdened woman exploded with her purpose.

“I know abortion is killing my baby, but I just can’t have another one.”

At thirty-one years of age, this client was already the mother of five children. She began her journey to the doors of our crisis pregnancy center with her own crisis pregnancy at seventeen years old. Her children-from separate men-span the state of Texas. She only has custody of her youngest sons. Her current possible pregnancy is fathered by a different man whose identity she fiercely protected.

She’s confused. She’s ashamed.

She’s alone.

“I don’t want this baby. I need an abortion.”

Our client advocate saw the heavier burden on this woman’s shoulders. She asked about her spiritual life. The client answered, “I’m a Jehovah’s Witness.”   Beyond the mother, beyond the provider, beyond the lover is a desperately lost soul. With permission, our client advocate shared the undoctored, unashamed Gospel of Christ Jesus: His immoveable determination for her, His irreversible compassion on her, and His incessant grace over her. He has ardently loved her from the beginning of time itself. The counselor shared the meaning of the blood-stained cross and the relevance of the empty grave. It's not about perfection. It's not about a numbered elite in Heaven. It's only about Jesus. Finally, when she finished, the client looked up and said, “That makes sense to me for the first time." She prayed in that moment to accept the salvation reserved for her by the Creator of the Cosmos.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9

Her pregnancy test read negative.

She left that day, but she left changed. She may still have five children. She may still have partial custody. She may still have estranged men in her past, but this client is now saved by the conquering blood of her King of kings and Lord of lords. Her circumstances remain, but her life will never be the same. Pray for her as she begins her new walk with her Savior!

The Lost Girl's Story

On Tuesday, April 23^rd, our doors opened for the first time that morning to a young girl at 11:30 am. She didn’t know anyone who had already been here. She didn’t read about us on the website. She didn’t even have an appointment. She just saw our sign, and walked into our center. She needed confirmation of her pregnancy, but she truly needed so much more. I walked her into the counseling room, and introduced myself into her hopeless season.

                She was just 16 years old, working to earn her G.E.D. Her boyfriend, also 16, was on schedule to graduate early. They wanted to provide for this baby together as their own, little family unit. The plans were already made: They would live in his parents’ house until he graduated. They would then move into an apartment together to raise their new baby themselves, no further help from his family and no initial help from her’s. This was the life she planned for herself. She planned to have a child right then at 16 years old. But why? Why was her family unconcerned? Why was she running into this unstable life? Without prompting, she admitted the reasons to my unasked questions.

“My mom is dying.”

                She continued to explain that her mom was diagnosed with cervical cancer only a year previously. Now the cancer had attacked to such a vicious degree that her mom laid at home, heavily sedated and unconscious. The doctors involved in her mom’s case told the family that she only had 3 more weeks to live, if that long. Cancer, as so common with the disease, ravaged this woman’s body beyond medical rescue.

                The client’s older brother planned to move his wife and baby into a home together once his mother died. The client’s younger brother planned to move into their father’s house.  This family’s father, long-divorced from their mother, did not even speak with our young client. The moment  his  ex-wife had passed away, he planned to sign over his custody to whoever his daughter decided to live with. No fight. No offer of comfort or protection. Just immediate rejection.

                Her security in a family structure was first struck with the excruciating pain of divorce. Then a ruthless, fatal disease struck second. Her guaranteed future as a legally parentless minor finally demolished all security the word “family” once provided. She ached so desperately to have that acceptance again, to be a wanted, vital member of a family -no matter what that looked like-that she planned to start one herself. This was the journey that brought this 16 year old girl into my counseling room.

                With such a sense of loneliness in the room, I shared the only hope she could find rest. I told her about the relentless pursuit of her Creator to have a relationship with her.  I told her that rejection in the Garden of Eden wasn’t enough to push God away. He saw that the only way for her to even have the option for relationship with Him was the merciless death of His own Son-and He saw her as worth it. I shared with her the impact of choosing Christ, and the assurances He brings. She intently listened, but, once I finished speaking, she simply gave a short response of a few “I don’t know”s.  Though she did allow me to pray over her, she kept her heart closed.

The pregnancy test read positive.

Her dad doesn’t care.

Her mom is too sedated to even hear the words that her only daughter is having a baby.

“So you are no longer strangers and outsiders. You are citizens together with God’s people.
You are members of God’s family.”
Ephesians2:19

                This young girl is frantically searching, but she’s just finding herself even more lost. Pray that she remembers the Savior that she learned about today. Pray for understanding in her estranged father and healing in her dying mother. Pray that this 16 year old, pregnant girl knows that she is noticed, wanted, and unashamedly loved by the Father.  Pray that her heart softens and realizes the Hope that is waiting to embrace her, protect her, and secure her in His family.

The Hardened Heart's Story

                She already called Planned Parenthood. She already understood the processes of abortion in their clinic. She already knew that she had up to two weeks to take the RU-486, the abortion pill.

This was the client that walked into Community Pregnancy Center Monday morning. Without an appointment, she sat in our waiting room for a pregnancy test. Our client advocate and trainee took a deep breath, and asked the twenty-year-old girl to the counseling room.

                Together our counselors tried to hear this woman’s story, but she refused to share. She didn’t want to hear that she could do this. She didn’t want to talk about the other pregnancy options. She didn’t want to accept any form of hope. She wouldn’t even receive a Proof of Pregnancy for a Medicaid application. She knew she was going to abort. It wasn’t a baby in there. It was hardly even a pregnancy to her. It was just a mistake, one that Planned Parenthood offered to erase.

                The client advocate shared the Gospel to this hardened heart. She explained the unconditional love of her Heavenly Father, a concept our client didn’t truly grasp. Unconditional love from a father? Her own father told her that he would never speak to her again if she had a baby this way. She didn’t even know who the father of her unborn baby was. This is the confused, twisted view of a father she knew. Though she assured the client advocate that she was indeed a Christian, she didn’t acknowledge the lack of unconditional love in her life. When the client advocate offered to pray over her, the client rejected it. She saw her positive pregnancy test, and she didn’t want prayers. She didn’t want our free ultrasound. She wanted out.

                Before she rushed out of the doors, our client advocate trainee gave her a packet filled with truths of God, her baby, and the undoctored truth about abortion. The client left with the information. We prayed for intervention. For all we knew, this woman was driving out of our parking lot and straight to Planned Parenthood. It felt like a lost opportunity, but God’s truth is never lost.

 

“So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11

                If this client already knew she was pregnant, why would she want to take our pregnancy test? If this client already talked with Planned Parenthood, why would she first come to a center that does not offer abortions?

Because her Sovereign Creator wanted to talk to her.

                There is not one single logical explanation of why she would come to our facility if she was absolutely determined to have an abortion. The Designer of the cosmos personally interrupted her plans with a distinct message of LIFE. His words never return to him as a failure. When He speaks, mountains move, even the tall mountains in a panicked heart. We saw a lost opportunity, but Christ saw an open door.

Two hours after she left, she came back to the office.

“I was wondering if I could go ahead and get my proof of pregnancy for a Medicaid application.”

An hour after that, she called the office.

“I was wondering if I could go ahead and schedule an ultrasound.”

She is now looking at all of her pregnancy options!

She is applying for Medicaid, and she's scheduled for an ultrasound.

                Pray for this young client as she searches. Pray that she doesn’t run away anymore. Pray that she will wait for her ultrasound appointment with us. Pray that she begins to understand the unconditional love of a true Father!

NO to United Airlines!!!!
REPOSTED FROM AbbyJohnson.org blog...

 NO to United Airlines!!!!Sep 20  

Today I received my standard weekly email from my former Planned Parenthood affiliate, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. You would think they would have removed my name and email by now, but that is another story. Anywho, it was a pretty boring update with nothing exciting to report, but as I was scrolling through, something caught my attention. This particular affiliate always has their big gala event at the Hyatt in downtown Houston. Lots of well-to-do Houstonians come to show support of this huge affiliate (4th largest in the country to be exact) and all of the “services” they provide, including abortion. No one that comes is surprised that Planned Parenthood provides abortion services. No, they know that all too well. In fact, the people that come to this particular gala for this particular affiliate come because they are PROUD to support the largest abortion clinic in the Western Hemisphere. They know what abortion is. They know what abortion looks like. They know, and they support it proudly…at $500 per individual ticket.
So, back to the attention getter. I always like to see the names of the high rollers who are listed as the “co-chairs” of the event. These are donors who give tens of thousands of dollars to the affiliate and are therefore asked to put their name down on the invitation. They usually have some sort of status among the elite local community. Name recognition is important when you are trying to raise over a million dollars at one event. I scrolled through the invitation and there it was, a name that was VERY familiar to me. Jeff Smisek.
That name may not ring a bell to you. But I know it well. I spend most of my life on airplanes. Before every take off we get a little safety demonstration. If we are lucky enough to be on a decent sized plane, that demonstration is shown on a video. I personally prefer to fly on airlines that are in the “Star Alliance.” Some of those include United, US Airways, and Lufthansa. I am a million mile flyer with this program, which comes with a few perks. Because of this, I try to stick with United when I travel. When the United safety demonstration video begins, a message from the CEO comes on first. He is thanking us for traveling on United and talks about how image is so important to his airline. That man’s name? Jeff Smisek.
I almost couldn’t believe what I saw on this invitation. Surely not. Surely not MY Jeff Smisek! Surely not the CEO of my favorite airline!! Let it be a lie!!! He was actually listed with someone else, a lady named Diana Strassmann. http://www.ppaction.org/site/Calendar?id=102855&view=Detail. Hoping there was someone else with the name, Jeff Smisek, I googled both of their names together to see what I would find. Well, they are married. And Jeff Smisek, CEO of United and Jeff Smisek, co-chair of Planned Parenthood’s annual gala are one in the same.
Now I was disappointed…and angry. And I am doing something about it. Jeff Smisek runs the second largest airline in the world. And now he is co-chairing an event for the LARGEST ABORTION CLINIC IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. This abortion clinic’s goal is to perform at least 75 abortions, 6 days a week. They intend to perform abortions up to 25 weeks gestation. And THAT is what the CEO of United Airlines stands for.
Well, this million mile flyer has had enough. It is time to expose Jeff Smisek for who he really is. He is helping to kill the most defenseless among us. And apparently, he is PROUD to do it! He has his name plastered on their invitation! I am taking a stand against United. Will you stand with me? Will you say NO to United Airlines? This one clinic ALONE in Houston is killing over 23,000 babies per year!!! THAT is what Jeff Smisek is supporting. Jeff says United Airlines cares about their image…well, let’s see how much they care. Let’s get this message sent out far and wide. On my website at www.abbyjohnson.org, I have included a sample “letter to the editor” that you can send in to your local paper. Share this article on your blog. Share it on your Facebook and Twitter. We need to hold these people accountable. Our voices DO make a difference…and our dollars DEFINITELY make a difference! Stand against Jeff Smisek! Stand against United Airlines! Email Jeff Smisek today and share your disgust. jeff.smisek@united.com.

Letter to the Editor
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, located in Houston is the 4th largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the United States. They run the largest abortion clinic in the Western Hemisphere. This clinic’s goal is to perform at least 75 abortions, 6 days a week. That totals over 23,000 abortions per year. And they terminate pregnancies up to 25 weeks gestation…that is babies over 6 months old.
So, you can imagine the surprise I felt when I found out that the CEO of United Airlines, Jeff Smisek, was “co-chairing” this particular affiliate’s annual gala in Houston, Texas. www.ppaction.org. When flying on United, you will often see a video of the safety demonstration on television monitors throughout the plane. Before the demonstration begins, Jeff Smisek will come on and thank you for flying and tell you that “image” is very important to his airline. Well, let’s see if that is really true. Myself, along with thousands of other pro-lifers across the country, are taking a stand against United Airlines. Jeff Smisek runs the second largest airline in the world. And now he is co-chairing an event for the LARGEST ABORTION CLINIC IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. Enough is enough. It is time to expose Jeff Smisek for who he really is. He is helping to kill the most defenseless among us. And apparently, he is PROUD to do it! He has his name plastered on their invitation! I am taking a stand against United. Will you stand with me? Will you say NO to United Airlines? Our voices DO make a difference…and our dollars DEFINITELY make a difference! Stand up for life! Email Jeff Smisek today and share your disgust. jeff.smisek@united.com.

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The Cousin's Story

Thursdays are exciting days at Community Pregnancy Center! Throughout the week, our client advocates counsel every young woman seeking a pregnancy test, listening to the details of her situation. If the client is vulnerable to the abortion choice, our advocates schedule them for a free, limited ultrasound to see the growing baby in the uterus, give an accurate due date, and allow that confused girl to hear the sound of her baby’s heartbeat! Donated equipment and a large flat-screen television reveal the life that our loving King has been knitting together for weeks. Miracles happen in that ultrasound room. God changes hearts in that ultrasound room, and it all happens on Thursdays.

                This past Thursday welcomed a young woman, celebrating her twenty-fourth birthday. Our sonographer, Mikelle, reviewed her file before calling her to the back of the office: abortion-vulnerable. When she came for her pregnancy test just a week previous, she explained her sorted story. This was not her first pregnancy. She chose abortion years earlier, and, after that decision, she mothered beautiful sons. Her youngest boy is just five months old. Her boyfriend has already left her. She’s unemployed, she’s alone, and now-for the fourth time-her pregnancy test read positive.

                She convinced herself that she could not parent this child. How could she? No money. No boyfriend. No support. She then saw only two options: adoption or abortion. She considered both, fully knowing the grief and regret of abortion. However, she saw adoption as giving her baby away. She would experience the full pregnancy, the pain of delivery, and then she must watch as another woman walks out of the hospital with the baby in her arms? Surely that’s not proper motherhood. Surely a decent mother would care for her own child. If she did not have the will or the means to do this, then abortion must be the only option. She told herself that if she couldn’t keep the baby, then it would be better to stop the pregnancy before the baby grows any further.

                Mikelle read this commonly heard mindset within this young woman’s file, and prepared for the ultrasound appointment. She called the girl forward, but the client asked if the appointment could please wait. “My relative’s coming!” she explained. “Can we please wait for my relative to get here?” Mikelle graciously agreed. This was the last appointment for the day, so a small delay was not a problem.

                Finally the relative walked through the door. Identifying the woman as her older cousin, our young client followed Mikelle to our sonogram room to see her baby. The cousin walked behind the pair seemingly distant. Hesitation appeared to hang over her. The television screen soon lit up with a perfect 14 week old baby boy! The sound waves from the ultrasound machine stirred the life into excited motions! He flipped. He turned. He nodded. He touched his face. He moved every second with animation and exhilaration!

                The client smiled and looked up at her guest: “Do you see how active he is?” she asked her cousin. “I could never handle that in my life right now!” Confused at the reaction, Mikelle continued to explain the baby’s growth. After a few minutes of routine pictures and measurements, she activated the sound capabilities of the machine. The sound of a fast-paced heartbeat filled the room. This was a healthy, beautiful baby boy due just two days before the 5 month old son’s first birthday.

                Following the appointment, Mikelle asked the client to pick a baby blanket before they continued to the post-sonogram counseling. The client looked over to her cousin, saying, “I want you to pick out his blanket!” The cousin, still somewhat hesitant as if she was processing, chose a cozy blue blanket. Mikelle led the client to one of our counseling rooms, and the cousin, clutching tightly onto the blanket with a warm smile on her face for the first time, walked to the waiting room. The distance, the hesitation melted away!

                Mikelle asked the client how she was feeling after seeing the ultrasound. The woman beamed with joy and explained her excitement, her relief, and her cousin’s role in the entire story. She confirmed her report. She was planning on an abortion. She was terrified to have one again, but she just couldn’t parent this child. Thanks only to the God of the universe intervening, this young woman remembered her cousin. After many miscarriages, this beautiful relative recently carried a baby to the third trimester. However, due to violent and detrimental complications, her pregnancy-at 7 months-was terminated for the health of the mother. Thursday, however, changed the ending to this cousin’s dark story to have a family with her husband, because on Thursday, she saw her new son.

 

This client,

overwhelmed at the thought of parenting another child,

is giving the healthy baby boy to her cousin through adoption!

 

                Merriam-Webster defines adoption as the following: “to take by choice into a relationship; especially: to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) as one's own child”. Using the pen of the apostle Paul, Jesus Christ Himself defines adoption in Ephesians 1:4: “even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him”. This young woman chose the baby to be hers, even before he was born! She was to be his mother, through the body of her pregnant cousin. God, the Sovereign, loving Creator and King of the cosmos, chose us to be His, even before the foundation of the world. He was to be our Father, through the broken body of His only Son.  Thursday, we saw firsthand a beautiful yet earthly imitation of God’s perfect love for mankind!

                Pray for these two women as they move forward with their adoption plan. Pray for absolute peace. Pray for opened eyes to see the love of their Creator and the adoption plan He has crafted for them.

The Stripper's Story

A 19 year old woman asking for a pregnancy test is not uncommon at Community Pregnancy Center. In fact, 19 years old is the average age for our clients. In 2012, 64% of girls seen in our facility were under the age of 24, so when a 19 year old girl entered our doors, we were in our comfort zone in a way. However, this girl’s current age was not the one that identified her. Her ages leading her to 19 reveal the sordid story behind the beautiful face.

Birth:

• Her mother refuses responsibility, sending the child to her new grandparents.
• Her father has already disappeared from her life.

9 years old:

• The client’s grandmother dies, leaving her under the care of her grandfather.
• This sole caretaker refuses the child and sends her away to her aunt and uncle.
• While his wife lie with him, the uncle leaves his bed every night to sexually abuse his 9 year old niece.
• Scared and confused, the child tells another uncle of her nightly experiences. This man then tells the young girl’s father.
• Her father takes his child, who he doesn’t even know, to another country to escape. (Though evidence was drawn and testimonies given, the case against the perverted uncle never made it to trial.)

13 years old:

• She moves into the house with her now pregnant birth mother.
• She discovers that she herself is now pregnant.
• Once her mother gives birth, she disappears for days at a time, leaving her 13 year old, pregnant daughter to care for her newborn infant alone.

14 years old:

• She delivers her child, and chooses adoption.
• She suffers the heartache of giving her baby away, unsure if she will ever see the child again.
• Because the pregnancy matured and shifted the curves of her body, she chooses to become a stripper.

16 years old:

• She falls in love with a young man. He supports her financially, so she could stop stripping.

17 years old:

• She gives birth to their first child together.

19 years old:

• They are now engaged and expecting their second child.

                Suddenly 19 years old doesn't seem so average. This young woman, this teenager has experienced more agony-more “world”-than most people should know in an entire lifetime. She had been rejected by her own mother, her father, and her grandfather. She was raped on a regular basis by family. She gave away her first born child, when she, too, was just a child. She had been seen and touched in the most intimate ways by complete strangers. This was her life. This was all she knew: betrayal, perversion, and abandonment. She grew gravely familiar with the process of working her way out of her past.

                When asked about her relationship with God, she expressed a similar “works” belief. She cleaned up her life for her fiancé, so she assumed that she needed to clean up her life for God. She wasn’t quite where she wanted to be in her life, but she was getting close. Maybe she’d surrender to God…when she gives birth to this new baby. Maybe she’d lie in His arms…when she marries her fiancé. Maybe she would see herself as good enough then. Maybe after all these decisions, God would finally see her as worth His attention, worth His love.

                But that’s the point. As humans, as creation, we will never make enough right decisions to deserve the love of the Perfect Creator. There’s not a checklist in the Bible, detailing a road to righteousness. There’s not a set of magic words that will set us free from any past. There’s only Jesus. 

There’s only grace.

Our limited brains have not been functioning long enough to fully grasp even a fraction of grace, but it’s real, and it’s available. Our admittance to God’s presence is always open. Our forgiveness from God is guaranteed, because it’s wholly anchored in the victory of Jesus Christ-not in our works. Every wrong choice adds another death sentence to our growing death toll and more anger and judgment from God Himself, and no amount of reciting or working could ever eradicate such a debt-except the blood of the Son of God. Now, through a relationship with Him, God hears the scared confessions and He sees those mistakes, but He sees them through a lens of absolution. That death toll was paid for. That anger and judgment was already exhausted.

There’s only grace.

                As our Client Advocate explained the unashamedly good news of the Gospel, the 19 year old girl’s heart seemed to soften. Her past seemed to fade in the light of Christ’s love, but she still hesitated. She still held back, unsure if such a Savior could truly be THAT good to redeem such a life. Having permission, our Client Advocate prayed over the young woman before she left. Tears streamed down her face as if she sensed for the first time her Creator’s passionate pursuit to bring her home. Pray she realizes she can come unprepared and broken to the feet of God.

“Israel, put your hope in the Lord,

for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is FULL redemption.”

Psalm 130:7

2013 Walk for Life's Story

        
         The Community Pregnancy Center’s second annual Walk for Life was incredible! On February 23, 2013, we hosted our 5K at the San Jacinto Battleground, expecting and believing for God to show off! After days of rain, the morning could not have been more beautiful! The iconic Texas monument stood before a sky of blue! Though the temperatures reached below 50 degrees, not one drop of rain fell on us! God had big plans for that day, and the weather was certainly going to cooperate!

 Ladies from First Baptist Church of Pasadena lined our tables, ready to register every walker and runner! They bundled up in their blankets and welcomed the participators with a smile! Through their hard work, the registration for the Walk for Life was the smoothest registration that I have ever seen. In just an hour, they registered over 60 people-over DOUBLE the number of last year’s event!

People enjoyed the morning with their three mile walk through the park, talking with new friends, and eating a scrumptious breakfast! Starbucks Coffee and ChikFilA donated an entire table’s worth of food for the day, leaving our participators full after a long walk! God provided above and beyond our expectations for the day.

Though most people walked the course, some brave people, including two cross country high school students, ran our 5K race at 9:00 o’clock! In a record time of 21 minutes, Sarah Herweck (pictured below, far left) won the race! For her unbeatable time, she won two massages, donated by our friends at Massage Envy!

Donations are still pouring into the office, so a total count is not yet final. Regardless of the tally, God honored Community Pregnancy Center last Saturday! He gave us a clear morning, plenty of food, a smooth registration period, and over twice as many people as last year! That means that twice the people heard about our ministry here, twice the people saw God’s heart for the scared woman and her unborn baby, and twice the people now realize the importance of supporting LIFE!

                Thank you for your loving prayers and generous support over this event!