Articles

Our greatest convictions are learned by those who choose to lead in our homes. The bible says “train up a child in the way he will go and he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6). This is a clear direction and promise, that if we invest in our children, it is a solid investment. As we get older, it is easier to see the value and impact of a solid foundation in our children…and in their children. The fight in defense of life is starting much earlier than ever before. With the disturbing and extremely aggressive life-ending abortion policies coming out of NY, Chicago, and other major areas, the cultural value of life has been dismantled and degraded.

So how do we win this war on women and children? How do we save the next generation? The answer is by intentionally investing time teaching them about their identity in Christ. It isn’t a preference, our identity in Christ is God-given, it's perfect, it’s unparalleled and we are beautifully and perfectly made in the image of the awesome and inspiring Creator of all things. It is by teaching them that their decision for life isn’t really a choice at all, once conceived our identity is a truth that cannot be denied. Every life is precious, every life has a purpose. How God made us uniquely, with our own DNA, never to be duplicated, at the very moment of conception, should be protected to the highest level. At that miracle moment, a unique person, male or female is created, their building blocks for development are in place like their eye color, hair color, and blood type. They are fearfully and wonderfully made and our souls know this well.

The most powerful way to ensure our children know this is by raising them to value their God-given identity. Raising them up to be grounded in the Word of God and not the worldly cultural trends offered by their social environment with the new cultural norms which wish to take away the firm foundation that God has so carefully and purposefully given them. What they learn at home really does influence their worldview and life trajectory.

Sadly, our children’s schools have been infiltrated with undesirable information being presented to young children before it even becomes an issue on the playgrounds. Children are exposed to a variety of culturally charged information – usually inaccurate and crude – and are willingly taught it at school and online.

We encourage you to personally lead for your children’s sake in these areas of cultural confusion. Teach your children about the unparalleled blessing of their unique life, their purposeful identity as a boy or a girl, and how God created each and every one of us in his perfect image. It’s a beautiful opportunity to teach them our strength found in scripture and to reinforce the fact that none of us are ever a mistake, because God doesn’t make mistakes.

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. – Psalm 139:13-16

According to statistics, almost half of the pregnancies in America are unplanned. According to scripture, absolutely 100% of pregnancies are planned by God. 

Many women who are surprised by a positive pregnancy test continue on with the pregnancy, ready and willing to care for a baby they never expected but that they joyfully welcome. We rejoice with them as they accept that even though they may have planned on 3 children, God’s plans are almost never the same as our own. For those women who are devastated by an unplanned pregnancy, there is hope for them, too.

As our ministry sets out each day to reach women who have found themselves in an unthinkable situation, our prayer is to have the message and the heart that relays God’s love for them. We want to help them consider that an unexpected baby is God moving within her life for a purpose greater than what she can understand at that moment. The one thing we do know, is that purpose will eventually be revealed. Probably not that day, maybe not by the time the baby is born, but at the right time, God will make it be known to each woman the purpose He has for her and her child.

With the loudness of the pro-choice/pro-abortion movement, sometimes it can be difficult for some women to hear that message of hope. There are so many messages coming from the media, Planned Parenthood, and women’s rights organizations that tell women that if they didn’t plan that baby, then they shouldn’t want that baby. Our message of hope must become louder than their message of despair. 

Through Mary, God showed us centuries ago that even the most unlikely and undesirable circumstances of an unexpected pregnancy great blessing and prosperity can come from it. Each time we park a mobile unit in a neighborhood, and even one woman steps on board, we have confident hope that she will see just how planned and expected her baby really is. 

“…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40:31

Feeling led to support the mission of mobile ultrasound? We invite you to visit our secure donation page at https://www.icumobile.org/donate. Your financial support is an answered prayer to our team and encouragement to the women we serve. 

God is known for showing up in the middle of hard situations, providing a quiet strength with a solid foundation. Our opposition can be loud, but the size of the enemies’ roar doesn’t ensure a victory. The pro-abortion movement is loud. Women who face an unexpected pregnancy are hearing empty promises and offers of help from places like Planned Parenthood. However, when God’s people stand together as one, our voice can be heard. Our voice of hope can reach them. Our message of truth can ring out and be heard by the women who need us. As the pro-life movement grows, so does our impact on the women who will receive the true freedom.  

God commanded us to be the hands and feet of Jesus, to be salt and light to the world (Matt. 5:13-16). Our foundation of faith compels us to do all of this and our biggest hope is to save and change lives, one at a time, not just by being loud, but by offering the exact message women need to hear when they need it the most. The fleet across our country of the mobile medical units are those hands and feet. 

When woman have options and the ability to make choices, they are empowered to take control of their lives. We want that for them, and we want that control to be guided by the love of a Savior. A Savior who shows them that the only true choice is life. Only one life needed to be given up. His. All others receive freedom through His sacrifice and promise of a future (Jer. 29:11). Freedom isn’t found in abortion. A lifetime of bondage to regret and darkness can be the only result in a choice to terminate life.

At ICU Mobile, we take our resources on the road, into the places where women need us. Every street we travel receives the message of our mission through the very presence of our mobile units. Yes, we provide ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, and guidance to every woman who turns to us for resources and answers. More importantly, we offer each woman the resource to choose eternal life for herself. A woman who hears and knows that she is worthy, that she is valued, and that there is no shame in her situation, is empowered to choose life. She’ll choose life with confidence and peace. She’ll choose life knowing that Jesus chose life for her so her greatest calling is to choose life for her own child. And, she’ll choose life knowing that life is what truly sets her free. (Gal. 5:1).

Being a daughter of the One True King is the ultimate empowerment a woman needs because of the incredible sacrifice that’s already been made for her and her children. True freedom through faith.

For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11 

Interested in learning how you can help ICU Mobile and mobile ministries across the country? Click for more information.

Prayer, faith and sheer courage. This is how the story of ICU Mobile starts. It is more common than we like to admit that when we pray and get direction from God, we can tend to ignore it.  We question what we hear and our minds can wander and just like Moses, believing that we don’t have what it takes to do the job. Somehow believing the doubts and internal fears that we’re not capable of doing the big things God puts in our paths. Perhaps this is why it says “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, what he has in store for us.”  If we really knew the magnitude we might question it even more. 

ICU Mobile founder, Sylvia Slifko & her husband Steve are, in some ways, a modern day Moses.  Hearing and taking steps forward to deliver God’s people, especially the children, from death.  ICU Mobile wouldn’t be here today had Sylvia set that whisper aside. Since 2003, Sylvia and her husband, Steve, have dedicated their lives to God’s prompting to show pregnant, abortion-minded women their babies through mobile ultrasound units.

So how did it all come together? God is so faithful and he didn’t just drop an idea in Sylvia’s lap and leave her to figure it all out. He brought forward a man who would lead her to the RV that would become the very first mobile unit, He brought forward a man who would design the vehicle, and He even brought her a doctor. An OB/GYN had recently closed his practice but was interested in helping on the mobile unit and a sonographer felt led by God to use her skills at a pregnancy center. On and on, the Lord continued to bring forward affordable and/or donated equipment and items needed to make the mobile unit fully operational.

Sylvia has the vision to see more and more mobile units not only in the United States but around the world. Imagine what a mobile unit could mean to women in countries who have limited access to pregnancy care and resources! Together, we can save lives, truly empower women, and share the gospel without boundaries.

You can help continue the work of this ministry that to date has seen tens of thousands of women, seeing many choose life for both their baby and their eternity. (since 2016 we have seen over 27,000 visitors come on the mobiles with 14,000+ clients, 8,500+ ultrasounds, 7,000+ decisions for life and over 400 decisions for Christ) and bring Sylvia’s vision to reality by donating today. With our upcoming gala and matching donations, your financial support can be doubled creating an even wider impact on the areas we can serve through ultrasound and pregnancy services.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6

We understand the mobile unit is a little unexpected and uncommon, but rest assured, the mobile unit provides every level of expertise you find in a pregnancy care center or obstetrics office. Possibly even more.

We offer physician-led case management, licensed nurses, trained ultrasound technicians and intake staff. All at no charge. 

Coming on board a mobile medical unit with ICU Mobile doesn’t mean compromising on care. It results in confident pregnancy testing to verify the pregnancy, ultrasound technicians who provide those first images of the growing life inside you, and doctors who will follow your care and provide referrals to any additional resources or services you may need. You will be cared for by medically trained professionals who want only the best for you and your baby. 

Along with trained, licensed professionals, we carry equipment on board to provide all the services and images you need in order to gain all the information necessary to make a decision for life. Our goal is for you to have a healthy pregnancy which is made possible by our investment in equipment, services and people who are not only capable, but excel at providing you everything you need as you begin this new season of life.

Our team not only has the professional training for their jobs, they have servant hearts. They want to introduce you to a relationship with a loving God who has provided salvation for you so that you may walk confidently through your pregnancy knowing Jesus is walking beside you. 

Next time you see an ICU Mobile unit in your community, please share the good news with others that there are medical professionals and current technology on board that help women facing an unplanned pregnancy. 

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” – 1 John 1:5

June 20th is just around the corner! The excitement around this year’s banquet, Fostering Life Together Celebration, might be at the highest level ever. Since 2003, we have seen thousands of lives saved and decisions made for Christ as a result of the mobile ministry fleet across this country. It’s no wonder we have been blessed with a $100,000 matching gift opportunity by ministry patrons wanting to see us expand even more. We want to be close to reaching that matching gift BEFORE this year’s gala begins! Will you help us meet the matching gift challenge?  

We invite you to join us live in person or on Livestream! Our keynote speaker is the one and only Nick Vujicic of Life Without Limbs Ministry. Nick’s story truly highlights the sanctity of life, the power of what life can be, do and create. Nick has overcome incredible odds and is living proof that every single life is valuable regardless of perceived limitations based on birth defects or any other reason for which many doctors today recommend abortion. Nick’s life is filled with stories of strength, hope, and ability even though he was born without arms or legs. We promise you will not want to miss this. 

In addition to having Nick with us at our gala on June 20th, you will get to meet and see some of the amazing front line workers. Our affiliates, who create the mobile fleet across the country, will be present for you to meet and hear their stories about how much of an impact your financial support is having. 

Your support of the mission of ICU Mobile truly changes lives. As an organization, our mission never waivers. We are here to reach thousands of women across the country facing a crisis pregnancy. Together, as we accomplish that goal, we have the added blessing of seeing lives saved by sharing with them the first look at the life they are carrying through ultrasound and providing them hope through Jesus. Register here to attend the banquet or contact us here if you would like to set up a live stream of the event.

We encourage you to register early in order to make sure you get a seat and we ask that you join in the excitement and give early! Be part of the miracle today! Use www.ICUMOBILE.org/Donate to make your donation which will qualify for the $100,000 matching gift opportunity!  These funds will be used to support the fleet and to specifically target states and major cities wherein 2016 there were 342,000 abortions, enough to fill the Ohio State Stadium nearly THREE AND A HALF times! We are excited at the opportunity and the challenge to reach the $100,000 goal before our gala event. Imagine what we can do together with just a little help from all of our friends like you.

Thank you a million times over.  We couldn’t do this without you!

Register to attend in person here

Register for live stream here

Donate today here

Our recent mobile tour took us to many cities and states and provided us wonderful opportunities to share how important it is that pregnant women have access to ultrasound services. We are grateful not only for a (relatively) smooth journey, but for the people who gathered in support, who prayed with us and for us, and who encouraged us to keep going.

Our final stop on the mobile tour was Times Square in New York City. The ultimate goal to broadcast a live 4D ultrasound on large screens to the people of the most lively city in America. And reach that goal, we did. With Focus on the Family leading the charge for this historical event, we were blessed to provide the ultrasound that allowed anyone watch in Times Square and on the livestream to see the beautiful face of Abby Johnson’s preborn baby.

As silence fell among the crowd, we knew this was a moment that will be forever remembered. This moment would create changed hearts, life choices, and new pro-life advocates.

Since the Alive From New York event, we’ve seen an increase in states passing tighter abortion restrictions, we’ve seen individuals given a new freedom to share their passion for the protection of life, and we’ve contributed to the creation of a new generation of advocates for life.

Each day that we devote to the life-saving practice of pregnancy ultrasound and advocating for the choice for life, is one day closer to building our society back to valuing the sanctity of life. With your help we will be able to realize the vision of having mobile ultrasound units in every community. This will mean in person, frontline care for women facing an unplanned pregnancy. It will provide the opportunity for women to get their very first look at their baby. It will result in more choices for life and more decisions for a walk with Christ.

Join us, as we step into the future.

Unexpected and uncommon is how our God works.  He brought us the miracle of salvation through the birth of a baby.  Jesus came and gave his life for all of us and also going to reach the least of these.  At ICU Mobile, we feel that if uncommon and unexpected methods to reach the least of these worked for him, this is a good model to follow.  At ICU Mobile, our ministry is dedicated to connecting with women where they are at their point of need and being easily available for them to get the care they need.  This is why the mobile unit.  Not everyone can get to a traditional clinic.  Sometimes a pro-life clinic isn’t in their area or they don’t have the transportation to get there.  This requires us to do the uncommon.  Bring it to them.  A little uncommon?  Yep, but you can’t argue with the results. 

Your donations allow us to work with and resource clinics with the ability to have mobile units.  This is a way they can extend their ministry and provide every level of expertise you might find in a pregnancy care center.

We offer physician-led case management, licensed nurses, trained ultrasound technicians, and intake staff.  Your gift makes it possible to do so all at no charge to our women. Yep, at no cost.  This is also uncommon!

So what happens when a woman comes on board a mobile medical unit provided by ICU Mobile?  She is greeted with a smile and the love of God.  She is provided confident pregnancy testing to verify the pregnancy, ultrasound technicians who provide those first images of the growing life inside of her and provide referrals to doctors who will follow her care, and any additional resources or services that might be needed.   She will be cared for by medically trained professionals who want only the best for her and the life inside of her.

Along with trained, licensed professionals, our units carry equipment on board to provide all the services and images needed in order to gain all the information necessary to make a decision for life. We want to see women be healthy.  We can women to have a healthy pregnancy.   This is made possible by this units investment in equipment, services, and people who are not only capable but excel at providing them with everything they need as they begin this new season of life.

Our fleet of mobile units not only have professional training for their jobs, they have servant's hearts. They share about a loving God who has provided salvation so women may walk confidently through their pregnancy knowing Jesus is walking beside them.

Next time you see an ICU Mobile unit in your community, realize that it is a little uncommon but we are ok with that. 

If you don’t see an ICU Mobile unit in your community and have questions about how to get one, let us know!

We would love for you to share our story with others that you think might be interested in supporting this mission.  Perhaps you know a clinic that would like to go mobile.  We would love to hear from them too. 

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”  Matthew 25:40

It’s necessary. It supports positive change. It should align with your values.

The bottom line is that money is the bottom line. But it’s not our foundation. That’s the difference you need to keep in mind when you give to ICU Mobile. Our mission exists because of the love of God. That is ICU Mobile’s foundation. It is the love of God that drives protecting the sanctity of the very lives He has created and to share the hope found in the Gospel. To carry out our mission, we need people, equipment, and other resources that cost money on an ongoing basis.

As you consider where your money goes each month, take a hard look at whether it aligns with your values. Do you despise abortion but still don’t give to pro-life organizations? Are you passionate about children, but your money doesn’t go where it impacts their health and their future? Have you felt called to “do more” but haven’t quite discerned what that means?

In pro-life organizations, the value of a dollar is much higher than its face value. The value is found in the impact that can be made with the resources it can purchase, in the people, it supports who are on the frontlines providing services to desperate, pregnant women with no one else to turn to. The dollar is mighty, but its value in the pro-life movement is much more powerful.

As a non-profit ministry, the services offered to centers with a mobile medical clinic and to the women being served are free. Pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, advocate services, and referral resources offered on the mobile clinics are all provided at no cost to every woman who approaches a mobile unit for help. Yet, all of these services and resources have costs that must be covered in order to provide them.

There has been no more urgent time to dedicate your financial support to pro-life ministries that are having a dramatic impact across this country. New laws have been passed that are causing a domino effect in almost every state, and the result will cause more devastation as supporters of those abortion laws become even more desensitized. We must bring value back to human life and share the hope we all can find in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

While our focus is on sharing the gospel with women to save both her life and the life of her child, our needs can be found in the financial support required for us to provide women with education, mobile clinics, resources for the mobile teams, and most importantly images of the child – the future – within her.

“In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  - Acts 20:35

Oftentimes during the Lenten season, we reflect on sacrifice. We determine what we can give up for 40 days in surrender to our Savior.

What if, instead of giving up on something, we commit to do something more? Doing something more can translate into giving up our comfort zones, to sacrificing our laziness, to give something of ourselves to others in need.

This year during Lent, we are boldly asking you to approach this time as a time of prayer and service and support to protect the unborn.

Pray – Prayers for those on the pro-choice side to experience an opening of their eyes to the loss of humanity. That they would understand the loss isn’t just an embryo or a fetus, it’s a human life a real person that deserves protection. Prayers for lawmakers to choose to defend life. Prayers for women to truly understand the power they have in the act of carrying their child to term and placing them for adoption if they are unable to care for them. Prayers for the continued healing of those who are regretting their abortion. Prayers for ICU Mobile’s continued growth, reaching every single woman in need.

Serve – Contact your local crisis pregnancy center and find out where you can give your time whether that’s filing papers or distributing brochures. Contact women’s shelters to see where you can serve women best who are homeless, pregnant, and hopeless. Contact ICU Mobile to determine volunteer opportunities to help share the good news of hope in life and in the Gospel.

Support – Donate to the efforts of ICU Mobile and pregnancy centers seeking to incorporate a mobile unit into their services. Taking ultrasound and other services into the neighborhoods and communities where women are in need. Your donation helps ensures being there for them. Perhaps start a rule of 3: Replace one coffee, one lunch out, and one small luxury each week with a donation to ICU Mobile. This could translate into roughly $35 per week or $140 per month in support of ICU Mobile’s services to women considering their options. It will make the difference in a life-saving decision.

As you consider your traditional approach to Lent, prayerfully consider the threefold approach to ways you can protect the unborn and make a difference for Christ’s Kingdom.