Recognizing the great service your Medical Directors give to your centers, Heartbeat International also wants to support them in their mission. Please pass on the information below about a great opportunity to your Medical Director.

The AIUM American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine is presenting

Gynecologic and Early Obstetric Ultrasound---- Solving Problems With Imaging

Register today for Gynecologic and Early Obstetric Ultrasound---- Solving Problems With Imaging. This course is brimming with essential, illuminating sessions such as:

• Why Should Ultrasound Be First for Imaging of the Female Pelvis? An Overview
• Adnexal Masses: When to Call an Oncologic Surgeon
• Procedures for Evaluating the Uterine Cavity and Tubes With Ultrasound
• How and When to Do 3-Dimensional Ultrasound Examinations
• The Many Faces of Endometriosis
• The Pelvic Floor: How to Evaluate It and Findings

Join Course Chair Beryl Benacerraf, MD, FAIUM, AIUM president, and other esteemed faculty September 25-26, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This course offers up to 11 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (accepted by the ARDMS) or ARRT Category A Credits. Learn more here.

by Jor-El Godsey, President

Ever wonder how the craze that is the “Keep Calm” posters, memes and variations came from? The history is interesting and, actually, relevant for pregnancy help leaders today.

During the Second World War, the British Government entrusted the Ministry of Information (MOI) with the responsibility for publicity and propaganda. In late 1939, after the outbreak of the war, the MOI was appointed to design a number of morale boosting posters to be displayed across the British Isles during the war, the threat of invasion and potential occupation.

The posters were required to be similar in style, colorful and feature the symbolic crown of King George VI along with a simple yet effective font. The first two posters, ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory’ and ‘Freedom is in Peril’ were produced by His Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO).

These two were posted on public transport, in shop windows, on notice boards across Britain. The third and final poster of the set was again very straightforward and to the point - it simply read ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’. The plan in place for this poster was to issue it only upon the invasion of Britain by Germany. As this never happened, the poster was never released.

At least not until recently. The unpublished posters languished in storage for more than 50 years when they were re-discovered and released. The originals became collector’s items and the theme hit the UK and then the world.

In our own culture war, our traditional values have been attacked on every front. The pregnancy help community, operating with a faith motive and godly imperative, can rightly identify with the first poster, ‘Your Courage, Your Cheerfulness, Your Resolution will Bring Us Victory.’ Nehemiah tells us (chapter 8:10) “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” It is for the joy set before us that we can operate with courage, cheerfulness and resolution.

The latest battles against religion and, in particular, pregnancy help efforts calls to mind the second MIO poster, “Freedom is in peril.” In a legal sense, our freedom to speak life and proclaim life everlasting unhindered is very much at risk. Our opposition is intent upon diminishing and, ultimately, silencing our message.

Fortunately for the British, the third poster, “Keep Calm & Carry On” as a response to the actual invasion of enemy forces was not needed. Unfortunately, that is not true of our war today. Since Roe v. Wade, Big Abortion has grown increasingly stronger politically and financially over the past forty years. The culture of death has overwhelmed our land and the message of the third poster is especially applicable to us.

Amazingly, in recent years the polls have shown a shift to the pro-life position. More and more legislators are passing meaningful pro-life laws. More lives being saved through innovative and faithful pregnancy help efforts. Keep calm and carry on.

Servants of Excellence

"Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to respond to each person." Col. 4:5-6

For a moment, let's place ourselves in the shoes of one who enters one of our centers or residential homes. Think of all of the flooding emotions, uncertainties and questions.

The first-time visitor to a pregnancy help organization knows little about us beyond an advertisement or a friend's referral. Now, she (or he) is suddenly alone, at the mercies of those inside the door.

Concerns and questions arise from everywhere. Will they be nice to me? Will they judge me? Do they care about me? Do they have an agenda? Will this cost me something either financially or emotionally? What kind of people offer this for free? Will they try and control me in some way?

These are legitimate questions, coming from a lens of cynicism toward a society where we are told to "get what you can, whenever you can," or to ask, "What's in it for me?"

She feels like an outsider and has legitimate fears any outsider might face.

This is where Paul's words ring so true: "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace . . . ."

Different situations require different pearls of wisdom, and as we look at each person we see as an opportunity to impart God's perspective and hope into a situation, we gain clarity as to what we should say, and how to say it.

Speaking with grace is the foundation of so much of what we do. Those we see, whether they admit it or not, often feel judged. Interestingly, this judgment is often internal. Speaking with grace can often turn an "I feel judged" situation into, "I can change, and here is my opportunity!"

Utilizing wisdom, and speaking with grace don't guarantee that we will always see positive outcomes in those we see. But, these two characteristics do lend themselves to hope; and we never know where a little hope can lead.

by Kirk Walden, Advancement Specialist

Thanks to the forward-thinking generosity of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG), Heartbeat International affiliates can now access AAPLOG membership for the rest of 2015 at no cost.

The $75 value is free for Heartbeat International affiliates only, and it's just in time to take advantage of a printing discount for AAPLOG's new suite of brochures, which are geared to reach clients with information on pregnancy and the harmful effects of abortion.

Two members from each Heartbeat International affiliate can take advantage of the 2015 AAPLOG membership, which includes the following benefits:

• Free listing in AAPLOG's public "Find a Physician" search
• AAPLOG Membership certificate with annual renewal stickers, appropriate for framing and office display
• Online CME credit for numerous important lectures
• Speakers Bureau access, including PowerPoint presentations on various pro-life topics
• Discounts on our Patient Educational Brochures
• Free subscription to Issues in Law and Medicine
• Email updates
• Note: OB-GYNs who are members of AAPLOG are eligible to vote and serve on the AAPLOG Board of Directors.

To access your complimentary AAPLOG membership, click here and type "HEARTBEAT INTERNATIONAL" in the address field and select "Submit." Please do not submit payment if you are currently a Heartbeat International affiliate.

To find out more about ordering the brochures, including ordering free samples, click here. (Note: In order to keep your cost low, consider combining your order with a partner organization to take advantage of bulk pricing.)

See a sample of the flyers below:

Board Certified. Professional. Pro-life.

If he or she is, thank them! If not, please pass on the following information to them. AAPLOG is a tremendous support and resource for pro-life physicians who often face difficult challenges and opposition in today's liberal medical environment and culture, providing research papers, articles and updates on current topics, educational opportunities, networking, legal defense of the unborn, and more. The following information is taken from the AAPLOG website. Heartbeat International Affiliates join for free!

PHYSICIANS

Practicing in today's environment is incredibly challenging. We are with you. We exist to serve your need for accurate up to date information on prolife issues so that you will be able to answer with confidence the ethical challenges that you face on a daily basis. We provide a forum to network with likeminded colleagues from many different specialties. We are here to help make your job a little easier. Join us.

Our Mission is Clear:
You are not alone.

We are the largest organization of pro-life obstetricians and gynecologists in the world. We know what it is like to practice good medicine in a hostile academic environment. We understand the need for absolutely accurate and scientifically irrefutable information. We are committed to serving you.

We strive to provide you with a network of prolife physicians for mentoring and support and communication, and within that network to be able to mentor the next generation of pro-life physicians.

We want to make available to you the most accurate, up to date information on the effects of abortion on women, so that you will have an evidence-based response to the pressures to endorse abortion.

Check out our mission statement.

And Join us.

Evidence Based Education.

In the published medical literature, there is ample evidence of the effects of abortion on women. Abortion increases preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies, increases a woman's risk of suicide, substance abuse, major depression and all cause mortality, and increases a woman's risk of breast cancer if aborting a first pregnancy and delaying term pregnancy subsequently. Yet, many medical organizations are so politically invested in the abortion agenda that this information is not readily available to physicians or patients.

AAPLOG works to make available to physicians and patients the effects of abortion on women as evidenced in the peer-reviewed medical literature. The AAPLOG annual Matthew Bulfin Educational Meeting provides a forum for pro-life medical experts to discuss the latest and most important information on prolife topics, and has offered 8 credits of CME. These lectures are archived and available to members on the AAPLOG website.

Members can also avail themselves of prepared CME lectures on a variety of prolife topics, to equip members to be able to speak out professionally on a variety of topics including abortion complications, maternal mortality, abortion and preterm birth etc.

A Voice for the Silent

As Hippocratic Physicians, we are responsible to protect both the mother and her unborn child from fertilization until natural death. As Hippocratic Physicians we have a unique professional responsibility to publically speak for the weakest and most defenseless of the human race: the unborn child. AAPLOG takes that professional responsibility seriously.

As a non-profit educational organization, AAPLOG members participate in the public defense of human life from fertilization until natural death, by supplying accurate information from the peer-reviewed medical literature, especially in public forums where accurate information is often grossly lacking. AAPLOG is frequently called on by lawmakers and the media to give a professional pro-life perspective on current legislation, new research or breaking events.

A Defense for the Helpless.

The current laws in our nation do not defend the most helpless of human beings. AAPLOG works with many local, state and national legislators, legal organizations and policy makers in the United States who work to defend these tiniest of humans in law. AAPLOG members provide the professional pro-life expert opinions needed to defend these laws.

AAPLOG also networks with pro-life medical colleagues internationally to equip them to provide the evidence-based expert testimony required to defend human life.

A Message from Our Executive Director

Have you ever longed for colleagues who share a prolife worldview? You are not alone. We are pro-life ob-gyns and associates who are speaking out with a professional voice. And, we are making a difference. Come join us.
• OB/GYN
• Physicians and Para-Medical Persons
• Students & Residents
• Organizations
• Affiliates

Together we can effectively communicate the effects of abortion on women. We can communicate a professional second opinion which values life. And we can network together to bring that message to the medical, policy and pro-life community. Come join us.

Our Mission Statement

As members of AAPLOG we affirm:
1. That we, as physicians, are responsible for the care and well-being of both our pregnant woman patient and her unborn child.
2. That the unborn child is a human being from the time of fertilization.
3. That elective disruption/abortion of human life at any time from fertilization onward constitutes the willful destruction of an innocent human being, and that this procedure will have no place in our practice of the healing arts.
4. That we are committed to educate abortion-vulnerable patients, the general public, pregnancy center counselors, and our medical colleagues regarding the medical and psychological complications associated with induced abortion, as evidenced in the scientific literature.
5. That we are deeply concerned about the profound, adverse effects that elective abortion imposes, not just on the women, but also on the entire involved family, and on our society at large.

To learn more click here.
We invite you to Join us.

by Carrie Beliles, International Relations Specialist

Kristijan Aufiero is a breath of fresh air and quickly becoming one of the most powerful communicators and effective organizers for the pro-life movement in Europe. Based out of Heidelberg, the pro-life organization he leads is called Pro Femina ("For the Woman") and has been in existence since 1986.

However, it has grown exponentially under Kristijan's leaderhip in the last five years. It was named Pro Femina in response to the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Germany which is called Pro Familia ("For the Family"). Aufiero says "If they are for the family, then we are for the woman!"

An affiliate of Heartbeat International, Pro Femina is an uncompromising grassroots organization that now runs 320 baby bottle drives at churches across Germany with grassroots volunteers and collected 15,000 bottles last year. They grew this drive from only 28 baby bottle drives in 2010.

Mr. Aufiero's excellence in google analytics and fundraising has caused the organization to grow tremendously through its own organic fundraising, and its websites draw in German speakers in Germany, Austria, and Swizterland and elsewhere around the world who type in keywords related to abortion and unplanned pregnancy. When German speakers type in these terms, Pro Femina's subtle but excellent website is often first or second on the google hits. They receive 30,000 views a month on their webpage from German speakers, 360,000 approximately per year and growing.

This website leads abortion-vulnerable women to often chat about these issues in a forum, and email or speak on the phone with one of the 16 full-time, professionally trained, pro-life counselors based out of the Pro Femina Heidelberg office. They also see clients face-to-face in that office, although since they counsel clients across Germany and the German-speaking world, the phone is their primary method of communication. They counseled 2,200 women last year alone.

Since they are growing by leaps and bounds, they are expanding by opening a new pregnancy help center this September in Munich, one of the largest cities in Germany, and also where Aufiero was born and raised by Italian and Croatian parents.

As a German with Italian and Croatian parents, Aufiero is particularly well-suited to speaking to this issue to Europeans of all kinds. An unapologetic pro-lifer, his counselors do not provide the documentation that would enables their clients to go to obtain abortion in Germany.

In Germany, counseling before an abortion is still mandatory and has been ever since abortion was formally legalized in the first trimester in 1991 when Germany was reunified. Prior to 1991, abortion had technically been illegal for all trimesters, although a doctor's note that the woman was undergoing undue stress or psychological problems from the pregnancy would allow a woman to receive an abortion in the first trimester. When West Germany reunified with East Germany in 1991, East Germany had typically liberal Soviet bloc laws on abortion and the current framework was a compromise between the two systems.

Aufiero's counselors do not provide this document of counseling to their clients because they feel they would then be participating in or facilitating in an abortion and thus participants in this act.

When my husband, Ben, and I visited Aufiero in his Heidelberg office this April, he explained that he feared that the laws in Germany were moving toward an even more pro-choice and anti-life position in the near future. But he also affirmed that they would keep fighting for every unborn child's life in the meantime.

A devout Catholic, Aufiero's organization has both Catholic and Protestant employees and is a wonderful example of Catholics and Protestants working together in the name of Christ to end abortion.

Tweet this! Pro Femina is an example of Catholics and Protestants working together in the name of Christ to end abortion.

Aufiero has also created a wonderful communication method for spreading the positive message of life. He calls it "German words" and it consists of postcards printed by Pro Femina which have pictures of beautiful little newborns in entertaining outfits with catchy, positive messages of children on them such as "World Cup Champions 2034," "The Future Chancellor of Germany 2067," and other cute messages that highlight that children are the future and must be preserved and appreciated.

This is all the more important in a country such as Germany where the birth rate is 1.3 children per woman, well below replacement rate.

Over a million of these pithy postcards have been mailed throughout Germany by supporters of the organization - and others who just find them charming. In so doing, the pro-life message has been spread throughout Germany without spending a cent. Supporters buy these postcards for small donations and use them as stationery for their messages. It is a brilliant, low-cost method of propagating the pro-life message that has quickly become well-known throughout the English-speaking world and needs to be utilized in other languages and countries.

We are confident Aufiero will soon be crafting new and better ways of communicating the pro-life message.

Aufiero is willing to use the newest technologies and strategies to mold a pro-life message that will shape the next generation in Europe, a place without many strong pro-life voices and where most pro-life messages are marginalized and labeled extreme. Aufiero is a leader and Pro Femina is an organization that is growing and needs our support to answer the problems of abortion in Germany and Europe in the 21st Century.

by Kirk Walden, Advancement Specialist

In Illinois, Senate Bill 1564 is raising more than a little concern for pregnancy help organizations. Americans United for Life, in its press release opposing the bill, points out that under SB1564, PHOs would be forced to "participate in potentially conscience-violating services by requiring the provider to refer or transfer a patient or provide information to the patient regarding other healthcare providers who the provider reasonably believes offer the objected-to healthcare service."

Further, Americans United for Life reminds us the bill would force pregnancy help organizations to inform patients of "legal treatment options" and of the "benefits of legal treatment options."

Bad news, right? Of course. Once again, PHOs face a battle of conscience, ethics and government intrusion into our work.

Yet there is good news.

Looking at the larger picture, let's ask, "Why the attack?"

Tweet this! Looking at the larger picture, let's ask, "Why the attack?" @KirkWalden @PHC_News

The abortion industry may have an agenda that is diametrically opposed to life, but those in the industry are not stupid. They know a threat when they see it. We are that threat, because we shine the light of truth on abortion; on what abortion entails and on the miracle of every human life.

When those who come in our doors see that truth, they choose life far more often than not.

This is the "why" behind this bill. The abortion industry is nervous; their cash cow is being challenged. While we will never see the financial spreadsheets of the industry, all we need to see is what they do. And the industry's tactics tell us all is not right for Big Abortion.

Tweet this! The abortion industry is nervous; their cash cow is being challenged. @KirkWalden @PHC_News

So, they attack. In this case, the attack appears in the deep recesses of a bill being moving through an Illinois Senate committee.

While this bill presents another challenge for all of us, it is also a cause for renewed determination. Through love, through truth and through hope, we are advancing a culture of life. We must be taking ground, or those who oppose us would not be fighting so hard to stop us.

Today then, take heart. When one of us (or in this case, an entire state of PHOs) is attacked, it is yet another reminder that we are moving forward. Life is winning again. If we don't believe it, let's take a look at those who oppose us. Their actions tell us all we need to know.

by Debra Neybert

And Jesus answered them, The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and exalted. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest.
John 12:22-23

There is a wonderful truth in this verse....when a natural seed falls into the ground, it dies, and the hard outer shell breaks away, in that breaking, new life comes forth, eventually bearing much fruit.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

Bobby Connor, author and minister, writes in his book, Empowered by God about an experience he had one day while in the deep woods of Texas. He was resting against a massive oak tree and enjoying all the sounds around him when he heard the sound of an acorn falling through the tree branches. It fell softly on his leg coming to rest by his foot. He heard the Lord tell him to pick it up. Then the Lord asked him, "What is that in your hand?" Bobby writes that he was somewhat confused by the question and responded, "It is an acorn." Then he heard the Lord reply, "Strange, you see only a small acorn, but I see a whole forest."

In that little acorn God saw a forest.... for the joy set before Jesus, He endured the cross seeing beyond death and shame to His greatest inheritance, you and me! He gave His life so that in Him, we too might bear much fruit.

Fruit-bearing usually comes after a season of death and pruning.

Tweet this! Fruit-bearing usually comes after a season of death and pruning.

When Jesus descended into the heart of the earth, He went down as that grain of wheat, only to come up, leading a "host of captives." He led captivity captive! He conquered and triumphed over all the powers which would ever hold us in captivity, so that captivity itself was taken captive. (Ephesians 4:8)

As we allow the Lord to take us to the place where we fully submit to the process of becoming more like Him, we ultimately will experience the death of self, that outer shell breaking away so that new life can come forth, ultimately bearing much fruit for the Kingdom of God!

Jesus said, "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples" (Jn 15:8).

The breaking of the outer shell, or brokenness, is surrendering your will to God, knowing that, without Him, you can do nothing. It is a total dependence on Him in every aspect of life. It is a deeper understanding of how much we can trust Him when we really do not understand our circumstances and know that we can fully depend on His unfailing love.

The next time you see a seed, be encouraged and know that God is always at work to fulfill His great purposes in your life!

And if you're a nonprofit leader, neither can you.

by Mark Vermilion, Save the Storks

I use the GPS app on my iPhone a lot. Last year, I traveled 200 days and went to 24 different states to consult with pregnancy centers and other nonprofit ministries, so I greatly depend on my GPS app to help me get around new places.

A couple of months ago, I was traveling in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to facilitate a strategic-planning retreat for a client. As I was leaving Denver, I entered the address of the retreat center I was traveling to into my iPhone GPS device and set out for my mountain destination.

But about an hour into my journey, something unexpected happened. (It shouldn't have been unexpected, but it was.) I lost my cell-phone signal for nearly 30 minutes. And along with it, I lost my GPS system's ability to track my location.

I was lost.

At that moment, I realized, more than ever, just how much I depend on GPS to guide me from where I am to where I want to go.

I did eventually manage to get to the retreat center, but I wasted a lot of time traveling off course until I finally found a gas station where I could regain my bearings and figure out where I was. The gas station owner then pulled out a tattered, "old school" Atlas (from 1998) and wrote down directions on the back of an old invoice to get me from where I was to where I wanted to go.

That gas station attendant saved me a lot of wasted time and frustration—and helped me get to my destination on time. Barely.

Organizational GPS

A number of years ago, I realized that all organizations need a GPS system to help them get from where they are to where they want to go. That's when I developed what I call an Organizational GPS.

I designed it to help organizations that were lost and driving in circles to regain their bearings and figure out where they're going and how to get there.

In a sense, I've been helping organizations like that gas station owner helped me that day in the Rocky Mountains.

Think about it for a moment. What are the two basic requirements needed to use the GPS device in your car or on your smartphone?

First, your device needs to be able to track where you are—your current position.

And second, you need to know where you're going, and you need to enter the destination into your device.

Once your GPS device knows where you are and where you're going, it (theoretically) will give you a step-by-step plan for how to get there. A roadmap.

I say "theoretically" because I've found that my iPhone app doesn't always give me the right direction that I'm looking for. I have a love-hate relationship with SIRI!

Like travelers, all organizations need a GPS process to guide them—one that operates just like the GPS device you use.

First, the organization needs to know it's current location—where it is. That requires a robust assessment tool that helps the organization honestly identify its strengths and weaknesses, among other important identifiers.

Second, the organization needs to know its destination—where it's going. That requires a creative process that helps the organization identify its God-given vision.

And third, once you've identified your current location and your destination, you can put together a roadmap—a strategic plan—to help you get from where you are to where you want to go. That requires a proven strategic-planning process and template that the organization uses to develop a plan.

And once the organization has a plan, it must implement it—and not set it on a shelf to collect dust.

I've learned a lot of things in more than two decades of working with nonprofits, and here's one of the biggest: It's hard work to go through a planning process. Still, it's a lot easier to plan the work than it is to work the plan.

Tweet this! It's a lot easier to plan the work than it is to work the plan.

GPS for Pregnancy Centers

More than a year ago, I began working with Save the Storks to develop a PRC consulting service that we've named StorkWorks Consulting. It applies the Organizational GPS System I developed specifically to PRCs. While many of the issues that PRCs face are common to all nonprofit organizations, some aren't. So we've tweaked the Organizational GPS System to allow us to specifically address the issues common to those who are on the front lines of the pro-life movement.

In my work with PRCs over the past year, I've found that many are struggling with one, two, or all three of the "GPS components" that are needed for organizations to thrive.

First, some organizations don't have a clear sense of where they are. They haven't done an honest, rigorous assessment process in a long time—some never have. When you don't have an understanding of where you are, your leaders have no sense of how to lead. They feel lost—just like I did that day in the Rocky Mountains when I didn't know where I was in relationship to where I wanted to go.

I don't know about you, but when I get lost, I get frustrated. Maybe your leadership team feels frustrated, too. For good reason. They don't have a clear sense of where they are.

Maybe a vague sense. But not a clear sense.

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality."
-Max de Pree

Second, some PRCs don't have a clear, articulated, unifying vision. They don't know where they're going. As a result, they have no compelling message to share with donors, volunteers, and other ministry partners that will motivate them to join their work. Likewise, decision makers have no sense of destiny that allows them to make current decisions.

They end up going in circles or even backtracking. At best, they go in a direction that will have to be altered later—when they realize they're arriving someplace they don't want to be!

"Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision
is just passing the time. Vision with action can change the world."
-Joel Barker

Third, some don't have a clearly articulated strategic plan that takes them from where they are to where they want to go. And if they do, it's not always accurately informed by a clear sense of the organization's current position or desired destination.

"What we do today will determine what happens to us tomorrow.
Each day we take steps either toward or away from the destination we desire."
-Andy Stanley

Many PRCs operate from a vague understanding of all three GPS components. And the results can include frustration, inefficiency, lack of unity, lack of resources, and lack of impact.

The most tragic result is that their critical, God-given mission—their reason for existing—isn't being accomplished nearly as much as it could be.

I would encourage you to incorporate some form of all three GPS components in your organization: an assessment tool, a vision-clarifying process, and a strategic-plan template.

And once you have all three in place, I encourage you to use them to guide you into a high-impact, mission-accomplishing future.

Hear more from Mark at his workshop during the 2015 Heartbeat International Annual Conference, April 7-10! He and Joe Baker, also on the Save the Storks team, will be presenting "Visioneering: The Power to Inspire, Increase, and Fuel" in the Advancing Leaders track, so don't miss out on learning how to establish a vision and give your Organizational GPS a destination.

Mark Vermilion is the Co-Founder and Lead Consultant of StorkWorks Consulting, a PRC consulting service of Save the Storks, Colorado Springs, Colorado. He is also the CEO of Amplify 360, Lexington, Kentucky, a high-impact firm that increases (amplifies!) the reach and impact of ministry organizations all over the U.S. He has served on faculty with Taylor University, Indiana Wesleyan University, and Asbury University. He lives in the Lexington, Kentucky area with his wife, Katrina, and their five children.

by Julie Parton, Ph.D.

Like natural earthquakes, moral earthquakes don't just happen! They too, are preceded by secret faults, little cracks in character below the surface that eventually erupt into moral earthquakes. When one of these dramatic schisms occurs in the life of someone we know, or work with, or go to church with, how do we respond?

Of all the groups of people on the face of the earth, Christ-followers have the greatest opportunity to be about the ministry of restoration. We, better than anyone else, understand the pervasiveness of sin ("ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23) and the availability of forgiveness ("If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9). We also understand that there are consequences to be dealt with, and very often folks need help in dealing with those. And besides, who among us hasn't at some point needed a new beginning, a second chance?

Paul gives us three steps to follow to go about all this.

Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too. Carry one another's burdens. Galatians 6:1-2

1. We are to hunt them up! (vs 1) Did you notice that it is the mature response ("one who is spiritual") who knows better than to just write them off? Too often we wait for the fallen one to come back to us! But Scripture says we are to be the initiators. We must seek them out.
   
   Get past the false notion that the one who has fallen will initiate the restoration. Usually they harbor a sense of guilt and shame which continues to drive them farther and farther away from hope and help. It is our task to hunt them up, just as Jesus came to seek and to save each of us. Think of post-abortive women you've talked to, or even the "regular" client in an unexpected pregnancy.
   
   
2. We are to help them up! (vs 1b) It says in a spirit of gentleness, not rebuke or condemnation. The Greek word used here is the same as in Mark 4:21 where they are "mending" nets. Also used in 1 Corinthians 1:10 speaking of bones that are "perfectly joined together," it's a medical term with the idea of putting a broken bone back in place so that it can be mended. The orthopedic surgeon does not heal. He simply puts the broken bones in place, sometimes with pins. Then GOD does the healing, over a period of time.
   
   This is a perfect parallel to the church's job with those we're discussing. WE cannot heal broken homes, hearts, or lives. But we can hunt them up and help them up by helping them put things together so God can heal their hearts and restore them to usefulness (just like the physical healing of a broken bone).
   
   
3. We are to hold them up! (vs 2) Paul calls it "bearing one another's burdens." Some burdens are just too heavy to carry alone. That's why Scripture teaches us about the family of God and how we need each other. The world is made up of folks who are hurting and broken. We, the Christ-followers, are the ones called upon to take the initiative in restoring them to wholeness: hunt them up, help them up, and then hold them up until they have found a new beginning.
   
   Take heart! It's never too late.