We love celebrating mothers and fathers. We would not be here without them and we look for every opportunity to celebrate all their hard work, love, kindness, and sacrifice.
This summer we celebrated motherhood with the Pregnancy Resource Center in Tennessee who empowered Hannah to choose life for her daughter. Hannah’s story inspires us all. After confirming her pregnancy, she gave her life to Christ, maintained sobriety, and decided to be the hero for her little girl.
After She Chose life
Hannah’s pregnancy was not without difficulty nor was it without support from her community. When Save the Storks filmed Hannah’s story in November 2018, we filmed part of it in a local church. The youth pastor of that church invited Hannah to come back and share her story with the youth group. A few weeks later she did just that, sharing the journey of her life and the ways God won her heart. Hannah lead the youth in worship and inspired the students to keep following Jesus.
“It was amazing to see our youth rally around Hannah. They surrounded her, loved her, and became dear friends with her,” explained Pastor Jason. “I started getting updates about Hannah and how she was doing from our students because they all followed her on social media and would check in on her constantly.”
At a county-wide youth conference, Hannah sang and shared her story with them all. While she sang, she experienced some pre-term labor. A nurse was there and recognized the symptoms and ensured that Hannah did not have to drive home. One of the pastors drove her car home only to realize that Hannah’s car was in terrible condition and, in fact, should not be driven any longer.
Hannah’s pregnancy complications forced her to avoid as much activity as possible and without a car she was unable to continue working. Without a job or vehicle, she was at a loss for how to pay rent. But that is when the community again rallied around her. Individuals contributed financially to help cover her expenses.
“We have to do something for Hannah!” said the youth group with a unified voice. Some students headed up the charge to raise money to buy Hannah a car. They spoke at churches, college groups, and other community events. Together they collected change in their “Change for Change” campaign. One student was so impacted by the mission of helping Hannah, she told her mother “this is what I want to do with my life.” Her mother founded a pregnancy center in Kentucky and couldn’t be more proud of her daughter’s passion.
As the church fundraised to get a car, The Pregnancy Resource Center walked alongside Hannah each step of the way. They visited her, loved her, and became an extended family of support for her. As she neared the end of the pregnancy, Hannah found a huge delivery of baby supplies on her front porch left by the loving staff of the PRC.
Save the Storks heard about all that the church and PRC was doing to help Hannah and contributed toward the vehicle. We are always inspired by those who rally around a mom who is in need. It is an honor to be part of the movement of helping moms and saving babies.
“When a lot of people to a little, God can do great things.” – Pastor Jason
Sunday, May 12, members of our Storks team witnessed this amazing event. Hannah shared her story in front of the entire congregation at Maryville Baptist Church before singing a song she wrote when she found out she was pregnant. Following the service, a small reception was held in Hannah’s honor. There, the pastor spoke words from scripture over her life and everyone squeezed in close to gawk at Hannah’s sweet daughter, McKinley.
Valerie, the Executive Director at The Pregnancy Resource Center, handed Hannah a small gift. Inside, she read a note that invited her outside to the parked Stork Bus. The crowd followed as Hannah walked to the bus wondering what was happening. Inside, she found another small gift with another note saying that she needed to walk around the bus to the other side.
Hannah had no idea what she would find. Later she said, “I just thought maybe there would be a basket of baby supplies or something.” To her shock, Hannah met her new car. Her jaw dropped and her hand quickly clung to her surprised face.
Pastor Jason told her the story about how the youth group, PRC, Save the Storks and other individuals came together to provide for her need.
Hannah’s Dad was fighting tears as he leaned over and said, “Just this morning I was wondering what in the world we could do to fix Hannah’s car situation. We’ve been so financially strained; we just didn’t know what to do.”
“Open the trunk!” someone shouted in excitement. Hannah opened it to find the floor covered in hand-written notes from the youth group. Each note filled with encouragement for Hannah and expressing love from the heart of each student.
The student who led the mission of fundraising for this car, stood off to the side with tears streaming down her face. She had the honor of handing Hannah the keys before all the emotion hit her. She again reiterated that this, helping women and babies in need, is what she wants to do with her life.
This day will not be forgotten by those who attended this beautiful event and witnessed what God can do through his people. It is amazing to participate in God’s work and to see what he can do when people come together in love, compassion, and action.
This is what it means to be pro-life. This is what it means to be pro-woman. Thank you to Maryville Baptist Church, The Pregnancy Resource Center, and all of you who make it possible for Save the Storks to support moms and babies like Hannah and McKinley. We are so thankful to celebrate life together.
