Displaying items by tag: conference

Have you ever wondered how to talk to your pastor or church about the "why" and "how" of engaging in pregnancy help outreach? Have you ever felt stuck on how to make a case for your church to be more involved? Here is a Biblically-based apologetic on why and how we should hold out the Word of Life, recorded at our 2024 Pregnancy Help Conference by Ellen Foell, our International Program Specialist:

This video was recorded at Heartbeat International's 2024 Pregnancy Help Conference. Click here to view more Conference recordings.

We announced the location of its 2025 Annual Pregnancy Help Conference at the close of our 2024 Conference! The location reveal is always highly anticipated by Conference attendees, and the announcement is made at the closing banquet for the event.

Our annual Conference is the largest gathering in the pregnancy help community. It is designed for ministry leaders, staff, board members, and volunteers of life-affirming pregnancy help centers, medical clinics, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies, as well as professionals in the areas of medicine, counseling, social work, and education.

This year’s event, held in Salt Lake City, Utah, drew some 1,300 in attendance in person, and another 700 for the Virtual Conference.

The banquet room at the 2024 Conference erupted in cheers at the announcement of next year’s conference location: Birmingham, Alabama!

Announcing the city for the 2025 Pregnancy Help Conference, Heartbeat International President Jor-El Godsey said, “We went west, and now we’re going south!”

The reveal video featured quotes from Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron” and “one person sharpens another” and ended with “Together Towards Tomorrow,” the 2025 Conference theme. Together Towards Tomorrow builds upon the 2024 theme of United for Life.

Citing the area’s historic nature and raw materials found at the 2025 Conference locale, the video presentation stated:

Rich in history and natural resources, where steel and iron are not only mined here but is symbolic of their strength and grit, next spring join us in Birmingham, Alabama. As iron sharpens iron, one person sharpens another – Together Towards Tomorrow.

"The 2025 Conference, themed "Together Towards Tomorrow," echoes our collective journey from unity to community, building on the foundation of 2024's "United for Life,"" she said. "Rooted in Proverbs 27:17 and set in the backdrop of the Iron City, Birmingham, AL, it signifies not just a location, but a shared commitment to growth through collaboration."

"The Annual Conference serves as a connecting point for pregnancy help organizations worldwide, offering a platform to exchange insights, embrace innovation, and uphold timeless principles," Trudden said. "Together, we glean wisdom, educate, and forge bonds that fortify our resolve to champion life."

The date for the 2025 Heartbeat International Annual Pregnancy Help Conference is
April 30-May 2.

Heartbeat’s Annual Conference, for all intents and purposes, is a weeklong event for Heartbeat staff, if you include planning, raising funds to attend, jetlag, the whirl of conference keynotes and workshops, more jetlag, recovery, and then bringing all that learning and understanding into your centers. It is hard, tiring, refreshing, and exhilarating work all at once. But, of course, we all feel it is worth it, or else we would not undertake the planning (or the jetlag).

 Every Tribe. Every Nation.

For me, hands down, the best moment is watching the Parade of Nations, when every nation represented in the Heartbeat family bears their nation’s flag in the grand ballroom of the hotel. I do not participate in the parade, but I get to watch it from the back of the room. Almost always, through tears, I observe as nation after nation is called forth – from Albania to Zimbabwe – and ninety-one nations in between are called forth: Burundi, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Norway, Sweden, Tanzania, and Uganda. It evokes tears around a room of 1200-1400 people, most of whom may never have the opportunity to visit most of their pregnancy help family members around the world. It is a beautiful, awe-inspiring, and humbling moment. Take a moment and click on the link to watch the 2023 Parade of Nations  at the Breakthrough Conference in Louisville.

Why does a 6–7-minute parade of nations stimulate such a strong reaction from our affiliates, both USA based and internationally based? For me, I am responding to the unspoken but demonstrated reality that our God is on the move – He is up to something big. We all get to be a part of this movement of God, a movement that is so much bigger than any one person or nation, and best of all, God is at the head of the Parade. He is the one who leads us in a sure and certain triumph. The Parade is to display the splendor of His work, His character, and His glory.

An Unexpected Opportunity

Some opportunities are more unexpected than others. And we are excited about some opportunities more than others. Last March, Heartbeat was invited to participate in a panel discussion at the United Nations (UN). We were not expecting the opportunity, and as one of the two persons who participated, I must confess my feelings of hesitation, anxiety, and, at the same time, the honor I felt to speak at the UN on behalf of Heartbeat. The UN is not known for its willingness to embrace the pro-life movement, or for having a pro-life stance.

Unfortunately, it is often a forum for promoting and financially supporting abortion and anti-family values and initiatives; it may be said that the United Nations is a hostile environment for individuals and nations with pro-life positions. Heartbeat was given nine minutes to speak on the heart and work of the pregnancy help movement in Latin America, buttressing the thesis of the panel: pregnancy support and resources for women in unplanned pregnancies is women’s health care that all women need and deserve, which is the clarion call of the Geneva Consensus Declaration . 

‘Yes to Life’ Showcased at United Nations

Following remarks by H.E. Ms. Carla Maria Rodríguez Mancia, Representative, from the Permanent Mission of Guatemala to the United Nations, Valerie Huber, Director of the Institute for Women’s Health, and other pro-family organizations based in Central America and Guatemala, Heartbeat was able to showcase the work of Centro Ayuda Para de la Mujer (CAM), and specifically of its affiliate in Guatemala, Si a la Vida (Yes to Life). Guatemala is a small Central American country with a population of approximately 17 million people, and just one pregnancy help center to serve its population.

For Si a la Vida, a CAM/Heartbeat affiliate, that has meant serving and resourcing over 3,000 women who received free gynecological care, over 2,500 who received mental health help, and 743 women who were helped with post-abortion trauma care. If we are talking about aftercare for the woman and the family, it looked like 232,660 packages of diapers distributed free of charge, and 928 baby kits. It also looked like pregnancy tests and food resources; all of this was accomplished through a team of volunteers and over the years, resulting in the lives of 6,668 babies blessing their mothers and families. Click here  to listen to Heartbeat’s presentation. If you are Spanish speaking, click here  for the entire panel discussion.

It was an honor to represent Heartbeat, and to represent, not only CAM and Si a la Vida, but all of you in the Heartbeat family of affiliates. Thank you for being part of the opportunity to showcase the display of God’s splendor in what you do every day in the public square of your communities, villages, cities, and nations. For CAM, that has meant serving tens of thousands of women in unplanned pregnancies, offering resources and essentials for every woman to be able to make a choice for life through its network of 71 National CAMs and 135 International CAMs in 20 countries, having a total of 206 CAM centers. You yourselves know what pregnancy help has looked like in your country.

Every Moment You Serve, You Proclaim

As much of an honor as it is, let’s be honest. It is difficult, scary, challenging, and humbling to be in the public square waving a pro-life flag. Maybe you are not waving a literal flag, but you are waving a flag in every action, every moment you serve a woman in an unplanned pregnancy, every time you choose to take the counter-cultural step of reaching and rescuing the woman in an unplanned pregnancy. Every can of formula you deliver, every alternative to abortion you offer, every time you open the doors to your center or maternity home, every ultrasound you offer, and every minute you spend listening to her fears and obstacles to carrying her baby to term, you are waving a flag that proclaims to your nation, “I am here for the mothers and daughters of my country.”

Heartbeat thanks you for waving the pregnancy help flag in your country, day after day, week after week, and year after year. It may look like a discussion at a table at the United Nations or look like carrying your national flag at our Annual Conference . It may look like pregnancy help centers going into the very halls of legislative bodies to present the good work that pregnancy help centers do every day. We know that every day looks like compassionate care: reaching and rescuing women in unplanned pregnancies, even in communities that oppose and oppress you. And every day, it looks like women being rescued, babies being saved, families being restored, and communities being renewed.

by Tracie Shellhouse, MCLC, LAS, Vice President of Ministry Services, Heartbeat International

As you may know, the 2023 Heartbeat International Annual Conference sold out for in-person experience and had a robust list of virtual attendees. We understand that while we would love to meet you in person, it's not always possible for everyone in the pro-life movement. We're happy to announce the virtual experience again this year for our annual conference.

Don't let the obstacles of not attending in person keep you from joining us virtually. Since we offer workshops for every role in the pro-life movement, we've created options for you to "bring" your whole team!

Two Virtual Options

1. Basic virtual access that provides access to all of the virtual-only conference for 14 days, or
2. Expanded virtual access that provides access to all of the virtual-only conference content and select in-person recorded content for 21 days.

Four Fully Virtual Add-on Options

+ Individual Basic Access - $99 ( Virtual Conference Workshops)
+ Individual Expanded Access - $149 ( Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)
+ Group Expanded Access (up to 5) - $479 (Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)
+ Enterprise Expanded Access (unlimited) - $989 (Virtual Conference Workshops + Select In-Person Workshops)

Tips to Make it Happen

1. Bring in extra manpower.

   In 2020, an organization where I was Executive Director, was running at a lowered capacity due to the pandemic. Shortly thereafter, to allow staff to engage fully in attending workshops and creating connections, I would bring in extra volunteers to cover the office operations and only set appointments for the virtual attendees outside the conference schedule. Today, your organization may be experiencing a season where it's operating at a lower staff/volunteer capacity. If so, take the next couple of weeks to schedule some extra "manpower" to ensure staff and volunteers have the opportunity to garner the invaluable knowledge provided through our Conference experience.

2. Empower and encourage volunteers to attend.

   I’m convinced that encouraging volunteers to participate has the potential to strengthen your organization significantly. Investing in a few special volunteers willing to commit to the training, will likely produce greater commitment and engagement from them at our center. And, with training available for every role in the pro-life movement, utilizing our comprehensive Agenda, it will be easy to schedule workshops with staff as they pertain to their respective roles.

3. Take full advantage of the training available.

   With enough paid (and volunteer) staff registered, you can make sure they attend all the workshops they don’t want to miss. Next, you can debrief and identify workshops that can be used to train current and future volunteers. Then, order those workshop recordings and use them for in-services and additions to our training curriculum.

Most pregnancy help organizations can’t take everyone to the conference in person; some of us must stay home and keep the centers open and running. Justifying the investments for travel, food, and lodging costs for staff members can also be a challenge. There are still options! Providing training for your team through our virtual conference is a great way to re-inspire and re-ignite passion for the work they are doing. Affirming your teams in this way can transform your organization!

Finally, when we participate in workshops presented by those within the movement, it affirms that God calls whomever He wants. Our experiences, backgrounds, and methods are not the same. Yet here we are, unified by our callings and commitment to the mission of pregnancy help, where we belong.

And that, perhaps more than anything, is the true value of participating in the Virtual Conference. 

Select Workshop and Keynote sessions are being made available in digital video format with the ability to view, download, and claim LAS credit for individual sessions. Orders will be assigned to the email address provided. Please allow up to two weeks after conference concludes for your order to be processed. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.

by Andrea Trudden, Director of Communications and Marketing
Heartbeat International

In this, our 50^th birthday year, we reflected on the many accomplishments that the pregnancy help organization has witnessed. (And boy, were there some amazing things to celebrate!) We have grown into a worldwide movement that provides the timeless care and support that any woman facing an unexpected pregnancy needs in addition to new, innovative services to help combat the ever-changing needs of our clients.

It is awe-inspiring to look at how much this movement has grown and adapted since 1971.

And yet, there is still so much to do!

Now, we must look into the future to ensure we are following the path laid before us by God. We must remain laser-focused on the goal.

As we considered various themes for the 2022 Conference, we knew that we wanted to look forward at what God has in store while providing a comprehensive learning opportunity for each and every person working in pregnancy help. So we went to His word.

Keeping in mind that there are various types of organizations represented within the pregnancy help movement – pregnancy centers, medical clinics, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies; serving cities and colleges, farms and suburbs – we all have a common vision: To make abortion unwanted today and unthinkable for future generations!

This common bond holds us together as a movement. We must navigate this path together toward this goal to truly advance a culture of life and also be encouraged in the task.

It is a journey. It is an adventure! And yet, those words didn’t represent what we wanted.

Future… Advancement… Press on… No. No. No.

And then a different word came to mind.

Onward (on·​ward) - toward or at a point lying ahead in space or time

Interesting word. What does the Bible say about it?

Philippians 3:12 - Focused on the Goal

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

That’s it! A combination of persistence, of adventure, of following God’s mission toward a mighty goal.

That one word encompassed all that we strive to achieve at our 2022 Conference in Jacksonville, FL from March 30-April 1.

We hope you will join us for the education and inspiration we have planned as we come together to honor the past and plan for the future of the pregnancy help movement.

Together, we move onward!

Click here to learn more about the conference and all it has to offer.

Dear Friends in Christ and Fellow Laborers in the Service of Life and Family,

Thank you for your heroic witness and numerous sacrifices offered on behalf of the most vulnerable of our global societies. As fellow servants of Life and Family, HLI has experienced the powerful life-changing impact of Pregnancy Centers and the services they offer.

Heartbeat International's mission is to “Reach and Rescue as many lives as possible, around the world, through an effective network of life-affirming pregnancy help, to Renew communities for Life.” This effort is possible and actualized because you believe that every precious life matters and has inherent dignity – is unrepeatable and deserves to be protected and served.

Your intercession has not only saved the lives of countless innocent pre-born children and their families from the violence of abortion, but it has also inspired greater awareness of our need to step out of our comfort zone and dare to stare the ongoing, physical reality of abortion in the face. Nothing brings home the brutal reality of abortion like standing on a sidewalk watching as men and women walk into an abortion facility to have their precious children killed. This experience can be gut-wrenching, but it’s also exactly what many of us need to shake off our complacency and light a fire in our bellies for Life. 

Your great mission challenges every member of society, Christian and non-Christian, to answer the questions, “Who is my neighbor?” and “Lord, when did I see you hungry, thirsty or naked…?”

Because of your love and compassion, people who believe in the dignity and sacredness of all human life, women and their unborn children receive genuine care and support, no matter the circumstances. Your charity and intervention authentically helps women see past the pro-abortion propaganda and immediate struggle they face, offering a variety of true help and services. Heartbeat’s accompaniment stands in stark contrast to the death peddlers whose solution to a current “crisis” is the destruction of a child and a mother’s lifetime filled with misery and memories of “what could have been.”

I believe abortion will never end until every Christian man and woman of good will considers it a personal responsibility to do everything reasonably in his or her power to protect life. That’s because abortion is so deeply embedded in our culture, we can’t expect a mere change of the laws, or the correct

public relations “strategy”, executed by large pro-life organizations, to loosen its stranglehold. What we need above all is conversion of heart, on a societal scale. And unless Christians like you and me are out there, literally on the street corners, publicly witnessing to self-sacrificial love and the Gospel message that will never happen.

Yet, it is hard to comprehend what our world would be like without people like you willing to sacrifice for Love. There is no doubt that the grip of the Evil One and the Culture of Death would be far tighter. You seek no self-congratulatory praise but offer everything for God’s glory alone. Know that you, a unique and unrepeatable gift, are making an irreplaceable difference. You are saving lives, one heartbeat at a time.

Thank you for saying YES!

Fraternally in Christ,

Rev. Father Shenan J. Boquet

President of Human Life International

Join us for Fr. Boquet's keynote address at the 2018 Heartbeat International Annual Conference. Fr. Boquet will be just one of seven kenote speakers at this year's Heartbeat Conference in Anaheim, California. Click here to learn more and register!

Recordings from the 2024 Conference can be purchased here. 

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Plan now to attend our Annual Conference in
Birmingham, AL  |  April 30 - May 2, 2025

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Who Should Attend the Heartbeat International Annual Conference?

Heartbeat’s Annual Conference is designed for ministry leaders, staff, board members, and volunteers of life-affirming pregnancy help centers, medical clinics, maternity homes, and non-profit adoption agencies, as well as professionals in the areas of medicine, counseling, social work, and education.

Our conference offers the most dynamic training to equip ministers and empower ministries worldwide in the pregnancy help community through the largest international Pregnancy Help Conference, this year both in-person and online!

There will be plenty to learn in person with the following trainings available:

• Unique, Professional Keynote Sessions
• Distinctive, Full-Day In-Depth Training Sessions
• Workshop Presentations from Ministry Experts
• And much more!

Conference Location

Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC)
2101 Richard Arrington Jr Blvd N,
Birmingham, AL 35203

Hotel Information (Group code will be in your Conference Registration Confirmation)

• Sheraton Birmingham Hotel 
• Westin Birmingham