Training with Melissa Heiland

Founder of Beautiful Feet

I, Jen, had an amazing training opportunity this August, that God graciously aligned. I had met a woman who helped me about a year ago get some resources for a pregnancy help center. She gave me Melissa Heiland’s contact information. God was intervening, so we did not connect. Yes, so we did not connect. Almost a year later I was once again referred to Melissa by Karla Sutter, who founded Flutter, a pro-life ministry. We connected this time and God had amazing things in store.

Melissa, founder of Beautiful Feet, offered to train me to plant a pregnancy center in Uganda. She has previously planted 37 centers across the world. I am so honored to be trained and receive wisdom from her.

During the training I was better equipped to share the gospel with our clients and to train others to also share the gospel more effectively. I received information on active listening which will make our clients feel more important and heard. I am really excited to train our volunteers in active listening skills.

Melissa wrote a curriculum called, Speak Life. I was so honored to be sitting with a woman that God has used to write such amazing lessons. It includes training in biblical teachings on the unborn child, our responsibility in fighting for those who are unborn, how should we respond to the mother, biblical examples as to how to love better, keeping it simple, evangelism and so many more topics. I cannot explain how blessed I am to have been given this chance to teach out of this curriculum.

I also received training in Melissa’s, Growing Together, Educational Curriculum for Pregnancy Resource Centers. This is a priceless gift. Included are 101 lessons, packed with scriptural stories and verses, bringing to life parenting and life classes. Lessons include forty weeks of pregnancy, miscarriage, nutrition, labor and delivery, and everything you need to know to raise your child until they are two years old, along with bible lessons and so much more. The years it took to write this are evident in the lessons and the heart that comes through each lesson. Practical, cross cultural and biblically grounded lessons make this truly a gift to not just our center but every center Beautiful Feet International plants across the world.

Melissa also sent me home with many other resources for our center. We were gifted a portable ultra sound machine, by a generous donor, more to come on that in our next blog entry. We also received devotionals written by Melissa for both pregnant mothers and pregnancy center volunteers. You can find them here, Mothers Comfort and Mothers Journey. Also included was a children’s book she wrote called, You Are Wonderful, Psalm 139 for Kids. I also was able to obtain two display books with amazing graphics for the Abortion Procedures, and Life in the Womb. Other blessings I received were, diapers, wipes, pregnancy tests, latex gloves, 12 weeks fetus models, bibles, and resources from Focus on the Family.

I cannot tell you how blessed I was to spend this time getting to know Melissa at her home in Florida. God has blessed me more than I could ever dream or imagine. He truly is putting all the pieces together for us to be able to serve Him well in Uganda.