Pregnancy center donations mark Sanctity of Human Life

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

ROCKINGHAM — Gene and Ferre Cummins were inside Life Way Christian Bookstore in Myrtle Beach, S.C., recently and saw a painting.

The image, painted by Ron DiCianni, shows a hand reaching out to touch the swollen belly of a pregnant woman. It called to them. They purchased the painting with the express intent of giving it to the Pee Dee Pregnancy Resource Center in Rockingham.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Gene and Ferre Cummins, of Rockingham, donated a painting to the Pee Dee Pregnancy Resource Center in Rockingham.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Gene and Ferre Cummins, of Rockingham, donated a painting to the Pee Dee Pregnancy Resource Center in Rockingham.

The Rockingham couple did exactly that Thursday night, in part to coincide with the Sanctity of Life month-long celebration since Roe v. Wade decision on Jan. 22, 1973. It’s the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in America. Since then, more than 56 million abortions have taken place in the United States, according to National Right to Life.

The painting donated by the Cummins family was completed by a man who almost wasn’t. His mother, when pregnant, was on the table about to have an abortion when, the mother said, she  heard a voice from God.

“I have something special for him,” the voice told DiCianni’s mother. “Don’t do this.”

Gene and Ferre met with Jatana McCormick, center director, and Amy Anderson, administrative assistant, at the modest building that services as the nonprofit agency’s administrative office, counseling center and boutique for the 132 active clients. The average age of a client, McCormick said, is between 21 and 35 years old.

The gathering also included Maddie Edmonds, a sophomore at Richmond Senior High School who framed one of her Christ-centered drawings for the center. The drawing features a cross and expresses key Christian virtues, including love and joy.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Maddie Edmonds, center, stands with Jatana McCormick, center directo, left,  and Amy Anderson during the presentation of a framed drawing for the center.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Maddie Edmonds, center, stands with Jatana McCormick, center directo, left, and Amy Anderson during the presentation of a framed drawing for the center.

McCormick said both creations fit perfectly onto the center’s walls, and both will serve as reminders to staff and clients alike about the Christian-based services offered at the center.

The center includes three rooms dedicated to providing clothing for a pregnant mother-to-be, post-pregnancy and the children as they grow out of size into the next. Items are “purchased” by using “baby bucks,” which are earned by completing classes and counseling sessions.

The center serves unwed mothers, couples in financial crises and provides free pregnancy testing.

New leadership

McCormick is approaching her one-year anniversary as center director. A former registered nurse, she said the center operates on $3,000 a month and receives no public funding. Instead, contributions from churches and individuals support the mission and ministry.

The center’s annual Baby Bottle fundraiser is its largest. McCormick and Anderson, who has worked at the center since September, send empty baby bottles to area churches. Churchgoers’ generosity fill the bottles with cash, coins or checks, and then the bottles are returned to the center.

“That’s how we keep the lights on,” McCormick said.

To be sure, McCormick and Anderson are tasked with continuing the center’s original faith-based, Christ-centered mission. McCormick acknowledged that she counsels women and families on the biblical standard for marriage and sexual purity.

The ultimate goal, McCormick said, is for clients to realize that, in the end, the only through Jesus Christ is the way to successful, permanent change in circumstances.

 

 

 

 

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