Thanks to the Family Research Council (FRC) and their current pro-life campaign, “I’m Pro-Life Because,” for encouraging individuals and families to share why they are pro-life.  As a pro-life family, Ryan, Olivia and I were proud to share our pro-life views and the foundations of why we are pro-life with the world.

Here is the information about the FRC campaign, and our submission to it.  I hope you take the time to visit the FRC blog site and see and hear more beautiful stories of why so many are pro-life.

As the FRC blog site reads:

We have been incredibly inspired by the outpouring of enthusiastic and creative submissions to our “I’m Pro-Life Because” campaign. There have been a number of truly remarkable and miraculous stories shared with us over the last few weeks.

We received one such story and image this past weekend. Sweet, energetic, bright three-year-old, Olivia Ohden, is holding a picture of her sonogram and is a vision of love and joy. The image is accompanied by the words “I’m Pro-life because my mom, Melissa Ohden, is an abortion survivor.”

In 1977 Olivia’s grandmother, Melissa Ohden’s mother, had a saline infusion abortion in a hospital in Iowa.  After her mother delivered the baby, Melissa was believed to be dead. But miraculously, a nurse saw signs of life and this little baby who should have died at six months of gestation survived and thrived…”

Please visit the FRC Blog website www.frc.blog for more information about how to share YOUR story and listen to an interview that I did with them regarding our submission.

If you have not yet submitted your story, please consider doing so.  By sharing our stories, we all make an impact!

A Minot lawmaker wants the North Dakota legislature to make it clear when life begins.

A bill heard today doesn’t neccesarily ban abortion, but Representative Dan Ruby says the legislation attempts to protect life.

The bill says human life begins at conception and makes it a crime to injure or kill an unborn child with some medical exceptions. Donnell Preskey has the story of a Sioux City Iowa woman who traveled over 500 miles to speak out on the issue.

Melssa Ohden was not supposed to be here… (Melissa Ohden) “I COME TO YOU AS A FAILED ABORTION ATTEMPT – 1977…” Melissa calls herself the voice for the voiceless… At 19 Melissa’s mom went to have an abortion..

INTENT OF SOLUTION WAS TO SCALD ME TO DEATH FROM OUTSIDE IN… 72 HOURS – 5 DAYS… NO MEDICAL REASON WHY I SURVIVED..

At 2 pounds 14 ounces baby Melissa was gasping for air… fighting to live… SAD, NO PROTECTION FOR ME AS A CHILD, SOMEONE WHO HAD NO PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW. Now she fights for others… I KNOW MY EXPERIENCE IS UNQUE AS A SURVIVOR… BUT THINK THAT I SHOULDN’T BE HERE TODAY. TELL MY DAUGHTER MY LIFE WASN’T WORTH DEFENDING. Olivia made her presence known at the hearing doing what toddlers do..

So while lawmakers take on the controversial issue they are reminded of how precious life is… THINK NEED TO HAVE LEGISLATION IN PLACE TO DEFEND LIVES LIKE MINE..

Since 1973 there have been over 40,000 abortions in North Dakota.

The only abortion clinic is in Fargo.

Representative Ruby says he’s unsure if this bill will challenge Roe versus Wade

Click to view video of my testimony:  Life at Legislature

In 1977 Melissa Ohden survived a failed saline infusion abortion and was born after approximately six months gestation. Despite the initial concerns about her future, she has not only survived but thrived. With the love and support of her adoptive parents, Melissa began searching for the truth about the abortion attempt and for her biological family in 1997. Despite the many obstacles that she encountered along the way, Melissa found her maternal grandparents and her biological father in 2007. Although her biological father passed away in January of 2008, Melissa was later contacted by his parents, after they found the letter that she had sent him prior to his passing away. She has now established relationships with many of her biological father’s relatives.

Melissa has a Master’s Degree in Social Work and is the founder and director of For Olivia’s Sake, an organisation which seeks to peacefully raise awareness of the intergenerational impact of abortion on men, women, children, families and communities.
She lives in the USA with her husband and young daughter and was in Melbourne in September as part of a three-week Australian tour, during which she shared her incredible story with over 2,000 people. Melissa recently spoke to Kairos about her message of hope and healing.

By Fiona Power

How would you describe yourself and your life?

I always joke that I “never signed up for this”  - providing a voice to the tens of millions of children whose lives have been ended by abortion, their parents and family members, and ultimately our communities who are grieving from abortion, but I am so grateful to God for doing so.

Although it was laid upon my heart over 19 years ago that I was saved for this very purpose, for this mission, I never could have imagined that my life would be so amazing.  Each and every day I have the opportunity to share my message of hope and healing with others, and I get to see and hear from those who are impacted by my story.  Every day brings new experiences and opportunities.  From all of this, I continue to grow and evolve as a woman, wife and mother and faithful servant of God.  I wake up every day excited to see what he’s going to do next in my life and how I will be called to serve him.

You were recently in Australia on a speaking tour. Can you describe how that came about?

I was contacted on Facebook by a pro-life advocate in Australia, who shared information with me about an organisation called Life Network Australia.  I put a comment on their page.  One of the co-founders, Sonja Couroupis, contacted me.  Within a week tickets were purchased and plans were underway.  It was a huge leap of faith for Life Network Australia, and for me.

The Internet has allowed for great opportunities for like-minded people to connect and change the world, but it takes a strong faith and trust to embark on such a journey together, when you really don’t know much about each other.  I had a great sense of peace about it all, though, and knew that the Lord had formulated this plan and that he had great things in store for this tour.

What do you speak about?

My ministry is multi-faceted.  It’s first of all about putting a face to abortion and giving a voice to my unborn brothers and sisters who were aborted and have no voice.  We can read statistics, we can hear about how abortion ends the lives of 90,000 children in Australia and 1.4 million children in the US each year, but until you truly come face to face with a survivor of a failed abortion attempt like me, you really can’t comprehend abortion and its’ devastation.  I get emails from people every day who say, “They told me that the child I was aborting was just a blob of tissue … I never knew that children could survive abortions … I used to believe in ‘choice’, but after seeing you I know that ‘choice’ is really death for children.”

How do people respond to your story?

So many people share their responses and even their own personal experiences of abortion with me. The responses in Australia I think surprised even the pro-life groups that sponsored me. The overwhelming response is surprise and shock over the truth about abortion;  that children like me do survive, and every day there are children like me who do live, but are sadly left to die or are even killed. People are shocked and horrified to discover this.

People are always so gracious and kind. They always thank me for my courage in speaking out, and I always let them know that they are my true heroes.  It is people like them who fight this fight in the front lines day in and day out, and are saving lives.

People appreciate my ability to forgive, and can really relate to what I have gone through, even though my experience is certainly unique. They are grateful to have finally been told by someone that it’s okay to say that they are hurting from abortion, too, and they can have a voice, also.

I struggled for many years with feeling ashamed and embarrassed by who I am, even though I know my life is such a beautiful gift, and the Lord had an amazing plan for me.  But when we live in the world that we do, that continues to state that I was just a ‘choice,’ that somehow children like me who are aborted are unwanted, unloved, unworthy, we have no rights, it takes a toll on you emotionally and spiritually. It took me many years to heal from the pain, and many years to tap into the courage that the Lord gave me and speak up.

Because if not me, then who? The children who have suffered at the hands of abortion deserve a voice, and if the Lord saved me to give them a voice, then I absolutely had to overcome my own feelings and fears and come forward.  I can’t wait to meet my fellow brothers and sisters in Heaven someday and rejoice in the fact that they had a voice here on earth.

Another piece of my ministry is educating the public about the intergenerational impact of abortion.  For far too long, we’ve heard the same arguments that abortion is about a woman’s right to choose. First of all, the research and women’s own stories tell us that many women really don’t have much of a choice when it comes to abortion …. they are coerced into having abortions, they are not supported by partners, family, their doctors, their workplace, they feel unprepared financially, emotionally …

But what has been overlooked by many for a long time now is that abortion isn’t just about a woman and her child. It’s about men, it’s about grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins – entire families and ultimately communities who are impacted by abortion.  Not only do we all grieve the loss of the children who have been aborted, but our lives are forever touched and changed by that grief, by guilt, fear, shame, suffering, silence.  Everywhere I go, I hear from men who feel either one of two things – guilt from their role in coercing a woman to abort her child, or simply not offering support to her to choose life, or sadness over the loss of their child, and the fact that they had no say at all in what would happen to their child’s life. I hear from grandparents who grieve the loss of the grandchildren they never had the chance to know and love. Siblings often struggle with a mix of sadness and guilt – the, ‘why them and not me’? I don’t want to underscore the struggles of women. My heart aches at the reality that women in our world are put in the position that they are, but the reality is that everyone is hurt by abortion to a certain degree, and everyone needs to have a chance to heal from the pain that abortion causes.

My family is living testament to the intergenerational impact of abortion. If that abortion attempt had succeeded in ending my life, then my daughter, Olivia, would have never entered this world.  My husband would have never had a wife.  My adoptive parents would have never had a daughter.  My brother and sister would have never had a sibling. And now my biological family would never have had me in their life.  The list could go on and on.  Abortion truly has a ripple effect. No one remains untouched.

The other piece of my ministry that is woven into this message that I give is hope, love, forgiveness, and healing. So many people in our world today are hurting from abortion. Being able to come face to face with a child who was aborted by miraculously survived and has freely forgiven her own parents for the decision to end her life transforms those who are guilt-ridden. I don’t know how many times a woman has contacted me to apologise for aborting their child. They need not apologise to me, but I always thank them for that, on behalf of their own child. I always tell post-abortive men and women that I am here as their spiritual child. I am willing to be that child for everyone.

Very well-intentioned people have sometimes questioned whether my biological parents’ lives would have been better off if I had just died.  I always say I’m rather biased, since my life is the one that was supposed to end, but I truly believe that their lives are better off knowing that their child lived. Tens of millions of parents aren’t as lucky. They know the fate of their children. Just last night, I was speaking at an event and a woman held my face in her hands and said, “Oh, how I wish you were mine! What I wouldn’t give for life of my aborted child to have been spared!”

As I shared earlier, I struggled with myself for many years, but as much as I struggled, I am grateful for it, because I learned so much about pain and loss, grief, shame and guilt, the silence that surrounds abortion and enchains so many.  And I know that the Lord intended me to walk on that journey so that I could know what others experience. If I can forgive my parents, than others can forgive those who have had abortions. They need to first forgive themselves.

What’s led you to seek to make a difference in this area?
Certainly, I knew at the age of 14, when I found out about the truth of my life, that I wasn’t just adopted, I had survived the abortion attempt meant to end my life, that I would be doing this someday, but I was afraid for a long time; afraid of stepping into the frontlines of the abortion debate, afraid of how others might treat me or react to me, afraid of stepping outside my own safe, comfortable space.  The Lord kept reminding me over the years that although he was at work in my life healing me, it was in preparation for coming forward. I was just waiting to fully heal, and waiting for the sign that it was time, and in 2007, I got the sign that it was time.

I had found an organization in 2006 called Feminists for Life, and I was really drawn to them, because they were feminists who were pro-life, and passionate about advocating for resources and support for women. Not long after I found them, the pieces of my life fit together to complete my healing (I finally received all of my medical records that reflect the saline infusion abortion attempt and the care that I received, I found members of my biological family and was able to reach out to them), and during that same span of just a few short months, Feminists for Life put out a request for speakers to assist them in their College Outreach Program. It was the Lord at work!

Within that short span of months, I also became pregnant with our first child.  Becoming a mother and being a mother motivates me to continue to share my message with the world.   I can deal with the reality that my life was supposed to end , but to know that my beautiful child would have never had life is devastating. I will fight for Olivia and all of the children like her who have never had life because their own parents were aborted until the day that I leave this world. I owe it to her.

My feminist beliefs also motivate me to speak out and make a difference.  I believe in Feminists for Life’s motto that “Women deserve better than abortion.” I deserved better than to be aborted. My biological mother deserved better than to go through that traumatic late term abortion and now carry the secrecy and shame of it with her for the rest of her life. So many times we hear people talk about ‘choice,’ but where was my choice? Where was Olivia’s? Most women really aren’t given a choice.

Obviously, my faith also drives me to make a difference in the lives of men, women, children and families. When we look at what Jesus did for us, for me to make this small sacrifice in my life – to open my life up to the world, to be sometimes judged or scorned by others who disagree with me about abortion, to be pulled away from my family often so that I can minister to others – my sacrifice is truly insignificant.  And I can’t wait to someday meet the Lord and have him say, ‘Good job, my daughter’.

What do you hope people take away from your talk?

As much as my story can be seen as one of profound sadness, it is really one of great joy. I survived! I’ve led a blessed life, I have been loved much and I give much love in return, and now I am a mother, myself. That is true joy. I want people to walk away from hearing me thinking, ‘Wow, everyone deserves life. Everyone deserves that kind of joy’.

I want people to take away from the experience that the unborn children whose lives are ended by abortion every day are just like me. They are me, and I am them. I hope people leave motivated to continue to fight for the unborn and to improve the lives of women so that abortion isn’t seen as the only ‘choice’ available to them. I hope that people can put themselves in my shoes and the shoes of those whose lives are ended by abortion.  It’s easy to talk about abortion as a right or a choice when you aren’t the one who was aborted.

I want people to be encouraged by what the Lord has done in my life. I want people to move out of their comfort zone and do whatever it is the Lord has asked them to do in this world. I want them to leave their time with me feeling loved, forgiven, and accepted for who they are, no matter what they have done, no matter what choices they’ve made.

Has there been any change in public opinion in the USA on this topic in recent years?

Public opinion has shifted in recent years on abortion.  I think there are a number of factors that have influenced this: First of all, my generation, the generation that was first being aborted after Roe v. Wade is growing older. We have always known of this life with abortion, and we live each day recognising how many we have lost as a result.

I believe that the shift into the third wave of feminism (as opposed to the second wave that supported and pushed abortion as a right of women), which actually embraces the pro-life beliefs of the first wave of feminists, has had a strong impact. We are seeing much more of a pro-woman/pro-child approach, which certainly addresses the issues of abortion and how it is an injustice to both women and children.  I’m not Catholic (yet), but I believe that Pope Jonn Paul II’s work had a profound impact on pro-woman/pro-child issues.

I believe that that strength of the American people to speak out and stand up for what they believe is right is of central influence, also. We have a huge network of pro-life organisations and individuals who work together to end abortion and improve lives. Whether Protestant, Catholic, or secular, groups come together for the greater cause. The use of technology, such as social networking has had an incredible impact on the life movement – you are able to connect, share stories, do webcasts, so many things that further the cause. We have SO MANY groups who come together.  It’s about working together for the greater good, despite our differences.

What would you say to a woman considering abortion, or in an unplanned pregnancy?

As hard as what you are experiencing right now must be, there are so many people out in the world who love you and want to help you.  There are resources and supports available that you may not even know exist but can help you.  Abortion may seem like a quick solution to the problem that you are facing, but the relief is short-lived.  The pain and complications of abortion last a lifetime.

You may not think that you have enough to do this, but you do. You are stronger than you think, and you can make a choice that gives your child life, and you can feel good about for the rest of your life.

What words of encouragement might you have for those who have experienced an abortion and are looking for healing?

I first of all would say, I forgive you.  Just as I have forgiven my own biological parents for the decision that was made to end my life, I forgive you.  You need to forgive yourself, to ask the Lord for forgiveness.  One of my favorite quotes is: “True faith is realising that I am useful to God not in spite of my scars but because of them.” The Lord takes us as we are,he loves us in spite of ourselves -we just have to let him.

You do not need to be silenced by the abortion. Shame and guilt, regret, they silence people from sharing their truth, their pain, from lifting their burdens.  My biological father passed away from this world carrying the secrecy and shame of the abortion with him.  Men and women alike deserve so much better than that.  As fellow Christians, I believe we need to do a better job of loving people and not judging them for what they did or didn’t do.  Our own judgmental attitudes can prevent people from coming forward and finding healing.

Everyone heals differently and in their own time. You need not compare yourself with someone else or think you need to go about healing in the same way that they did. Do what feels right to you.  Do it in your own time. Go slowly. Let yourself walk through the pain.  It is not easy, but the Lord is always right there with you.

There are many great groups and tools available to help people heal after abortion.  Reading books like Melinda Tankard Reist’s Giving Sorrow Words is a useful tool. Attending post-abortive groups at Pregnancy Resource Centers or bible studies like Forgiven and Set Free are helpful.  Attending Rachel’s Vineyard retreats transform people’s lives.

Melissa Ohden will return to Australia as a keynote speaker at the 2011 Real Choices conference, 13- 15 May, in Sydney.

For more information about Melissa Ohden  www.melissaohden.com

For support, alternatives to abortion and resources in Melbourne, contact Marcia Riordan at the Archdiocese of Melbourne’s Life, Marriage and Family office, (03) 9287 5587  lmf@cam.org.au

Photo supplied by Melissa Ohden

Life Network Australia – Wednesday, October 06, 2010

You may recently have heard about Melissa Ohden considered a ‘voice for the voiceless’. Melissa miraculously survived an attempted saline abortion at around six months in the womb. After years of questioning she has emerged to tell her story of hope and triumph – to be a voice for the millions of babies who have not survived and the babies still being aborted today.

Melissa Ohden has had an enormous impact on those who heard her speak during her tour in Australia during September. In only three weeks Melissa spoke to over 2,000 people who attended events to hear her incredible story – high school students, the general public, business people, politicians, pregnancy support workers and others involved in various pro life fields and groups. Thousands more heard her speak on 5 different Australian radio stations and read about her in newspaper articles. She was on the front page of the Sunraysia Daily (Mildura local paper), with another large article on page four. She was involved in filming a television advertisement and YouTube footage, yet to be released.

Melissa demonstrated compassion and forgiveness when telling her story, and her audiences responded. Some with tears, sharing their own stories of abortion, or the stories of relatives or friends that impacted on them, some with gratitude that Melissa is here at all to tell her powerful story. On a topic that can be so divisive, Melissa engaged and embraced everyone that she came in contact with.

Some of the feedback from Melissa’s tour:

“Thank you for all you did in organising Melissa’s tour!!!  Congratulations on the success of it all. It was wonderful to have Melissa visit Toowoomba. Her personal story, interwoven with the devastating effects of abortion on individuals and society, yet triumphing in wholeness and forgiveness, greatly impacted all who heard her. The Gala Dinner was a special and successful evening with Melissa’s speech being the highlight.  She is a relaxed and gifted speaker who Emily’s Voice would be keen to invite again in the future.  The filming in which Melissa was involved on the following day was carried out with ease and enthusiasm.  Thank you for bringing Melissa to Australia!” -Emily’s Voice, Toowoomba.

“Melissa’s visit to Mildura was a bridge building exercise between those who already understand the damaging impact of abortion on lives both past, present and future, and those who had either not thought about it before, or had only experienced the righteous anger of those who oppose abortion.  At Zoe Pregnancy Support we believe the often harsh features of the polemic divide or ‘anti/pro choice…abortion’ is unhelpful and destroys opportunity to bring hope and genuine choice to those who most need it.  Melissa’s Social Work training underpinned her life story which speaks loudly for the truth about abortion in a gentle and powerful way.  It is without doubt Melissa changed lives when she graced us with her presence and shared her life story… Thank you Life Network Australia.  Thank you Melissa Ohden.  We are in your debt.  Together we have, and will continue to make a difference”. Anne Webster – Zoe Pregnancy Support, Mildura.

Melissa Ohden in Australia related links:

Open House Radio

Bill Muehlenberg’s Culture Watch

Australian Christian Lobby

A Catholic Notebook

Sunraysia Daily

HD. Magazine

The two episodes, entitled ‘Marked for Death’ aired at the end of August and beginning of September, and we couldn’t be more proud to have shared our story with the world about how I miraculously survived the late-term saline infusion abortion that my biological mother underwent, the journey of healing that I embarked on for myself and my biological family, the important role that adoption has played in our lives, and how I am now able to bring hope and healing to all who are affected by abortion.

If you haven’t checked out the episodes yet, I would encourage you to do so.  We will post the videos on our Media Page shortly, but until then, please visit:  http://www.facinglife.tv and pull down ‘Marked for Death’ episodes 1 and 2 from the viewer.

Certainly my life as an abortion survivor, one ‘marked for death,’ has at times been difficult, and the pain has run deeply.  However, I know that millions of people around the world are impacted by abortion each and every day.  Here are just a few of the comments that I have received from viewers who watched the show, and were deeply affected:

“That was an amazing story I too am a survivor of abortion and a christian for 4 years after finding my biological father 2 weeks after he died.  He never knew I existed and never had any children.”

“I am an abortion survivor at 6 months gestation.  My birth mother & father were married & she for some
reason got mad at my father & decided to destroy me.  As I understand it the doctor that performed the abortion  apparently received a conscience  at the last moment & managed to keep me alive.  Really only God could have done this.”

“This morning I saw the program…I just had to let you know the impact it has had on me.  I had 2 abortions over 20+ years ago and at the time I justified my decision because I was a single mom already…struggling to do the best I could for them.  It hurt me more than I could ever say to abort my children and all the years later I carry the pain and shame within me.  At times I have tried to believe that I had made the right decision or that I was “over it” but today after witnessing your story I know I will never be “over it”.  The loss of my children has been like the deaths of any loved one and while we may not get over it in time we can at least come to some sort of terms with their passing. But how do I come to terms with the knowledge I terminated their lives…? I know I need help in forgiving myself and pray to God for His forgiveness and help. Thank you and God bless you for your courage and strength to tell your story and standing up for all those affected by abortion. I haven’t been able to stop crying since viewing the program but I know this is good for me. “every unshed tear becomes like a stone around your neck” and I am drowning for the tears unshed over all the heartbreak of my decisions. “

Thank you to all who watched the episodes Marked for Death, and to all who sent me comments, please know that I was impacted by your stories and experiences.  I will pray for all of you were affected by our story, and I will pray for all who are affected by abortion in our world each and every day.

They live among us but they weren’t meant to.

Of the one billion unborn babies killed since society decided abortion was a better choice than supporting women in pregnancy, a handful survive to speak beyond the womb.

Melissa Ohden is one of them and listening to her is spooky.

“We know there are far more of us – people like us,” Melissa told a small gathering in Canberra last week.

Sometime in the fifth month of pregnancy, a doctor injected a toxic saline solution into her 19-year-old mother’s amniotic fluid.

Five days later she was delivered and a nurse left her beside the bed.

Upon hearing grunting noises from the 3lb ‘corpse’, doctors were alerted and her life was saved.

Her medical records explain her existence this way: “Saline abortion that was unsuccessful”.

Melissa has met around 10 other survivors and says because of the ‘failure rate’ saline abortions have been ditched for more effective methods.

Chillingly, she told of meeting a man who showed her his partially crushed skull from a failed late term abortion attempt.

“For some women out there to have a choice would mean that I would never have a choice.”

Melissa was adopted into a loving family and had a happy and normal childhood, unaware of the circumstances of her birth until her older sister became pregnant in grade 11.

In a bid to encourage her to choose life, Melissa’s adoptive parents told their grade 11 daughter of Melissa’s birth.

In the process, the teenaged Melissa found out.

“To say that it was devastating would be an understatement,” she says with raw emotion and tears welling in her eyes despite the fact she has told her story many times.

In adulthood Melissa attempted to track down her biological parents.

She wrote to her birth mother’s parents. “We have been waiting,” her grandfather wrote back.

This was the man who marched his 19-year-old daughter to the abortion clinic saying ‘you will do this’.

She has never heard from her mother.

A letter of forgiveness to her birth father was not answered. He died in January 2008 and her letter was found in the top drawer of his desk.

“When I saw his picture next to the obituary in the local newspaper, it was me staring back at me,” Melissa says.

She made contact with her father’s father and her grandfather is now her biggest fan, encouraging her to tell her story.

“If they (her grandparents) had ever been told about me they would have adopted me. They are grieving the loss of the choice they never got. Abortion hurts families.”

Today Melissa is the proud mother of two-year-old Olivia (pictured with her).

She has just completed an Australian speaking tour organised by Life Network Australia.

• Around 90,000 abortions occur each year in Australia which is one for every three live births.
• In Victoria, the 2007 annual report of the Consultative Council on Obstetric and Paediatric Mortality and Morbidity revealed that 52 of 181 late-term babies who were aborted survived and were left to die. ACL has presented this information to politicians on more than one occasion. No action has been taken – yet.
• Visit http://www.notbornyet.com/

“If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire—-St. Teresa of Avila

Like most, I have spent the greater majority of my adult years searching for myself, often in the pages of a self-help book, Christian or secular that it may be, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time I would find myself within its’ pages; that maybe, just maybe, this time I would learn a new tip or tool or step that would help me to unlocking my “power within.”

In the late 1990’s, I was keenly focused on the psychology of the mind, probably because that’s what I was studying in college at the time, and I was not so much focused on my spirituality.  (As you will later read, I certainly should have figured out that while my inward focus in and of itself, was a positive, my focus on solely my head, and not my heart and soul, likely only perpetuated the problems that I was already experiencing).

While the new millennium ushered in many new changes in the world, and even in my own life, with a new focus on social work and counseling in my employment and academic studies, my emotional and spiritual wounds had expounded in just a few years from mere scrapes and cuts to gaping holes in my heart and soul.

I’m not going to try and pretend that even then, when I was spewing with spiritual sickness, when I was tormented every night with recurrent nightmares, when I was stricken with insomnia, various physical ailments and weight gain, when my behaviors bordered on obsessive and compulsive, that I got “it.” I didn’t.  Not for another good 10 years did I get “it,” but I tried.  I tried the best that I knew how to heal myself, from the inside out and discover what I was meant to do and who I was supposed to be.  I was a counselor at the time, and although I knew that even counselors needed counselors, I wasn’t ready to listen to someone else tell me what I already knew, what I already told the people that I served in counseling. I knew what I needed to do, I just needed to do it (or so I thought).

With a positive nod from Oprah, I read Gary Zukav’s Seat of the Soul and Heart of the Soul, expecting a sudden spiritual transformation.  As the years progressed, I moved back and forth between secular works to Christian works, from popular books to the obscure, hoping and praying that I would experience the same life-changing transformations that so many others that I heard about had experienced themselves.

I don’t want it to sound all negative, however, because my search for self and meaning, and my eclectic reading repertoire had its’ positives, too.  Each book that I read, each new theory of self-searching and purpose-fulfillment that I studied had a positive impact in my life, although most were incredibly short lived.

I won’t deny that many of the books that I’ve read over the years were, in fact, quite helpful to me.  Pastor Rick Warren’s A Purpose Driven Life truly changed my life, and was my first step in truly recognizing God’s pre-ordained purpose for me and my life.  Elizabeth George’s A Woman After His Own Heart, although it is not particularly about life’s purpose per se, brought me even closer to God and challenged my in every area of my life-as a wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, in my ministry and work, to be patterned in the image of the Lord, and to likewise, see God’s image in everyone I met and treat them accordingly.  The Secret, although rather New Age and secular in its nature, drove home to me the power of positive thoughts and feelings.

As I look back over the last 15 years of my life, my trials and tribulations, my spiritual and emotional challenges and growth, the amazing transformation that my life has undertaken, I wouldn’t change a thing.  One could say that I wasn’t reading the right books to fit my needs.  One could say that maybe I just wasn’t ready for what I was reading, or maybe I wasn’t open to it.  Heck, one could say that what I really needed at the time was a good therapist!  Whatever the argument, I believe that my search for myself in the pages of self-help and inspirational books was meant to roll out just the way that it did-this was God’s plan for me.  Nothing in my life has ever come simply and easily, and although searching endlessly for yourself for over 10 years is an arduous process, it is also an incredibly fruitful one.

Ablaze is a compilation of the fruits of my labor over the past 15 years; a compilation of what I learned about becoming who you were meant to be, of my own personal experiences as I “figured myself out,” as I grounded myself deeper into relationship with the Lord, and how I’ve set the world on fire as a Christian speaker, writer, pro-life advocate and witness to Christ as a result.  I hope that you find in this book something that was missing for me in all of the books that I read throughout my journey of finding myself and uncovering God’s intended purpose for me–how to set the world ablaze with all of His glory as a result.  So read on and blaze on, my fellow Brothers and Sisters, blaze on.

By Mary Beth Kelton

On the night of Aug. 29, 1977, Melissa Ohden’s mother was having an abortion at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa.

Over one billion babies have been aborted since the 1970s, but Ohden is one of eight known babies to survive the experience.

Her biological mother had a saline infusion abortion. This procedure was common in the ’70s, but is no longer performed.

By Tim Lytle

“The doctor takes out amniotic fluid from the womb and inserts a salt solution to burn the unborn baby from the outside to the inside,” Ohden said.

“My mother was then induced to have labor, and I was delivered.”

When Ohden was born, her two-pound body was supposed to be dead. After a few seconds, she began to make small, grunting sounds and demonstrated noticeable movement.

Even though the medical staff was not required to care for the barely alive baby, the staff transferred her to another hospital and checked her into neonatal care.

Carefully observed by nurses, the baby girl continued to grow stronger. On Oct. 17, 1977, Ohden was adopted. Doctors warned her new parents that she could have mental and physical disabilities from the attempted abortion.

The family welcomed her with open arms, and when she was 5 years old doctors assured the family that she was going to be healthy.

“I grew up in a loving home , ” Ohden said.

“My parents did not tell me I had been adopted until I was 14 years old. My older sister had become pregnant , and my parents told her about my abortion survival. That was the way the Lord intended me to find out.”

Ohden had support from her family but said she felt angry, confused, sad and scared after discovering her true past.

“I began to feel guilty for those emotions because it was a miracle that I was even alive,” she said.

University chaplain Dr. George Loutherback heard about Ohden’s amazing story and invited her to speak on campus.

On Nov. 11 she shared her testimony with students during chapel.

Sophomore nursing major Ashley Filippuzzi is vice president of Cru 4 Life, a
UMHB group dedicated to the pro-life movement.

“I am greatly appreciative of Melissa coming to speak with us,” she said. “I hope students are more aware now on the issue of abortion.”

Sophomore elementary education major Amanda Willey is also an advocate for pro-life.

“I hope that people heard her story and see how abortion affects so many lives, not just the woman having the abortion,” she said. “We have a responsibility to speak out about the abortion.”

Ohden said she has lived an “amazingly wonderful life” and thinks the Lord intended to spare her life so she could share her story with the world.

She continues to speak in the United States about the pro-life movement. She has her story at melissaohden.com and has recently created the
Web site foroliviassake.org as a tribute to her first child, Olivia, who was born in 2008.

“My sites were developed to share with others about the impact of abortion,” Ohden said. “By doing what I can, it’s a blessing if I can change one person’s belief at the end of the day about abortion, and spare the life of a child.”

Abortion survivor found loving family in Storm Lake, Iowa

Melissa Ohden becomes a political pro-life advocate

‘I started to make sounds and movement and that’s when they stepped in to save me.’

by dolores cullen
Storm Lake Times

Thirty-one years ago at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City, Melissa, at  2 pounds, 14 ounces, fought to survive. Nurses were attending to her mother, who had had an abortion. After five days in the saline, caustic solution injected into her mother, the baby emerged – and was thought to be dead.

“I started to make sounds and movement,” said Melissa, “and that’s when they stepped in to save me.”

So began the life of a Melissa Ohden, the international pro-life speaker who now lives in Sioux City. She will be hosted by St. Mary’s Pro-Life Club to speak next Sunday and Monday in Storm Lake.

She was so unwanted that her mother chose abortion, but here’s the rest of the story: Baby Melissa was adopted by a couple who brought her to Storm Lake at age four. She graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1977 and from Buena Vista University in December 1999.

Love at first sight

Melissa’s adoptive mother Linda Cross, who moved from Storm Lake to Ida Grove a few years ago, remembers seeing “Missy” for the first time. She and her husband Ron, now of Sioux Rapids, had traveled to Iowa City where the baby had been transferred.

“A nurse there felt bad for her because she didn’t have any parents,” said Linda. “She got her a little outfit and gave her a name, because she didn’t want to  just call her ‘baby’.”

The Crosses had been told about the medical issues that could accompany the child, born between 18 and 22 weeks. Retardation, sight problems, emotional and physical disabilities were possiblities.

But, “the first time when they put her in my arms, I just knew,” recalled Linda, “I knew she was an awesome baby.” She can’t think back without choking up. Part of the baby’s dark hair was shaved to allow for intervenous feeding.

Linda describes Melissa as a child who always wanted to please her parents. That didn’t mean there weren’t conflicts in the house. When Melissa was in eighth grade she got into a fight with her older sister Tammy, who blurted out the hurtful words, “At least my parents wanted me!”

That night the girl questioned her mother. “Nothing could have prepared me for the words that came next,” writes Melissa in her blog. “Not an ounce of my being could have ever fathomed the great secret that the world around me had harbored the past 14 years of my life. ‘Your mother had an abortion during her fifth month of pregnancy, and you survived it.’

“All at once the wind was sucked out of my lungs and my stomach turned sour. Tears streaming, cries racking my body, my mother consoled me that night, and our lives were forever changed.”

Strength to face the truth

Melissa said she spent many years of her life being ashamed and embarrassed by the abortion attempt. “I was also very hurt, assuming that so little was thought of me and my potential for life. Of course, I would be lying to myself and everyone else, if I stated that I had never been angry with my biological mother for the decision that was made to end my life. Looking back on this now, I understand that this was all part of the grieving process that I had to go through.”

Others in Storm Lake knew Melissa carried a burden. Storm Lake Middle School English teacher Marsha Ingram remembers Melissa writing a paper about the abortion attempt and reading it in front of fellow eighth graders. “I know how much courage it took,” Marsha said.

Melissa credits Ingram as a teacher who was especially supportive of and  influential to her. When Ingram tells her students she isn’t there to judge, they come forth with personal stories,  like the boy who journeyed north on foot across the desert from El Salvador to the U.S.

Jim Nichols was another teacher Melissa praised: “In high school, I was very active in the Peer Help classes and in social service as a result of Mr. Nichols. He always encouraged me to use my experiences and my skills to help improve the lives of others.” Melissa became a mentor in Mrs. McKenna’s third grade class while in high school. She worked with one boy, in particular, who was struggling at home and school. Jim Nichols and Melissa remember clearly the high school awards ceremony where the boy surprised her with a dozen red roses.

“I believe I had great support growing up in Storm Lake,” said Melissa. She credits her parents for providing a loving environment. In addition to her sister Tammy, Melissa is close to her brother Dustin, who now lives in Storm Lake. (Ron and Linda had Dustin after they adopted the two girls, even though they thought they were unable to have children.)

Melissa recalled her confirmation at United Methodist Church. “I can still remember how much more it meant to me after learning about the abortion. While others picked out Bible verses like John 3:16, mine focused on God knowing me before I was born. My confirmation was definitely a celebration of faith and of life that year.”

Finding a calling

Armed with an undergraduate degree in English, education and Spanish, Melissa went on to teach one semester in the Okoboji schools. “I had a student there who changed my life,” she explained. “He stayed after class every day at the end of the day, and I later discovered that he had found his sister and mother shot to death a few months before that.  He taught me that I was meant to do more than just give kids homework.”

Melissa went on to work in a domestic violence/sexual assault shelter. She then pursued a graduate degree in social work.

She is now a Social Work Supervisor with the Department of Human Services for Woodbury and Plymouth counties. She is married to Ryan Ohden, whose parents Ron and Terry Behrens live in Storm Lake. The Ohdens are thrilled with their young daughter Olivia who was born last April.

It was only a year and a half ago that Melissa decided to come forward publicly with her story. She had wanted to make contact with her biological family. Her search ultimately led her just down the street, where she was reunited with members of her biological father’s family in Sioux City. She was saddened to read in the Sioux City Journal that her biological father died at age 50; she never met him.

“My own wishes to not be part of the rhetoric, but part of the solution, was one of the reasons why I did not come out with my story until recently,” she said.  “I still feel pressure from many to get involved in highly political and/or highly religious activities, and I refuse to do so.  I believe that it is my purpose to share my story with others and have them come to me with an open heart and an open mind; protesting, picketing and the like would only close hearts and minds, so I do not participate in them.”

Melissa doesn’t state whether she believes abortion should be legal or illegal. Instead she focuses on ways to make resources available to women and girls who are pregnant.

She has teamed with the group Feminists For Life since 2007. She has spoken at Capitol Hill, at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, the National Students for Life Conference in Washington, a few colleges in Ontario, Canada, and at a fundraiser in Ontario, in addition to the Sioux City Interfaith Prayer Service.

She has been asked by colleges in the U.S., plus Canada and  Ireland to speak and her story has traveled around the world. Her pregnancy with Olivia and now taking care of her has limited her speaking somewhat.

Responses to Melissa’s presentations indicate to her the deep damage abortion can cause. “I have heard from men who have arranged abortions for the women in their lives and have now felt great grief over the years as a result. I have heard from women whose sisters have had abortions, and they now grieve the loss of the nieces or nephews they never knew.”

Her talks are permeated with faith in God, and gratitude to those who have helped realize her self worth.

Her father Ron isn’t surprised by the success Melissa has made of herself. “She worked very, very hard to get where she’s at,” he said. He looks back on her birth and the survival of the tiny baby who was predicted to suffer from birth defects. “Definately a  miracle. It was the way it was meant to be,” he said.

Melissa hopes people come away with an appreciation of how fragile and precious each life is. “Even though my circumstances are truly unique, we can all relate at some level to what I have experienced and how I have survived and thrived.”

Source:The Storm Lake Times

Storm Lake, Iowa