(The Daily Declaration) The fight in the defence of innocent human life rages on. Whilst His Saints have breath, and carry within them the heart of their Saviour Jesus, the battle for the unborn will never end until these little ones, created in His image, are respected and protected… and loved.
An indispensable part of that effort is the provision of pregnancy support for the women who are facing difficult situations, often extremely traumatic and isolating circumstances. It is a hollow cry to stand behind a podium and declare that we love both mother and baby, and that they just need support, if there is no practical action behind those words.
When it comes to making a choice about whether to have an abortion or not, clever arguments won’t change her mind, facts and statistics won’t change her mind, nor will political discourse or prolife debates or events. These all have a valid place in the fight for life, but the fact is, only the offer of support has the ultimate power to sway her to proceed with her pregnancy. If you save the mum, you will save the baby.
When a woman is faced with overwhelming odds against her and yet makes the brave choice to continue her pregnancy despite these challenges, this woman absolutely deserves all the support we can give her. This will require various forms of practical support, emotional support, psychosocial support and spiritual support. ‘Being there’ is by far the most demanding and self-sacrificing part of this battle. But it can often also be the most rewarding.
Let me tell you Kylie’s story:
A life of pain
Kylie had suffered sexual abuse from her alcoholic father since the age of 8 years. After her mother died in her arms from a severe heart attack when she was just 21 years old, she could no longer cope with the accumulated trauma of her life, and she escaped into the pain-numbing world of methamphetamines. She went from one abusive relationship to another until one day, now in her thirties, Kylie found herself homeless with a newborn child after her boyfriend had been arrested and incarcerated on domestic violence charges against her that saw him sentenced to 6 months imprisonment.
With no family and nowhere else to go, she lived with that ex-boyfriend’s mate, who expected favours in return for providing a roof over her and her baby’s heads. The department for child protection had now become involved in her life, and through their intervention, she was referred to Genesis Pregnancy Support’s ‘eMbrace’ live-in parenting skills program. This was a consecutive 6-weekend program from Friday mornings until Sunday afternoons. She agreed to attend the eMbrace program as an escape from her current living situation and to be able to focus on and enjoy her motherhood experience for a while.
Kylie was a meth addict, but her pregnancy proved to be the motivation she needed to stop using. Although she desperately wanted to seek a better life, the thought of participating in the program was daunting, and she almost succumbed to the fears tempting her to change her mind. At the last minute, she overcame them and ‘Thank God’ she did.
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A fresh chance
As a first-time mum, and despite such a difficult and harsh background, Kylie demonstrated an obvious commitment to becoming a good mother for her baby girl, and this was evident from the beginning. She may have still carried scepticism as to whether the life-change she desired was actually possible, but she was willing to learn and to give it a try. Most importantly, she was prepared to put her child before herself.
As we got to know Kylie better during the program, we discovered that she did not have Australian citizenship, as her parents had not arranged for this when she moved with them to Australia as a child. Because of this, she was only eligible for, and was expected to survive on, government support of just $260/fortnight for both her and her child. Upon investigation, we discovered that the cost of the citizenship application was $550, and this was way beyond her ability to pay. We saw such potential in this young woman that our wonderful eMbrace staff rallied around and all put in their own money to cover this cost.
When it was time for Kylie to leave at the end of the 6-weekend program, she had no other option than returning to the toxic environment from which she was trying to escape. No longer able to tolerate the expectations of her male housemate, Kylie sought accommodation with a woman unknown to her, whom she soon discovered was a drug user and dealer herself. After just a few months of constant exposure, Kylie inevitably succumbed to the perpetual temptation.
Encountering God
Genesis was keeping in contact with Kylie throughout this time and providentially happened to visit her precisely when the Department for Child Protection had come to issue her with a Voluntary Custody Agreement to take her now 4-month-old baby girl and place her into foster care for three months.
Due to 20 years of hard work and ‘reputation building’, Genesis was amazingly able to intervene and was granted department approval for an eMbrace volunteer to become the baby’s carer whilst we provided Kylie with accommodation and admittance into the eMbrace program for a second time. We knew that it was absolutely imperative that she escape the dysfunctional environment she was in if she was to have any chance at a better life or reconciliation with her baby.
Kylie moved in and repeated the parenting program, not only showing even more dedication for her own personal growth, but also offering support to the other mums who were participating. Genesis ensured that she had the opportunity for frequent supervised visits with her baby girl, and during this time, she even attended church so that she could be with her daughter. ‘Thank God’ she did that too.
The first church attendance touched Kylie’s heart deeply, bringing her to tears when hearing songs and a sermon about the love of God her Father. She cried again on the second visit, and by the third, she gave her heart to Jesus.
Tweet This: If you save the mom, you will save the baby.
New life
As a result of all the obvious changes she was making to her life choices, Child Protection reconciled her with her baby even earlier than had been scheduled. Her joy at her baby’s return to her was truly moving. What a day of celebrating that was. Since that time, Kylie has now been baptised, has completed a 12-week Bible study course and has had her beautiful baby girl publicly dedicated to God.
She is truly a wonderful Mum! … and has stayed on in the program accommodation facility with her little girl, who has just celebrated her 2nd birthday with her extended family of support worker ‘aunties’. Kylie now works for Genesis as our live-in House Supervisor in the eMbrace home and is such a ‘natural’ at supporting the other isolated and trauma, drug, or abuse-affected mothers, who have come into the new 6-month eMbrace program at Meliora House in the hope of a better life.
[Meliora: Latin – the pursuit of something better]
God took this truly lovely woman’s trauma and turned it into the motivation for Genesis to reach out with even more commitment to the completely marginalised, the ones who are most likely to be overlooked. These are the ones who chose motherhood, who rejected the overt pressures to abort their babies, who want to be good mothers, but get no encouragement or support from our culture for that high calling, that selfless and noble choice.
The Good Shepherd goes in search of them, and we, His people, are the means that He uses to love the least of these.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to Me.’
Editor's note: This article was published by The Daily Declaration and is reprinted with permission.
