I met with our ushers in the boardroom. Denise happened by and took our picture. I commented that these are all future board members. We had 223 people register for the banquet. The evening went smoothly.
Our theme for this special night was “Do Everything in Love”
1 Corinthians 16:14
Pastor Ruben Cabrera from Bethany Baptist in Gardner opened with prayer.
Our Pro-Life Achievement Award went to Dan Beauregard
Dan has been our IT guy since 2009. He served on the board from 2009 thru 2015. He was the one who took care of all the details when we had to put all our possessions in storage while we built up our new space. He oversees our two websites, our office computers and our telephone system. He attends Faith Evangelical Free Church in Acton MA.
Pro-Abundant Life Video featuring Roland Warren
We followed the presentation with a Pro-Abundant Life Video featuring Roland Warren, President of Care Net National. Roland was previously involved with launching the Fatherhood Initiative in Washington, DC. He is passionate about the pro-life cause. As a young college student he and his girlfriend faced an unplanned pregnancy. They were counseled to abort but instead chose life.
Keynote Speaker, Bruce Binney
We had planned on three testimonies for our evening. Sophia, from Fitchburg State was going to be our videographer. God had other plans. We asked Bruce Binney if he would be our keynote speaker. He agreed.
He spoke about God’s plan that we do everything in love, he shared his story about being adopted and later learning that he was conceived in rape. He ended his talk with: “Do all things in love.” We here as Christians, believers in the great work of the cross, should be agents of God’s love and stand up for the children, those whose lives are endangered by our cultural standards and laws. We should be agents of God’s love to the hurting mothers who have been abandoned by the fathers of these children and see no other alternative except abortion. We should be agents of God’s love to those who have aborted their children, no, matter what the circumstances, showing compassion and care by bringing them the mercy. But we should never be complacent, we should never pretend that this holocaust isn’t happening and hide our heads in the sand, while so many are perishing. This is what I love about Care Net.
Bruce lives in Gardner with his wife Karen. He is the father of two daughters and has four grandchildren. He started his involvement in the ministry of rescuing babies in the eighties as he stood outside an abortion center in Brookline, MA offering sidewalk counsel to women who considered abortion. He has a heart for God. Filled with a passion for life he went on to street evangelizing and went into shelters to help the men there. He currently serves as president of the board at our center. Bruce speaks to many of our local churches about our desire to do everything in love, being adopted he knows the loving choice that adoption is.
Thank you for your financial support
Wendy Mattis, our Director of Development appealed to our gathering for their financial support as we look forward to another year of serving our Lord by doing everything in love.
You may still make a donation at www.friendsofcarenetfitchburg.org
Respectfully,
Gail Gardner
Executive Director