Do you know a young woman in need, but you don’t know how to help? Are you afraid of saying the wrong thing? Let us help you by teaching you the LOVE Approach.

The LOVE Approach is a simple, memorable, life-saving guide that is used in pregnancy help centers every day, but can be used anywhere by everyone.

Biblical Basis: 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

L – Listen and Learn

Explore the pregnancy issue and the details of her story through listening and learning. Ask about:

• Her Needs.
• Her Strengths.
• Her Areas of Awareness (Feelings, Thoughts, Wants, Values and Beliefs).
• The attitudes, feelings and responses of the child’s father and/or her parents since they are key to her
  feelings and fears.

How to explore and listen:

• Pay close attention to her every word and body language.
• Ask open-ended questions and use statements like “Tell me more about…”
• Interpret and “check out” what you think you are hearing (“Did I hear you say…?”).
• Observe and listen for contradictions and ambivalence to understand more deeply (she is probably not totally “at ease” about her actions, thoughts, or the feelings she is experiencing).

O – Open Options

• Share information about options she needs to consider to make a life-giving decision.
• Use what you have learned in the L step about her story.
• Share in a factual but loving and caring way what you know about abortion, having a baby, adoption, marriage, and how they might apply in her situation.
• Focus on her first, not her baby.

V – Vision and Value

• Awaken a vision in her for a healthier life (a vision that she may never have had, or that has become dimmed).
• Help her Value herself differently. She is a special creation, worthy of love. She is made in the image of God; He loves her and even died for her. There is always hope. She can make positive choices for herself and her baby.

E – Extend and Empower

• Give Referrals for help she needs, especially 1-800-712-HELP or OptionLine.org for the nearest pregnancy help center.
• Help her plan her next steps.
• A call from you? How can you contact her?
• Pray for her and her baby.

LOVE Approach Source: www.HeartbeatInternational.org