March For Life, Heroes Of The Pro-Life Movement & Encouraging Church Members To Adopt

The 51st Annual March for Life is happening Friday in Washington, DC. The crowds who gather will hear from U.S. House of Representatives Mike Johnson; U.S. Representative Chris Smith (NJ); Jim Daly, President and CEO of Focus on the Family; Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Christian Fellowship with his wife Cathe.

The group says it is the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration.
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Shakira loved being a mom. She calls it the greatest job there is.

But Shakira already had six kids when she found out she was pregnant again. The thought of adding more kids to her already hectic life of a busy mom, full-time employee and full-time student seemed overwhelming. She felt stretched beyond her capacity.

Shakira started googling for help – prenatal care, resources and someone to talk with. That’s when she discovered The Pregnancy Network, a multidenominational Christian organization in North Carolina’s Triad that serves women who need help to face an unplanned pregnancy.

Through The Pregnancy Network, Shakira got the support she needed. She also met Charlotte Haywood, a registered nurse and member of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Greensboro. Not long after the two met, Charlotte invited Shakira and her boyfriend to join her at church. Eventually, Shakira married her boyfriend, they gave their lives to Jesus, and they both were baptized at Cornerstone.
Pregnancy Support Centers, like Cornerstone, are at work across the country caring not only for the health of the unborn child but for the lives of mothers and fathers.
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Every day, hundreds of thousands of people die without the hope of Jesus. Your faithful prayers will make a difference. That’s why the IMB created a free 18-month calendar, called “Impacting Lostness Through Prayer”. It provides guidance, reminders and encouragement as you pray for individuals and communities who have yet to hear the gospel. Learn more about this free resource at IMB.org/prayercalendar.
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More pastors are encouraging members to adopt and provide foster care at a time when adoptions have declined in the U.S.
A Lifeway Research study found more than 2 in 5 U.S. Protestant churchgoers (44%) say their congregation and its leaders are proactively involved with adoption and foster care in at least one of seven ways. A similar percentage (45%) say they haven’t seen other churchgoers or leaders provide any of the specific types of care or support, while 11% aren’t sure.

More than 1 in 10 churchgoers say someone in their congregation has provided foster care (16%), adopted a child from the U.S. (13%) or adopted a child from another country (11%) within the last year.

Compared to a few years ago, fewer churchgoers say they’ve seen members of their church actively participate in adoption and foster care. In a 2017 Lifeway Research study, 25% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers said a church member provided foster care, 17% said someone adopted domestically and 15% said a member adopted internationally in the past year.