by Andy Merritt

The theme for this year’s Heartbeat Conference is “VISION.”

In Proverbs 29:18 we read, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

The pregnancy center movement was born out of the vision God gave His people to establish arks of refuge to save those perishing by the inhumanity of abortion. This God-given vision brought to our hearts brokenness over abortion as the slaughter of the most innocent, but also the faith & courage in God to take action in saving pre-born lives from abortion by establishing a network of pregnancy centers.

Pregnancy centers have saved innumerable pre-born children from the slaughter of abortion and brought God’s love and ministry to their mothers and fathers.

Can you imagine where we would be if there had been no vision?

The reason we come together in Seattle for the Heartbeat Conference is to share God’s vision for pregnancy centers and realize we need encouragement and equipping to fulfill God’s vision. This is why I believe the Heartbeat Conference is so important, and I encourage you to attend.

One of the areas that has deeply concerned me is increasing hostility toward pregnancy centers, along with the personal adversity we encounter every day which often causes weariness, discouragement, and fear.

As I prayed about this, God gave me a series of lessons entitled, “Advancing Through the Storm.” The thought being, we do not want to just weather the storm, but advance our lives, ministries, and the cause of Christ through the storm!

The series focuses on what Biblical heroes of faith teach us about dealing with persecution and adversity, so we can learn how to be heroes of faith today in the battle for life.

I am thankful for the opportunity to lead one of the Roundtable Interactive Sessions on Tuesday to address the challenge of overcoming opposition and adversity, and I am especially thankful the Conference is on the west coast where our pregnancy centers have encountered great opposition and need this encouragement.

I cordially invite you to attend my session at the conference in addition to the various learning opportunities throughout the week. Also, I pray you will experience a time of spiritual renewal and refreshing that will empower you and your ministry to continue “Advancing Through the Storm” to fulfill God’s vision.