Heartbeat 2025 International’s Annual Conference is coming!
When: April 29, 2025 (In-Depth Day)
April 30 - May 2, 2025 (Conference Dates)
Where: Birmingham, AL
or Virtually (in your most comfortable chair)
Heartbeat International strives to assist individuals in other countries who serve in pregnancy help outreach offering alternatives to abortion. Our annual conferences provide the greatest opportunity for diverse training, broad networking, and inspirational encouragement to our international affiliates.
We offer a limited number of financial scholarships for internationals who apply and are accepted. We invite individuals such as the key leader/executive director, staff member, volunteer, counselor, and/or board member who is currently serving in an international pregnancy help organization to apply. Eligible pregnancy help organizations are life-affirming non-governmental organizations, e.g. pregnancy resource centers, medical help clinics, maternity housing, and non-profit adoption agencies that hold values consistent with Heartbeat International. We also invite individuals demonstrating a strong and verifiable desire to open a new pregnancy help effort in their country/region and learn more about the pregnancy help ministry. All scholarship applicants must be affiliated with Heartbeat International, either directly or through a joint affiliation network partner.
Preference is given to those:
(1) affiliated with our international partners (Pregnancy Help Network, Pregnancy Care Canada, Pregnancy Help Australia, Centro de Ayuda para la Mujer Latinomerican, Association for Life of Africa, Movimento per la Vita, ProVida, Be’Ad Chaim, and Pregnancy Support Services Asia) and
(2) those that access available local/regional training, especially those provided by our joint affiliation partners. We will verify affiliation, good standing, and attendance at trainings with these organizations and (3) direct affiliates in good standing with Heartbeat International. If you have received a scholarship in the last three years, please do not apply. Only one scholarship may be offered to any organization.
Each scholarship is granted with the expectation that the recipient will use the conference experience to strengthen their ministry or to lay the groundwork for a new ministry. Scholarship recipients are therefore expected to attend In-Depth Day, all keynote sessions and workshops, as well as the closing banquet. International scholarship applicants should be somewhat fluent in English. Heartbeat conferences are presented in English and translation is generally not available.
Questions may be directed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications & Marketing
Heartbeat International
Walking through busy streets. Sleeping at a hotel with music playing in the hall. The 2022 European Pregnancy Help Leaders Summit was a very different environment from the sirens and chaos the Save a Life pregnancy help team left in Ukraine.
Alina was 39 weeks pregnant when the war started. Now, her very life was at risk and the reality that her husband could be sent to fight in the war increased the stress.
A pregnancy center director of the Zaporizhzhia Save a Life location, she knows the pressures when faced with an unexpected pregnancy. Add a war to the typical pressures a woman has in that delicate moment of her life, and Alina knew that pregnancy centers in Ukraine would be needed during wartime. And so, her work continued after being displaced from her home in Zaporizhzhia.
In the midst of the war sirens and vibrations from the blasts, Alina gave birth to her son, Mark, in a make-shift bomb shelter. It was humbling, and a great reminder of the beauty of life. This little baby boy brought a light of joy in a moment of darkness.
With her new baby, her two-year-old daughter, and husband, Alina moved West toward safety. Here, she sought out a pregnancy center to continue serving women who sought pregnancy help. Her newborn baby by her side, Alina started meeting with women — some local, some displaced from the southeastern and eastern parts of the country — to provide compassionate care and a listening ear as they discussed their futures.
She humbly told us, “Please don’t think I’m a hero. I’m not a hero. And I’m not brave because I wanted to leave. I wanted to run for the sake of my children, but I would rather die than to disobey what God has called me to, which is to stay.”
Similarly, Alla, the national director, manages seven pregnancy centers throughout Ukraine. A widow with a sixteen year old and an eleven year old at home, Alla channels her hope and energy into the centers. Under her leadership, Save a Life centers have expanded across the nation.
She acknowledges that the loss of her husband to cancer when her children were young helped motivate her to get involved with pregnancy centers to be a pillar of support for women. Today, her children help by volunteering their time at the pregnancy centers as well, bringing them together in the work to save lives.
Nadia travels between Ukraine and the United States to help raise awareness for Save a Life. In August, they hosted their annual conference in spite of the war. With more than 100 in attendance, this was an encouragement that God is at work in Ukraine through pregnancy help.
Understanding the risk of travel at this time in Ukraine, these three women joined 17 other countries at Heartbeat International’s European Pregnancy Help Summit in Bucharest, Romania. At the summit, they were able to share their experience both in living in a war zone and in serving in a war zone. As many of the European nations are serving Ukrainian refugee women, the insight Nadia, Alla, and Alina provided was timely and meaningful.
This team of women was an example of courage and strength, once again showing the world that women are capable of being mothers and accomplishing the work they are called to.
Heartbeat International invites you to the long-awaited and much-anticipated European Pregnancy Help Leaders Summit.
You are invited to Bucharest, Romania, September 15-17, 2022 for in-person networking, training, learning, and encouragement with like-minded leaders from the pregnancy help movement across Europe.
Heartbeat is offering registration and accommodations (including breakfast and hotel meals) for two persons per affiliated organization. (This offer has limited availability and registration will be first come, first served.) We look forward to hosting you.Registration includes:
The Summit registration is FREE for two team members of an affiliate. When you are filling out the registration form, at the bottom of the form, click on Affiliate Double Occupancy and the cost reflected underneath should be 0.00. Then you register your second participant. Before you hit submit, double check to make sure that the total cost is still 0.00. Your credit card will not be charged so long as you click on "Affiliate Double Occupancy" (see screenshot below).
If you want to register more than two people from your organization, at your cost, you will need to fill out a new form, registering with appropriate information and then just click on single or double occupancy. The cost reflected is per person.
Contact Ellen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you run into any technical difficulties.
To all our international affiliates and international pregnancy help leaders: Registration for Heartbeat's 2022 Annual Conference is open.
The Conference, with the theme "Onward," will be held from March 30-April 1, 2022 in Jacksonville, FL. You can register today here.
What: Heartbeat International's 2022 Annual Conference
When: March 30-April 1, 2022
In-Person: Jacksonville, Florida for the in-person experience
This year is a bit unusual as Heartbeat will not be offering any scholarships for the in-person annual conference.
For those planning to attend in-person, Heartbeat will provide letters for purposes of obtaining a visa. Please request that letter from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Note: Any international guest attending the in-person conference is financially responsible for registration, accommodations, and transportation costs. Heartbeat is not able to pay for, or arrange for accommodations for international attendees arriving without secured accommodations.
We look forward to having you attend in-person, if that is your choice.
We understand, however, that this may not be possible for all of our international friends. We are so grateful to live in a time where we can provide an alternative option as well!
Our Heartbeat scholarships this year are available for international guests attending the virtual conference. International organizations may register two (2) persons for the cost of one registration, saving $199. Click here to register your two attendees. Each must have a unique email address, and each will receive additional conference details after registering.
Non-affiliates are welcome to attend at the same low price! However, if your organization is affiliated, you will receive an exclusive gift after the conference.
Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.
We are honored to partner with you in your essential work of reaching and rescuing women in unexpected pregnancies and we look forward to your attendance at Annual Conference, in person or virtually.
Thank you for your interest in affiliating with Heartbeat International. By joining Heartbeat, you join the largest pregnancy help network in the world with more than 2,800 organizations in over 60 countries.
Affiliation for international organizations is just $70.00, and we are happy to offer you a complimentary affiliation for the first year. Whether you are a first time affiliate, or a second or fifth time affiliate you may email efoell@heartbeatinternational.
Upon affiliating, please contact username@
Your affiliation provides you with a 20% discount on all resources found in the Store as well as online courses offered in the Heartbeat Academy.
We offer leadership and development resources, in addition to a variety of other key training materials pertinent to your work. We also help to fund the regional organizations that offer direct training and assistance to individual life-affirming organizations.
>> Click here to Affiliate <<
Thank you again for your heart to serve, to reach and rescue women and their children. It is my pleasure to serve you.
Recommended Affiliate Resources Recommended to All Pregnancy Help Organizations
When a media request comes into your organization's inbox, how do you respond?
As an organization, you should have a media plan in place in order to guide you in both nurturing new media relationships and having a rapid response plan for times of negative press. Join Heartbeat International and Alliance Defending Freedom International as we discuss how to engage the media.
Date: 22 October 2020
Time: 12:45-16:15 GMT+2
Where: At Your Computer (details will be sent upon registration)
Presented by: Heartbeat International and Alliance Defending Freedom International
This forum is exclusive for Heartbeat International affiliates. There is no cost to attend, but you must register as space is limited.
If you are not a Heartbeat Affiliate and are interested in learning more about joining Heartbeat International's Pregnancy Help Network, click here.
Andreas Thonhauser serves as director of external relations for ADF International, where he is responsible for building the organization’s media presence, forming alliances with key influencers and supporters. He acts as communications liaison with ADF International’s distinguished team of allied attorneys and organizational partners, managing all aspects of public relations and development Thonhauser has spoken at institutions like the UN, the EU Parliament, and international conferences and provided comment on topics like the persecution of religious minorities, parental rights, and freedom of education for international media outlets, including both popular news publications as well as scholarly journals. He regularly provides trainings in communication strategy, leadership, reputation and social media management. Thonhauser earned an MBA from the WU Executive Academy and a Master’s degree in German Philology/Anglistics and Americanistics from the University of Vienna. Prior to joining ADF International in 2015, Thonhauser worked for a European publishing house where he focused on strategy and business development.
Pastor Woody was raised on a dairy farm in Brunswick, Maine as a Quaker. While stationed in Germany with the Air Force, he was introduced to the Gospel in a personal way, and trusted Christ in 1978. He has now pastored two churches; both of them in Germany, and both of them ministering primarily to the American military community.
Since 1997, he has been involved with the ministry of the Kaiserslautern Crisis Pregnancy Center as a board member. In order to minister to a wider community, the center was renamed Heartbeat Crisis Pregnancy Center and was moved to the city of Ramstein, where Pastor Woody has been privileged to serve as board chairman since 2008.
Ellen Foell, Esq. has been with Heartbeat International since 2012 serving first as legal counsel and now as the International Specialist. She supports the leadership team in providing research and advice on pro-life trends and issues affecting Heartbeat International and its affiliates. Her work also involves general business, organizational and nonprofit issues, as well as interfacing with other pro-life organizations and attorneys who desire to assist pro-life organizations.
Ellen is a 1982 graduate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. She has lived overseas as a missionary in Thailand, has practiced as a law clerk, associate in a law firm, and as an associate corporate counsel. She left law firm practice to begin her work in the pro-life movement in 1989 as a defense attorney for pro-life activists. She and her husband, Phil, have four children, Deborah, Anna, Sam and Paul. Her passion is teaching the Bible and working with international students on the Ohio State campus.
Jor-El Godsey serves as President of Heartbeat International, the largest affiliation network of pregnancy help organizations in the world. Jor-El leads a staff dedicated to equipping, empowering, and encouraging the thousands of leaders serving in Heartbeat affiliated life-affirming pregnancy help centers, maternity homes, and adoption services, in the U.S. and on every inhabited continent. Jor-El oversees Heartbeat’s core mission to reach and rescue lives at-risk for abortion through far-reaching programs that include Option Line and Abortion Pill Rescue Network
by Alexandra Nadane, executive director of the "St. Alexandra the Empress" Counseling Center, Bucharest
A few years ago, a reporter asked me: „When you got involved in the pro-life movement, did you have any detailed plan? Did you know where you wanted to end up?” I laughed remembering the unknown and difficult journey I had experienced up to that point.
No, I didn’t know where the road would take me, but I pressed on, practically dealing with everything that came my way. And a lot of the cases were pregnancy crises. Tens, hundreds of them. There was clearly a need for professional people to work in this field. So the “St. Alexandra the Empress” Counseling Center appeared.
Then I noticed that people who worked in pregnancy help centers across the country needed to share and learn. To cater for these needs, we organized the First National Conference of Pregnancy Crisis Help Centers. It took place on October 4-6, 2019, at Caraiman Monastery in Busteni, Prahova County.
The conference brought together 30 participants from all over Romania and the Republic of Moldova: pregnancy resource center managers and representatives, psychologists, social workers, volunteers, members of other organizations, and individuals who wanted to open such a center or simply work with women in pregnancy crisis.
On Friday, October 4, participants shared ideas about their work, experiences, joys, and the difficulties they face. On Saturday, the program included four sessions:
The last session, entitled "Goals and Plans for the Future”, was dedicated to creating a working group for those involved in pregnancy crisis assistance to support them in developing professional pregnancy help programs. “St Alexandra the Empress” Counseling Center will organize monthly webinars on different topics to train and assist people involved in this line of work.
The next National Conference of the Pregnancy Crisis Help Centers will be held in October 2020.
Please read below a few testimonials by participants at the conference:
"We waited for many years for such an event. We appreciate the initiative of “St Alexandra the Empress” Counseling Center and we hope that it will become a tradition, with more and more centers joining in every year. The exchange of experience, the relationships created, the information received enriched us and gave us courage to continue our work of assisting women in pregnancy crisis.”- PULS Center, Oradea
"I have just realized that we are not alone and this gave me more courage and determination to help.” – Clujul pentru Viață („Cluj for Life”) Association
"Attending the conference helped me understand the need to open a pregnancy help center in Arad. The quality of the information received, the professionalism of those involved, the hands-on approach on real cases have inspired me to get actively involved. „- Loredana, Tineri pentru Viață („Youth for Life”) Association, Arad
"It was a beautiful warm experience and I have met people open to sharing. I’ve learned new things. I feel that this conference has helped me grow both on a professional and personal level.” - Anca Pulpa, psychologist, The Pro Vita Department of the Orthodox Metropolis of Moldavia and Bukovina.
“If they receive practical and emotional support from close friends, relatives or experts, pregnant women will be able to overcome all difficulties and choose life for their child. This meeting was a joyful occasion, a new experience on a familiar yet ever new topic that is important, moreover, it’s vital.”- Nadejda Usatîi, President of Moldova for Life Association
"Thank you for the wonderful conference. For me, the days spent learning together, getting to know each other, sharing opinions and experiences, establishing future collaboration were among the most beautiful days of this year." - Estera Mardar-Simina, "Estera” Center, Timisoara
"We enjoyed being with other organizations, meeting other people involved in the same field of work, which is assisting women going through a pregnancy crisis and their children. We have received eye-opening information, we established work connections and shared experiences. We are looking forward to next year’s conference! ”- Simona Mihălescu, “Elena” Center, Rădăuți
"I have learned many new things that I could not have discovered on my own. It was a great experience.”- Counseling and Support Center for Parents and Children, Hârja
"This conference is a promising initiative that should continue year after year so that we can exchange experience in pregnancy help.” – Dana Stavovei, Fălticeni pentru Viață ("Fălticeni City for Life”) Association
"I feel spiritually enriched after this conference, with the hope and confidence that many good things can be done through our involvement” – Nicoleta C., Constanța
Reprinted with permission from centrulalexandra.ro
Heartbeat International strives to assist individuals in other countries that seek to serve in pregnancy help ministry. Our annual conferences provide the greatest opportunity for diverse training, broad networking, and inspirational encouragement to our international affiliates.
We offer a limited number of financial scholarships for international conference participants who apply and are accepted. Scholarships vary due to demand, and scholarships may cover as much as:
We invite individuals such as the key leader/executive director, staff member, volunteer, counselor, and/or board member that is currently serving in an international pregnancy help organization to apply.
Eligible pregnancy help organizations are life-affirming non-governmental organizations (e.g. pregnancy resource center, medical help clinics, maternity housing, non-profit adoption agencies) that hold values consistent with Heartbeat International.
We also invite individuals demonstrating a strong and verifiable desire to open a new pregnancy help effort in their country/region and learn more about pregnancy help ministry. All scholarship applicants must be affiliated with Heartbeat International, either directly or through a joint affiliation partner.
Each scholarship is granted with the idea that the recipient will use the conference experience to strengthen their ministry or to lay the groundwork for a new ministry. Scholarship recipients are therefore expected to attend all keynote sessions, workshops, and in-depth day, if available. International scholarship applicants should be somewhat fluent in English. Heartbeat conferences are presented in English and translation is generally not available.
It will be a hard close on January 30, 2020. That means that no applications will be accepted after January 30, 2020. Do not delay if you want your application to be considered. Late applications will not be considered.
Please refer to the FAQs here | Click here to access the scholarship application
Most questions should be answered immediately on our FAQ page, but please feel free to direct additional questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
by Ellen Foell, International Program Specialist
Heartbeat International
I recently returned from a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, site of the 2019 Africa Cares for Life conference on "Bold Thinking, Courageous Steps." Africa Cares for Life currently has 73 member life affirming organizations stretching from Capetown at the southern tip to Pretoria in the north. With over 70 participants present at the conference, I had the incredible blessing to see how God is moving in a different country with a different historical context.
The conference had a mix of black and white South Africans. There were five nations represented. I heard English, Afrikaans, and a variety of other ethnic languages being spoken (South Africa has 34 languages with 11 official languages). But everyone at the conference was there to reach out with the Gospel of Life, to renew their communities and to rescue women, families and babies.
I had the privilege to present a keynote on Conscious Cultural Competence and three workshops on spiritual refreshment as well as mission focus.
Africa Cares for Life came into being through the faithful work of Gail Schreiner, 20 years ago. ACFL and Heartbeat have been in a formal joint affiliation partnership since 2008, a partnership which benefits and expands the reach of both organizations. Daniele Gradwell has attended several Heartbeat International annual conferences and has reciprocated with invitations to Heartbeat staff to participate at the ACFL conference.
In 2018, Africa Cares for Life significantly increased its reach and impact. In 2018 alone, they were able to provide 4,110 consulting hours, equip 600 volunteers, and provide for more than 85,000 women and men who received pregnancy help and support.
This is just a glimpse of what we can do together! Thank you for continuing to share the Gospel of Life where you are and remember that around the world, people just like you are doing this work as well. And praise God for that!
by Gayle Irwin, Guest Writer
The Caribbean island of Saint Lucia welcomed its first pregnancy center a few months ago, and with help from Heartbeat International, staff members are fulfilling an unmet need for the nation’s pregnant women.
“Women who have unplanned pregnancies in Saint Lucia live in extreme poverty,” said Cindi Boston, vice president of mission advancement for Heartbeat International. “There is a massive need. When you have a new start-up and have fewer resources, it takes time. But, they are doing very well.”
Boston took a team to the country a few years ago to work with the staff and supporters. Training included how to interact with clients, how to establish and manage a board of directors, and specific teaching to nurses and doctors on ultrasound techniques, which was taught by a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer (RDMS). Just a few months ago, the Family Centre officially opened as part of the Caribbean Centre for Family and Human Rights (CARIFAM).
Tammy Stearns, RDMS, Sarah and Heartbeat Vice President Cindi Boston
Nadine, a doctor in training, Tammy Stearns, Cindi Boston, Dr. Ginny, and Shawna Charles
This organization was started in 2012 by Sarah Flood-Beaubrun, a strong pro-life advocate who was a member of the nation’s Parliament. She saw the increasing pressure upon the country to embrace abortion and decided to create a pro-life, pro-family organization to help solve the country’s social and economic problems as well as in response to attacks on fundamental human rights and the family.
Located in the West Indies, Saint Lucia is part of the Lesser Antilles. With an international outreach, Heartbeat has conducted summits and other trainings in the Caribbean, said Ellen Foell, the international program specialist at Heartbeat.
“Trying to advance the pro-life movement on an island can be isolating,” she said. “Heartbeat recognizes this and seeks to come alongside these organizations and centers.”
Nearly all pregnancy centers in the Caribbean are less than five years old, she added.
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The Family Centre is managed by a three-person volunteer team: Nadine Khodra-Jn Baptiste and her husband Mitchell Jn Baptiste and Shauna Charles.
“We share the responsibility for oversight and working within the centre on a weekly basis,” Nadine said. “The Family Centre has been operating virtually for over a year. We opened the physical doors in May 2019.”
The community has been supportive, and many attended a blessing ceremony, she added.
However, opposing groups didn’t take long to implement advertisements luring women toward abortion, Boston said.
“After the website went up, there was a quick response from the pro-choice side,” she said.
The Family Centre meets needs not addressed by abortion organizations, with services and programs to help women find courage and hope to continue their pregnancies. The center offers pregnancy testing, ultrasound, options counseling, educational classes, material needs such as supplies for the baby, and post-abortion counseling.
“In addition to lack of resources, family tensions run high when an unexpected pregnancy occurs,” Nadine said. “The mother-to-be becomes even more confused because of all the contributing factors. Hence the need! If we can support in a loving environment, provide guidance and clarity, make family interventions, et cetera. Essentially, we can greatly lessen the likelihood of an abortion.”
That took place for “Janine” in an extremely unique situation. She was referred to the Saint Lucia center from Germany, Nadine said.
“She was a St. Lucian who went to Germany to get married to a man with which she had had a long-distance relationship. The relationship became an abusive one very soon after she moved in with him,” Nadine said.
Within a few months, Janine decided she couldn’t stay in that relationship and sought to return to Saint Lucia. However, she also realized she was pregnant and reached out to an organization in Germany. That group contacted The Family Centre in Saint Lucia, seeking help for Janine.
“I met with her soon after she arrived and realized that there were other medical complications that would make it extremely difficult for her to carry the baby to term, despite the fact that she wanted to have her baby,” Nadine said. “In addition to counseling and emotional support, we were able to help her get funding to assist with her treatment and advanced monitoring of her pregnancy. Her healthy baby was born later that year.”
A situation such as Janine’s prompts The Family Centre staff to look toward the future. As they continue to meet the needs of the island’s pregnant women, they envision being of greater help.
“We’d like to expand our reach and range of services to a fully-fledged state-of-the-art pregnancy and birthing centre which specializes in at-risk pregnancies,” Nadine said.
Heartbeat will continue to be guiding force for St. Lucia and other pro-life pregnancy centers around the world.
“We invest a lot [into international training],” Boston said. “We raise a lot of funds so that our international friends can come over [to a conference] every year. In fact, each year we have 30 to 45 internationals coming.”
Nadine and the rest of The Family Centre staff recognize the vital assistance given to them and other centers across the world.
“We are especially thankful to Heartbeat International for the training and support that they have provided us with over the past few years. Their contribution is a key component to the success of our organization,” she said.
This story is reprinted from the August 5, 2019 article at Pregnancy Help News.