Harbor Life Ministries

A new study released today by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the first of its kind, shows that 26% of American girls age 14-19 are infected with one of four common sexually-transmitted diseases: human papillomavirus (HPV), chlamydia, herpes simplex virus, and trichomoniasis.

This is not news, however, to workers at pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes.

Something else that needs to be pointed out is that the 26% figure is for all girls, whether sexually active or not.

What you don’t hear too much is that the number of sexually active teens who are infected is nearly half.

Also interesting is that both the pro-abstinence and anti-abstinence (“pro-education”) sides point to the other side as the culprit for the high number.

Hanna blessed everyone who got to know her during her stay at Harbor House, and she was gracious enough to share with world a story of God?s redemptive love:

Dear Harbor House,

Hi. My name is Hanna and I?ve found myself pregnant at only 14 years old. At first, I couldn?t believe what had happened. I never though that could happen to me, but I?m sure that?s what most pregnant teens think.

But it had happened, and now I had to accept it. After the first 5 months of only telling the baby?s father, my dad noticed that my tummy was growing. Hmmm? I wonder why?

After both of my parents had found out, my mom started looking for a maternity home for me. The first name on the Google site was Harbor House. She called and talked to Karla. My parents knew I had to go somewhere for the rest of my pregnancy. They knew staying at home wasn?t the best for me. My parents didn?t want me all the way in Ohio, so they took me to Ventura, California, where I had extended family.

One of the miracles God gave me was Tami Anderson in Ventura CA. She lives just a couple of blocks from my aunt?s house, so it was no problem for me to go over there a couple of times a week. After meeting Tami, my aunt found out that Tami?s husband Gary was a youth pastor at Community Presbyterian Church. My aunt had been trying to get my cousins to go to that youth group for years, and now they would, because I was.

On my first doctor?s visit with my Ob/gyn doctor, my aunt and I found out that for years Dr. Lara had only worked with epileptic pregnant women. Me having epilepsy and being pregnant, this was literally a gift of God. Dr. Lara also had a team of a neurologist, and perinatologist who helped her with epileptic pregnant women. This was also very exciting. Dr. White, the pediatrician I went to, didn?t accept the insurance that I have. But he?s a strong Christian man and said that helping pregnant teens was a passion of his. Also, that he wouldn?t charge me for doctor visits. Again, another gift from God.

Lisa, who was my birthing instructor, heard of my situation and volunteered to give me Bradley method lessons free of charge. There?s God just one more time.

Once we realized that I wouldn?t be able to go to school, we looked up home-schooling programs and found A Beka. My grandpa is a retired teacher after teaching for 20 years and he was thrilled to help me. One more gift in list of gifts from God.

God also game me the miracle of Karla, a birthmom herself, to help me with all my thoughts and feelings as a birthmom. Actually, I think Harbor House in general is a miracle to me. About two years ago I bought two stickers for my Bible, and in November of ?07, I barely saw that in the corner of the stickers they say ?Harbor House Gifts.? God was showing me that He already knew that I would enter the program two years before I even got pregnant.

God has given me so many gifts and shown his miraculous power to me in so many ways. I really hope everyone could experience all the gifts and miracles that I have through God.

- Hanna H.

All of creation belongs to God and is God’s gift to us. Most of us work to make money to live on but, even if we work hard to accumulate the money we earn, we did not really ?make? it.

As Christians, we know that our power and ability to become prosperous comes ultimately from the benevolence of our Creator?everything is a gift?and we know that we cannot outlive the generosity of God. Therefore, just as we have received abundantly from God’s generosity, so we are called to imitate God by giving generously ourselves. Giving is a spiritual discipline that should be a regular part of our lives as we follow Christ.

We can all enjoy the full benefit of being well-off financially when we acknowledge that what we have is not our own but that it is simply on loan to us, temporarily gifted to us for purposes that we were born to fulfill, such as caring for ourselves and our families and for the needs of others. When we have more than we need, it takes disciplined effort to avoid becoming possessed by our possessions. Allowing ourselves to be moved when we encounter the needs of others, and then to respond with generosity, is the essence of that effort.

God calls us to care wisely for all of the material and spiritual resources entrusted to us. Giving to meet needs beyond ourselves we experience the liberating spiritual benefit of helping us keep our love for God and our neighbor at the center of our lives, preventing our wealth, the privileges that go along with it, and their preservation from becoming all important to us—and thus destroying us spiritually.

Lives are changed when Christians give generously. Not just the lives of the people served by recipient organizations such as Harbor Life Ministries, but equally importantly—or maybe even more so—the lives of those who do the giving. And for that God gets the glory and is pleased.