Dear Friend of Life:
Some of the most popular questions we receive about our life-saving program are the following…
- How do you train people to help save lives?
- What method(s) do you use?
- How do you spread the training across the U.S. and beyond?
- What materials do I get when I sign up for the program?
We are incredibly grateful for all those who have helped to develop modern, effective, peaceful sidewalk counseling methodology. Studying these methods, the main thing that they all hold in common is this: reach her heart and help fill the need(s) that brought her (and others with her) to the abortion facility. Thus, we take a very “woman-oriented” approach to Sidewalk Advocacy, believing that we cannot save preborn children without also helping their mothers and families.
Sidewalk Advocates for Life offers two levels of training…
- We offer a small training manual (about 30 pages) that details how to set up the program with a small team in your local community and facilitate a Sidewalk Advocacy training.
- We offer a 4.5 hour training DVD that can be shown in a church room or other venue to train potential Sidewalk Advocates in your community. (We absolutely give in-person trainings, but since we haven’t figured out how to bi-locate yet, this is the next best thing!)
Additionally, our training is comprehensive – meaning, we discuss how to serve at the abortion center in a variety of scenarios. For example, we equip the Sidewalk Advocate to reach out to those who might be entering the abortion or abortion-referral facility for services other than abortion, admonishing them to think about where their money is going; then, we teach them to fill that need with another local resource that doesn’t support the abortion business. We also equip sidewalk advocates to serve in unusual situations, such as when the mother says she was raped or her life is in danger; similarly, we equip those in our program to reach out to abortion workers and post-abortive women. We provide a variety of real-life examples in the training, and of course, we offer on-going, full time, staff support so you can be as effective as possible.
To summarize, we cover the following topics in our training…
- Mission & Philosophy
- Foundations for Counseling
- Materials
- How to Help an Abortion-Minded Woman
- How to Help Abortion-Minded Family & Friends
- How to Help in Difficult Abortion Situations (i.e. – rape, life of the mother, etc.)
- How to Help in Non-Abortion Situations (i.e. – pregnancy test, well-woman exam, etc.)
- How to Help Post-Abortive Women
- How to Help Abortion Workers
When a local community signs up for our program, here is what they receive…
- a brief training manual (which describes how to set up a local training and sustain that program at a local abortion facility)
- a training DVD (which teaches interested community members Sidewalk Advocacy)
- a set of training workbooks (to guide you through our Sidewalk Advocacy training)
- access to materials (flyer templates, press releases, bulletin announcements, literature options and other resources) in our Online Program Headquarters
- access to ongoing training (training primers, role play, examples, etc.) in our Online Training Headquarters
- a listing under the “Locations” tab of our national website (which includes a drop-down that shares local information so interested community members can find you)
- regular, monthly Q&A calls with our National Team & Program Advisors
- authorization to use our name, logo and program
- full-time staff support, as needed — in other words, we work for YOU so you can be successful!
Our goal is to equip you on the front lines with time-tested training, tools and support so you can be as successful in your outreach as possible!
If you feel called to bring Sidewalk Advocates for Life to your local community this summer, applications are open through May 31! Go here to fill out the 5 minute application: sidewalkadvocates.org/apply
In short, let us know how we can best serve you! Contact us with any questions atinfo@sidewalkadvocates.org!
BI-WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL (MAY 2 – MAY 23, 2015): “THE LOVE THAT OVERCOMES”
by Jeff Reedy, Shipping Coordinator, Sidewalk Advocates for Life
Verse(s): “I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following… You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” — Acts 20:29-30,35
Reflection: It is easy to see how the false teachers, the vicious wolves, have crept in to the world all around us. The world teaches us that euthanasia, same-sex marriage and abortion are the way of the future, while the poor suffers the brunt of every new policy. It would be easy for us to wring our hands and wonder what in the world to do in the midst of so many vicious wolves. But the answer is right in this verse: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” When we find ways to give to our community, friends and family, God reminds us that while it is true that “in the world, we will have troubles,” it is even more true that we should “take heart, for He has overcome the world.”
Faith Challenge: It is exciting that the Planned Parenthood abortion-referral facility in McKinney, TX, is the latest to have closed its doors! Let’s pray that another facility closes within the next thirty days.
