We hear a lot about freedom of choice. The piece of information that most unmarried men are surprised by is that they don’t have a choice at all regarding decisions about their unborn children.
I met a young man who came to our office one day, looking for help. When I asked him what he needed, he broke down and cried as he told me that he feared his girlfriend was on her way to an abortion clinic at that very moment to terminate the life of his child. He was devastated. He wanted me to tell him that we could call the police or some government agency and stop this young woman from robbing him of his role as a father. He sobbed, brokenly as he told me “I love her, I want to marry her and be a family.” Sadly, I had to tell him that there was nothing he could do to stop her. I encouraged him to try to bring her to one of our clinics to talk to a client advocate.
I don’t know what ever happened to that young couple or their baby, but God used that experience to teach me that unplanned pregnancies can affect the men involved just as profoundly as they affect the women. The vision to implement a men’s ministry at Hope was born in my heart that day.
Over the years, we have had men involved in various aspects of our ministry. We have offered post-abortion recovery classes to men and we have had a few men volunteer to counsel the partners of our clients. But our vision is bigger than that, and we believe now is the time to ask God to make it happen!
We want to hire someone to lead the men’s ministry. We want to have trained male client advocates at every center to talk with the partners of our clients when they come in for a pregnancy test or an ultrasound. We want to hold God’s standard high and encourage “the hearts of the fathers to turn toward their children.” [Malachi 4:6] We want to share the truth in love with these young men and equip them to make life-affirming choices for themselves and for their children. We are praying that God will send us men with a heart to teach this generation how to be fathers.
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