Bolivia (MNN) — In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, the Center for Life, also known as Centro de Vida, will tell you a simple smile goes a long way in making a positive difference.
‘I Smile for Life’ gathering in Bolivia (photo courtesy LIFE Int’l)
Young people partnering with the pregnancy care center recently took colorful, vibrant signs and placards to the main street corners of the city, signs with a very simple message, “I smile for life.” Response to the center’s ambassadors was positively overwhelming.
But that’s not all that’s taking place at Centro de Vida. Late last year, LIFE International was invited by 22 young counselors and people working with the center to come and train them. The training provided took participants through a three-step process of abortion recovery. Melinda Delahoyde, Vice President of Mission Advancement for LIFE International, says the first step is helping women understand the grief and what has happened to them.
The second step is to convey the message of hope found in Jesus Christ, that He paid the price for what has ever happened to them. And the third step is an invitation to praise the Lord for the healing He alone will provide.
Delahoyde goes on to say that when this message seeps into the hearts of counselors receiving the training offered by LIFE International, there’s an overwhelming joy that pervades. What’s even more inspiring is to know this is an example of the kind of training that is happening in more than 65 countries around the world as a result of God’s work through LIFE International. Says Delahoyde, “Nowhere do you see a greater application of love and healing of Jesus Christ than when a woman’s heart and mind and soul is healed from that abortion, and Bolivia’s one example of that.”
Click here for stories about what God is doing around the world through LIFE International.
