December 2011 Newsletter

It is my joy to write to you during this wonderful Christmas season from our offices in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Lord's comfort and joy is a real blessing to experience in these tough times. We feel particularly blessed this holiday season to be included in His care. The Jeremiah 31 passage above outlines the hope that guides us during these uncertain financial times. No matter what your circumstances today, always remember that God loves you and has plans for your prosperous future!

This time last year found our family and Ramah moving cross country. The stresses of traipsing everything we owned across 1200 miles was a real challenge. In the last 13 months we have traveled to Florida six times, logging in over 14,000 miles. Thankfully Tom and I have completed the last of that work and are now refocused on Ramah's ministry for 2012. Thank you to all who prayed for us during this difficult season of our lives. God's grace, mercy, protection and provision has been such a blessing, reaffirming He listens to your prayers.

Working Again with Dr. James Dobson At Family Talk

A great deal of ministry work was accomplished through Ramah in 2011. In July we travelled to Colorado for a variety of ministry reasons. The Lord led us to visit Dr. Dobson in his new ministry offices of Family Talk in Colorado Springs. During those three hours together, Tom and I were blessed to refresh our friendship with this amazing pro-life leader and record a broadcast about post-abortion pain and the wonderful work of pregnancy centers.

As Dr. Dobson relayed on this show, "We hadn't planned to do a radio program. We all talked and were in tears and I called LuAnne and told her we had work to do." Tom shared his own personal abortion story for the first time. In January, 2012, Family Talk is sending a copy to the nearly 2,600 U.S. pregnancy centers to help centers reconnect with Dr. Dobson. What a delight it was to be able to personally thank Dr. Dobson for the work God has used him to accomplish with pregnancy centers and in my personal life. I hope that you will all visit Dr. Dobson's web-site at myfamilytalk.com and sign up to receive his monthly letters. I know they will encourage you!

Here are links to the Family Talk online recordings of these broadcasts:

• Putting an Arm Around the Post-Abortive Woman - PART I
• Putting an Arm Around the Post-Abortive Woman - PART II

These recordings can also be downloaded on the Familt Talk broadcast archives page at:

• Sept. 29 & 30, 2011.

Ramah's New "Sound Bites of Healing" Videos & Blog

We were blessed in 2011 to produce many new marketing pieces for abortion recovery classes. If you visit the Ramah webpage and visit the "Sydna Massé Blog" page in the top left corner, you'll be able to read all the new information there. Our new healing videos are featured on the "Abortion Recovery" page of my blog.

These videos were designed for pregnancy center websites, YouTube and other on-line sources to offer the hope of God's healing at various stages of post-abortion pain. These programs quickly moved to top rankings relating to abortion recovery search terms and have been widely viewed. We plan to produce more of these videos with healing messages that offer "sound bites" describing God's wonderful Character - His forgiveness, love, grace and mercy to those struggling with post-abortion pain. These videos can be customized for individual use as well. Send me an e-mail at sydna@aol.com for more information on using these healing video messages in your ministry.

Educational Opportunities!

Already Ramah's 2012 training schedule is beginning to take shape. We are accepting ideas for future seminar locations. If you are interested in hosting one of these events, please contact me directly. Our topics for 2012 include new information on reaching the hearts of the abortion-vulnerable millennial generation, effectively communicating about your center's work positively within your community, the compassionate use of ultrasound on post-abortive clients, addressing personal grief when clients "abort anyway" despite being fully informed, and transitioning individuals into recovery classes. We are also offering separate post-abortion ministry development sessions during many of these one-day seminars. There is no cost to you to host an event - just a little work. At $45 per attendee, these low-cost seminars are an excellent way to provide cutting edge training to pregnancy center and church leadership teams. Our 2012 events are featured on our web site and listed as follows:

• March 6, 2012 - Peoria, IL - Women's Pregnancy Center, Peoria, IL.
• March 10, 2012 - Jackson First Church of the Nazarene, Jackson, MI - This seminar will feature both abortion recovery basic ministry training sessions and a detailed separate session on ministering to abortion-vulnerable individuals.

Client Contacts

Ramah's direct client communication expanded significantly in 2011. We receive many calls each week from both abortion-vulnerable and post-abortive individuals through the "Help in Your Area" directory on Ramah's web site. My job with these callers is to encourage them to visit their local pregnancy center. This contact allows me to understand the ongoing issues facing pregnancy centers today which directly feeds into our seminar content. Truly it's one of the favorite parts of our work.

Dr. Dobson asked us how many children are alive through our website contacts and I replied, "I haven't a clue." Truly, the Lord keeps the catalogue of our fruit but every once in a while we receive our own baby pictures and letters of thanks. We are so appreciative of every pregnancy center that receives these clients and ministers to them. The partnership Ramah enjoys with centers continues to be something God uses to save many lives.

Pregnancy Center Websites

Every few years, it's nice to have a new look on a ministry web site. Ramah International has recently developed many new graphic designs within our pregnancy center web site program Ramah Web Designs. We continue to enjoy helping centers reach abortion-vulnerable clients through the our ongoing SEO strategies. If we can assist you in developing a web-site, please give us a call at 479-445-6070!

Speaking

We have recently put a new banquet video presentation on our site that was just recorded last month - Sydna Speaking. All proceeds from these banquet presentations go to support the work of Ramah International specifically. If I can serve you in any sort of a fund-raising capacity, please let me know.

In closing I know that many of you are experiencing deep financial struggles in this economic environment. God is building the financial faith of so many of us for the work required ahead. Be sure to take time to praise the Lord, even in these hard times, for what He will accomplish as a result of these struggles. Remember God's message in Isaiah 51:11-12: Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. “I, even I, am he who comforts you.

Our ministry continues to be blessed by our supporters who pray for us daily and we hope that you will continue to remember our efforts with the Lord. We also invite you to please consider supporting Ramah International financially to partner with us in this life saving endeavor. Your financial gifts are tax-deductible and will support the work God is accomplishing through Ramah. We will be receipting donations as 2011 gifts throughout January 11, 2012.

If we can be of service to you, please let us know. From our family to yours -- Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May God's comfort and joy be tangible in your hearts today and always!

Sincerely,
Sydna A Masse
President & Founder
Ramah International