One of the pieces that is especially attractive to a pastor is that Alternatives is pastoral in the way that it reaches out to the community. Very gentle-hearted. Very much involved in listening to the hearts of people. And reaching to their deepest need and seeking to minister in that place and in that way.

That is what we’re about, and I really believe that is what Christ’s call is to the church — to reach out in love, to reach out in compassion, and to embrace a lost and hurting world.

We’ve encountered so much ministry through Alternatives that — speaking as a pastor who does a lot of counseling — really is very helpful because it does lighten the burden we pastors carry.

For example, years ago, a crisis would come up where a woman is found to be pregnant in an unplanned pregnancy. And she would come to the church, and we would do the best we could. We would try and minister to her as we would with anybody who came with a crisis.

Since we’ve come to know Alternatives, one of the things — the benefits of partnering — is that we now have a place where we feel very comfortable referring people to.

People know there’s a safe place that they can refer people to — that they can have someone they love, or they care about, or they’ve heard about, and that they know they can put them into good hands.

They know that they’re not going to be condemned. They know that they’re not going to be given a really hard time, but they’ll really be listened to and helped in an appropriate way.

Alternatives is one of our heart ministries where we have invested not only financially, but invested with people, invested in prayer, and invested in any way that we can to reach into the heart of our city and into the lives of children — seeking to save lives.