(January 21, 2001)

Teri Brown remembers her moment of decision in Minnesota as if it were yesterday.

"I was 19 and pregnant," she says. "Those who were close to me did not support my decision to continue the pregnancy. Out of frustration and hopelessness, I scheduled an abortion.

New parents celebrate finalized adoptions coordinated by Crisis Pregnancy Outreach.

She called a friend in Oklahoma. The friend had the courage to counsel her against taking her baby’s life and promised he could find her help.

The next day, Brown received a call from Cheryl Bauman, director of Tulsa’s Crisis Pregnancy Outreach.

"It was amazing to me," Brown says, "that when I couldn’t get the support I needed in [my community], a stranger in another state would help me."

Brown moved to Tulsa, gave birth to her baby and made arrangements for the adoption. She received continual support throughout her pregnancy and in the months following his birth.

Crisis Pregnancy Outreach is saving lives, both the physical lives of unborn children conceived out of wedlock and the spiritual lives of young mothers. Originally started by Christian Chapel (Assemblies of God) in 1982, Crisis Pregnancy Outreach is incorporated but still relies heavily on the church for financial support and volunteers. Families from the congregation have housed numerous young women, confronting them with the love of Christ in tangible ways. Services offered include gifts of maternity clothes, professional counseling, transportation to doctors’ appointments, childbirth classes, labor and childbirth coaches, and a Christian attorney to assist with adoption if they choose that avenue. According to Bauman and Greg Davis, pastor of Christian Chapel, many lives are being transformed because of the ministry.

"One family in our church not only adopted a child, but took the mother into their home as well," Davis says. "Her life was still troubled when she left, but she trusted them so much that she turned over to them the parental rights for another child she had. They are now processing that adoption. We have also had one young woman go through the program who is now pursuing a graduate degree. She hopes to open a crisis pregnancy center herself."

Bauman has been involved in pro-life work since the early 1970s and is the founder of CPO. She has uncovered a disturbing trend over the years: Christian families encouraging their daughters to get abortions because they are concerned with reactions from people in their church.

Bauman, her staff and the families of Christian Chapel work hard to ensure that girls in their care have their self-esteem restored even as they confront the reality of poor choices. Girls participate in 12 weeks of purity classes. "It teaches them how precious they are to Jesus and that He died for them," Bauman says.

About 300 women are served each year, half of them teen-agers. The first decision the center encourages is the preservation of the baby’s life.

"I don’t believe there’s a girl we’ve met who has gone ahead with an abortion," Bauman says. The center schedules an ultrasound for arriving mothers. Girls who see pictures of the baby do not go ahead with an abortion.

The center is a licensed adoption agency, and resources for placing a child in a good home are readily available. No girl, however, is coerced into making that decision.

"I was, and still am, so blessed by the Crisis Pregnancy Outreach," says Missie. "It meant so much to have people who really do care to stand beside me, with no pressure on the decisions I had to make. It was a blessing to have the love and support of the other girls who have been through this."

Among those "other girls" ready to link arms with Missie and the young women who continue to go through the program is Teri Brown. Now married with three children, she sees God’s hand in her decision 15 years ago. She believes the love of committed Christians was the avenue through which God’s hand could act.

"You never accept sin," she says, "but a church must start where the young person is at. We need to help her make right decisions from that point on. She needs to recognize that sex outside of marriage is sin and she needs God’s forgiveness. But the life she is carrying is not sin. God has a plan and a purpose for that life."

— Scott Harrup