Houses of refuge

Abortion kills approximately 73 million human beings each year worldwide, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a prominent reproductive-rights policy organization. This staggering figure is echoed in the United States, where an estimated 1,038,000 babies are aborted annually in states that do not impose a total ban on the procedure. Additionally, this number does not include self-managed abortions or those linked to abortion pills that are mailed to women living in banned states.

So, is it any surprise that additonal data from the Guttmacher Institute shows that 25% of women in the U.S. will have an abortion by age 45, including those both inside and outside the church? According to a 2020 University of California study, about 70% of women keep their abortions secret.

“It’s painful … [and it hinders] your true calling of what God has for you because you have this secret of shame and guilt buried so deep that you’ve had [for] so long that you cannot … do the calling that God has on your life,” said Shaylene Burlage, Love Life Alabama director. “But once you find healing, the door is open.”

Love Life is a ministry whose mission is to unite and mobilize the church “to create a culture of love and life that will result in an end to abortion and the orphan crisis,” according to its website (lovelife.org). Since its founding in 2016, Love Life has brought attention to the pro-life cause by hosting prayer walks in 27 U.S. cities and partnering with over 1,500 churches across the nation.

House of Refuge, a branch of Love Life, equips churches nationwide to open their doors to disciple mothers and fathers who are navigating unplanned pregnancies.

Twenty years ago, Burlage could have never imagined herself being a part of a ministry like Love Life.

A miraculous redemption

“In 2006, I was homeless, addicted to drugs on the streets of Indianapolis,” Burlage said.

She was approached by a man who handed her an evangelistic flyer. She put it in her pocket and pulled it out later that night as she lay on a dirty mattress in an abandoned apartment. The flyer read: “Addicted, homeless, need help? First, call on Jesus.” Burlage cried out to God, and He immediately delivered her from her addiction.

“When I awoke the next morning, I read the next line on that flyer. It said, ‘Then, call us. We have a free Christian women’s home,’” Burlage explained.

Although the women’s home was in Ohio, she called the ministry on a pay phone, and they sent her a bus ticket. Someone at the home led her to Christ, but she struggled to understand how the Lord could love her.

She recounted her confession during those early hours of her new life in Christ: “Lord, you can’t love me. I took the lives of four children through abortion, starting [when I was] 15 years old.”

Burlage said that in that moment she heard God say to her, “Daughter, My Son, Jesus Christ, died for you.”

Ten years later, through a post-abortion Bible study, God stirred and strengthened Burlage’s heart, giving her the desire to minister to other women dealing with crisis pregnancies. She immediately broke years of silence about her four abortions, exposing her own shame to share Christ with those desperately needing the forgiveness and healing of God’s Word.

In 2020, the national Love Life team began seeking directors for cities nationwide. These directors would be trained to equip and support local churches involved in the House of Refuge ministry. Burlage answered the call to serve in her home state of Alabama. She was fueled with a passion to encourage women facing unwanted pregnancies to choose life.

A necessary cause

Now, Burlage equips pastors and prepares churches to become a House of Refuge – a congregation that understands how to respond to a woman in a crisis pregnancy and one that has a clear care plan in place. After all, every church has silent, hurting women (and men) – some in crisis and some post-abortive – sitting in its pews, yet few congregations know how to support them.

Burlage said that once support is offered and these women and men learn that forgiveness is available in Christ, some who have kept their abortions secret for decades feel safe to step up and say, “I need help.”