A People Yet Unborn
Ministries are compassionately helping women choose life
Story by Christmas Beeler
Photos by David Ducane
It was a chilly New Jersey day in late November—so much colder than her native Haiti. Micheline put her head down and headed toward the clinic in Trenton. She never thought she would consider abortion. She loved her husband and their three children, but they were barely making it in their little one-bedroom apartment. The landlord said no more children or they would be kicked out. They had been on the waiting list for a larger, low-income apartment for more than two years. On top of that, now their car had broken down; how could they handle another child?
Hopeless and sad, she neared the clinic. A petite Hispanic woman on the street approached and discreetly asked, “Hello, are you going there to have an abortion?” Micheline stopped and shook her head; she was so confused.
Elsy came to the clinic with Calvary Chapel Old Bridge’s Pro-Life Ministry every Saturday to talk to women—always with love, never harshly. She told Micheline, “God is the Creator of life. It is a blessing that He has given you a baby; not every woman can have this blessing. Do you understand that?”
Micheline nodded, thinking about two women she knew who couldn’t conceive. She’s right, she thought. God doesn’t give children to everyone. They are a gift. Tears began to fall as Micheline told Elsy about their tiny apartment. “They are going to kick us out; they don’t allow so many people to live there.”
Elsy said, “I believe that if you choose to keep this baby and live God’s way, God will honor you and open doors for your family.” She read part of Psalm 139:
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. … Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them (verses 13 & 16).
“This means that God knit your baby together inside you, that He already knows the days of your child.” Micheline thought seriously about the life inside of her and believed God’s Word.
To Micheline’s surprise, Elsy lowered her voice and said, “When I was 17, I had an abortion. It ruined my life until God saved me. He showed me that He would forgive me. I don’t want you to go through that. You can choose to give your child life.” As they talked, Micheline decided to keep the child and trust God. Elsy brought gifts from believers at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge (CCOB)—Bibles and baby things, even a crib at Christmastime. Stuart Migdon, a CCOB elder who also had met Micheline that day at the clinic, stopped by her house to pray with her, and a baby shower was later held for her in his home. Elsy and Stuart kept in touch with her and encouraged her to give her life to Jesus. They urged Micheline to read the Bible and share it with her children. Miraculously, just before Micheline’s son was born, a larger apartment opened up for her family. She knew God had honored her, as Elsy had said. Micheline thanked God by naming the baby David. Three years later, the family is expecting their fifth child.
The complete article is published in issue 69 of Calvary Chapel Magazine.