Last week at Intercessor’s weekly youth group meeting, which we call Grounded & Settled, we had Pat Shea come in and speak to them about her organization called Mommas House that provides ministry to single young mothers. This organization works with Birthright International here on Long Island to provide housing, education, and help with receiving government aid. I would encourage you to check out their website by clicking here. After listening to Ms. Shea speak, I couldn’t help but to think about what it means to be truly pro-life. Here is a woman who provided women with council and encouragement to not kill the child in their womb and decided that if she was going to give that advice, she should be prepared to help with their living arrangements and everything else that is involved with a young woman becoming pregnant. She was willing to take a stand and make a difference in the community she lived and began taking in women and their children and Mommas House was born. I have a tremendous amount of respect for her and all her volunteers. She now has three homes located on Long Island that are filled with young mothers and their children from all over the country. Our group was so moved by Ms. Shea’s presentation that we are now going to get involved with helping out in any way we can. We are going to start collecting some paper goods for them, as well as volunteer to help with the upkeep of one of their properties.
So do I write this to brag on the youth in my church? No. I write this to encourage all of you to not only get involved in prayer vigils and protests outside of abortion mills, but to also help those women who have decided to bring a life into the world. For many of these women, their decision to keep their child is not a welcomed one. We, as the Church, need to minister to these women with the love of Christ.
How can you help? Start by looking in your area for crisis pregnancy centers, like Birthright International, and find out if there are any organizations that are helping women who decide to give life to their child. Then get involved. If there isn’t a local program, perhaps God will open a door for you to begin one. Start by praying and then talk with the rector of your church and asking him to prayerfully consider starting a ministry to single mothers in your community.
So let’s not let our pro-life activity stop at protesting, but showing God’s love to those who chose life!
– Alan Melanson
I’m so excited about working with mommas house