A pro-life prayer ministry has expanded to reach the hearts of young people and others in the community by educating youth and training pro-life organizations.
Nebraska-based Heart of a Child Ministries launched a certified education program during the past year that extends beyond the state’s borders.
“We received a large grant to develop our program into a certification program,” said Heart of a Child Ministries founder and Executive Director Nikki Schaefer.
After experiencing local success with the program, the grant money helped Schaefer and her team complete the certification process and begin providing training to other pro-life organizations.
[Click here to subscribe to Pregnancy Help News!]
The trademarked program is called the 4S Education Model™. The 4 S’s are:
- Science, with live ultrasound presentations.
- Scripture, using verses to remind youth God created them and that they are children of God.
- Stories, hearing personal testimonies about parenting and/or adoption, or if age-appropriate, talks from those who have experienced abortion.
- Service, encouraging the school or church group to collect diapers and other items for a local pregnancy help organization or selling prayer pillows, the item which started Heart of a Child Ministries nearly a decade ago.
Twenty speakers, men and women, currently work with Schaefer and share their stories, including people who were told to abort their child because of disabilities, but instead, chose life, she said.
“We have one woman who was homeless and was in a Planned Parenthood ready to abort,” Schaefer said. “But she courageously walked out.”
“She found a maternity home and chose life for her baby,” said Schaefer. “That totally turned her life around – she got so much love and support. Her son is now six, and he stands up with her.”
Having men on the speaking team is crucial, too, she said.
“They are a witness to the importance of family,” Schaefer said. “They lift up the role of fathers and speak to the boys that their role is important.”
A doctor who is part of the Abortion Pill Rescue® Network (APRN) also serves as a speaker. She shares the science behind chemical abortion and what happens with Abortion Pill Reversal,” Schaefer told Pregnancy Help News.
People who parent children with disabilities and a former abortion worker who is now pro-life are also program speakers.
Since its inception, Heart of a Child Ministries has reached more than 15,000 students from elementary to college-age.
Tweet This: Since its inception, Heart of a Child Ministries has reached more than 15,000 students from elementary to college-age.
Touching hearts, changing minds
Presentations are done primarily in private schools and with faith-based youth groups as well as churches and parishes.
Prior to the program, older students, middle schoolers and high schoolers, take a survey and then another afterward.
“We have these defining elements that we have them circle [on the form], and then after the presentation, the question is asked again,” Schaefer said. “Of those that consider themselves pro-abortion on some level before the presentation, over 50 percent of them have a change of heart to being more pro-life or fully pro-life.”
The 4S Education Model™ is a “stair-step” approach, with presentations geared for kindergarten through college-aged students. In addition to the talks and ultrasound demonstrations, Schaefer and her team provide educational products that correlate with the age-appropriate presentation.
Certifying groups outside Nebraska
Thanks to the grant received, the certified program is now available to other pro-life groups outside of Nebraska.
“Through prayer we really saw this need to take this work, this program, across the country,” Schaefer said.
Two organizations have been certified in the past six months, Women’s Health Center in Alabama and Choose Life Idaho.
“We have many other groups we are talking to,” she said. “We’re targeting pregnancy help organizations because they have sonographers on staff, they have stories and can share those stories, and they are the perfect ones to benefit from that service component.”
“Pregnancy help organizations are the perfect ones to equip,” said Schaeffer.
Women’s Health Center conducted 10 presentations in one semester and said the experience was very successful, she said.
Choose Life Idaho, in conjunction with the Diocese of Boise, plans to go into parishes to conduct a family-friendly program, including a live ultrasound, for a celebration of life event, she said.
Moving forward to equip others
Schaefer said prayer and the Holy Spirit have been catalysts for growth and success of the program, including bringing people as speaking sources. For example, she met a woman on airplane who previously had three abortions and received healing from those decisions. That woman is now part of the speaking team.
“God has truly moved us forward in amazing ways,” Schaefer said.
Prayer pillows are still a large part of the ministry. She has added other products as well, including onesies and T-shirts.
Schaefer attended last spring’s Heartbeat International Conference in Salt Lake City, and she provided an online presentation for the virtual conference. She has also attended past events. She said meeting people at the Heartbeat Conference offers opportunities to connect with others in the pro-life, pregnancy help world, which is critical to expanding the 4S Education Model™ and reaching more young people around the nation, impacting hearts and changing minds.
“We want to continue equipping more [pro-life groups] across the county,” Schaefer said.
Information on bringing a presentation to your community, the education program, or being mentored by Heart of a Child Ministries through their certification program is available at HERE.
