Friday, September 28, 2012

October Prayer Focus

Pray for CPC's expectant mothers and their little ones.
PLEASE PRAY   CPC humbly requests your intentional prayer for:

ANNUAL BENEFIT BANQUET   As we approach one of the most important events of our year, please pray for:
• God to be glorified
• LIFE to be lifted up
• Ample funds to be raised
• Pam Tebow’s safe travel.

CPC’S CLINICS AND CENTERS   The battle for LIFE continues to intensify in our community. Please lift up our staff and volunteers who serve our clients in the heat of this battle. We pray for a hedge of protection to surround them and abundant compassion and mercy to flow through them onto the women they serve.

ABORTION PROVIDERS   Please pray for our Heavenly Father to open the eyes of abortion providers. We pray He will reveal to these doctors the injustice of taking innocent lives (Proverbs 6:16-19) and cause them to turn away from this evil practice.

PRAY FOR CPC’S EXPECTANT MOTHERS AND THEIR LITTLE ONES.   Their names* and due dates are listed below.
*Some of the names have been changed to protect the identities of our clients.

Jessica 1
Vanessa 1
Kenya 2
April 2
Christine 2
Darcy 2
Linda 2
Dominique 2
Sherika 2
Kiona 3
Nell 3
Christy 3
Alisa 3
Keesha 4
Nesha 4
Amber 5
Deanna 6
Tiffany 6
Stephanie 6
Yanti 7
Rebekah 7
Toya 8
Emma 9
Shanay 9
Michelle 9
Maria 10
Kiara 10
Emily 10
Angela 11
Stephanie 12
Laura 12
Jennifer 13
Amber 13
Kirstin 13
Jasmine 14
Tacaro 14
Ashley 14
Charmaine 15
Keona 17
Payton 17
Jasmine 19
Clarisse 19
Ebony 19
Shawna 19
Nissa 20
Kayla 20
Detria 20
Breanna 20
Norma 20
Leesha 21
Margaret 21
Melissa 22
Shawna 23
Kristin 23
Annesha 23
Candace 26
Phoebe 26
Keyota 26
Keva 26
Anna 26
Shaneeka 26
Karina 26
Christina 27
Kimberly 28
Shynna 29
Sybil 29
Shannon 29
Priscilla 29
Tora 30
Jackie 30
Danielle 31
Ebony 31
Crystal 31

Monday, September 24, 2012

Revealing God's Masterpiece

 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14
By Shannon Elrod, R.N., B.S.N.
Director of Nursing Services at
The Keim Centers

The Keim Center clinics offer medical services at no charge to clients.  These medical services are of value to our community as a whole, but especially to the woman who is considering abortion.  The medical services are provided by licensed Registered Nurses (R.N.) working under the supervision of our Medical Director, Dr. Diana Fedei, M.D.  Lab-quality pregnancy tests are provided in all the centers, but when performed and read by a R.N., this becomes medically relevant and the results can now be provided to the patient in the form of a “Proof of Pregnancy.”  This Proof of Pregnancy letter can be used by a patient to apply for insurance, WIC or other programs to help meet practical needs that empower her to carry her baby to term, by providing resources. The nurses also provide education on prenatal care, education on abortion and triage for medical concerns that need further medical attention.
Limited prenatal ultrasound is offered to our patients to confirm that she has a viable intrauterine pregnancy and the gestational age.  A positive pregnancy test alone does not answer the question, “Am I pregnant?” Why would a woman considering abortion want an ultrasound at The Keim Centers?  Legally, in the state of Virginia, a woman is required to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours prior to an abortion and be offered the opportunity to view the image.  An ultrasound can be very expensive – up to $300.  The Keim Centers provides this service of no charge to the patient. 
The woman considering abortion is interested in the ultrasound for several reasons.  If we put ourselves in her shoes, she needs to know how far along she is to know the cost for abortion and if she is within the limits to have abortion be a legal option for her.  She is also hoping that the ultrasound will show there is not a viable pregnancy – essentially a miscarriage.  How much fear and anxiety is she experiencing that she hopes me, or one of the other three nurses performing ultrasound, will tell her she is having a miscarriage? This hurts my heart. Any woman who has experienced a miscarriage knows how devastating and personal this is to her.  Yet a woman facing the seemingly insurmountable situation that is causing her to consider abortion would rather be told that she is having a miscarriage than have to make the decision regarding abortion. 
I have learned that no woman wants to have an abortion.  She is feeling trapped, desperate and incredibly fearful. I fully acknowledge that it takes courage to come through the doors of The Keim Centers. She is beginning to face the very truth that creates such over-whelming fear in her.
So, what are the benefits of ultrasound? Ultrasound is a great tool, unlike any other, to reveal what is happening in secret – inside of her body, where no one but God can see.  Ultrasound provides a window into this secret place. Psalm 139:15 says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.”  God knows this little one intimately as He knows each of us.  This little one has value and ultrasound is providing the tool to show the value and dignity of this little life.  A woman in early pregnancy is physically experiencing exhaustion, sick and generally miserable.  That is in the most planned of pregnancies! Imagine feeling this way physically and then not wanting to be pregnant; terrified of the life you know being forever changed and seemingly at this moment, for the worse. Pregnancy isn’t representing life for her – it’s representing the end of whatever life she is seeking.
Being told that you have had a positive pregnancy test is peeling back one of the many layers of denial wrapped around a woman who finds herself in an unplanned pregnancy.  The ultrasound peels back several more layers of denial.  It can be overwhelming.  Any new mother or father who has seen the ultrasound of their pre-born child for the first time remembers the overwhelming feelings when first seeing the beating heart of their child or the first early movements around nine weeks, visible on ultrasound. It is no less powerful for the woman in an unplanned pregnancy – maybe even more powerful. Ultrasound is powerful for the fathers as well.  His body feels no different after hearing that his partner is pregnant. “Maybe she isn’t telling the truth. Maybe there is some other explanation,” are often statements he will verbalize.  But ultrasound peels back those layers of denial and it can be a profound moment for him as well.  “This is really happening,” as one father said. Or another young man who said, “This changes everything.”
Ultrasound never replaces the importance of the relationship between the counselor and the patient or the nurse and the patient.  One human caring for another is powerful.  Communicating and demonstrating the love of our Savior in a fallen, broken and depraved world is essential. However, ultrasound is the only tool we have right now to show the amazing handiwork of God’s Masterpiece.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” Psalm 139:13-14

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

LifeChange: Year-To-Date Results


Your change is changing lives!

Through the effort of 46 different campaigns, CPC’s LifeChange baby bottle campaign has already raised more than $61,000 in the first eight months of 2012!  Thank you to everyone who contributed to this total thus far!

2012 Volunteer Training
$421.49
7-Eleven
$115.26
Abundant Hope Baptist Church
$231.68
Alexander Baptist Church
$3,538.39
Antioch Church
$753.91
Back Back Christian Assembly
$286.28
Believer's Church Women's Group
$280.62
Bethel Baptist Church
$2,649.93
C28
$32.57
Calvary Presbyterian Church
$1,302.65
Church of the Messiah
$1,519.13
Colonial Baptist Church
$2,103.74
Cornerstone Bible Church
$2,445.05
Crossroads Church
$489.39
Fairview Heights Baptist Church
$436.57
First Baptist Church in Suffolk
$1,543.68
Gateway Freewill Baptist Church
$820.26
Glad Tidings Church
$95.81
Grace Bible Church
$570.15
Grace Covenant Church in Virginia Beach
$582.38
Harvest Fellowship Baptist Church
$602.79
Indian River Baptist Church
$1,416.29
Kempsville Baptist Church
$3,619.43
Landstown Community Church
$134.39
Luke Tippett Neighborhood
$330.55
Misc
$7,937.85
Nansemond River Baptist Church
$3,855.69
New Life Christian Center, Norfolk
$973.70
Ocean View Baptist Church
$461.22
Ocean View Christian Reformed Church
$519.60
Open Door Chapel
$344.61
Open Door Church in Suffolk
$1,030.96
Portsmouth Baptist Association
$676.93
Princess Anne Plaza Baptist Church
$574.10
Providence Baptist Church/Temple Baptist Church
$558.00
Raleigh Heights Baptist Church
$556.00
Real Life Christian Church VBS
$792.59
River Oak Church
$540.47
Sovereign Grace - Access
$294.54
Spring Branch Women's Ministry
$702.70
St. John the Apostle Catholic Church
$3,630.07
St. Mary of the Presentation Catholic Church
$1,363.88
TitleMax
$12.23
Virginia Beach Beacon Baptist Church
$129.78
Virginia Beach Community Chapel
$1,796.35
Virginia Beach Freewill Baptist Church
$919.71
Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church
$6,359.94
Woodland Heights Baptist Church
$597.69
World Ministries
$518.29


Total Amount Raised:
$61,469.29



Will you help change lives?
Spare change really can go a long way – and you can start making a difference today! Pick up just one baby bottle or reserve a new campaign by visiting www.cpcfriends.org/lifechange.