LIFE Intenational

Dr. Ray Pritchard
Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries, an Internet-based ministry serving Christians in 225 countries. He is the author of 29 books, including Stealth Attack, Fire and Rain,… More

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Updated Jul 08, 2007

Each week during the Gull Lake summer conference season, a different missionary organization shares its ministry. This week the missions focus is Life International, a relatively new organization in Grand Rapids, MI, that reaches out to what they call the largest and most unreached people group in the world–the unborn. They do this by supporting pregnancy care centers around the world. The statistics are staggering. Each year 46-50 million abortions are performed worldwide. Abortions in the U.S. and Canada (1.4 million) amount to 3% of abortions worldwide. And while the U.S. and Canada have 2,500 pregnancy centers to counteract 3% of abortions, the rest of the world has 600 centers for 97% of abortions. Here is something from their website:

While agencies promoting abortion exist in more than 180 countries, for a woman living outside of North America, there may not be a single pregnancy center in her entire country, let alone her city.

LIFE International is working to change that. Our mission is help nationals establish LIFE ministries wherever abortion exists in the world. The purpose of this work is reach the men and women impacted by abortion with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth about abortion. These centers have become lighthouses of hope, truth, safety and life for their communities.

Kurt Dillinger, president of Life International, and his wife are here this week. This morning Kurt showed a moving DVD about the work they are doing in many countries. They ultimately hope to establish regional centers that will then found local pregnancy care centers around the world. It is a noble work they are doing, and it will take time and effort and prayer and faith and the help of many people to see it come to pass. Kurt remarked that Life International exists to help fulfill Christ’s Great Commission. I like that way of looking at it. Far more than being anti-abortion, and far beyond the messy field of American politics, they are reaching out to women around the world, offering them an alternative to abortion. And as they point them toward life, they also point them toward the true life-giver, Jesus Christ.

I think it’s a God-thing and good thing that they are here this week.

You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.