New Walk for Life "Poster Baby"
We enjoyed our photo shoot at LeClaire Park in Davenport with our new Walk for Life "poster baby" and his family. This family is still fairly new to the United States, and they came to us for help and support with their pregnancy. You'll be seeing a lot more of this handsome baby boy as we get closer to our Walk for Life on Saturday, September 15.

How Do I Know I Need Healing?

These questions are based on the experience of women who have had abortions. In reading them, be honest with yourself. Be aware of any emotional or physical responses you may have.

 * Do you find yourself struggling to turn off the feelings connected to your abortion(s), perhaps telling yourself over and over to forget about it?
 * When abortion is mentioned in public, do you find your body reacting physically? (ex: tightened stomach muscles, clenched jaw, or holding your breath)
 * Are you affected by physical reminders (ex: babies, pregnant women, baby clothes) of your abortion?
 * Are there certain times of the year you find yourself depressed, sick, or accident prone, such as the anniversary date of the abortion or the month of the would-be birth date?
 * Are you resentful and unforgiving toward anyone for their involvement in your abortion?
 * Did you begin to use or increase your intake of drugs or alcohol following your abortion?
 * Have you experienced any peculiar reactions (hearing your baby cry, nightmares, flashbacks, or hallucinations) relating to the abortion(s)?
 * When choosing to share about your abortion(s), are you overcome with sorrow, anger, or guilt?
 * Do you feel compelled to hide your abortion(s) from certain people in your life?
 * If you do not have children, do you fear that you will never be able to have them?
 * Did your relationship with or concept of God change after your abortion(s)?

If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may be suffering from Post-Abortion Stress (PAS). Many women and men who have had an abortion experience PAS. The emotional trauma can be debilitating.

If you would like help dealing with an abortion in your past, contact us. We can help. Contact Kathy at (309) 797-3636 or kathy@qcpregnancy.org.

Kristi's Story: From Pain to Healing
Kristi found help dealing with a past abortion at Pregnancy Resources

At 12 years old, I was taken to a clinic in Clinton, Iowa to have an abortion, or as it was put to me, “a DNC and suction.” The entire experience is truly too overwhelming to put into words. I never had the “right” to my body or the choice for life. I did verbally protest.

Yet it happened. It left me very desperate and broken. I turned to very destructive measures to cope with life. I felt hopeless and lost. I wanted a baby. My baby.

I had two miscarriages, the last at age 18. I was never able to conceive from that time forward. I obsessively pursued trying to have
a child, at all costs to myself. I simply could not fill the void, the loss.

I came to Pregnancy Resources many years later (at age 48) with a blank wonderment, if perhaps my life losses connected somehow to their services. I discovered, it absolutely did!

I attended a one-on-one session for a
series of weeks for a post-abortion study. It took me back through the nightmare of that abortion day.

“Forgiven and Set Free” unnerved me, challenged me, brought forth in me – everything hidden, deep in the core of my heart. I hated it, but learned I needed it. It brought me face to face with Jesus, in all of the pain.

I am thankful today for help, patience, support, and healing. I am thankful for Pregnancy Resources and their mission to choose life. Life, as conceived through the will of God. Or life, in the rebirth of a soul shattered by sin. I am thankful for forgiveness, mercy, and love.

I am deeply thankful God allowed me to co-parent the most beautiful daughter ever! She is now 16, but I was privileged to be there from birth. She is not my biological child, but she is absolutely my heart!

I am so thankful for my wonderful nieces, nephews, and the many children through my life’s journey! They have all blessed my wounded heart by their tender and innocent lives. My hope is that somehow I have blessed them, too, in some real way with the love of Jesus.

Someday, I will have the joy of meeting my three children in heaven. I know they will be standing next to Jesus with the same great expectation that rises in my own heart! It excites me and calls me to press on!

Today, I am most humbly thankful for the peace that passes all understanding.

Vicki: Helping Women Find Healing From Abortion
After Vicki found healing from her own abortion, she wanted to help other women

Vicki was 16-years-old when she had an abortion. Pressured by her boyfriend and other friends, Vicki thought it was the best thing to do in her situation.

Like many women, Vicki struggled with shame and guilt over her abortion decision. It wasn’t until years later that Vicki sought help. Here at Pregnancy Resources, Vicki went through the “Forgiven and Set Free” Bible study for post-abortive women.

Once Vicki found forgiveness and release from her shame and guilt, she wanted to help other women find that same healing. She chose to volunteer at Pregnancy Resources, encouraging young women not to make the same decision she had.

Last year, Vicki became a certified “Surrendering the Secret”
post-abortion group leader. She is now leading small groups of women at her local church to find healing.

One of the women in Vicki’s group says, “I am so thankful that God loves me and has forgiven me, healed me, and restored me. I am at peace in my heart knowing these things. I am His child and He is the Father I love and run to gladly in all things.”

Bring "Surrendering the Secret" to Your Church

"Surrendering the Secret" groups are taking place at Harvest Bible Chapel, Calvary Church of the Quad Cities, and Edgewood Baptist Church. We would love to offer a "Surrendering the Secret" group in your church, too.

There's help for men, too! If you were involved in an abortion (a girlfriend, wife, sister, daughter, or friend) there is help for you. We can connect you with local help that specifically addresses your needs for healing as a man.

Call or email Kathy Nagle at (309) 797-3636 or kathy@qcpregnancy.org.

Farmer's Gift Will Grow New Crops of Cribs, Car Seats
Newsclip from The Dispatch & The Rock Island Argus, published Saturday, March 24, 2012

Pregnancy Resources will grow a new crop of cribs and car seats thanks to a Preemption family farm.

Jana Peterson, of Peterson Family Farms, recently won a $2,500 America's Farmers Grow Communities prize from the Monsanto Fund. Winners get to select a favorite nonprofit organization to give the prize to, and Ms. Peterson chose Pregnancy Resources.

''I have supported Pregnancy Resources for a long time,'' she said. ''One of my passions is abstinence training to prevent teenage pregnancies; and that's one of the services Pregnancy Resources offers.''

Another service is providing cribs and car seats to people completing parenting courses and similar classes, executive director Susan Skoglund said. Pregnancy Resources has offices in Moline and Davenport

''We give lots of them away,'' she said. ''For example, last year we gave out 110 cribs and 107 car seats. This was a huge blessing.''

''I was shocked to win,'' Ms. Peterson said. ''You hear people say 'I've never won anything in my life.' I have, but never this large of an amount, and what's better about it is that I got to give it away to an organization like Pregnancy Resources.

''I know they do great counseling programs that will affect the next generation of future farmers.''

She and her husband, Jeff Peterson, live in Port Byron, but their 1,000-acre family farm is in Preemption.

Every county has a drawing, Ms. Peterson said. ''I was just the fortunate one from this county to win.''