Director's Message
 With each church service, women's event, or conference which I am given the privilege to speak, I continue to hear these words "You need to continue getting the word out as much as possible about this ministry, as it is so needed!" You see, so many are silently hurting! After 38 years of legalized abortion, the numbers continue to climb--53 million post-abortive women (which does not include extended wounded family)! Think about this number!! If we were to give you a word picture, this number would encompass the total population of thirteen states in our country! Are you seeing the need?! Two of the greatest hindrances to this ministry are getting the opportunity to share our message to these hurting individuals; then once we do, these women and men must make the hard choice to move through the steps of healing. Let me explain. This is a most difficult journey because you feel you will surely perish going through the pain of a past abortion(s). But as we allow ourselves to face our shame and pain, it is then that we can break through the prison doors. Through confession, repentance, and walking through it rather than avoiding it, we can experience His healing and peace. God's love gives us the enabling power and grace to release the grief locked up inside for so long and mourn over the loss of our child(ren) with others that have also experienced this pain. Sometimes when we are finally ready to emerge to freedom, friends and family will want us to avoid the pain by putting on band-aids. They will say "you're forgiven, just move on," you don't want to go through all that (the healing journey)," why bring up the past now?" and on and on. But in order for our wings to grow strong enough to support us, it is necessary that we beat them against the walls of our cocoon. It is only by this struggle can our wings become beautiful and durable. When you deny us that struggle, you take away from us our only chance of survival. INFG's mission is to help those who have experienced abortion's aftermath by giving them the opportunity to do just that and move into the freedom and abundance Christ intended through his death. Perhaps this is you today; perhaps you are thinking "well, I've had several abortions-no one could forgive that, I'm damaged goods." Multiple abortions are very common to those who have experienced abortion. Many women suffer from Post Abortive Syndrome which results in a downward spiral and low self-esteem directly related to their abortion(s). Perhaps you've not had an abortion yourself and think how does this affect me? On our website, www.infg.org we have a list of "Do's and Don'ts" when speaking to the post abortive, so check it out! Statistically, the post-abortive are all around you to minister God's love and grace. 42% of women before the age of 45 have had a least one abortion and what you may not realize is that 1-4 of these women profess to be Christians at the time of their abortion(s). How can this be, you might be saying? How could anyone do such a thing? But I ask you, are we perhaps shaming women by our attitudes and comments into making yet another regretful decision in light of a crisis or unplanned pregnancy? I believe from my experience, it's worth meditating on and perhaps asking the Lord's forgiveness. The greatest gift, as a post-abortive, we can give ourselves is to do whatever it takes to heal. The greatest gift we can give those who need to heal is the grace to do it. As the woman with the issue of blood pressed through to touch the hem of Jesus' garment and the adulteress woman was extended grace and her accusers were no more, we like the butterfly can beat our wings against our cocoons to break through to the healing Jesus offers today. If you'd like to give INFG Ministries the opportunity to share at your church or event, please contact us today in partnering to fulfill the mission of Isaiah 61:1-3. If you are ready to make the choice to heal today, call or email us to register for our classes and/or Reconciliation Weekend. Lori Driggs |
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Sanctity of Human Life Month
During the month of January, worshipers in churches across the U.S. find unique ways to celebrate the Sanctity of Human Life. INFG is filled with gratitude and thankfulness to the following churches in Missouri for allowing us to share a portion of their Sunday morning services during Sanctity of Human Life month:
Crossroads Church
of Grain Valley
Crown Pointe Church
of Lee's Summit
Deerbrook Covenant Women's Ministry of Lee's Summit
Marshall Church
of the Nazarene
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Upcoming Events
April 1-3, 2011
Spring Reconciliation Weekend
Springfield, MO
May 2, 2011
After Care Bible Study
Location TBD
October 28-30, 2011
Fall Reconciliation Weekend
Mansion at Elfindale
Springfield, MO
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IMMEDIATE ITEMS:
- Churches and Women's Ministry Speaking Opportunities for 2011
CASH DONATIONS:
- Annual Liability Insurance Expenses
- Monthly Partners
VOLUNTEER HELP:
- Administrative Assistant
- Donor Development Specialist
- Mentors/Facilitators
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Partnership in Prayer
If you are passionate about prayer and would like to lift up the prayer needs associated with this ministry, please contact our Prayer Coordinator, Julie Gall at jgall@infg.org. Julie will keep you up-to-date on specific prayer requests as well as God's miraculous interventions on behalf of INFG and those we serve! Julie can also be reached by phone at 816-585-4049.
Julie has been a faithful volunteer with INFG for over four years and gladly volunteered for this position as Prayer Coordinator. We are blessed to have this sister in Christ on her knees on our behalf.
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Reconciliation Weekend Testimony
My friend put me in contact with Mindy Beyer who sent me some material about INFG and testimonies from ladies who had been through the HCTH class and Reconciliation Weekend. After going through the class material, I knew I wanted to register.
When the spring 2010 weekend arrived, we gathered for the first meal--it was funny how the participants all gathered at one table. There were six of us and you could feel there was a bond that was deep, deeper then we wanted to admit or even realized. As the leaders opened with some introductions and announcements, I felt my emotions coming up into my throat. There was a gal next to me in a wheelchair. She had MS and she began to cry. I reached out to comfort her and she told me this was going to be hard. I just replied that I know it will be hard, but it's going to be good. Good? What was I saying? Well, I suppose it's like beauty, it's all in the eye of the beholder, and from the Lord's view, it was good.
Shame had been huge for me. When people paid me a compliment I never was able to receive it because the enemy was saying "yea, if they only knew the truth about you". I felt miserably unworthy. I was crowned Homecoming Queen 3 months after the abortion, and I couldn't enjoy it at all. Deep down I felt I didn't deserve the honor, and if people only knew they would hate me. I've learned people can love me. I'd been holding back a part of me that they wanted to love, that I needed to have loved.
We were each to share our stories on the second day. My heart broke. Each of us had a different story, yet felt the same pain. I've spent years hating the word "abortion". My insides would cringe any time I heard it, and I only said the word if I absolutely had to. So it still seems like I'm in some sort of shock when I share my story. After all, I'd spent years trying to forget it, yet fearing it would somehow return and haunt me someday. In time, I realized that the very thing the enemy intended to harm me and hold me back, the Lord would use for good. I now am able to share my story and more importantly the story of His amazing love and grace in our lives.
The Memorial service was very moving, and a perfect way to complete the weekend. I would summarize the impact of the weekend as one which took me from being reconciled before God to a deep understanding of my Heavenly Father's love, grace and mercy. I have been restored by grace and can now freely receive of His love and freely give of His love to others.
I thank the Lord for strengthening me during this time. So many times during the weekend I wished my husband, John, could have been with me. John is such strength to me. But the Lord was my husband, my strength, my reward. I couldn't have made it through the weekend without the Holy Spirit's strength. I also believe the INFG team played a vital role in inviting the Holy Spirit to be a part of the weekend. Their prayers carried us through also.
I'm so very thankful for Lori and her team with INFG. They are truly Spirit lead and the Lord has and will continue to use them to minister hope and healing to women and men wounded as a result of abortion.
When I returned home I felt as if so much had been lifted off of me. There was a peace like I had never experience before. It's called FREEDOM.
~ Laura
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Her Choice To Heal 
Group Class
They walked in the door for the Her Choice to Heal class filled with trepidation, fear, anxiety, shame and anger. Not sure of what was expected of them but willing themselves to take that step on the path toward hopeful healing from the choice they made so many years before.
In the fall Her Choice to Heal class, there were 11 participants, each at their own place in the healing process. All the participants were Christians, however, for some there was doubt as to whether God had actually forgiven them. Each week as a chapter was addressed, the participants began to have revelations of memories past, long hidden. Acknowledgment of sin, forgiveness of self and others, letting go of the past, and confronting anger were some of the areas they worked through each week.
We brought to their attention within the Bible the many scriptures, the Words of God, which showed them the way to their healing. Such as, Psalm 51:10-12, "Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me."
~ Karen Lathrop - Team Leader/Facilitator
Individual Class This past fall, I had the privilege to lead two women through the HCTH classes as a one on one experience. These particular women both had plans to use their healing for the purpose of helping others within the setting of crisis pregnancy centers in their areas. They desired to deal with any issues relating to their abortions to feel with confidence that they had been not only forgiven but healed. They felt the journey benefitted them tremendously even though many times they wanted to quit because of the pain involved. But their goal was to persevere through the process and receive the peace and freedom to share with others pre and post abortion. ~ Lori Driggs - Director |
Post Abortion Syndrome
In each issue a few symptoms commonly experienced by women after an abortion will be highlighted. Some symptoms are experienced immediately and others manifest later in life.
Guilt - Experienced when an individual violates their moral code. In the case of abortion, women commonly feel other unhappy events that occur in their life are "deserved" and/or a form of punishment for their previous abortion(s). Anxiety - Unwarranted fear or worry about the present or future which causes physical and emotional discomfort or distress. Worries about future fertility and the health of their children are common. Psychological Numbing - An inability to feel strong emotions. This barrier hinders the formation of close relationships. In almost every class at least one participant is experiencing significant marriage problems, is seriously contemplating divorce, or is in the process of divorcing.
Can you associate some of the statements below with the three symptoms described above? The following responses were given by past class participants when asked to describe how they felt after their abortion:
- I felt tough...worn...haggard looking.
- Non-existent.
- Like I was wearing steel plates...for my protection.
- I stepped onto a self-destructive path.
- I carried the weight of my sin in my body. I gained 30 lbs.
- Immobilized.
- I kept adding Band-aids to hide my new scars.
- The lowest of lows, selfish, lonely
- Destructive, hopeless, numb, unhappy
- Suicidal, guilt, shame
- The light in me grew dimmer with each abortion.
For a comprehensive listing read pages 50 - 55 of Sydna Masse's book, Her Choice To Heal. (Published by David C. Cook, Colorado Springs, CO. Second edition 2009.)
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Emerge
"One in four women have had at least one abortion by the time they are 45." That statistic kept running through my mind after hearing it at the "History of Grace" fundraising banquet for If Not For Grace in September. I am the "one" in four. I have a close friend who is another "one." Each time I'm in a group of women, I think "there are probably other 'ones' here in this group. How many of them are struggling with post-abortion syndrome?" That's when the Lord put it on my heart that women in my church needed to hear Christ's message of forgiveness, healing and freedom after abortion. I presented this idea to the women's ministry team and they agreed.
"Emerge....To Freedom" was the title and theme of the Deerbrook Covenant Church women's brunch held in January, at which Lori Driggs of INFG was the guest speaker. The stage was set for this important message as the sanctuary was adorned with butterflies, signifying the abundant life that Christ came to give His followers. Spokesperson for Deerbrook Women Ministries, Rene Russell, provided another visual by asking four women to be "bound up" with paper towels as an illustration of being bound up in a cocoon of sin. She pointed out that the Lord doesn't want anyone to stay in that cocoon, but rather that He wants us to emerge from that cocoon of sin, whether it is abortion or some other life stealing choice, and instead to live in the freedom of forgiveness and abundant life.
I had the privilege of introducing Lori as our guest speaker using the story of how I met her at the Reconciliation Weekend my friend and I attended in 2005. Then Lori took us into her own story of abortion, healing and journey of freedom in Christ. What encouragement she gave us as she told how the Lord helped her emerge into a life of joy and service to Him. Lori also shared some "do's and don'ts" for those wanting to come alongside women dealing with post-abortive issues.
Some of the comments from attendees included: Impactful! Thank you for the opportunity to be real and feel safe and loved. What an awesome example of bringing transparency to the body of Christ. The message was off the charts good. It was deep, wide and precise. It was vulnerable and tender, full of love and compassion.
We saw the Lord use this gathering and Lori's message to put the desire in women to emerge from cocoons of past abortions. It also raised awareness of the number of women who have had this experience and offered hope and healing through Jesus Christ.
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Song Review
Ever heard a song that kept you anchored in a storm? That felt like healing balm applied to your wounds? That sounded like a letter written directly to you from God? The lyrics of the song, You Are More, by Tenth Avenue North are making a life-changing impact, spiritually and emotionally, for a recent participant. We are compelled to share these grace-filled lyrics with you.
There's a girl in the corner
With tear stains on her eyes
From the places she's wandered
And the shame she can't hide
She says, "How did I get here?
I'm not who I once was.
And I'm crippled by the fear
That I've fallen too far to love"
But don't you know who you are,
What's been done for you?
Yeah don't you know who you are?
(Chorus) You are more than the choices that you've made,
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes,
You are more than the problems you create,
You've been remade.
Well she tries to believe it
That she's been given new life
But she can't shake the feeling
That it's not true tonight
She knows all the answers
And she's rehearsed all the lines
And so she'll try to do better
But then she's too weak to try
But don't you know who you are?
(Chorus - twice)
'Cause this is not about what you've done,
But what's been done for you.
This is not about where you've been,
But where your brokenness brings you to
This is not about what you feel,
But what He felt to forgive you,
And what He felt to make you loved.
(Chorus - twice)
You've been remade. You've been remade.
You've been remade. You've been remade.
Click here to watch the video on YouTube.
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