Peggy Benicke, Executive Director of Robbinsdale Women’s Center / ICU Mobile Minneapolis, spent time with us at the Heartbeat International Conference to talk about when God called them to mobile ultrasound ministry, why they partnered with ICU Mobile and what a mobile ultrasound vehicle will do for the women and unborn of greater Minneapolis.

One of the best parts about my job is receiving emails every day from our Fleet Affiliates with updates and stories of lives being saved and lives being changed for eternity because of Jesus. It is a wonderful blessing, and I am in awe of what God is doing through the women who operate the Mobiles in the Fleet every day.

They are true heroes of our faith.

Each week the Mobiles in our Fleet literally go into the communities they serve. They park and serve women near colleges/universities, high schools, shopping plazas, neighborhoods, housing projects etc.

They go into the zip codes and neighborhoods where the most abortions are coming from, based on highly effective research and algorithm analysis, in order to meet women where they are. Meet them in their daily routine and while they are still in the decision making process.

We’re often asked why we aren’t at abortion mills more often. The reason is simple, we want to get to women before they ever get to the abortion facility. Before they ever reach deaths front porch. Changing a woman’s mind once she has arrived at an abortion mill is much more difficult than being a part of the decision making process. Our nine years of effectiveness data show that meeting  and serving women where they are before they reach the abortion mill is VASTLY more succesful.

Another major advantage of mobile pregnancy centers, specifically those in the ICU Mobile Fleet, is that we can literally GO to a women at precisely the time she is in crisis. No wait. We go to them. Just such a situation happened in our Fleet a little over a week ago. Here is the story, directly from our Fleet Affiliate’s Executive Director:

Earlier today I took a call from a college student who said she wanted to have an abortion. She told me she was 15 weeks, etc. She wanted to know how much it would cost. I told her that we do not do abortions but told her the services that we offer and explained how important it was for her to be informed as this would be a serious procedure. She asked if I could just tell her over the phone because it would be hard for her to get to the center. I asked where she was and how far she was from our scheduled Mobile location today. Her transportation situation was not good and she couldn’t even get to the Mobile clinic.

She went on to write,

So, after a bit of maneuvering our Mobile Team left their scheduled location and took the mobile to her! This is the beauty of being Mobile! Our Mobile Director  just called me and said that all of our prayers were answered. She said, that the ultrasound was beautiful and that the baby was moving and practically blowing kisses to her mother! Well, not quite but you can imagine the beauty of it all. When the mother saw her baby she said, “OH I can’t do that – it’s a baby!” She thanked them over and over and was so happy to have them pray with her and to receive a Bible of her own. She asked if she could bring her boyfriend back next week.

This woman was what we call “abortion determined”. Her mind was made up. She was looking for an abortion and was determined to have one. If our philosophy was solely to park at abortion mills then we might have seen her but our interaction with her would, more than likely, been watching her walk into the abortion mill right before our eyes. The chances of her walking onto the Mobile at an abortion mill, because her mind was largely made up, are miniscule. Sure, God does miracles and we have saves at abortion mills. But the data shows that we can be more effective by being in the hearts of the neighborhoods where abortions come from.

A brick and mortar pregnancy center, in this case our Fleet Affiliate, could never have lifted itself off of its foundation and driven to this woman. This woman would not have received any help and probably would have had an abortion. The flexibility, adaptability and mobility of an ICU Mobile allowed our Fleet Affiliate to get to this women exactly when she needed them most. There was no wait. No tense moments of wondering if she would show up at the center. Our Fleet Affiliate took the pregnancy center directly to her.

The ability to get to this woman in crisis within moments is what makes mobile pregnancy center ministry unique and, in our opinion, the most effective tool in pro-life ministry since the invention of the ultrasound machine.

Recently, we posted How To Convert An RV Into A Mobile Pregnancy Center, first of a series on whether or not your pregnancy center or ministry should go mobile. First, let’s revisit the quote that started this:

“You read what others had done, and you took the next step. You didn’t earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don’t take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could…You were so preoccupied with whether you could that you didn’t stop to think if you should.” – Dr. Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) in Jurassic Park

Some pretty solid wisdom from a movie about dinosaurs. That and if you are ever confronted by a T-Rex don’t move at all – they can’t see you if you don’t move. I digress!

Just because you could deploy a mobile pregnancy center, doesn’t mean that you should. You have to do a God check and then you have to do a reality check about both the equipment and the operations of a ministry such as this.

The God Check

First and foremost, mobile pregnancy center ministry is not something you choose to do. It must be something you are called to do. In nine years as the pioneer and leader of the mobile pregnancy center movement, we have learned this is not something a center decides to do. The very origin of our ministry began with God speaking into the heart of our Founder. He told her to reach more abortion determined women and save more babies she had to get outside the walls of the pregnancy center. He told her to GO TO, rather than wait for, the women in the community who were considering abortion. She heard God’s calling, she obeyed and the very first mobile pregnancy center ministry in the world was born. The evidence and metrics are undeniable, this works. Mobile pregnancy center ministry may be the most innovative and effective tool in life affirming ministry since the ultrasound machine. That said, it must be a calling.

If you are a pregnancy center or ministry thinking this might be for you then you must first acknowledge God (1 Chronicles 28:9-10). Acknowledge His sovereignty in your ministry, let go of those things you have been hanging on to and let God take control. This might mean letting go of a sattelite office (mobile is VASTLY less expensive by the way), it might mean releasing a program that you love but isn’t very effective or it might mean making hard decisions about other things with your ministry. If God is calling you, and you have affirmed that through prayer and consult with others, the you must obey regardless of the cost. If you are called and you don’t act, if you don’t follow His call wholeheartedly, the your acknowledgment of Him is empty. When you surrender it all to God, letting go of everything in your ministry, and let Him make the decisions and set the direction, you will know pretty quickly if deploying a mobile pregnancy center is what the Lord wants you to do.

Pure motives are critical (1 Chronicles 28:9-10). Make sure your motives are pure. You can’t go mobile for any other reason but to honor and glorify God and serve women in His name. If you are doing it because it will bring more donors (which it will), or if you are doing it to bring more clients to your center (which it will), or if you are doing it for any number of other reasons that are about you or your center it is not likely to work.

ICU Mobile does not advertise our ministry work to pregnancy centers. We do not send out fliers, emails or make calls to “sell” mobile pregnancy center ministry. Sure, we could do this and likely expand the Fleet exponentially much more quickly but we do not believe it will honor God and allow for His perfect will to move in the hearts of those He calls to this work. We are currently speaking with over 90 pregnancy centers around the world about deploying a mobile ultrasound / mobile pregnancy center vehicle. They call called ICU Mobile. Most of them have done so because they feel they have been called to mobile pregnancy center ministy. They believe they have been called to GO serve women, GO save lives and GO share Jesus.

Going mobile is not something you choose to do. No, you have to hear God’s calling to mobile pregnancy center ministry, you have to acknowledge Him by answering the call and you have to make sure your motives are pure – you want to honor God, serve women in His name and share the Gospel.

This is the difference between could you go mobile and should you go mobile. God will tell you if you should.

During the Civil War, major revivals broke out in both armies. In the Union Army, between 100,000 and 200,000 soldiers were converted; among Confederate forces, approximately 150,000 troops converted to Christ. Perhaps 10 percent of all Civil War soldiers experienced conversions during the conflict.

Dwight. L. Moody (D.L. Moody) was a great 19th Century preacher and evangelist. So much remains of the work of love achieved by the tireless efforts of Moody and the students who have been trained by his commitment to the evangelism of lost souls.

The pure beginnings of the Chicago Chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) are owed to Moody. Of course, he founded the Moody Bible Institute.

That is the D.L. Moody most people know.

However, most are unaware of his work during the American Civil War. When war broke out he found himself ministering and preaching to the young soldiers of the Union Army. Many of these young men were innocent farm boys who discovered new temptations they had not encountered prior to joining the Army. With the faithful preaching of Moody, countless young men responded to his unconventional approach to immediate conversion.

As the War lingered and casualty lists lengthened, Moody felt called to personally shepherd these broken boys who had been so cheery when they left home so he became a Chaplain in the Union Army. In March of 1862, Moody found himself at the Battle of Shiloh in Tennessee. Among the repulsive wounds, horrific amputations and dead men, Chaplain Moody shared the urgent message that could immediately make an eternal difference by simply asking, “Are you a Christian?”

It was at Shiloh that he was assigned to a hospital ship on the Tennessee River with four hundred and fifty wounded men, most of them mortally. According to eye witnesses, Moody, “. . . would not let a man die on the boat without telling him of Christ and heaven…he would tell them of Christ as he gave them a cup of cold water.” Coming near a boy dying from shock and loss of blood, Moody gave him brandy and water in hopes he would revive long enough to speak.

A friend of the soldier was close by and told Moody they were from the same small town; that the dying boy was the only son of a widow. Knowing this mother would be anxious to receive a word from her dying son, Moody asked if his mother was a Christian. The friend acknowledged that she was. The mortally wounded soldier came to for a moment and Moody asked if he knew where he was. “I am on my way home to mother,” he said weakly. Informed the youth would die before reaching his mother, Moody shared the Gospel and encouraged the young man to commit his life to Christ. Moody sought the soldier’s last words for his mother. “Tell my mother . . . that I died . . . trusting in Christ.”

Not content to simply stay in Illinois, Moody heard God’s call to GO to the front lines of the Civil War. To GO to places where horror, brutality and death were common place. Battlefields of the American Civil War were not for the faint of heart. The weaponry was more advanced than the tactics and the gruesome carnage and human destruction that resulted left macabre scenes all over the farms, fields and small towns of America. Undeterred, Moody vowed that no man would die without hearing the Gospel and having an opportunity to commit their life to Christ.

D.L. Moody is a great example for those of us in the mission field of life affirming crisis pregnancy centers and mobile pregnancy center ministry. His unwavering commitment to serve others in the name of Christ stands as a beacon light of encouragement and a model for how to serve faithfully by imitating Christ. Like Moody, we must be willing to GO to those in need rather than wait for them. We must be willing to GO to women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and considering abortion. We must GO to the places, neighborhoods and communities where most will not or cannot go so that we may be more effective. We must GO and get outside of our comfort zone; meeting women in crisis right where they are regardless of how “safe” it might be. Our mission must be to imitate Jesus, serve others in His name, save lives and share the Gospel.

D.L. Moody heard and answered the call to GO.

Is the Lord calling you to GO? Will you answer, “Here I am, send me.”

If you are a crisis pregnancy center considering mobile pregnancy center ministry, if you feel called to go to abortion minded women with a mobile ultrasound vehicle, we would love to pray with you and discuss how you can become a member of the ICU Mobile Fleet. Click to learn more or email us at gomobile@icumobile.org.

What should we call a person who performs abortions?

I recently read a Christian pro-life blog that said we should call abortionists “child killers”. I agree that someone who performs abortions kills babies/children, even the more intellectually honest of the pro-abortion movement concede this point. However, should we really call them “child killers”? Isn’t “abortionist” sufficient and the more appropriate name to use?

For those of us who are Christian and in pro-life ministry, we should pause for a moment before we speak and ask ourselves if using the term “child killer” represents who we are in Christ.

God’s Word is the only reasonable place to turn for guidance. We should examine how Scripture instructs us and Paul’s words in Ephesians 4:29 seem to be appropriate:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

First we probably need to define what is, “unwholesome talk” exactly. Well, it’s not defined by popular culture, by politicians, or by those on either side of the abortion argument. It is defined by God’s Word and the answer is found in the second part of the same verse: “…only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs…” This clearly defines the “only” type of talk that should come from our mouths. From that, we learn that “unwholesome talk” is anything opposite.

The words we choose should NOT be selected according to our needs, the needs of society or the needs of a cause – no matter how just. No, the words we choose should be chosen “according to their needs”. While very difficult, this means we must set aside our needs and know the needs of others before we speak; in the case of this discussion, the needs of the abortionist. I can think of no greater need for an abortionist than to know Jesus.

It is important to note that in this Scripture, Paul is not talking about building up other believers. No, this section in chapter 4 is titled “Living as Children of Light”. This is to point out that, as Christians, we are “light” in a dark world and our behavioral living must reflect this truth. In verse 18 it says that those not of the light are:

…darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.

While an abortionists behavior is reprehensible, immoral and a violation of God’s law, we must recognize that they perform abortions because their hearts are hardened; they are sinners who do not know Christ. They are lost in the clutches of satan who wants to keep them in the dark so they will keep killing babies. Abortionists are often blinded by greed and the misguided thought they are actually helping women; supporting freedom of choice. These are the rationalizations of sin and only serve to cause them to fall further into a very fallen world. When a person is in this state they have a very difficult time making good decisions and deciding what is right and what is wrong. Judgment is clouded by sin. How can we expect someone in this condition to suddenly see what they are doing as wrong and just stop?

As Christians, we should recognize that we were once lost, enslaved to our sin and we too were given over to satan’s effort to keep us in darkness.

Jason, a dear friend and brother in Christ, shared something with me this morning on this topic. He said, it is highly doubtful that Jesus would have spoken to an abortionist with name calling such as “child killer”. We even have an example to support this. When Jesus engaged the Samarian woman at the well, a woman who had lived a life of promiscuity and other sins, He did not call her a “whore”. Rather, He spoke the truth about her behavior with great love; avoiding name calling and allowed her heart to become convicted of her sin through God.

Abortionists are killing babies. This is not in dispute. However, calling them “child killer” and a host of other names does not serve to help them “according to their needs.” And an abortionists’ highest “need” is to know a God who loves them and will have mercy on them if they repent, turn away from their sin and fall into the redemptive arms of Christ.

The end of Ephesians 4:29 says our words should, “…benefit those who listen.” Undoubtedly, there is no one who needs to listen more than an abortionist. They will not listen if the words we use in addressing them are not structured according to their needs.

As followers of Jesus part of the responsibility to reveal the redemptive truth of Christ falls upon us. As such, we should avoid using any language that offends people in contexts that it would be a hindrance to sharing the Gospel and introducing people to Jesus. Christian leaders, especially those of us in the pro-life ministry, have an even higher responsibility to avoid using language that would be a hindrance to the Gospel.

Calling an abortionist “child killer”, or any other host of derogatory names, is a hindrance to introducing them to Jesus and Christ alone is the ONLY way an abortionist will turn from their sin, throw down their abortion instruments, repent and stop killing babies.

A few years ago, while I was on vacation, I read the book Let’s Roll. It is the moving, behind-the-scenes story of United Flight 93 hero Todd Beamer and his widow Lisa, whose undeniable faith in the face of horrific tragedy is inspirational. Over this past weekend, I read it again.

The passengers who counter attacked the hijackers of United flight 93 that fateful day in September demonstrated that when crisis strikes, ordinary people often rise to the occasion. They took a stand and likely prevented even more destruction and death by sacrificing themselves.

In a taped phone conversation Todd Beamer, a professing Christian, recited the Lord’s prayer and Psalm 23. Then he prayed, “Jesus, help me,” before leading the attack on the hijackers. I am sure he and his fellow passengers were frightened beyond imagination. But, faced with this fear and this challenge, his faith in Christ kicked in. Uttering those now famous words, “Let’s roll!”, he took action. We all know that his story, and the story of those passengers, ended in a farmer’s field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The pregnancy resource centers who deploy mobile pregnancy centers in our Fleet, and the staff who serve on these life saving Mobiles, are hero’s of another sort. They have been called to mobile pregnancy center ministry by God. Make no mistake, it is a calling. Going mobile is not something a pregnancy center just decides to do because it is one of the most innovative and effective tools in pro-life or pregnancy center ministry today. While that may be true, mobile pregnancy center minstry is also uniquely difficult.

Pregnancy centers who partner with ICU Mobile and join the Fleet for Little Feet are called by God to make a stand for Him as a strategic part of His plan to serve, love and save. His strategic plan to end abortion. A plan that involves purposely going to women in crisis. One that involves revealing life, via a free ultrasound, to women considering abortion. A plan that saves the lives of the unborn in staggering numbers. And a plan that leads these women, their friends and their families to saving faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

We should be asking ourselves, are we ready for our “Let’s roll” moment? We must continue to prepare ourselves spiritually, morally and even physically to act when God calls us to the highly effective mission field of mobile pregnancy center ministry.

When God asks, “Whom shall I send”, will we answer, “Here I am, send me” (Isaiah 6:8)?

This is every bit as much a life and death situation as that day on United flight 93. Lives hang in the balance – the lives of the unborn and the eternal lives of a hurting and dying world.

If you are a pregnancy center considering mobile pregnancy center ministry, if you feel called to go to abortion minded women with a mobile ultrasound vehicle, we would love to pray with you and discuss how you can become a member of the ICU Mobile Fleet. Click to learn more or email us at gomobile@icumobile.org.

“I want you to paint it.” said Pope Julius II.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, stunned and overwhelmed said, “The job is beyond me.”

“Nonsense,” said Pope Julius. He was determined that his vision for the blank slate of the vast Sistine Chapel would be realized and Michelangelo was the guy.

So began the immense, overwhelming task.

Month after month, each day was monotonously the same. Michelangelo worked alone, silently, lying back on an unsteady scaffold and painting the ceiling over his head. Paint often dripped into his eyes. His arms and back and legs and neck ached from being cramped on the scaffolding and contorting himself day in and day out. He would often forget to eat. He wouldn’t sleep. Even when ill from exhaustion he would not stop. It was an excruciatingly difficult job that he did not want. Now, he was determined to finish painting the image that was floating around in his mind.

Four years later, Michelangelo painted the last stroke on a corner of the ceiling, letting his brush drop to his side, it was finished. The aching, filthy, lonely and determined painter had finished a masterpiece. Imagine the trust it took for Michelangelo to look at the vast ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and dip his brush in paint for the first time, swiping the first bits of color onto that enormous blank ceiling.

The Israelites probably felt the same way when they learned that they could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1-5). I imagine they wondered about the task ahead. Why should they leave the relative comforts of Persia and travel to a place where very difficult and dangerous work awaited them? God moved their hearts. But the first step on this long and difficult journey home was up to them. As they stepped out on faith and trusted God, he guided their steps and provided for their needs.

And so it is with the call to deploy a mobile ultrasound vehicle. Mobile pregnancy center ministry is difficult and daunting. Satan does not want to let go of his death grip of abortion and he knows these Mobiles loosen that grip.

We see it all the time; pregnancy centers make the decision to join our Fleet and the spiritual battle kicks into overdrive. Center director family members suddenly become ill, boards of directors who previously couldn’t wait to deploy their mobile suddenly become paralyzed with fear and key players who had committed to staffing the Mobile find themselves moving away due to personal circumstances.

We even see it those centers we are in conversation with about deploying a mobile pregnancy center. They feel the heart tug of God calling them to this unique, innovative and highly effective brand of pro-life ministry but they are unsure and unsettled by the task that lay ahead.

If God is calling you to GO to abortion minded women rather than waiting for them, if He is calling to you to GO save the unborn and GO make disciples then it may be time to step out on faith and trust Him. He guided the steps of the Israelites and He will guide yours on the journey of deploying a mobile pregnancy center.

If God is calling you to make an important move or decision, rest secure in the knowledge that if your first step aligns with his your last will be more likely to align as well.

If you are a pregnancy center considering mobile ministry, if you feel called to go with a mobile ultrasound vehicle, we would love to pray with you and discuss how you can become a member of the ICU Mobile Fleet. Click to learn more or email us at gomobile@icumobile.org.

Standing up for the unborn in the name of God is not easy. The spiritual battle over abortion is enormous and the powers of darkness are all around.

Mobile pregnancy center ministry isn’t easy either. It is distinctly different than traditional brick and mortar pregnancy center ministry and being different presents the opportunity for greater effectiveness and better results. But greater effectiveness and better results will make the spiritual warfare far worse. The evil one doesn’t like seeing babies saved from abortion. The evil one also doesn’t like to see women, sometimes entire families, surrendering their lives to Christ.

Throughout our Fleet, each day brings a new battle. Thankfully, the battle is not ours, it is God’s. He asks us to GO out and meet the enemy though. Sometimes, we forget that.

King Jehoshaphat found himself face-to-face with a battle much like this. A huge army marched toward Jerusalem and the outcome did not look promising. By the time that army would reach Judah, the problem would be enormously difficult to overcome. In 2 Chronicles 20:3 we read King Jehoshaphat was “Alarmed” and “resolved to inquire of the Lord”. He looked right past the trouble. Faced with a challenge that seemed destined to destroy Judah, the king turned to Someone who is never overwhelmed.

For those of us in the midst of pro-life ministry, and ministry is MUCH different than pro-life work, our prayer should be like that Jehoshaphat’s: “Lord, we know you’re in charge. So, we choose to recognize this trouble, all these difficulties, as your problem, not just ours. We admit that we can’t handle this situation, yet it needs to be resolved. What do you say, Lord?” (2 Chronicles 20:5-12)

What should we expect when we do this?

It is critical to notice how God responded to Jehoshaphat’s prayer. God answered, but He didn’t promise to help Judah win the battle. Instead, He said He’d fight for His people. Could the King have anticipated this answer? Can we? There are times in our lives as well when God’s good answers surprise us. But notice, Jehoshaphat still had his marching orders. He still had work to do. God told him not to be afraid (not once, but two times), not to be discouraged (also two times), to march out, to take positions and to GO out and face the enemy (2 Chronicles 10:17). By the time the people had completed God’s instructions, the battle was over. God had won.

Did you see that word GO again? We use that word a lot at ICU Mobile. In one word it succinctly sums up what we do and how we partner with pregnancy centers to go to women in crisis rather than wait for them to come to us. It is simply obeying the great commission (Matthew 28:19), imitating Christ (John 4:4, Ephesians. 5:1) and following the Lord’s instructions to GO and face the enemy (2 Chronicles 10:17).

The battle is not ours, it is God. He calls on us to GO out and face the enemy knowing He is with us. GO to abortion minded women. GO save the unborn. GO make disciples.

Will you GO with us?

If you would like to financially support the ministry of ICU Mobile, please click here to make a one time donation or commit to monthly giving. Every dollar matters. You can GO with us into battle to serve women, save babies and share the love of Jesus.

Who says we can’t overcome our past?

When Asa assumed the throne as the King of Judah, he also inherited a terrible family tradition. For three generations his family had led the nation in the practice of pagan worship with all its sexual immorality and moral and spiritual decay. Asa knew that changing these long-established practices would alienate him from his relatives. He determined that pleasing God was more important than pleasing his family. So King Asa destroyed all evidence of idol worship in Israel and repaired the altar of the Lord.

He even removed his grandmother from her powerful and influential position as queen mother. Imagine the grief he received after that decision!

Most important, Asa led Judah back to worshipping the one true God (2 Chronicles 15:1-19). He changed the course of his own personal life and in the process changed the course of the nation he led for as long as he held his position.

Such is the case with the clients we reach every day in our fleet of mobile pregnancy centers. The teams that staff the Mobiles come face to face with women and their friends and families who often have inherited patterns of behavior that they know are wrong and aren’t pleasing to God. Some of them come from families that have ignored, or even ridiculed, the practice of worship and the presence of God in the family’s life. Still others come from a past of abuse, neglect and unfaithfulness that prevent them from becoming the woman God wants them to be.

Many of them are under great pressure from boyfriends, parents, friends and other family members to have an abortion. Often, choosing life and honoring God means alienating relatives. This is why ICU Mobile is not just about saving babies and pro-life work. We can’t be. It would be irresponsible of us. Simply saving the unborn without addressing the pattern of behavior, hurt and pain in in the lives of our clients would only be setting them up for a return visit to the Mobile – or worse.

Enter God through the ministry of ICU Mobile and the Mobile Teams who serve women in crisis. Every mobile pregnancy center in our Fleet offers hope, encouragement and love. We not only use an ultrasound to reveal life  growing inside of our clients, but our counselors invest time in showing these women and their families they do not have to continue these negative traditions. They can make different decisions; they can change with God’s help. This change in their heart and life can have a long-lasting impact on not only themselves but on the lives of those they influence on a daily basis; namely, the unborn child in their womb. Talk about breaking generational sin!

Is such transition for these women easy? Not usually. But we know that almost all of them are receptive to changes in their life. They want hope for a future and that hope is found in God through Jesus.

If you would like to financially support the ministry of ICU Mobile, please click here to make a one time donation or commit to monthly giving. Every dollar matters. You can GO with us to serve women and help them break the past.

When my daughter Lexi was a little girl (she is now 13) we used to go on Daddy-Daughter dates. Her favorite place was McDonalds. It was a special time – just me, her and Ronald McDonald. I remember once when she was pleasantly enjoying her Happy Meal, and the incredibly cheap toy that accompanies it, and I reached over to snatch a french fry. Special time or not, Lexi moved my hand away, encircled her Happy Meal with her arms and said, “Daddy, you can’t have one. Those aren’t your fries. They’re mine.”

I remember thinking to myself, “I drove her here, I ordered the food and I paid for it. So, whos fries were they, really?”

I think God may have similar thoughts toward us when we become possessive. We sometimes push Him away, throw our arms around our possessions and say, “This stuff is mine!” Yet really, whose stuff is it? God owns it all. He gives all good things in life. He gives us the strength to work, healthy minds and bodies and the motivation to achieve. He gave us this wonderful ministry at ICU Mobile, He built it, He has sustained it and He alone has grown it.

In 1 Chronicles 29:10-20, David’s prayer for the gifts that God’s people gave to build the temple reflects this truth. David understood that each of these gifts truly came from God, not the people themselves.

Thousands of years later this truth remains the same. Everything we have comes from God. We are managers, not owners, of what God places in our trust. The days we live, the positions we fill, the people we influence, the homes we inhabit, the money in our accounts – they all belong to God.

I was once asked, while standing next to one of the mobile pregnancy centers in our Fleet, “whose RV is that?” As I was about to launch into an explanation of ICU Mobile and what we do, I was stopped in my tracks. I paused, thought for a moment, and replied, “Well, this is God’s RV, it’s His mobile pregnancy center.” ICU Mobile is the pioneer and leader of mobile pregnancy center ministry. We do not say that to boast, except to boast in what God has done to make that statement true. He did it all and He alone deserves the credit.

Of all the things we have, perhaps acknowledging that our money belongs to God is the hardest. I rememember a quote from Martin Luther on this. He wrote:

“There are three conversions necessary: the conversion of the heart, the mind, and the purse. Of these three, it may well be that we find the conversion of the purse most difficult”

Recently, a donor made a significant financial gift to the capital fund of our ministry. This fund is restricted for the purchase of the mobiles, equipment and preparedness of the mobile pregnancy centers in our fleet. The donor, a strong Christian man, clearly understands that the money in their account is not theirs, it is God’s. They also understand that the Mobile’s in our Fleet are not ours, they are also God’s. Connecting the two enables us to honor and glorify the Lord by serving women in crisis, saving the unborn and sharing the love of Jesus with a hurting world. Their generosity and commitment to the Kingdom is humbling and convicting.

God doesn’t need our money. He wants what our money represents. He wants our heart. We shouldn’t build a barricade around possessions and money to keep God away. Give Him our heart and watch how He orders and provides all that we need.

If you would like to financially support the ministry of ICU Mobile, please click here to make a one time donation or commit to monthly giving. Every dollar matters. You can GO with us to save the unborn and share the love of Jesus.