Close to 1,000 registrants, exhibitors, speakers and guests were on site in Charleston, South Carolina for the event, which was kick-started by a rousing performance from Charleston’s own Plantation Singers, who serenaded attendees gathering for the first general session of the conference Wednesday afternoon.

Included in the conference were representatives from 17 countries outside the United States, several of whom traveled back with Heartbeat staff to Heartbeat headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, for an additional week of training and encouragement following the conference.

“It was wonderful to be with other warriors in this pro-life movement,” one attendee said. “As this was my first experience at a conference, I was so excited with what happens in PRCs around the country and the world! What a joy it was to assist someone else with new ideas to make her center better.”

While opportunities to connect and fellowship with pregnancy help servants around the world abounded, so did opportunities to hear from the roster of excellent keynote and workshop speakers, who emphasized over and over the theme that Love is Our Language.

The workshop slate was made up of an all-time high 78 sessions divided into 13 tracks—not including 10 all-day in-depth day opportunities—equipping leaders to better serve women and families in locales the world over.

Headlined by noted Christian apologist Dr. Ravi Zacharias, keynotes were also delivered by:

• Peggy Hartshorn, Ph.D., President of Heartbeat International
• Dr. John Bruchalski, Founder of Tepeyac Family Center, LLC
• Fr. Agustino Torres, Founder of Corazon Puro
• Terri Green, Author of Simple Acts of Kindness
• Evie Lastra West, Author of Revolving Choices: Playing Roulette with Life
• Kirk Walden, Founder of LifeTrends
• Barbara Gilliard, Pastor in Charleston

Thank you so much for making this year’s conference truly special, and please don’t miss the opportunity to join us April 7-10, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri for next year’s conference.