Melanie Wilks, Service Coordinator for Robertsdale's "Heart to Heart Family Resource Center," presented the scope of this non-denominational Christian ministry honoring the holiness of human life to Zion Lutheran's "Men's 710 Second Tuesdays" group for July.
This ministry of Sav-a-Life Foundation is committed to assisting women in crisis pregnancies and providing information founded on Biblical standards for personal and family relationships--all this without receiving any local, state, or national government funding. In a typical month ministry appointments for things like pregnancy tests, parenting classes, post-abortion counseling, and related services exceed 180 clients. Just over 60% of young women seeking pregnancy testing are carrying an infant. Counselors explore all of society's options for that infant with the potential mom.
They also explain God's Truth concerning the sanctity of human life as we have it in the Bible. Clients often are poor decision-makers. Counselors provide a framework for young women to learn how to make wise, godly decisions. These future mom's attend a 6 week program related to parenting before their baby is delivered. Close to 200 babies a month are born after entry into the Heart to Heart program. For the almost 40% of young women with a negative pregnancy test (who have no baby coming), there is education, again in terms of wise decision-making and honoring God's plan for relationships and especially His desire for abstinence and purity in all relationships before marriage.
Melanie has served as a skilled counselor with Sav-a-Life of Baldwin County for the last nine years. Her counseling skills are not limited to her specialty areas of counseling for abstinence, post-abortion, and sexual abuse recovery. Melanie is also the "You are Unique" Coordinator for the Sav-a-Life Ministry in Baldwin, a program that enables teens and young children to understand the importance of good self worth and emotional and physical purity. There were over 300 of these classes in schools and churches this past year.
The Family Resource Center does provide maternity clothes, diapers, cribs, and miscellaneous baby-related items to moms in need. Last year over 2000 of these items were delivered each month without charge because of the love of God's people in this ministry.
Making right decisions is very hard for young people because many may have never seen any adult thinking things through. Melanie challenged Zion's men to remember that their "godly inheritance passes to their children's children." The greatest gift that young men, fathers, and grandfathers can give their children and their children's children, both male and female, is the fruit of right decisions. In a time when men in our culture may not follow our Heavenly Father, may evade provision for family, and actually disregard the need of all family members for safety and security, Melanie admonished the 710 Men's group to share their lives with their children and grand children and to remind young people what God has done in their lives. This kind of personal ministry in the lives of children and family will pay dividends in the lives of young women and young men, because it builds God's self-esteem in the young folks, particularly, who need to hear that God does work in families and individual lives. That's how men can build a godly heritage for their children and grand children!
Ms. Wilks can be contacted at heart2heart@gulftel.com or at 251-947-2111 or 1-800-626-1232. The Family Resource Center is located at 18555 Carolina Street in Robertsdale, Alabama. "Diapers, especially sizes 4, 5, and 6, are a recurring need of this ministry," Melanie notes.
