Twelve years ago I started a tiny little center that was a half a room in a building shared with another ministry. I was the receptionist, client advocate, and director—and the cleaning lady also. Never, in my wildest dreams could I have imagined what God was going to do with our ministry. Nev...

When you are in a position of leadership, you learn one thing quickly. You become a target. People don't like your decisions; they take offense because you didn't say something quite right, or they just snipe at you. It is sad, but it is human nature. It is not that leaders should be considered a...

I just watched the movie, The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington. I loved everything about the movie but was moved to tears over one scene in particular. For the 14-year-old young man in the 1940s, the debate trip out of town was an incredible opportunity. However, he witnessed the disturbin...

What do scrapbooking and keeping in touch with your churches have in common? They are the perfect match. In a rural community, chances are you are the only PCC in town, and your churches are aware of you. For us, churches are our lifeblood! It is important for us to stay in front of our Christian ch...

"Mission Creep." No, it's not a creep on a mission! It is the term that is being used to convince centers that we should do nothing but pregnancy tests and ultrasounds. Mission creep is a gradual process in which a mission's objectives change over time and reach too far, like creeping ivy in a backy...

If you heard of a city where the murder rate was the highest in the country per capita, the suicide rate was 1,700 percent higher than the national average, where almost all births are to single, teen mothers, and where there is a 70 percent jobless rate, you would probably think of an inner city, d...

Women's Choice Pregnancy Clinic. "What a perfect name!" we exclaimed, as the first board members formed the ministry ten years ago. The word "choice" was what we were most excited about. We reasoned that the young woman seeking an abortion would see that word and come to us. It was a great name—if w...

One of the challenges of a center is keeping in contact with your supporters. Larger centers can afford regular newsletters, but rural centers often don't have the resources or skill to produce one. In this electronic age, however, there is a very effective, cost-free way to keep people in touch wit...