Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
HomeSermonsEvangelismCelebrating Life! –…

Celebrating Life! – Part 1

guest speaker Diane Vaughan

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Opening Prayer, and Celebrating Life

Amen. Let’s hear you back there. Amen. Come on. Louder. Louder. All right. Amen. Out of the mouth of babes. Amen. There you go. I haven’t even said a word yet. I like this.

Let’s stand and pray if you would. Father, we thank you for the privilege of gathering together freely. We thank you for the freedom of worship we have the freedom to witness publicly for you. We thank you for the wonderful things you’re doing in our lives, in our church, in our community, in our nation. We thank you Lord for the many stories we’re gonna hear today. The testimonies written here today about your saving grace in people’s lives. We ask, Lord, that in all that we say and do that you would be honored, you would be glorified. And we pray this in Jesus’ holy name. All God’s people said. Amen.

All right, if the kids are in catechism, they can be dismissed. Open your Bibles, if you would, to Proverbs 11. We’re gonna look at a number of scriptures. I’m gonna speak briefly. Today we have a special treat. We have a representative from Thrive St. Louis here. You may have heard of her. Her name is Diane Vaughn. She’s the regional medical manager for Thrive, and we’re going to hear about what Thrive is doing, their wonderful work. We may hear from some other volunteers at Thrive today. And if you’re not familiar with that work, you’ll learn about it today. It is the premier women’s health clinic in St. Louis, And as we celebrate life, we’re going to hear great stories about what God is doing to help women in need. Now if you’re a guest here today, you may be surprised that today you will probably hear the word abortion. We at this church, we celebrate life. We’re here to celebrate life. And I emphasize the fact that we’re celebrating life. We’re not here condemning women. We’re not here condemning the Supreme Court. We’re not here condemning anybody. We’re here celebrating life. We believe the Bible is a document that inspires love for children, love for family, love for life. As a matter of fact, Jesus came to give us eternal life. And so we need to celebrate life. Of course, I know many pastors that will not talk about life issues because they’re controversial. I understand that. And I think that we as Christians need to understand that the things, life issues, whether it’s abortion or other, cultural issues, are controversial. If you’re watching the media at all, you can see how divided our nation is. People have very strong opinions on many cultural issues which are dividing people. So I believe that it is incumbent on the church to be a witness and a light in the culture.

Speak Truth Wisely

And not only do we speak truth, we need to be wise in how we speak truth, how we communicate, because we can be communicating in such a way that the message really gets lost because of the messenger. Now I believe, because the Bible says so, that the gospel is a stumbling block and an offense. Because the Bible tells us Jesus himself will be an offense. I don’t have a problem with Jesus being an offense. The problem is when we become the offense. And so we must be wise in how we communicate, not just on controversial issues, but on the gospel, and just in general in our dialogue and interaction with the lost world. Proverbs 11:30, y’all there? Say yes. Yes. It says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. For many years I misread the scripture and I thought it [audio unclear] or if you witness you’re wise, but if you win souls, you are wise. In other words, it takes wisdom to win somebody to Christ, to win somebody to your position, and it takes discernment and wisdom and knowledge to do this. It’s not an easy thing to talk to people about the gospel, Talk to people about life issues especially in the current cultural environment. So it takes wisdom What did Jesus say to the twelve before he sent them out the first time? He says he says I send you forth like I’m sending you into basically a pack of wolves He says be wise as serpents, but harmless as doves Wise in your attempt to win souls and harmless as doves Why did he say that? Because we can actually harm the message if we’re not wise. We have to not only communicate the message, we have to attempt to communicate it in such a way that it is winsome, right? Winsome. The goal is to win people to Christ.

The Priority of the Gospel

1 Corinthians chapter 9, as I said, we’re going to look at quite a number of scriptures. Look what Paul says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Tell me when you’re there. You there? 1 Corinthians 9:19, for though I am free. Now this is right after he says that he’s obligated to preach the gospel in verses 16 through 18. Then he says, for though I am free from all, I’ve made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more. [audio unclear] all things to all men. Why? That I might by all means save some. So Paul kept the goal in mind. The goal was to win people to Christ. Now, when you’re talking about issues, especially controversial issues, we have to keep in mind the priority of the gospel. You hearing the priority of the gospel. I got saved, I was fortunate to get saved in a church that had a strong emphasis on evangelism and it was just understood if you’re a Christian, you witness to people. And they gave us books to read and well, okay, I’m a Christian, I got to tell you that and I witnessed to people. I was too young in the Lord to know better. I actually didn’t know any better. I just obey the Bible and do what it says. And they had a strong emphasis on winning people to the Lord.

And my old pastor used to say this constantly. He said, you can win an argument and lose the soul. You can win an argument and lose the soul. And I’ve seen this. I mean, it’s just common. It’s human nature. So what happens is you get into a discussion with someone whether it’s about a controversy like abortion or even just the gospel itself and the next thing you know, instead of trying to win the person, you’re arguing with the person, you can end up even offending the person and insulting the person that you’re supposed to be winning. Why? Because it becomes personal and you wanna win the argument. Paul is saying I became this, this, this, this, and this to win the lost.

If I lose the argument and win the soul, then I’ve won. Can I say it again? If I lose the argument and win the soul, I’ve won. It is better for me to lose an argument and be humiliated and win a soul than that I win and the soul is lost. But that takes wisdom, it takes the sermon, it takes discretion, it takes self-control. I’ve been insulted, I’ve been assaulted for the gospel’s sake. I understand the urge to retaliate. I understand the urge to slander, the urge to punch back when punched. I remember I was at WashU witnessing with a friend of mine who is a Jewish believer, and we were wearing shirts called, they said, goim for Jesus. Now, if you know your Hebrew, which most of us don’t, goim is the word for Gentiles. So here we are on a campus with a large Jewish community, and the guy that’s witnessing with me is a Jew, Messianic Jew, came to Christ, and where there’s passing on gospel tracks from the Jews for Jesus, And a guy just flies up on his bicycle, throws his bike down, and just starts pummeling the guy next to me, boom, boom, boom. Now human nature would be what? Pummeling back. Right? And my friend just took it and he shared the gospel and he stood there for Christ and he took it. Now did he ever win that soul? I don’t know. But he won the battle. He won the battle. I look to the world maybe, it looks like he lost the battle. He was humiliated, he wasn’t a man. He didn’t defend himself. He won the battle in God’s eyes. That’s how you win souls. Even if it means losing the argument, you win the soul. When we talk about life issues, we have to keep the gospel and our witness to the gospel a top priority. You hearing me? Secondly, and I’ll be brief because Diane’s coming up.

Lights in the World

Secondly, we need to remember that the world is watching. The world is watching. Philippians chapter 2, Paul says this, if you wanna turn there and read it with me. In Philippians 2, Paul says, man, Philippians 2 is the so rich, I mean. Just read Philippians 2 and meditate on it. Let it. to end. In the opening verses he talks about not being self-centered, not focusing on yourself, thinking about the needs of others, and then what’s the example? He gives us Jesus. Jesus on the cross. This is the ultimate example of a person who of every right to say, hey, it’s all about me. He laid all that down, Paul says, and he died a criminal, a shameful death, humiliating death. Therefore because of that God exalted him and then he says this therefore in verse 12 this is the application therefore as you’ve always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling meaning holy anxiety this is important this is urgent. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing. Can I read that again? Do all things without complaining and disputing. That you may be blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ so they have not run in vain or labored in vain.“ So what is Paul saying is the world is watching. Jesus said to his followers, you are the light of the world. Are you a Christian? Say yes. Then Jesus is saying to you and to me, You are the light of the world. So the world is watching the church. People at your work who know your Christian and they should all know are watching. What you do on social media, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, other, there’s so many things I don’t even understand at all. But the world is watching. The world is watching. And in our personal interaction, whether our social media interaction, we need to be conscious at all times. The world is watching how we live. They’re watching what we’re saying. They’re watching how we are saying it. And I believe the devil loves nothing better than for the world to see Christians fighting. I mean, he loves nothing better. Why? because Jesus said, the world will know you are my disciples. How? By your love for one another. Well, if Christians don’t love one another, and it’s obvious to the world by how Christians act, they won’t be Jesus’ thing. They won’t know I’m the Savior. The world’s watching us and Paul tells us to shine. I just, real quick, Spurgeon. He’s so good He says this he’s talking about this text and flippings he says Not to murmur against God’s providence not to murmur against One another then he says don’t murmur even against the ungodly world If they be in just bear their injustice and silence be not always offering complaints There are thousands things which you might speak of but is better that like Aaron you should hold your peace The suffering silence shall dignify you and make you greater than ordinary manhood.” Isn’t that good? It also makes you like Jesus. When Jesus before Pilate, he didn’t slander Pilate, he didn’t slander, he didn’t attack, he suffered silently. Not murmuring, not complaining. He says this, he says, he says, dispute not even with the world. He says, be not ashamed to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, but never do it in the spirit of mere debating. Never because you wish to gain a victory. So we need to be conscious of the fact that even when we’re not witnessing, we’re witnessing. Because we’re a light. – we are a witness. We are placed in the world for that purpose to be a light to the world. I have heard Christians say repeatedly, well, I don’t care what people think. And so my answer is, if you don’t care, then why are you even opening your mouth? No, really. Think about it. If you didn’t care what people think, then why are you trying to convince. You do care what they think, or you wouldn’t open your mouth and say anything. So it’s really not true. But not caring what people think can be a virtue or a vice depending on how it’s meant. It’s a virtue if someone’s willing to courageously share the gospel even though they know they may be rejected or attacked, that takes courage. I’m gonna be a jerk because I don’t care what people think. That’s not biblical courage. It’s not what Jesus is talking about. He says be harmless as does, right? So we should care what people think. Not because we kowtow to people, not because we trim the message for people, but because the goal of communicating is to win people. So we should care what they think because the goal is to get them to think according to scripture, right? So the gospel has to take priority, number one. Number two, we need to realize the world is watching and we are representing Jesus Christ. Do we, do we appreciate that Jesus Christ representing. Um, and then lastly, my third point is that we need to realize that God is also watching.

In Romans 12, Paul tells us how to deal with people that are not kind to us. In Romans 12:17, he says this. Romans 12:17. Repay no one evil for evil. Now, there is, no exception clause in this. It doesn’t mean if it’s your spouse, if it’s your friend, if it’s a church member, if it’s a lost person. There’s no exception clause here. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men, saying what I’m saying, that the world is watching, and we need to care what they think, not for our sake, but for the sake of the gospel. If it’s possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. You don’t need to take vengeance into your hand, He knows if people are mean to you, he knows if they’re slandering you, he knows if they’re wronging you, God is God. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him, if he’s thirsty, give him a drink. In so doing, you will heap coals of fire on his head. Many, many commentators think this coals of fire thing means that this will bring conviction on them. There are different views, but whatever. The point is we are not too afraid to do this. or different views, but whatever. The point is, we are not to avenge, we are to be kind to those that are not kind to us. Jesus said, love your friends. No, he didn’t say that. What did he say? Love your enemies. And you know what? No one can do that but Jesus. So if you’re gonna do that, you gotta get filled with Jesus Christ. Because it’s just not possible. It’s not human nature. 21, be not overcome by evil. How do we overcome evil? We overcome evil with good. With good. So, one of the things I love about Thrive Ministry, and we’ll be talking about Thrive today, but next week we’ll be highlighting other aspects of our pro-life work in our community, is that they focus on celebrating life, celebrating motherhood, the value of women, the value of children, that their mission is not one of denunciation, one of criticism, one of judgment. And when a woman walks in one of their clinics, they do not feel judged, they feel loved. And because of that, we are seeing more and more and more and more and more women come to the clinic in their time of need.

The Anniversary of Roe, and the Image of God

So I’m going to hand it over to Diane Vaughn, the Regional Medical Director for Thrive. Let’s welcome her. Check, can you hear me? Okay, I got a fancy lapel on. So good morning. Thank you so much for once again just inviting Thrive to come and David had mentioned and I’m regional manager of Thrive St. Louis. So I do come representing this organization. And we’re just so grateful that this church is very, very supportive. So many of you have supported the ministry in so many ways. And we’re truly grateful. So thank you. I also wanted to just say thanks to my family, because they’ve been incredibly supportive, just as God has brought me on this journey. and kind of threw me deeper and deeper and deeper and to thrive. So thank you, fam. Your support means so much. Thank you, David. Your support means so much. And then I have some great prayer warriors that I want to thank. My friend Sandy. Thank you so much for praying. She faithfully prays for me on a very regular basis probably on a daily basis Monday through Friday. And I’m just so grateful. I know I have that prayer back up, much needed. So today,. So today we wanted to have Bell come, one of our newest mobile medical centers. And the reason why we need lots of prayer is because there’s lots of spiritual warfare that occurs with this organization. And so David and I went last night to go pick up Bell. when we name our mobile units, it’s just easier that way. You’ll see a picture of Belle in a few minutes, or in a little bit, but, so it’s a brand new Mercedes Sprinter awesome vehicle. It would not start. We tried to jump it, would not start. But you know, I just, now I just kind of laugh at this because I know what’s going on. And I can’t let it throw me into a frenzy or be anxious about it. It is what it is. For whatever reason, God did not want Belle here today. So Belle is not here, but maybe one day we’ll bring Belle. But anyways, if there’s a couple things that you all can do as a church, and I know that so many of you do pray regularly, just continue to keep up those prayers, especially prayers for protection. So I also do have Kathy Grunder, she’s one of our volunteers and she’s going to be sharing a little bit too. But I wanted to remind everybody so today, this very day, January 22nd, is the 44th anniversary of a very grim day. The day that Roe v. Wade passed. The day that legalized abortion. So 44 years ago, since then, it’s been estimated that there’s been up to about 58 million abortions that have taken place in the United States. And really about every year, there’s estimated to be about a million abortions that are performed.

But even though today is the anniversary of a very grim and dismal day, it’s also an anniversary that we get to really highlight the fact that life is precious. We get to celebrate the sanctity and the dignity of a human life. And I think it’s a day that we should really, really, really, really let it sink in deep. That human beings are made and created in the image of God. And we bear an intrinsic value and worth that surpasses all other creatures. And so really dwelling on that and being mindful of that and celebrating that on this grim anniversary is something that I really want to do more of. And so Thrive, while we’ll be talking a little bit about Thrive, to me it’s more important that we celebrate the dignity and sanctity of a human life.

Gianna Jessen’s Testimony

And what David had shared, when we’re able to see other people in that light, When we’re able to see that that is how Christ sees us, you know, our interaction with one another, it changes. It’s different. And so this is such a vital and important truth that we let the Holy Spirit really break open in us, if you will. I have a hero. Her name is Gianna Jessen, and maybe some of you have heard her, but she’s an abortion survivor, and I love how she communicates the dignity and sanctity of human life. And so we’re going to actually watch a video clip. It’s about six minutes. In this video clip, she is addressing, she’s in a government building, she’s in Victoria, Canada and she’s addressing a group of people. There’s a variety of different people of all walks of life and stations in life with various titles and government titles and things like that. But she shares her story and it’s pretty powerful. So we’re going to take a moment and watch that. I’m adopted and my biological mother was 17 and so was my biological father.

She was seven and a half months pregnant when she decided to go to Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the world, and they counseled her to have a late term saline abortion, which is a saline solution that is injected into the mother’s womb. The baby gulps that solution, it burns the baby inside and out, and then she was to deliver a dead baby within 24 hours. And to everyone’s great shock and surprise, I didn’t arrive dead, but alive on April the 6th, 1977 in a Los Angeles County abortion clinic.

What’s fantastic about this is that the abortionist was not on duty yet, so he wasn’t even given the opportunity to continue on with his plan for my life, which was death. And I know that I am in a government building, and I love your country as well as my own. But I know in the age that we live in, it is not at all politically correct to say the name of Jesus Christ in places like this. To bring him into these sorts of meetings because his name can make people so terribly uncomfortable. But I survive so I could make everyone comfortable.

I survived so I could stir things up a bit, and I have a great time in doing it.

And so I was delivered alive, as I’ve already said, after 18 hours. I should be blind, I should be burned, I should be dead. And yet I’m not. Notice fantastic vindication is the fact that the abortionist had to sign my birth certificate.

So I know who he is. And it also says for any skeptic listening on my medical records, born during saline abortion.

Ha! They didn’t win. I’ve done some research on the man that performed the abortion on me.

And his clinics are the largest chain of clinics in the United States of America, and they gross $70 million a year.

I read a quote from him at some point several years ago, and he said, I have aborted over a million babies and I consider it my passion.

I tell you these things because listen ladies and gentlemen, we are in an interesting battle.

Whether we realize it or not in this world, it is a battle between life and death. side are you on? So a nurse called an ambulance and had me transferred to a hospital, which is absolutely miraculous. Generally the practice at the time and up until 2002 was, in my country, was to end the life of an abortion survivor by strangulation, suffocation, leaving the baby there to die, or throwing the baby away. But on August the 5th, 2002, my extraordinary President Bush signed into law the Born Alive Infants Protection Act to prevent that from occurring anymore.

You see, we’re playing for keeps. We’re playing for, I mean, I’m hoping to be hated by the time that I die so that I can feel God about me and understand what it was to be hated.

I mean, he was hated. Christ was hated. And not that I look forward to being hated, but I know along my journey, I know I’m already hated because I declare life.

I say you didn’t get me. The silent Holocaust didn’t win over me. And my mission, ladies and gentlemen, many, among many things is this.

To infuse humanity into a debate that we have just compartmentalized and sit on a shelf and said it is an issue. We have removed our emotions. We are becoming harder. Do you really want that? How much are you willing to take and how much are you willing to risk to speak the the truth in love and graciousness and stand up and at least be willing to behave. Or at the end of the day, is it all about you?

Or me? So Gianna was 31 years old when she bravely gave that talk in 2008 and today she’s 40. and she continues to speak up for life and I just thank God for her. I thank God for her example. Thrive exists to save the Giannas of this world.

Kathy and the Work of Thrive

Precious life created in the image of God and so Kathy is going to come up. Kathy is one of our patient advocates and she’s been trained in options consultation and so she meets with the mothers of the Giannas of this world and she’s going to share a little bit about her experience and maybe a couple stories okay so I’m like super nervous so okay so years ago Bridget VanMeans spoke here. Do you remember how long ago that was? Probably three years ago maybe. I think it was longer than that maybe. Oh okay no it was. I don’t know. So way back then she spoke and I remember I was sitting right over there and I was like I think I need to do something. Like I can’t just sit here, knowing that these babies’ lives to be taken every single day. And I was like super moved and I super knew God wanted me to do something. But you know what happens whenever you don’t act on something that God wants you to do? You just eventually let it go and you just you think oh that wasn’t for me. That’s God wasn’t really. Really talking to me. I made it up in my head. So a year went by and the next year Diane spoke and I was like oh my gosh a whole year went by I did nothing. I didn’t seek to do anything for this organization that I feel like I should do something at. So this time I went up to Diane and I was like okay I think I want to work at Thrive and she’s like oh yay you know in the Diane way and um and so she actually got me the application and I filled it out and I kept looking at this application and I was like I am so not qualified. How am I supposed to go in there and help women? Because I’m not qualified. I again took it and let it lay there. A hand a month later, maybe two months later, I threw it in the trash. Because Satan got in my head and said, you have no place there. You already know you can’t do things. So I threw it away. So then the next year came and went, and then I guess it was three years ago now. which is about five minutes from the Mid Rivers place, and drive past Thrive and I’d be like, are you dying yet? And I’d continue to go. So one day I was driving by waving to Diane, And God was like, what are you doing? Week after week you’re going, you’re spending money. Like why? You don’t need anything you’re purchasing. Sure it was good will, I was doing well. Yeah. And I called Diane and I was like, I really wanna come to thrive. Is there any trash to be taken out or can I clean? And she texted back and said, no, those things are taken care of, Please come in and find out what you can do here. So I did. And that was three years ago. And I, like Diane said, I am a patient advocate. And that means I get to meet with girls that come in and they are possibly, possibly, pregnant and they didn’t want to be. Or they think they’re pregnant and they’re really excited. One of my favorite parts of meeting with these girls is when I get to share the gospel. Because they come in broken, they come in abused, they come in lonely. And lonely is a big thing. That’s huge. You know what it feels like. Most of us have felt that loneliness and they get very pulled into that and they feel like there’s no hope past it. So when I get to share the gospel and show them that even in the situation that they are right that very moment, when they got pregnant, maybe for the third time and they’re not married, and they know that maybe what they’re doing is wrong, even in that very second, God loves them. Because what did he do for us? He died for us when we were still sinners. He loves them. So in that moment you will see almost a light come on in their eyes. And sometimes they don’t want it there. So they’ll shove back and push God away. And they don’t really want you to see much. But then there’s the ones that the light comes on and you know that they want more. So those are the times that I know that when I finally made that decision, it was the right decision to go and work at Thrive. And I just, one of the times a girl came in, and she was brought up in the church. And she knew who Jesus was, but she wasn’t really sure if she wanted to be with Jesus anymore. And I’ll give her the name Jill. So Jill was telling me how whenever she was at her church and she was a teenager, and she had slept with her boyfriend. And the church, some of the people at church found out, and they started pushing her away.

They started excluding her. They didn’t really do anything to help. And she eventually walked away from the church. So she had come to us because she found out that she is possibly pregnant. She told me that she was at a new church because she wanted to try, after she thought she was pregnant, she wanted to try to get back to where she knew she was supposed to be. And that was with Jesus. even though she wasn’t real sure about Jesus. And so she was getting some counseling from a pastor at that church, her and her boyfriend. And then she found out she was possibly pregnant. She told me that she was really fearful to tell her pastor because she knew what had happened at the other church. And we sat and I just, the gospel part came. the gospel park, I got to talk to her and tell her that it didn’t really matter what people thought. I think we get so caught up in that. It mattered what Jesus thought. And Jesus did love her. And Jesus does want her and her family. And I offered her a Bible. And hallelujah we get to offer Bibles. Yay.

And she took that Bible and she held it so close. And she’s like, I haven’t had one of these in a while. And I talked to her about reading through John and showed her some scriptures to cling to and hold onto, and then I got to pray for her. And what a blessing that I work in an organization that hands these women hope to the word of God. And then I can close with them talking to our Heavenly Father and letting them know that no matter what they’re going through at that moment, that God loves them. And that’s not going to change. So during that time, her nurse was doing her pregnancy test. And so after I talk to them about Jesus, I go and sit in the nurse. Well, I went out and asked her, you know, did it come back positive? And it was not positive. It came back negative. So, um, the nurse met with her and then I went back in later and I was like, how are you feeling? You know, what, what are your thoughts? And she’s like, well, relief. And, um, she’s like, you know what? I think God really brought me here for hope. She said, I wasn’t sure that I was pregnant, but I don’t think it mattered because I needed hope in my life and this is where I found it today. So it’s things like that. Thrive isn’t just about pregnancy tests and STI’s, testing and treatments.

It’s about giving these women hope because they come in and when they walk through the door they’re just like you and me. They’re no different. They’re a person that needs love. They’re a person that needs hope. They’re a person that needs to know that the rest of their life isn’t ruined. And that’s what we do. We give them that. So I just encourage you guys, four hours a week, four hours a week is all you need. And then you can come and you can help give these girls that same thing that God gave you. And that’s hope and love in your circumstance. So I just encourage you to, if you feel it all moved, this very day to do something with Thrive another Pregnancy Resource Center, please don’t wait. Don’t go and throw away, you know, the thing that you fill out. Just go and do it. Because those girls need you. Thank you. I don’t want this. I got one. I think I’ll give it to somebody. Thank you so much, Kathy. Kathy does a great job. You know, we have our patients, they fill out this little exit survey when they leave, and I cannot tell you how often these women write down that they just felt very, very safe. They felt not judged. They felt like they could really open up. And it’s women like Kathy that makes that possible. So thanks, Kathy. We have another woman here that volunteers. And she’s actually in the nursery today. But many of you. You know that Susie does volunteer. And she’s a registered diagnostic medical sonographer. So she does our ultrasounds. And I don’t know if Susie knows this. But we recently got wind of one of the gals we saw. We just found out that she was murdered. And she was 20 years old. And her little baby was a little over two now. But he was also a victim of that situation and remains in a hospital out of state somewhere. But the one thing is that we do get that opportunity to share the gospel with these women. And we’d so many of these women their lives are They’re not so pretty and clean like us church folk. I mean, our lives are really messy too. But stories that we could share, they’re really messy. They’re like my messy life before Jesus. And we don’t know when they leave our center. We don’t know if we’ll ever see them again. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring them. Well, for this 20-year-old, she was murdered. But yet, at Thrive she was able to come, and we know she heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Advocacy, and Beautifully In Over Our Heads

So praise God for that. And James 4:14, talks about how our life is a vapor. So to be able to really bring the gospel message into what we do in trying to help that woman with her unplanned pregnancy, that I would not be at Thrive if they put the gospel over here. So I am just so appreciative that they do that. You can go ahead and bring up that PowerPoint. I do have a few slides to show you. I know a lot of you know what we do, and I’m not going to go over everything that we do, but I wanted to highlight a few things about what we do that, wow, I could probably have you here all day and just tell you so much. But I wanted to highlight a few things, and God is just expanding Thrive and growing Thrive in incredible ways. And you can move on to the next one. Here’s a quote from a patient. She said, my visit at Thrive was extremely helpful and the women I met with were caring and nonjudgmental. They left me with a lot of information to help me with my decision. That was a former Thrive patient. You can go to the next one. Some of our recent activities, as we’re growing and as we’re expanding, and this past week, it’s just been a really, and really wild week, and also just this weekend, wow. But . And I’m so grateful that God has put her in my life. I’ve learned so much from her. She’s one of the bravest women I’ve ever met. And she loves Jesus so much. But so she was called to go to the City Hall. And she was called to go to City Hall, [audio unclear] areas that would affect people who work on the sidewalk, as in Coalition for Life and the work that Ben Grunder does. also could. It could affect where one of our mobile units, alternative, they, they can make a choice to come to our center for free services and not go into Planned Parenthood. So Bridget testified at that city hearing and then me and another nurse, Carolyn, we went to Jeff City Wednesday morning to testify in support of a bill that would bring full protection into pregnancy centers. And this is the second time that I was asked to do this. And so it’s very daunting. And I wouldn’t put it on your bucket list. It wasn’t on mine, but this is the second opportunity I had. So you go before I went before the Senate committee, and I had to testify why this group of senators should support this particular bill. The way it works is the people who are for the bill go first and testify, and then after come the people who oppose it, then they go up and then they testify. I was not ready for something. I was not ready for the degree of opposition that would come specifically towards Thrive. So they had representation from NARAL, from the ACLU, and from some advocacy group for Planned Parenthood. And every one of them said just these false things about thrive, mentioned Thrive by name.

The best thing about that morning, when I got done testifying, then they had the opportunity to ask you questions. And of course questions came my way and there was a couple liberal senators and one of the liberal senators just, wow. She just gave me a tongue lashing. And when she was done, I just said, thank you for your But so one of the representatives in opposition, the one from NARAL, I just have to share this story because it was my highlight, but she says, we’ve done our homework. We’ve went into these clinics. We have sent people in to Thrive, and Thrive is a fake clinic. They don’t use real medical people. They give out medical misinformation. They mislead women. And lie after lie after lie after lie. And I couldn’t rebuttal. I couldn’t retort. I had my turn. Because once you get up, you’re done. So, wow, me and Carolyn, my co-nurse were just, wow, we just want to say, pick me. But anyways, and then she holds up this information that we give, we offer to the women who come to Thrive. We don’t get duct tape and tape it on them and force them to take it. We ask them if they want to take the literature after we explain what it is. And it’s her choice if they want to take it or not. And so she holds up this, information she says, and this is the misinformation that Thrive gives out. And then she picks up one of our Bibles that we give out. And she, in this Senate room in the capital of Jeff City, before this committee of senators, she holds up a Bible and she says, and Thrive gives away the Bible.

And I was just like, yes, we do. And so then the one liberal senator that reamed me, she’s like, yes, I want that information. And I’m just praying, yes, take, take the Bible. Read the Bible, and get saved by the Bible. So anyway, she took all that information. But it was just great. But it was really, really intense morning. And one of the things that Thrive, the recent activities, being involved in things like this and being asked by our lobbyists to go and testify is something that they could choose. Other pregnancy center representatives from the state of Missouri, but they’re asking the Thrive staff to do it. And it’s because Thrive is being very, very effective. And Thrive is growing in amazing ways. So you can move to the next one. So yeah, we have expanded outside our state. We now have thrives in Dallas, Texas, and Orlando, Florida. And it’s not up there, but in Spokane, Washington, We have one that’s almost ready to happen in Georgia and another one in Illinois that will become, there are existing pregnancy centers, but they’re going to become a thrive. So this is part of the vision of Thrive that you’re going to see thrives all across this entire nation. And we will be the premier number one health care agency for women. And it’s a big vision. but we have a big God. So I’m excited about it. We’re also in Uganda. Now, this is incredible, the way that that all unfolded. But let me just show you a little clip of we’ve been there now, I guess, for a couple years. And this couple, they just had a burden to rescue these women.

A lot of these women get forced to have abortions. And they also had just a burden to see the abstinence message get into the schools.

So they’re also using our best choice curriculum. One of the programs that we do have at Thrive, we are in over 50 schools, public, private in the St. Louis, St. Charles areas, giving the best choice message. Now, when we go into the public schools, we can’t, you know, we’re not allowed to say the name of Jesus or bring the faith-based message into that. But this is a bridge. It’s a bridge, and so these women find out, [audio unclear] in the USA, St. Louis. You have been there with us from the beginning. From that time that we needed to go out in the communities, in the schools, every year we have taken the Best Choice program to more than 10,000 young people across schools and communities in our country. And because of your support, we have been able to support more than 10 mothers this year that have given birth, they have chosen life for their babies, and they have given We now have an emergency shelter where we are caring for six girls at any one time. We have three babies on the way coming anytime. We have been bold enough to face abortion clinics and here we have time to celebrate with you. As you celebrate today, as you have a great time at the dinner, we want to say thank you so much for touching the nations. Thank you so much for touching Uganda from the board of directors and the staff team and on behalf of all the girls that are represented here today, we want to say thank You would thrive! That’s so great. So great, love it. You can go to the next slide, Mike. The other highlight I wanted to mention is our mobile unit. So our mobile fleet is expanding as well. So now we have four mobile medical centers. And our newest one, so we name them, we have Kent and Sue. Kent is the one. So if you want to pray for these mobile units by name, Kent, Sue, Jake, and Belle. Kent is the one that’s parked outside of Planned Parenthood. Sue goes into some other different areas in the city of St. Louis, and then you can go to the next. Bella’s not here. But Bella’s the cool pink one, Jake. Both these two are designated to college campuses. I do have another story to share. When I took Jake, we get to regularly go to some colleges. So one of the colleges we started to go to this past year was Maryville University. I had, I’m gonna call this girl Penny, that’s not a real name. Penny came in to Jake and she was from Norway. She had been in the States about a year. She wanted to get STD testing. And so that’s another, and so she was actually found positive for a disease called chlamydia. And so she came back for treatment the next week. That week when she came in for treatment, I got to just go over with her some great information about abstinence. She took her medication, she went to class, I said if you start feeling sick, just come back and see us. Oh, she started feeling really sick. Sometimes medication will do that. It’s a pretty hefty dose of antibiotic. So she came back into the van, you know, it’s all set up. We have exam table in there and everything. She laid down on it. She’s feeling very nauseous. Feeling like she’s going to throw up and holding this bucket up to her. She’s crying. And the Lord just opened up this beautiful opportunity for me to share my testimony with her. She had lost her mom when she was young. She told me she had always been alone and always did everything alone. She told me she was an atheist. She told me practically everybody in Norway are atheists. But yet I got to share the gospel with her. And then she let me pray with her. So what’s cool about our mobile fleet and getting on these college campuses is that we’re not just impacting students that might be local in the area. These students are from different countries. So this is so exciting to us. And then these are some of the colleges we’ve been to or we’re going to. And then next slide. I just wanted to quick run through some stats. This is just our last fiscal year. I guess I want to highlight the number of children rescued from abortion, 1,652.

Now in the state of Missouri, there’s approximately maybe about 5,500 that take place at Planned Parenthood, the only abortion provider in our state, about 5,500. Okay, so we got 1652 and guess what?

My boss, Bridget, oh, that’s not, no. She wants the 5500. So that’s what she drills her staff on. We are getting them. We’re gonna get them. So and then, look at all the Bibles we gave out. Over 1,000 Bibles we gave out. women who came to Christ 63 were hoping that really, really goes up this year because we, although the gospel message never changes. It’s the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

It’s the power of God unto salvation. But yet, the way we could perhaps package it or share it, can be a little bit, we can do things about that. It’s not in our power to save that girl, but we just actually redid how we’re going to present the gospel, and we really, really believe, same message, but a little bit more relevant for where they’re at. We really, really believe it’s going to make a difference, and we’re going to be able to seal the deal and be winners, sole winners, like David was talking about. And then we do have a volunteer training coming up. It’s next Saturday, but if you would be interested in going to that, I could get you in and you can just see me. And there’s little cards in the back table, on the back table. Now, one of the things that we wanna encourage our church to do this year, we always try to do something practical. This year, on the back table and taped to that window, there are baby gift bags. So take a gift bag. If you would, and then you can fill it up with baby items. Kathy has done a lot of work in our resource shop. People bring in bags of their leftovers. They’re stained. They’re not in the best shape. But we want to be able to put in these gift bags some new things, new clothes, new baby items. Stay away from toys, though. So if you could do that, we’ll collect them two weeks from today, and then we’ll bring them back to Thive Center and put them in the resource shop. So, would appreciate if you would do that. And if all the bags go, then you can just get your own bag. I guess I just, in closing, I want to say this. I started volunteering for Thrive in 2009. I was hired part-time in 2012. And then when I went full, time and I accepted the position of regional manager, and that was about in 2014, knowing full well that God set my feet knee-deep in these tumultuous waters. I want you to know that I had no idea how deep they would get. So I can honestly tell you that I am beautifully in over my head.

But I can also honestly tell you that God is a big God.

If we think that he is not big enough to end abortion in our state and in our country, then shame on us. We cannot put God in a box. So I am so honored and I am so privileged to be beautifully in over my head, to be put in situations that have been very uncomfortable, for the glory of God.

Song and Closing Prayer

So appreciate your prayers, appreciate your support for Thrive. Hannah I asked Hannah to sing this song just because I think that I know a lot of you are involved. You’re right where God has called you to be and that’s where all of us should be because We all have callings and giftings. And as we’re in those places, we all should feel beautifully in over our head. [audio unclear]

I’m full but I’m not satisfied. This longing to have more of you And I can feel it, my heart is convinced I’m thirsty, my soul can’t be quenched. You already know this but, but still Come and do whatever you want to And I’m standing knee deep, but I’m not where I’ve never been And I feel you coming, and I hear your voice on the way Would you come and tear down the boxes that I have Tried to put you in the love Come teach me who you are again And what do you take me back to the place where my heart was only about you and all I wanted was just to be with you and come and do whatever you wanted and further and further my heart moves away from the shore Whatever it looks like, whatever may come, I am yours Oh, and further and further my heart moves away from the shore And whatever it looks like, whatever may come, I am yours Yeah, and you crash over me And I’m lost control but I’m free And I’m going under I’ll meet over my head And you crash over me And I’m right where you want me to be And I’m going under I’m in order my head And whether I sink or whether I swim Oh, it makes no difference when I’m I’m beautifully in my head Yeah, whether I sink, whether I swim Oh, it makes no difference when I’m Beautifully in my head I am beautifully in, out of my head.

Take me there, I’m beautifully in, out of my head.

Amen.

Let’s all stand together and pray. Lord, we want to thank you just for the great work you are doing through Thrive and other ministries but we particularly thank you for this one that we have been supporting, praying for, working with. We thank you for the unborn children that have come into the world. We thank you for the women who have been helped physically, financially. We thank you for the women that you have saved spiritually. God, you are so good. You are so kind. You are so merciful. Lord, make us agents of your compassion and mercy. each one of us Lord, no matter how long we’ve known you, that at one time we were in darkness indeed, and that you rescued us. So I pray that you would use each one of us to be witnesses for you and to be your hands, your feet, your mouth, to minister your love, your grace, your gospel to this world. We ask in Jesus Christ’s name and for His glory, amen.

I have this information on the back table about Thrive if you care to look at that.