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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged

In 1982, a 3-month-old girl named Rebecca became the 13th child adopted through Lifeline Children’s Services. 

The Birmingham, Alabama, nonprofit — launched the previous year — grew out of an evangelical crisis pregnancy ministry called Sav-a-Life.

“Our mission was always to say: How do we serve women between the choice for life, and then on the other side of the postpartum ward, how do we help make sure that women and children are thriving?” said Herbie Newell, Lifeline’s president and executive director since 2003. 

“And so this ministry, for the last 44 years,” Newell added, “has always really been about: Let’s make sure that we don’t just see life come to fruition and women choose life, but let’s really seek abundant pro-life, whole-life ministry.”

Rebecca Peyton, a Christian who attends the nondenominational Church Unlimited in Birmingham, is now 43.

“Growing up, my parents were always very open about my adoption, so I knew,” said Peyton, a special education teacher. “I mean, from the time I can remember, it was just always a normal part of our conversation. … And I knew some of the background from my birth family.”

Read the full column.

This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.

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