Roland Warren, President and CEO of Care Net, and Vincent DiCaro, Chief Outreach Officer, sat down to discuss Care Net’s Pro Abundant Life mission and vision. Back in 2013, Care Net started a strategic process of planning out the organizational direction””and the idea of becoming a Pro Abundant Life organization emerged. It immediately started to inform the way we do our work, how we do it, and why we do it.
Fast forward to June of 2022 when Roe V Wade was overturned, and we’ve been evaluating the Pro Abundant Life approach. The more we dig in, the more we realize that the Pro Abundant Life vision is made for the post-Roe world we’re living in. Roland and Vince share more in this Life Chat. Watch as Roland and Vince answer 5 common questions about the Pro Abundant Life movement.
5 Questions about the Pro Abundant Life Movement Answered (Video)
1. What does Pro Abundant Life mean?
2. What does being a Pro Abundant Life ministry mean?
3. Why does the Pro Abundant Life movement focus on engaging men?
4. What’s the goal of being Pro Abundant Life?
5. How does all this impact the day-to-day work of Care Net, a Pro Abundant Life ministry?
Pro Abundant Life Movement: 5 Questions Answered
1. What does Pro Abundant Life mean?
The idea comes from John 10:10 when Christ said, “”¦I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus basically said, “I’m not only pro-life. I’m Pro Abundant Life.“ The practical ministry implications mean we shouldn’t simply solve for heartbeats, as God-honoring as it is to bring a child into the world. But as Christians, we have a uniquely specific objective””that the “heartbeat be heaven bound,” as Roland says.
2. What does being a Pro Abundant Life ministry mean?
Care Net is a pro-life organization. But we’re not just a pro-life organization; we are a Pro Abundant Life ministry which means it’s important for us to talk about marriage and family. If you think of John 10:10 as a visual roof, any roof needs at least two supports.
The first support is God’s design for the family. Meaning, we have the birth of Christ and Mary facing an unplanned pregnancy, from a human perspective. She had hopes and dreams and aspirations for her life. The angel comes to her and says, “You’re going to have a child.” What does Mary do? At that moment she doesn’t focus on the uncertainty of what she doesn’t know””she focuses on the certainty of what she knows. There’s a life growing inside of her and it’s not a life worth sacrificing but a life worth sacrificing for””and she says, “let it be onto me as you have said.” When we think about the work Care Net does, what we’re trying to do on the Pregnancy Decision Line, and in pregnancy centers, we’re trying to encourage women to have the character of Mary.
But if you keep reading you find Joseph was told, “”¦do not be afraid”¦to take Mary as your wife.” We see the sanctity of marriage and family. Before Joseph was told about the sanctity of life he was told about the sanctity of marriage and family. There are two sanctities, or supports, reflected in this story””the sanctity of marriage and family and the sanctity of life.
3. Why does the Pro Abundant Life movement focus on engaging men?
Because God did. He sent an angel to Joseph. There was an unplanned pregnancy and what did He do? God built a family. Yes, we must continue helping the Marys. In addition, we must engage the Josephs. God came to one man and gave him two missions: to be a husband to Mary and a father to the child growing inside of her””to provide and protect.
God’s design for family doesn’t happen if you’re not engaging men. The research tells us that 86 percent of women who have abortions are unmarried. We know the influential role that involved fathers play in determining whether a woman chooses abortion or life.
Two national surveys we conducted over the last few years and in both surveys, we asked: who was the most influential person in your decision? Women said the father of the baby was the most influential factor in my decision to have an abortion.
When we asked the men that same question: what was the most influential factor in your partner’s decision to have an abortion, he answered, “I was.” We know the father has played a pivotal role in this for good or for ill. It’s our job in the Pro Abundant Life movement to make sure that the role the father is playing is a positive one rather than a negative one.
4. What’s the goal of being Pro Abundant Life?
The goal of being Pro Abundant Life is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and helping people become disciples of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in His Great Commission, “Go and make disciples.” Saving babies is not the Great Commission. Doing good works is not the Great Commission. Making disciples is the Great Commission.
The woman who’s facing an unplanned pregnancy needs to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The guy who got her pregnant needs to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The child growing inside of her needs to become a disciple of Jesus Christ.
5. How does all this impact the day-to-day work of Care Net, a Pro Abundant Life ministry?
One way Care Net has changed how we work as a result of this new vision is in the creation of our Making Life Disciples program. This resource is designed to equip the church and help people who are making a pregnancy decision become disciples of Christ.
In addition, we have our Abortion Recovery and Care program, or ARC. Also, we’re creating programming for both men and women who have experienced abortion in the past to help them find the healing they need and help them become disciples.
Since 2008 our network of pregnancy centers has saved more than 940,000 children from abortion and we’ve shared the gospel with over two million parents.
Being Pro Abundant Life means saving the baby, building strong families, and breaking the intergenerational cycle of abortion by creating disciples. We’re delighted you are doing this work and supporting it. You are part of the Pro Abundant Life movement.
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Additional Resources for the Pro Abundant Life Movement
- Making Life Disciples is Care Net’s one-of-a-kind curriculum to equip the church to start a pregnancy care ministry — a ministry to provide compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women and men faced with pregnancy decisions.
- Care Net’s national survey of women who have had abortions and their views of the church.
- Find a Pregnancy Center tool –Find a pregnancy center near you with a zip code search tool.
- Fatherhood Research – Research and statistics from National Fatherhood Initiative on the unique, irreplaceable contributions fathers make to child well-being.
- Marriage Research – Research from the National Marriage Project at University of Virginia on the benefits of marriage to women, men, and children.