August 22, 2025

Introduction

As I stated yesterday, we are making a few adjustments to the GH15s for the next few days. Ceci had hip replacement surgery on Tuesday, and I’m playing nurse. She continues to do well, and prayers for her recovery are appreciated. I have asked some trusted friends to write the posts for these few days, individuals who have done so in the past. 

Today’s outstanding post is from Kelsey Bohlender, Executive Director of Zoe’s House, a God-birthed and Spirit-led adoption agency. Kelsey also co-pastors with her husband, Randy, and is a seasoned intercessor. Her passion for life and corresponding actions for promoting life have made her a strong voice for the most significant cause in America. Kelsey’s title is “Advancing the Culture of Life.” 

Here’s Kelsey. 

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Advancing the Culture of Life

My name is Kelsey Bohender. I’m the executive director of Zoe’s House Adoption Agency in Kansas City. I am honored to bring you today’s Give Him 15.

Today, I bring you an update on abortion since Roe v. Wade was overturned—and a call to action for the body of Christ. When the Dobbs decision returned abortion policy to the states, we rejoiced. Roe v. Wade was dead. We knew some states would cling to abortion, but we hoped others would drive numbers down. Yet three years later, abortions haven’t decreased—they’ve shifted. Our strategy for life must follow. Informed intercession is critical. When our prayers align with action, they become “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen” brought into reality.

My husband, Randy, and I launched Zoe’s House ten years ago as part of our response to the culture of death that had taken root in the forty years following Roe v. Wade. As an adoptive family, we believed we could champion life by raising awareness and helping other families adopt. Our vision was also to treat expectant mothers with dignity and the love of Jesus. We saw adoption as a prophetic witness to the day Roe would fall – and it still is. Adoption remains a powerful answer to abortion, a living testimony that life is always the better way.

While adoption stands as light in the darkness, the landscape has changed. The Guttmacher Institute estimates 1,038,000 abortions in 2024 – the highest in recent years. Though twelve states enacted total bans after Roe’s reversal, national abortion rates have actually increased. How? The truth is, abortion hasn’t ended; it’s shifted to regional hubs, drawing women from states where it’s restricted.

In Kansas, which chose to protect the “right” to abort, nearly 16,000 out-of-state residents came to the Sunflower State for an abortion last year. North Carolina and New Mexico saw similar trends; Illinois nearly doubled that, performing over 35,000 abortions for women from other states. Roe may be gone, but abortion has concentrated into epicenters – bigger clinics, busier schedules, and a steady stream of women traveling in.

Meanwhile, medication abortions are surging through telehealth and online pill orders. With both travel and medication abortions rising, the battlefield has changed – and when it changes, so must our strategy. This is why strategic intercession and targeted action matter more than ever.

Intercessors speak the language of battle, so hear this: a “beachhead” is a foothold wrested from enemy hands, a place where the tide begins to turn. It is not the war’s end, but it is sacred ground, claimed and held, from which the next great advance will rise. Stand firm. Strengthen the lines. From here, light breaks through. As Isaiah 58 promises, “If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” This is the promise for God’s people who stand for the vulnerable – light in dark places, victory on contested ground.

For the pro-life movement, adoption has always been a crucial beachhead — a strategic foothold where conviction becomes undeniable action. Adoption doesn’t end abortion, but it ignites a movement to defend the value of a child, protect the sanctity of a mother, and celebrate the beauty of a family. Zoe’s House is one such beachhead. From the ground gained over the past ten years, we have been able to launch in multiple directions, advancing the cause of life.

Families who open their hearts to babies and children through the spirit of adoption also become a beachhead on the pro-life front. Like Isaiah’s parents, they said yes to this precious, non-verbal, autistic 2-year-old boy with no hesitation when his birthmother decided that she wanted a family for him who could care for his needs. Isaiah spoke his first words as he became a part of their family, and his birthmom receives regular updates in this open adoption. It’s a beautiful story. The courage and compassion of this family give them equity in the fight for life. In the Church, Isaiah and his birthmom are not statistics; each life is sacred with a future worth fighting for. We should never be content with merely saving a heartbeat, but invest in the futures of these children and in the dignity of their mothers.

Ground is not held simply by caring for children. In the pro-life movement, holding ground means valuing the futures of both child and mother. Some women, when they choose life instead of abortion, do so out of deep love for their child and a desire for a better future. Others may not yet have that vision for their child—but they still need to know that their own life is worth investing in. The Church must see both. This means asking hope-filled questions: “What could your life look like five years from now? What would it take to get there?” It means walking alongside her with real help – healthcare, job training, education, safe housing – so that her life, too, can flourish.

This is where conviction becomes action, where life advocacy becomes life provision. When the Church champions both the child and the mother, it stands firm against the tide of cultural opposition, holding ground so that hopelessness cannot sweep them away. And from this foothold, we move forward – not only to prevent death, but to provide life in all its fullness.

The pro-life mission continues long after a child’s first cry. If adoption of babies is a beachhead in the fight for life, then stepping into foster care is advancing that line. Across our nation, thousands of children in foster care are waiting not just for shelter, but for stability, belonging, and love. Over 36,000 of these children are legally free for adoption right now. Many have been moved from place to place, carrying their lives in a trash bag, wondering if anyone sees them. Stepping into adoption from foster care means claiming new territory where the enemy has sown abandonment, neglect, and despair, and replacing it with safety, healing, and hope. Every home opened, every heart willing to mentor, every church that wraps around foster families - these are forward movements in the campaign for life. We have the opportunity to expand the foothold we’ve gained, not only defending the unborn but also in defending the born who are still waiting for a permanent seat at a family table. When the Church steps into foster care, the mission of life becomes complete. We move from simply saving lives to transforming them.

The battle for life is fought wherever children are protected, mothers are cherished, and families are made whole. From the womb to the foster home, from the prayer closet to the frontlines, this is the campaign for life. We’ve prayed for abortion to end, for children to be safe, for families restored, and Jesus is raising up churches to be the answer. Not everyone can adopt, but every believer can serve; be a surrogate aunt or uncle, driver, babysitter, or cook, wrapping around families so they thrive.

Informed prayer strikes with precision, and tangible steps bring those prayers to life. As Isaiah 58 reminds us, when we champion the vulnerable and fatherless, His light breaks through, healing quickly appears, and the glory of the Lord will be our rear guard. Darkness cannot stand. 

We are not bystanders in this story – we are the ones who plant the flag of hope, hold the ground, and press the advance until every child thrives, every mother flourishes, and every family is whole. 

If you have further questions about adoption, please visit our website at zoeshouseadoptions.com. And if you’d like to see a snapshot of children in foster care who are legally free for adoption and waiting for families, go to adoptuskids.org. Look at them, and let their faces be more than images, let them be a call to action.

Pray with me:

Father of the fatherless and defender of the vulnerable:

We thank You for the gift of life and the dignity You give to every person. Grant us clear minds to discern the times, courageous hearts to do what is right, and generous hands to carry the burdens of real families. Strengthen weary parents, protect waiting children, empower women to give life, and make our churches places of refuge and belonging.

Forgive us for words without deeds, and teach us to love with compassion, honoring the vulnerable and carrying the load together. May every child find a home, every story find hope, and may our lives reflect Your steadfast love.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

You can learn more about Kelsey Bohlender and how you may contribute to this ministry at zoeshouseadoptions.com.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.