Birthright of Odessa Newsletter

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Dear friend,

Every spring brings new life and new experiences, but spring also brings the return of one of my favorite events of the year, our Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon.

In April, we celebrate the anniversary of Birthright and the amazing volunteers and supporters who make this ministry possible. It is only by the grace of God and the faithfulness of those who labor so diligently that Birthright has been able to minister to mothers and their children for the past 38 years. In addition to celebrating all of our volunteers, we use this occasion to honor our volunteer of the year as well as community and ministry supporters who give so much of themselves to the work of Birthright.
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The Nelda Scott Volunteer of the Year Award is given to the volunteer who has gone above and beyond in her service at Birthright. This year we honor Marcy Ward as our Volunteer of the Year. Marcy has been such a blessing during these uncertain times. She has joyfully filled in for others and given so much of her time and talents. Marcy is a great encouragement to everyone at Birthright and a tremendous asset for this ministry.

The Gregg & Jana McDonald Faithful Sustainer Award is given to the individual, couple, family or church who is especially faithful in their support of Birthright and its ministry to those in crisis pregnancies and their unborn children. This year's recipient is First Assembly of God in Odessa. The many baby showers they have given through the years have not only blessed the moms and babies, but they are also a great encouragement to the Birthright family to let us know we are not alone in our labors.

The Victoria Lozano Award is given to an individual or couple who show love and compassion in their support of pregnant women in crisis and their unborn children. This year's recipient is Wendy Hernandez of the Painted Potter. Wendy has supported Birthright with her talents as well as giving generously to the ministry. We have been given space in her pop-up events to be able to reach the community and have benefited from her wonderful artistry through her photography. We are incredibly blessed by Wendy's generosity and talents.

The Special Service Award is a newly instituted award to be given to those who step up in a time of need so that the work of Birthright can flourish. We had three wonderful recipients for this honor. Amy Cravey was our event speaker this year and did a fabulous job encouraging the community to become involved in the work of Birthright. Debbie Scott and Christy Batte stepped in and put together the annual event in a time of great uncertainty. The result was a spectacular event that was an enormous benefit to Birthright and continues to bear fruit.

Birthright is supported entirely by donations and run solely by volunteers. We receive no government funding and have no paid employees. But we have been able to flourish and reach many moms in our community because of your faithful support and gifts of your time and talents. There are many opportunities to support Birthright. Perhaps the most important is to pray for us. A guiding verse of Birthright is, “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6) We know that any plans or goals we make for Birthright of Odessa are useless without his leading, and we are so grateful for the prayer and support of his people.

If you would like to support Birthright with prayer, we have created a prayer schedule to help you pray daily for Birthright. With a different prayer focus for each day of the week, you can print out the schedule and post it on your refrigerator, tuck it into your bible, or keep it wherever you're likely to see it every day. You can download your printable prayer focus at birthrightodessa.org/pray or click on the button below.

Prayer Focus

Another simple (and free!) way you can support Birthright is by designating us as your Amazon Smile charity. When you shop through smile.amazon.com, all of your applicable purchases will then generate a small donation to Birthright with no additional cost to you. You can also find a wishlist of items we need for our moms and babies at BirthrightOdessa.org/wishlist. Of course, we are grateful to accept new or gently used items from other merchants. Just email us at contact@birthrightodessa.org to set up a time to drop off your donations. You can also donate online here.

We always need volunteers willing to join the work. In addition to the peer counselors who encourage women one-on-one, we have many opportunities to serve, including at-home and very occasional commitments. If you feel you are called to give your time to Birthright, fill out our volunteer interest form and we’ll be in touch! I can’t tell you how important volunteers are to the ministry of Birthright.

Volunteer Interest Form

As I look back over our 38 years ministering to mothers and their children in our community, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the faithfulness of God and the support of our community. Thank you being a steadfast supporter of Birthright!

God bless you,

Mary Holley
Director
Birthright of Odessa

P.S. If you have a friend who would be interested in this email, would you consider forwarding it to them with a note? Spread the news of the good things Birthright is doing!

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