Heartbeat International recently heard from our friends in Slovenia, and it is amazing to see what God has done in their ministry within the last year! As 2017 comes to a close, here’s an update from Zavod Biser (Institute Pearl):

"Zavod Biser (Institute Pearl) is a new organization founded in February this year. Our ministry is counseling women in need in cases of unexpected and unwanted pregnancy, based on the concept of an excellent German organization from Munich, Profemina. We adopted their approach and customized it to our Slovenian reality. We have our seat in Maribor, the second largest town in Slovenia.

A lot of things have happened in our Institute Biser/Pearl this year.  We opened our website at the end of May: http://www.zenskaodlocitev.si/ . This is the first website with a wide breadth of information for pregnant women in need in Slovenia. During the summer, we contacted many hospitals throughout the country to allow us to deliver our materials. Reactions were mainly positive, which seems to us as a very positive sign. In September, we organized our office in the center of Maribor and started with advertising on Google.

In the middle of October, the first pregnant woman contacted us. Since then, we have counseled 32 women by phone, online or by personal contact. Two pregnant women chose life, and we are looking forward to the birth of their children in June 2018! 

At the same time, we are working on fundraising. Just before Christmas, we will open our fundraising website, Slovenija 1000plus, following the model of Kristijan Aufiero’s 1000plus.

It is unbelievable that so many women in Slovenia live under such pressure because of unexpected pregnancy. We have incredibly liberal abortion legislation, contraception is free of charge, and gynecologists are free of charge. First feedbacks are encouraging in the way that we have a lot to do. We see many challenges for the coming year.”

While there will always be challenges ahead, Heartbeat International is overwhelmed with joy when we hear that our international friends of the movement are thriving and growing, and we give thanks to God for His many good gifts. As we close out this year, we are excited to see what He has in store for 2018!

Click here to read Choose Life Serbia's December 2017 Newsletter.

This November, member nations of the “Group of 7” (G-7) met in Italy to discuss current global health issues and challenges. To the outrage of abortion activists, the G-7 members landed on language that omits abortion terms under the “Gender Perspective in Health Policies and Rights for Women, Children and Adolescents” section of the communique. 

Instead, the language states that G-7 nations—made up of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K.—would pay special attention to the health of mothers, newborns and children with evidence-based interventions to address issues like mortality and violence.

Click here to read the rest of this article on Pregnancy Help News.

Click here to read "A Flawed Law: Canadian 'Bubble Zone' Doesn’t Protect Women" on Pregnancy Help News.

(Text and photo taken from AFLA newsletter)

Heartbeat International has kept you apprised when it comes to the incredible work that is being accomplished by our friends in Romania, and we are overjoyed to share that a new counseling and support center has opened in Bucharest! Here is an excerpt from the center's first newsletter: 

"Dear pro-life friends,

You have just opened the first newsletter sent by the Counseling and Support Center for Parents and Children “Saint Alexandra the Empress”.

What seemed impossible a few years ago could be accomplished this year and happened at the beginning of this month: the inauguration in Bucharest of the Counseling and Support Center for Parents and Children “Saint Alexandra the Empress”.

The center offers counseling and social services to women in pregnancy crisis, to young and teenage mothers, to families in need and to parents who prepare to give birth to a child or wish to prepare for that.

Among many other services, the center offers: free psychological counseling, free pregnancy tests, baby-boxes with all the necessary baby products for women who are about to give birth or who have just done so, emergency social assistance (clothes, food, diapers according to possibilities), references to social services within the community (legal consulting, gynecologists to monitor pregnancy, breastfeeding courses, vocational counseling, professional training), support groups for mothers and for post-abortive women.

The center is staffed with one psychologist and a social worker who offer confidential professional help to those who ask for support.
The inauguration of this center has been a great joy for me, since on a daily basis I meet women who lack support and are under great pressure from their partners, their families or their jobs. I know women in pregnancy crisis need to know there is a center where they can ask for help and which can meet their needs. I wish to thank all who have been supportive in the opening of this center.

With joy for life,
Alexandra Nadane
Executive Director
Asociația pentru sprijinirea femeii însărcinate și a familiei
(The Association for Supporting Pregnant Women and Families)"

(Text and photo taken from Romania newsletter)

 On October 16-19, 2017, our friends at Centro de Ayuda para la Mujer (CAM) held their 7^th Latin American Meeting in Quito, Ecuador. Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey had the pleasure of attending, speaking, and meeting with the leaders of the countries where CAM is represented. Leaders from all over Latin America were able to learn and connect with other pregnancy help center leaders in the movement. It was a time of encouragement, rejuvenation and education, with workshop topics like:

• The Gospel of Life in the context of CAMs
• The fragility of the woman who wants to abort – physically, emotionally, and spiritually
• Proposals for healing for women who have been abused or raped
• Marriage Morality for Defenders of Life
• Fundraising techniques and testimonials of success
• Update in the attention to the mothers (cytotec, emergency pill) and its technological and medical solutions

       …and more!

Attendees also heard personal testimonials, including one of a mother saved from aborting her precious baby. The CAM meeting was an incredible opportunity to see the work that CAM is accomplishing for life in Latin America, and simply reaffirmed just how honored Heartbeat International is to partner with such a passionate, life-affirming group.

Jor-El had this to say after the meeting:

"CAMs are a practical, and courageous, response to the scourge of abortion that is happening even in countries where it is illegal. These selfless volunteers extend themselves to bring life-affirming help to those who can only see a pathway of darkness. Their faith and fortitude to uphold the Gift of Life and the Giver of Life is an example for all of us!"

The CAM network is one of the largest regional networks in the world. Inspired by the sacrificial work of Jorge and Magdalena Serrano, these outreaches work incredibly hard to make sure that life is valued throughout Latin America.

 Click here to read about what God is doing in El Salvador on Pregnancy Help News. It will blow your mind!

Check out the Kharkiv Pregnancy Assistance Center has been up to in Ukraine! Read the newsletter by clicking on the attachment below.