Green Acres Baptist Church housed this year’s Sanctity of Life Conference. Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the beauty of life. The Event was put on by C.A.R.E. and Living Alternatives. C.A.R.E. (Christ Centered Abortion Recovery) is a recovery group for women who suffer from the physical and emotional effects of an abortion. Women that have been involved with this support group opened up and talked about their emotional struggles after having an abortion. They opened up about the trails they endured and choices that they made to numb themselves from the memory and emotional emptiness they felt from the abortion. They spoke of their struggles with alcohol, self-image, and even abusive relationships. C.A.R.E. helped these women fill the emptiness that they felt, with the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

The different branches of Living Alternatives help young women who are pregnant and need support. The Pregnancy Resource Center, which is located by Tyler Junior College, offers free pregnancy test, counseling, and sonograms. Building Blocks offers new single moms with support, counseling, and even free baby stuff that were donated for families in need. Father Heart is a large home that houses many pregnant women and allows them to finish up their high school education if needed. Living Alternatives also has a great adoption program. They find great families that would raise a child in a safe and loving home.

This year’s Sanctity of Life conference was amazing. A young girl took stage and spoke about her testimony. She was only alive by the grace of God. Claire Culwell decided to meet her birth-mother for the first time when she was about 19 years of age. Soon after meeting her, her birth-mother confessed that when she was only thirteen she found out she was pregnant with Claire. Afraid of the future the young girl was advised to have an abortion. She went to a clinic and had the abortion; she thought life would go on as it did before. When she was about six months pregnant she realized that she was still growing as if she was pregnant, so she returned to the clinic to see why she still felt pregnant. They had told her that much to their surprise she was pregnant with twins. They succeeded in aborting one twin, but the other baby was still alive. Because the young girl was too far along in her pregnancy the clinic could not do another abortion, so they sent her out of state. As they prepared her for her second abortion they realized that it would be to dangerous on this young girls body and she was going to have this baby soon. Two weeks later she delivered a three month premature baby girl. Claire was than adopted into a loving family, and lives to tell all about the gift of life and the mercy of the Father.

U.S. Representative, Louie Gohmert, spoke at the program about being Pro-Life and the sad percentages of young women who have had an abortion in the United States. David Dykes, Pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church prayed and shared a word of encouragement, and so did the director of C.A.R.E. ministries. This event was a great encouragement for so many people, and a great time to reflect on the purpose of the gift of life.