2024 Keynote Speakers

We're excited to announce our 2024 International Pregnancy Help Conference Keynote Speakers!

▷Jor-El's Biography Jor-El Godsey serves as President of Heartbeat International. He leads a staff dedicated to equipping, empowering, and encouraging the thousands of leaders and developing leaders of Heartbeat’s affiliated pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and adoption services, in the U.S. and on every inhabited continent. He oversees Heartbeat’s core mission to be the leadership supply line for the growing pregnancy help movement worldwide by providing accurate information, training resources, leadership development conferences, programs, and daily support to help affiliates start, grow, and expand their services to women and couples at risk for abortion. Jor-El comes to Heartbeat having served in the pregnancy help movement since 1988. He first served as a volunteer at Hope, the pregnancy help centers in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Then he joined their board, served as Chair, and then as Executive Administrator. In 1999, Jor-El became Executive Director of Life Choices in Longmont, Colorado. Six years later, in 2006, Jor-El accepted the call to help Heartbeat International meet the diverse and expanding leadership needs of the pregnancy help movement as Vice President. Jor-El met his wife, Karen, at a volunteer training meeting for the Hope Center in Ft. Lauderdale. They now have three children.	▷Amy's Biography Amy Ford is the Co-Founder and President of Embrace Grace, a non-profit that inspires and equips the church to love on single and pregnant young women and their families. She is also the author of the book Help Her Be Brave: Discover Your Place in the Pro-Life Movement, released in January 2021 as well as other books. Amy speaks nationally to a varied audience including women’s ministry events, pro-life and adoption conferences, church leadership equipping, and pregnancy center benefits. Serving in Embrace Grace, she has countless stories of how churches, pregnancy centers, and the body of Christ have come together to impact communities beautifully. She brings a fresh perspective on how one life can make a difference by stepping out of our comfort zone and just loving people. Amy always delivers a combination of inspiration, authenticity, and depth!	▷Dr. Kearney's Biography Dr. Dermot Kearney is a distinguished consultant cardiologist and the former President of the Catholic Medical Association (UK). He earned his medical degree from UCD (Dublin, Ireland) in 1989 and completed General Medical and Cardiology specialist training in Ireland. Dr. Kearney further honed his skills through a Fellowship in Interventional Cardiology in Leiden and Amsterdam, Netherlands, from 2001 to 2003. Since 2003, he has been a consultant cardiologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gateshead. Joining the Catholic Medical Association (UK) in 2008, Dr. Kearney has held various roles, serving as a Council member since 2010 and as Honorary Registrar from 2011 to 2018. From 2018 to 2021, he held the position of President, demonstrating his commitment to the organization's mission. Dr. Kearney's career faced challenges when the General Medical Council raised concerns about his pro-life stance, challenging his ability to provide the abortion pill reversal protocol to women seeking to reverse their abortion choices. Despite the scrutiny, the council eventually dropped its case against him, affirming his adherence to medical ethics. In navigating the intersection of his medical expertise and pro-life convictions, Dr. Kearney stands as a resilient advocate, leaving a lasting impact on cardiology and broader medical ethics.

▷David's Biography David Bereit is an experienced leader, an inspiring communicator, and a strategic advisor to pro-life leaders and organizations around the world. Previously, David started and led the global 40 Days for Life movement through its first decade, mobilizing 750,000 volunteers in more than 700 cities across all 50 American states and dozens of nations, whose prayers and efforts have saved 14,643 children’s lives, brought 177 workers out of the abortion industry, and closed 96 abortion centers. David recently stepped away from his role as CEO of 40 Days for Life to pray and plan for a new ministry project. David is an internationally sought-after keynote speaker, and his presentations in more than 550 cities around the world have inspired audiences as large as 70,000 people. David’s work has been featured in nearly every major media outlet, including coverage on CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, HBO, hundreds of radio programs, and over 100 newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today. David has advised many of today's most successful pro-life leaders, helping hundreds of organizations increase their life-saving impact, and raising more than $55 million for pro-life causes. David has been joyfully married to his best friend, Margaret, and lives outside of Washington, DC.	▷Sylvia's Biography Sylvia Johnson is the founder and Executive Director of Houston Pregnancy Help Center, Inc., which currently has three locations in Houston, Texas: Fifth Ward Pregnancy Help Center located on the corner of Shotwell and the East Freeway, the Downtown Pregnancy Help Center located at San Jacinto and Alabama, and the new Medical Mobile Van which serves the greater Houston area. Sylvia has served as a Pregnancy Help Center Director for the past 39 years and has opened five Crisis Pregnancy Centers and assisted with the opening of two others. These centers provide services to over 20,000 clients per year. Under her leadership, medical services were implemented. Sylvia is known as “The Encourager,” a woman of vision and most importantly a woman who loves God and His people.	▷Kyle's Biography Kyle Mann is the editor-in-chief of The Babylon Bee. A prolific comedy writer, public speaker, and podcast host, Kyle has written thousands of Babylon Bee headlines and articles, along with the published works he's authored or co-authored: The Sacred Texts of The Babylon Bee, The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness, The Babylon Bee Guide to Democracy, How to Be a Perfect Christian, and The Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress, addresses hot topics like censorship, wokeness in comedy, and the importance of laughter and humor. Kyle has delivered keynote speeches, sat on panels, and addressed large crowds at large events across the country.

 

▷Kerri's Biography

Kerri Pomarolli grew up performing from a young age and got her B.F.A. in Musical theater from the University of Michigan. She also attended the Stella Adler Conservatory in NYC and the British American Drama Academy in London.

She moved to LA and had roles on soaps such as Port Charles, General Hospital, Young and the Restless, and a few parts in movies and sitcoms. Kerri Pomarolli was attracting big hitters in the industry. She started standup comedy 17 yrs. ago and never looked back.

Kerri Pomarolli is a national headlining standup comedian who has worked with everyone from Jay Leno, Jim Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Carol Channing, Jerry Lewis, The Jonas Brothers, and Candace Cameron Bure. She's been featured on The Tonight Show 29 times, Comedy Central, Netflix, ABC and many more.

She's been on tour with Family Life Today, to sold out crowds of over 16,000. Kerri has been a favorite corporate entertainer for major companies such as Ford Motor, Food Network, Cisco Systems, and many others. She is not only a gifted comic but a popular speaker as well. She was on the cover of National Speakers Magazine.

She was awarded Comedian of the Year 2022 at the Hollywood Red Letter Awards.

She lives in CA with her two daughters. Fans from 8 to 80 will relate to her comedy and fresh ministry of the gospel.

Joanna James, Mission Advancement Officer

Frances Lacson, Grants Coordinator

Ashley Dewart, Mission Advancement Officer

Ash Monk, Mission Advancement Officer

by Jennifer Wright, Developmental Editor

“Ummm, Tony? My water just broke.”

That was me at midnight the night before Easter. My husband reacted as many husbands do—he started getting everything together, made sure we had childcare for our toddler and drove me to the hospital—all with just a little bit of panic in his voice.

Our son was born less than 11 hours later—during the Easter morning Mass we had planned to attend. We had been waiting with expectant hope for months and we brought home our healthy son with joy and celebrated Easter more joyfully than ever.

Only eight months later, I’m reflecting on this experience during Advent. Since I’ve become a mother, imagining the events leading up to the first Christmas has taken on new meaning. Reflecting on Mary’s journey with Joseph, so close to the end of her pregnancy, brings me more empathy than ever. I can understand now what it is to be close to delivery and have many things to worry about, in addition to how labor will go, whether my baby will be healthy, and if I will be able to care for and provide for my child.

Add in the uncertainty about where a child will be born, the physical toll of travel, and the anxiety of settling into a new place (perhaps far from family), expectant hope can easily turn to fear and dread.

But Mary and Joseph had support. They found someone who made space for them in their poverty so that Jesus had a manger to lie in. They had joyful shepherds who celebrated, spread the good news, and glorified God. They had wise men who brought gifts (although wise women might have given more practical gifts…) and protected their new child.

Thanks to you, new mothers have the support they need to bring their children into the world too.

I love the liturgical calendar because it gives me set times during the year to reflect on individual parts of salvation history. Advent is a time when I remember the expectant hope of our faith—expectant hope like that of waiting for a child to be born. But it also reminds me that, for many in our movement, it’s always Advent.

It’s always time to help a woman make room for, provide for, and protect her child.

I’m eternally grateful for this movement of wise men and women, joyful shepherds, and generous innkeepers who walk the steps of Advent with women every day.

When you next find yourself overwhelmed or sorrowful because of a client’s decision or story, remember that while you may find yourself in an eternal Advent, Christmas—the most wonderful mystery of salvation history, when God becomes man—is coming. You can wait with expectant hope, knowing that we will have a time of celebration.

by Ellen Foell, International Specialist of Heartbeat International

“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.”  - Matthew 24:6-8

In early October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel on the 50^th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In September 2023, both Serbia and Kosovo moved troops to their borders in a standoff. In February 2022, the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine.

Wars and rumors of wars. And that is not all.

Did you know that according to the Geneva Academy¹ (which classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law), there are currently more than 110 armed conflicts around the world? Some of these conflicts make the headlines while others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years. Here is a map showing the locations of current armed conflicts.²

One does not need to study the map for very long to see that the geographic locations where armed conflict is occurring far outnumber the nations where there is some semblance of peace.

Of course, as soon as any war or conflict erupts, leaders start to talk about “calm heads,” and pursuing peace; they begin to argue about who started it, but mostly, their loudest cry and call is for peace—even though hardly anyone dares to talk about what that would look like. It is the cry not only from those engaged in the war but from those who lead powerful nations, and those who have influence. Throughout history, and in the context of hundreds of previous conflicts and wars, great leaders in the world and history have spoken about world peace: Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Helen Keller, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Men and women—black and white—of every generation has had its spokespersons for peace. Everyone wants peace.

As a “world community,” prizes are even given to those who advocate for peace as if the advocacy for peace had a magic dotted line to actual peace. It doesn’t. And even if we think it does, the prophet Jeremiah wrote: 

“From the least to the greatest,
all are greedy for gain;
prophets and priests alike,
all practice deceit.
They dress the wound of my people
as though it were not serious.
‘Peace, peace,’ they say,
when there is no peace.”

– Jeremiah 6:14

The phrase “peace, peace,” when there is no peace is found in Jeremiah 6:14 and Jeremiah 8:11. It is also found in Ezekiel 13:10 and 16. In all four places, it has the same meaning in the same historical context: a cry for peace for a nation, for a people, amid conflict and oppression.

We want peace, and we cry for peace. As we look at the nations at war, the ethnic and regional conflicts, that are occurring right now in our world, of course, we pray for peace. But let us not kid ourselves. Jesus said we would hear of "wars and rumors of wars."Not only that, but Jesus told His disciples, “In the world, you will have tribulation.” (John 16:33)

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” - Matthew 10:34

“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” - Luke 12:49

Is this the same Jesus who said, “Peace I leave with you…” no fewer than three times to the disciples after he rose from the dead? The same Jesus who oftentimes told someone whose life he had just irreversibly and gloriously changed, “Go in peace.” Including, the woman He healed from the issue of blood (Luke 8:48), the woman who anointed His feet with her tears (Luke 7:50), and the royal official whose son was healed (John 4:50).

Jesus was called the Prince of Peace. He could make winds stop, still the waves, calm the raging Gerasene and quiet the accusations of the religious leaders. Jesus said to the disciples and to those He healed, several times, “Peace I leave with you,” “Go in peace,” “Be at peace with one another,” and “My peace I leave with you.” In the famous opening to His great sermon, known as the Beatitudes, Jesus taught, “Blessed [happy] are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” (Matthew 5:9).

Well, which was it? Did Jesus come to bring peace or division, calm or conflict, serenity or a sword? What if He came to bring both?

We know that Jesus also said in John 14:27 the most enigmatic thing of all: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Christ's "peace" here refers to a hope and reassurance that goes beyond what a fallen world can offer (Philippians 4:7). It is permanent, guaranteed, and eternal (Hebrews 6:18–19). Our vice president of Ministry Services, Tracie Shellhouse, shares an encouraging word about peace for each one of us. In Christ alone, we can have peace.

The Prophet Micah at 4:3, articulated his hope for a world where nations would no longer engage in warfare; where people would live in safety and unity, sitting under their own vine and fig tree with none to make them afraid. Micah, along with Isaiah and other prominent prophets, consistently emphasized the importance of justice, righteousness, and the pursuit of peace as integral components of a harmonious society. This underlines the idea that true peace was not just the absence of conflict but the presence of justice and righteousness in the world. We strive for peace, but we also know that the day when the lion lies down with the lamb is not for this side of eternity.

We have short video updates about the war in Israel from Sandy Shoshani, National Director of Be’ad Chaim, and Nadia Gordynsky, President of Save a Life, International, with a network of centers across Ukraine. Her testimony of what is happening in the Ukraine assures us God is on the throne and His work endures and grows despite conflict and war.

Friends and allies, we grieve the death and destruction caused by ongoing wars and conflict, but not as the world does. Our fully redeemed and truest hope is not in this world, and our hope is not in this present life. Nonetheless, let us pray and work for the peace of Jerusalem, the peace in Kiev, and the peace in every area of the world where conflict and unrest continue, until the shalom of the Prince of Peace is manifest.

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Sources

1. https://geneva-academy.ch/galleries/today-s-armed-conflicts (accessed 10/31/23).
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts (accessed 10/31/23).

by Rachel Deffenbaugh

Each year in the U.S., we commemorate the men and women who have served in our armed forces on “Veterans Day,” November 11. Their unwavering commitment to serve and sacrifice extends beyond the signature line on their enlistment form and even beyond ‘Hell Week’ of boot camp. It is in every drill, exercise, salute, flawlessly made bed, pre-deployment training, deployment/tour, and goodbye to loved ones. Despite the uncertainties, their call to duty to serve a purpose greater than themselves abounds. As Christians, we know the importance of such a calling, and we are grateful for the sacrifices (big and small, spoken and unspoken) our veterans have made.

Is this the blueprint for God's army?

Jesus preached about laying down one’s life for his friends and God's word teaches us to put others before ourselves. Similar to the sacrifices our military makes to protect our 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,’ Jesus came so that we may have life and have it more abundantly; not to condemn the world but to save it. In contrast to the military, His mission was not to kill His enemies but to die for them. He is our example not only as a Christian but as a soldier of a larger body of believers—the Church, also known as God's army.

Weapons of Warfare

As with everything else, the Lord has identified our spiritual weapons in scripture. Our weapons are vastly different from what our soldiers use to protect our country. Jesus’ weapons involved a different arsenal of spiritual warfare. After all, "we do not wage against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."

Therefore, as the Church, we fight a spiritual war—not with physical weapons, but with spiritual ones. Our spiritual weapons are offensive and defensive as outlined in Ephesians 6:10-13. Interestingly, the only offensive weapon listed here is the sword. The Sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The other “gear” listed are defensive weapons: the shield of faith, breastplate of righteousness, feet of peace, belt of truth, and helmet of salvation.

Additionally, we have been equipped with “weapons of righteousness.” In 2 Corinthians 6, these weapons are described as our gifts from God. Another "weapon of righteousness” is prayer, especially when “forged” in the word of God.

We would be remiss if we did not mention another “weapon of righteousness,” God’s love. Indeed, love deployed as a weapon is explained in Romans 12:19-21 and emphasized as our most valuable gift in 1 Corinthians 13:2.

You may be tempted to march in God’s army with only your offensive weapon, the sword. However, Paul urges us to put on every piece of armor (our spiritual weapons). Missing a single “weapon” can expose us to vulnerabilities; similar to how our military wear their kevlar and flak jackets. They would never undergo a mission with just their rifle in tow. The same principle applies to those of us in God's army.

Our Enemy

As our beloved veterans understand, we must identify our enemy. Our enemy is “the father of lies” who has been a “murderer from the beginning.” It is fitting for him to continue doing exactly what he has been doing since the beginning of time.

In pregnancy help, we see the same lies targeting women, men, families, marriages, and children alike. These lies perpetuate the agenda of our enemy, who seeks to not only murder our unborn children but to sever families, marriages, and livelihoods. His lies mirror the same propaganda we see today; using the same tactics he has used for centuries, just packaged with different labels through the years.

Identifying our enemy means we can prepare for attacks and are not surprised when they come. This preparation begins with you and the call for peace among all Christians worldwide.

Call to Peace

How is peace attainable in such a divisive world? Let’s learn what the Prince of Peace can teach us.

• Peace means “unity.” The Greek word for “peace,” eirēnē, means “ unity and accord.”¹We can have peace by being in unity with the body of Christ, God's army. How can a military unit fulfill any mission with dissension, divisive strategies, and discord among them?
• Peace means “restoration.” The definition is also described as “the spiritual harmony brought about by an individual’s restoration with God.”¹ Inner peace comes when we are fully reconciled with God. Forgiveness (repentance and forgiving others) is the first place to start for inner peace.
• Peace means trust. “Lean[ing] not on your own understanding” involves knowing your limits. We are limited by our knowledge of our circumstances (the seen and especially unseen). We are limited by our knowledge of the future. We are limited by our capacity to understand the collective truths of reality and God's purposes through them.

While we have cognitive limitations, our trust in God as Commander and Chief of His army is crucial. Soldiers follow their superiors' orders, without question or hesitation. How much more should we, in communion with God, trust He knows best, trust His perfect timing, and trust in His promises?

We are grateful to our nation's veterans. Through their unwavering commitment, they've secured the freedoms we cherish today. As Christians, our battlefield and our weapons are completely different but they share similarities to preserve 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' We know that in this spiritual war, armed with our spiritual weapons, we are fully equipped for the calling to peace and to protect life.

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Source

1. https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=34587