A Crisis Pregnancy Center is rescued.

A Crisis Pregnancy Center is rescued.

When my mother was an 18-year-old bride she had a miscarriage.  The realization that a baby had died in her womb brought her to her knees.  Her prayer was, “Dear Lord Jesus, please don’t ever do this to me again.  Send me a dozen children if you want, but don’t ever let me lose another child.”  She ended up having fourteen healthy children, of which I am the eldest son.

It goes without saying that I grew up with the pro-life ethic.  During my college years the sexual revolution was in full swing and the idea of sex without consequences was appealing at first.  However, the dark underbelly of that movement became clearer over time and the idea of abortion as a solution to an unwanted pregnancy was horrifying.  That is why I agreed to have lunch with the executive director of the local crisis pregnancy center.

I don’t know why he chose to call me that day.  I don’t know how many “nos” he received from other prospective candidates before calling me.  It appears that Bill may have been given my name by Maggie, friend and volunteer at the Crisis Pregnancy Center.

Pregnancy Services was located directly across the street from the campus of Michigan State University on Grand River Avenue which intersected the campus from the city of East Lansing.  Bill showed me the storefront facility that had been made available by a wealthy developer in the area.  He introduced me to several of the volunteers who worked at the center.  Then we stepped outside so that he could fill me in on the crisis they were facing.

While the building was owned by Pregnancy Services, there was a mortgage on the building that had not been paid for 90 days and was about to go into default.  In addition, several of the staff had not been paid for months and multiple suppliers were in arrears, as well.  The total amount due to keep the facility from shutting down was over $30,000.00.

While I had been donating to the Center, there was no way I could come up with that amount in a lump sum.  I prayed about it and ended up calling Joe, a Christian doctor in the area.  I laid out the magnitude of the problem to him.

His response was, “I’ll cover half if you can cover the other half!”  My heart sank.  This was more than I had ever done before and I didn’t even have a fraction of the half that Joe had challenged me to do.  Then I realized that I had just received a letter from my credit card company informing me that my cash advance allowance was increased to $15,000.00!  I calculated that the monthly interest alone on a $15,000.00 cash advance would be nearly $350.00 per month.

I swallowed hard at the magnitude of it all and said, “Yes.”

Joe and I joined the board of directors two weeks later.  At that meeting Bill gave us his notice.  That meant we had to find another executive director who would take over the day-to-day management of the Center.  I was referred to Glenn, a fine Christian man who agreed to a nominal director’s salary.

While discussing the management issued and problems that the Center faced, I realized that this wasn’t just a one-shot proposition.  It would be an ongoing battle to continually raise funds to keep the Center thriving.  I asked Bill if there was any ongoing fund raising drive and he said no…the Center had been kept open with irregular donations from supporters in the local community.

However, he suggested that we bring in a respected speaker who would draw a large crowd willing to pay money to see and hear this famous personality as well as support the Center.  I obtained a Speakers’ Bureau listing and made some fact-finding calls.  I found that the standard speaker’s fee would be $2500.00 plus travel and hotel expenses.  The Center did not have that amount of money.  I also found that few people would step forward to take responsibility for arranging the speakers, the dates and the facilities to make the fundraising event happen.  If anyone had to do it, it would be me.

I became the “tip of the spear.”  I had to take the initiative and people would follow.  I had to sign the contract with the speakers’ bureau.  I paid the speakers’ fees, airline tickets and hotel accommodations.  I signed the contract with the banquet facilities and personally guaranteed a certain number of seats and tables.  Once my board and supporters knew that I had contracted with Jonathan Whitehead or Cal Thomas or other noted pro-life celebrities, they promptly fell into line with the communications/invitations, the reservations and other details to make our event a success.  Ultimately, these events paid the bills for the Crisis Pregnancy Center for another year.  The Center’s annual budget grew to an excess of $50,000 per year and the annual banquet became the financial mainstay of the organization.

During my tenure as president, the volunteers at the Center saved thousands of unexpected pregnancies from abortion.   While I was president of the Center I had a chance to meet some of the ladies (and men) who were the “front line,” taking in young pregnant ladies and counselling them about their options to abortion.  It was their dedication and open hearts that helped many women choose life.