Whenever I write a story I’m thinking, “What is there to learn here?” Wrapping up a piece on the flooding of Lifeline Pregnancy Care Center in Cuba, MO, I realized I’ve always got a lot to learn.
On Thursday, August 3, Lori Amato was the executive director of a growing ministry looking forward to celebrating its 10th anniversary in October. By Friday night, she was overseeing a disaster. Virtually everything they had was lost in a freak, flash flood.
Tweet This: Virtually everything they had was lost in a freak, flash flood.
Heavy rains overwhelmed a creek near the center, pouring water across the parking lot and into the building. In addition, the city’s sewage system could not handle the overflow. Lori waded into the office to find toilets pushed off of the foundation, which had shifted as well. The building was a total loss; the landlord knows he cannot rebuild and Lori was suddenly in crisis mode.
What was once a perfect office space with reasonable rent was gone.
Her “office” would now be in her home. As for serving clients, they would be sent to another center for the time being. Her role shifted from the everyday challenges faced by many executive directors to restarting much of the ministry from scratch.
Our first reaction to times like these is often to ask “Why,” then to engulf ourselves in despair and frustration. I’m sure Lori had some of these moments; we all do.
But as we talked the other day, I asked Lori a question and absolutely loved the answer. “How much do you need to get relocated and totally back on your feet?” We talked of supplies, of the ultrasound machine, and of location. There were so many factors.
But finally, all of the needs came down to a number. “What are you looking at, financially?” I asked.
“The number $200,000 keeps coming to me,” Lori said.
This is a big number for a ministry of her size. But Lori, instead of thinking about a stop-gap rental situation, is seeing this as an opportunity to rebuild bigger and better than ever before.
Her question back to me had me laughing. “Is that an unreasonable number?”
I answered with one word. “Yes.”
However, we were both reminded that God is in the “unreasonable” business. This is another reason why we are so different from the abortion industry: Faith. We trust in the God of the unreasonable; the God of signs, miracles and wonders.
Instead of seeing a flood as a tragedy, people like us are naïve enough to see this as an opportunity for God to show us who He is—again. Instead of dwelling on the “it’s all gone” portion of this story, we are the type of people who actually expect God to respond with His power, working through His people to accomplish something greater than any of us can see with our human eyes.
We begin an amazing journey when we step into the pregnancy help community. We see broken clients and look for healing. We see broken families and seek restoration. We see cycles of poverty and watch for chains to be broken. We see a woman thinking her only avenue is abortion and dare to envision a happy child in the arms of a loving family.
And when we walk through flooding and watch as our work appears to be washed away? We see a new home with more capacity to reach lives, change lives and save lives.
That’s the wonder of what we do. Because of faith in a God without limits, we’re not bound by circumstances.
Tweet This: Because of faith in a God without limits, we’re not bound by circumstances. #prolife
I don’t know the next chapter for Lifeline. Will the $200,000 come pouring in, just as the waters did a week ago? That’s a great question and we will all know the answer in the days to come.
What I’m sure about however, is that God smiles when He sees the faith of those who choose to believe in His ability to do anything, whether it is to touch a client’s heart or to rebuild from the flood. And right now, I look ahead with expectation to see what He will do next in this situation and in so many others we face as the pregnancy help community.
By the way, if you want to be part of Lifeline’s financial solution (I enjoyed doing this the other day), just drop in on their web site at www.lpccfriends.org. Or you can send a gift to Lifeline Pregnancy Care Center, P.O. Box 246, Cuba, MO 65453.
So what did I learn this week? I learned something about faith. It’s going to take more than a bunch of rain to wash that away.
Kirk Walden is a senior writer with Pregnancy Help News, an Advancement Specialist with Heartbeat International and author of The Wall. He also blogs at www.kirkwalden.com. For banquet speaking engagements,
