by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
In the western hemisphere, we have definitely entered conference time. In March, Board Chair Peggy Hartshorn was with our collaborating partner, Movimento per la Vita, celebrating MPV’s Jubilee year with a mass.
Later that month, Peggy also traveled to New Zealand to celebrate with New Life International.
In early April, I had the privilege to attend and present a couple of workshops with Pregnancy Care Canada (PCC) in beautiful Montreal. PCC, led by Dr. Laura Lewis, has been reaching and rescuing women in Canada for over 40 years. It is always interesting and helpful to see pregnancy care work differences and similarities, even when we are on the same continent. We asked Dr. Laura to share her thoughts about the continuing work in Canada in the article within this month's email of Heartbeat Around the World (May 2025). Thank you, Dr. Laura and her team, for your gracious hospitality.
In late April/early May, Heartbeat International hosted its own annual conference in Birmingham, Alabama, with over 1,600 attendees, including thirty international participants from twenty different nations, Albania to Zambia!
Simon Durairaj, from India, as well as Blandine Kemayou from Cameroon, shared on Wednesday night, highlighting what God is doing around the world in their respective countries to advance pregnancy help. Heartbeat opens its window for scholarships to this incredible opportunity in early December, so watch this space for access to the application. Click here for a peek at next year's conference location and theme, or revisit the Heartbeat Around the World email.
Finally, in late May, Heartbeat will be headed to the Balkan Network for Life Conference, whose leader, Svetlana Jovanova, was given the Servant Leader Award in Birmingham. Congratulations, Svetlana!
That conference will be in Montenegro, where the budding pregnancy help movement is hosting the conference. The Balkan Network has provided a free resource for Heartbeat affiliates, which is a webinar on Airtable, a free database management system, presented by Filip Petrovski. Thank you, Balkan Network for Life, and Filip.
Yes, lots of conferences. But ultimately, babies are not rescued, moms in crisis are not reached, hearts are not won, and lives are not changed through conferences, but through God’s people reaching out to those around us every day, in every opportunity. The vital training gained at conferences allows pregnancy help leaders to invest in their skills, their organizations, and themselves so that women can be reached and cared for most effectively. The most effective way to reach someone in crisis is another person. Thank you for what you each do every day, in as many circumstances as able, to reach and rescue the women, babies, and families in your nation.
Enjoy this issue of Heartbeat Around the World!
