Fresh from Washington D.C.

by Peggy Hartshorn, Heartbeat International, President
(from Take Heart Volume 2, Issue 2)

I’m excited to share with you our encouraging news “fresh from Washington, D.C.”! I spent almost a week in our nation’s capital for meetings with national pro-life leaders, for the annual March for Life, and for our Babies Go To Congress™ (BGTC) event. What a magnificent week! Click here for a quick picture album of our March for Life team.

First, our BGTC was full of glory. We took several Heartbeat affiliates and their clients with babies – five Heartbeat teams totaling 27 people – to meet with to key Congressional representatives in 23 offices. We delivered the message that “pregnancy centers are good for America.” And our mothers were able to tell their stories as well and present to their elected officials a copy of the powerful report A Passion to Serve, A Vision for Life (researched by Family Research Council with the help of Heartbeat and other organizations in our movement). Walking the halls of Congress with our affiliates, mothers, and babies, was an honor and blessing for me personally.

Ripples, turning into currents, as a result of this trip will be many! Here are excerpts from a thank you letter to Heartbeat from just one of our mothers who came with her husband and baby:

“I wanted to thank you and Heartbeat International for the love and commitment to healthy babies and families you showed to me and every lady in attendance (and the thousands of others that benefit from all that Heartbeat does). I personally praise God for you!

Anthony and I experienced so much while in Washington, DC, I am still processing/taking all of it in… I am a counseling student and I will be obtaining my School Counselor Certification. After my professors heard of my pending trip and involvement in BGTC, they advised me to submit a proposal to present at this year's Illinois School Counselor Association Annual Conference… School Counselors in Chicago need to be able to "Connect the Dots" and know about community resources that their students may need.

I must share that before coming to Washington, DC I was not 100% committed to the pro-life movement. Although I do not believe in abortion and would never advise or financially back someone in their decision to get an abortion, I just was not comfortable in completely taking that right away from women either. However, I was challenged to really think about not only what I believe but WHO I believe in.”

I would estimate that about 350,000-400,000 people came to Washington for the March this year, probably the largest in recent history. Perhaps 50 percent of the Marchers were young people. A Washington Post columnist went to the March thinking he would see a “quaint” gathering with a hopeless cause. He admitted his surprise when he found otherwise! An excellent column by Cal Thomas (January 27), highlights the youth pro-life movement, and mentions TWICE the role of our pregnancy centers: “Thousands of pregnancy centers are winning a new generation to their views.”

I hope that each of you will experience in 2010 the personal “refreshment” I experienced during this intensely pro-pregnancy center week, feeling the Hand of God at work in the halls of Congress and at the March for Life. Clearly, our united labor, gifts, prayers, and strategic initiatives are winning our fellow Americans over to the truth and goodness of our Cause.

Learn more about BGTC at HeartbeatInternational.org.

Return to Take Heart Volume 2, Issue 2.

By Jor-El Godsey, Heartbeat Vice-President, Ministry Services

From Take Heart | Vol. 2, Issue 6

Pre-2009 celebration at Heartbeat.  Even the birthday cakes for staff fell to cost-cutting measures.  Counter clockwise, starting with birthday girl:  Peggy Hartshorn, Joe Young, Deb Schirtzinger, John Ensor, Betty McDowell, Virginia Cline, Jor-El Godsey.

The water cooler is long gone.  Paper plates, plastic-ware, coffee and creamer are strictly by contribution only.  Even the birthday cakes for Heartbeat staff have been reduced to a simple card and a group sing.  (Seriously, picture a dozen people standing near your desk belting out the familiar tune!)  Expenses for office supplies have been cut dramatically.  Many such ideas came from staff brain-storming sessions during some very lean months.

Cost-cutting measures for Heartbeat turned really serious beginning with the summer of 2008.  The pregnancy help movement felt the economic downturn earlier than most non-profits.  As you well know, cost cutting is hard to do when you’re a non-profit and already operating on somewhat of a shoestring.  We took even more stringent measures.  We trimmed budgeted expenses, reduced benefits, and the whole staff even took two sacrificial, week-long furloughs.

While cutting expenses dramatically, we also put the word out that we needed help.  The first and (fortunately) only emergency plea for funds went out to donors and affiliates alike.  In addition, special, one-on-one asks to major donors helped us close the gap between income and outflow.  As we began to understand the extent of the crisis we took an additional step...

Two years of fasting and praying. . .   Boy are we hungry!

Yep, you read that right.  Fasting for two years!  Well okay, it wasn’t every single day for two years.  Actually, it wasn’t even every week.  But one day each month since July of 2008, the Heartbeat staff has set aside a day of fasting with specific times throughout that day to gather in prayer for the needs of Heartbeat.  Okay, that’s not nearly as impressive sounding as fasting for two years, but still that’s how long we’ve been practicing the discipline as a staff.  (Fasting is optional, but almost everyone fasts on our special day. Even board members, intercessors and other close friends join us.)

Prayer is hardly foreign to us at Heartbeat.  We gather each and every day around 9:15 a.m. to pray for our affiliates, staff needs, upcoming events, faithful and generous donors, our partners and the mission and pregnancy help movement.  So, if you’re calling our office between 9:15 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., you might not reach us directly because we’ve gathered to pray.  It’s not mandatory but everyone’s usually there if they can be.

Setting a specific time to fast and pray clearly has been vital in getting us through some tough times.  Focusing on God in the midst of our crisis and working diligently to do what we could saw us through a very difficult time.  In the waning hours of 2008, we watched the Lord work a miracle where the year-end giving closed the year’s expense gap!  In gratitude, we rejoiced!  We partied!  And then we went to work implementing our newer, leaner budget for 2009.

I’m glad to report that in 2009 we finished in the black.  In 2010, things are challenging but not at crisis level.  God is faithful.  And we’ve continued to fast and pray one day each month. And yes, we’re hungry.  Hungry for God as He leads and provides for the mission and vision that He’s firmly planted in our hearts.

Prayer helped us in many ways cope with the crisis we experienced. Prayer served to calm our fears and to put our trust in the best source – God.  Prayer helped us unite as a staff even as we faced significant threats to our work and vocation. Prayer helped us not to get “mean” even as we were getting lean.

So take heart in your situation. Set aside time to pray.  Consider a time of fasting.  Always remember to look upward as well as inward in any time of crisis.

Back to Take Heart | Vol. 2, Issue 6

WASHINGTON, D.C. (9/19/08) – The President’s Volunteer Service Award was conferred on 32 Heartbeat International affiliated pregnancy resource centers and 55 volunteers who serve Heartbeat affiliated centers on September 19, 2008. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Joxel Garcia, M.D., M.B.A., bestowed the honors on Heartbeat’s affiliates and volunteers for the significant contributions they have made to their communities.

“Heartbeat International is an effective network of more than 1,000 faith-based community organizations aided by more than 25,000 volunteers. We are thrilled to see our volunteers honored by the Administration,” said Heartbeat International President Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D. “We are very proud to carry on the American tradition of volunteerism and community service especially in a way that helps women and strengthens families.”

In concert with the White House USA Freedom Corps, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Public Health and Science honored 150 “exemplary volunteers” who serve pregnancy centers around the country along with 56 pregnancy resource centers at a White House ceremony on September 19, 2008. Pregnancy center representatives and volunteers participated in the White House awards ceremony from 10 am-noon in the Indian Treaty room of the Old Executive Office Building connected to the White House.

“Uplifting the lives of women and families around the world is Heartbeat’s mission. We are compassionate people and passionate for life. If you feel called to give back to your community and want to volunteer you can visit http://www.pregnancycenters.org/" data-mce-href="http://heartbeatinternational.org/eNewsletter/2008/enews_Annual_Review-4-08-full.htm">PregnancyCenters.org and use the center locator system to find your local pregnancy center,” said Hartshorn. “Pregnancy center volunteers include doctors, lawyers, nurses, concerned parents, social workers, educators, and many others. They provide healthy alternatives to abortion for girls and women faced with an untimely pregnancy. Many of our volunteers have had personal experience with an unplanned pregnancy, adoption, and abortion.”

“These volunteers have spent countless hours serving the most vulnerable among us. Their efforts deserve recognition and our deepest appreciation,” said Assistant Secretary for Health Joxel Garcia, M.D., M.P.H.. “Their services provide these women and their babies the opportunity for a healthier beginning.”

“Today, we recognize the service of these volunteers who are lifting lives and impacting their communities and our country for good,” said Alison Young, acting director of USA Freedom Corps, an initiative to help Americans connect with volunteer opportunities at home and abroad. “As they serve women in need, they spread the very best of the compassionate volunteer spirit that keeps America strong.”

For more information about the President’s Service Award, visit http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/" data-mce-href="http://www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/">PresidentialServiceAwards.gov.

Click here for interview with Dr. Ann Moell, Medical Director of Elizabeth’s New Life Center, Heartbeat affiliate in Dayton, Ohio. Ann was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.