On a recent Saturday True Care Women’s Resource Center in Casper, Wyo., held is annual Walk for Life. That the 2022 event took its usual path, the same traveled in the 1800s by pioneers seeking a new life, was appropriate, as it was the last for outgoing President and CEO, Terry Winship. One among numerous directors serving with longevity in the pregnancy help community, Terry ends her time at the helm of True Care later this month after leading the Wyoming pregnancy center for 24 years. During her tenure True Care went from a materials-focused resource center to become a medical clinic. I have served alongside Terry for nearly 13 of those years, inspired by her grace, compassion, and fierce heartedness.
Fighting spirit
One of True Care’s core values is having a fighting spirit. Courage and perseverance align with that value. We in the pro-life pregnancy help movement need a fighting spirit, courage, and perseverance to show up each day and fight for the lives of women and children, offering alternatives to heartache and death. To have those three characteristics, we need to be battle ready daily.
The Apostle Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).
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My pastor discussed being battle ready in a recent Sunday sermon, reminding the congregation as Paul did, to “put on the whole armor of God” (verse 11, ESV). That defense consists of the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the belt of truth.
We live in a world of lies and half-truths. Pregnancy centers provide the truth to women considering abortion. We offer them factual information about what abortion is and does, to her and to her unborn child. We also offer alternatives, true choice, so they can make an informed decision. All of this takes courage. It takes perseverance. It takes a fighting spirit, especially in this age of violence against pro-life organizations and pregnancy centers.
We aptly blame people for the destruction and vandalism to pregnancy help organizations and pro-life groups such as New York’s Compass Care, Asheville, N.C’s Mountain Area Pregnancy Services, and Madison, Wisc.’s Wisconsin Family Action, as well as to churches, including Mt. Avery Missionary Baptist Church in Mississippi. While people make choices and should be held accountable for their actions, Ephesians 6:12 tells us our fight is against the powers of darkness, commanded by the devil, who “prowls around like a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8 NIV). The devil is “the father of lies,” as spoken by Jesus in John 8:44. Christ also called him a murderer in the same verse. The devil deceives people, just as he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden. My pastor reminded us on Sunday, “Our enemy is not each other.” Sometimes that is hard to believe.
Stand against the ‘father of lies,’ battle ready
My pastor also said Christians “are called to take a stand,” again referencing Paul in Ephesians 6:13, where he instructed, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (NIV).
Jesus provided the example as He stood against the devil during the 40 days of temptation and also in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. The devil began his schemes against humanity in a garden and tried again in a different garden. However, Jesus remained firm and fought the ultimate battle against deception, bridging for us – and those we serve – a way to the Father.
Tweet This: We in the pro-life pregnancy help movement need a fighting spirit, courage, & perseverance to show up each day & fight for women & children.
Our battle on this earth continues until Christ returns. Putting on the armor of God daily takes courage, perseverance, and a fighting spirit. My CEO and friend, Terry Winship, displayed that daily, along with compassion, inspiring us at True Care and those beyond the work walls. People who have been in the pregnancy help movement for decades, such as Karen Noe of Ohio, Martha Avila of Florida, and Terry, exemplify those three traits and by the example set forth in the Ephesians verses. May we who remain on the battlelines honor long-term leaders and be encouraged by their example - and the example of our Savior - as we strive to live a fierce-hearted life of courage, kindness, perseverance, and a fighting spirit within a world of deception and darkness.
Christian author and speaker Holley Gerth captures the essence of how we meet Christ in our clients and thus wage the battle against darkness in her book Fiercehearted: Live Fully, Love Bravely.
“God is present in the hardest moments of our lives,” Gerth said. “He is with us in the waiting rooms.”
May we daily put on the armor of God and be battle ready.
