Our Work
Our Work
Advancing the Gospel of Life
in the Neediest Places on Earth
Advancing the Gospel of Life in the Neediest Places on Earth
At a Glance
- What we mean by “The Gospel of Life.”
- Where in the world are the neediest places in terms of abortion.
- Our approach to sparking a grassroots movement in the neediest places.
The Gospel of Life
We use the phrase, “The Gospel of Life” in the broad sense, as shorthand for all that the Bible says and summons regarding the value of human life and the treatment of others.
Gospel means “good news.” Narrowly, it refers to the person and work of Jesus Christ. His resurrection, following his faithful life and sacrificial death, declares good news: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
More broadly, the Gospel points to all that God has done, is doing, and intends to do in the unfolding plan of salvation history; individually and corporately as the church, in personal holiness, and in the good works of public justice and mercy ministries that he prepared for us to do.
“The Gospel of Life” is shorthand for all that the Bible says and summons regarding the value of human life and the treatment of others.
You are living out the Gospel of Life when…
In the context of abortion, we think you are living out the Gospel of Life
in a God-glorifying way when you resolve and help others to:
- TREASURE human life, including life in the womb.
- REJECT abortion as the shedding of innocent blood and an assault on God himself.
- PROCLAIM the power of the gospel to cleanse the guilty conscience so that people can be free to serve the living God.
- RESCUE women and couples in pregnancy-related crisis following the model of the Good Samaritan and providing practical and personal intervention.
3 Reasons We Use the Phrase “The Gospel of Life”
Reason #1
To hold together what the Bible says about God and about life.
It helps us hold together what the Bible says about God with what it says about life. God is life (Proverbs 8:35). God gives life (Job 12:10). God, in giving us Jesus, is giving life. So we read that the “bread of God is he [Jesus] who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). The gospel of God is the message of Jesus Christ, who brings life for the world. That’s good news.
Likewise, Jesus taught us to recognize him as the promised Saviour by pointing to the life-generating power flowing from him. “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up and the poor have good news preached to them” (Mt 11:3-5). The gospel of Christ is a Gospel of Life.
It helps us remember that the Gospel of Christ continues to go forth into the world today as a life-producing power. 2 Cor 2:15-16 says that we who follow Christ are the very “fragrance of Christ” in this fallen world and as such are the very “aroma of life.”
In our current context, when we draw near to a mother in a pregnancy-related crisis, we are truly bringing Christ to the crisis of abortion. When a mother chooses life in spite of her difficult circumstances, she is taking her first step in putting her hope in God. She is trusting, with our encouragement, that He who created her baby, has a plan to provide for her and her baby.
Reason #2
To remember that the Gospel of Christ continues to go forth into the world today as a life-producing power.
Reason #3
To keep together the immediate and eternal needs of those we serve.
It prods us to keep together what sinful inclinations over time tend to separate. The temporal needs of the weak and innocent ought not supplant the eternal needs of everyone, including the people we serve.
We who have received mercy and grace through Jesus Christ are obligated to bring good news to the guilty, even as we work to rescue the innocent. The “Gospel of Life” is our way of constantly feeling the tension between serving both the immediate and eternal needs of those we serve.
Where are the neediest places?
PassionLife prioritizes the three “hot-zones” of Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caribbean/Latin America as our mission-field.
Secondarily, we prioritize countries like Guatemala and Namibia, where abortion is outlawed or severely restricted, but are under intense pressure to liberalize these safeguards. In such countries, we aim to help the Church hold on to the laws protecting human life.
In Asia, Eastern Europe, and
the Caribbean/Latin America abortion, infanticide and gendercide are especially concentrated.
Did you know?
ONLY 3%
of abortions worldwide occur
in the US
YET 97%
of prolife resources are directed
to the US
The US accounts for only 3% of abortions worldwide, leaving 97% of the crisis beyond our borders. In addition, we estimate that 97% of prolife resources are directed to the cause of life in the US, leaving 3%, at best, to address 97% of the abortion crisis worldwide.
The US prolife effort is vibrant, maturing and praiseworthy. There are strong organizations working to educate students, doctors and nurses, pastors and churches, policy makers and cultural leaders, and advocates for equal rights for all people, born and not-yet born. In the last 50 years, approximately 3000 pregnancy help organizations have developed in the US. According to Heartbeat International, that is more than all the pregnancy help organizations in all the countries of the world, combined. This is not a criticism; it is a challenge!
Where are you most needed? Consider partnering with PassionLife to work where abortion is most concentrated.
PassionLife is working to expand prolife ministry into a global missions movement.
Sparking a Grassroots Movement
Movements only start when:
- The message is easy to grasp, making the learner confident to share with others. Our approach to sparking a grassroots movement is to simplify prolife bioethics to 4 basic questions.
- The learning resources are brief, requiring no expertise to understand, and freely and rapidly reproducible. We use a brief document (10-12 pages depending on the language) entitled, 4 Questions: Answering the Crisis of Abortion with the Gospel of Life. This document is designed to be downloaded and shared with others.
For example, in 2014 Chinese leaders set out to equip 1 million people in one month to treasure human life, reject abortion, proclaim forgiveness, and rescue the innocent with the 4 questions below. In 2018, 25 pastors in Kazakhstan resolved to train 56 thousand people in 1 month using the same 4 questions.
Will YOU join in spreading the Gospel of Life? Download the 4 Questions material to work through with your small group or church!
The PassionLife refrain: hear the Word,
obey the Word, share the Word with others.
The 4 Questions
What does God say about human life,
including life in the womb?
What does God say about the shedding
of innocent blood, including abortion?
How do we bring the grace of the
Gospel to the guilt of abortion,
so that people are forgiven and set free?
What does God call us to do
to stop the shedding of innocent
blood and how have others done so?
We start by asking the 4 Questions around the world,
and end with pregnancy help services in the neediest places.
