Leader's Spotlight

Sheila Harper: Founder/President of SaveOne

Nashville, Tennessee

Interview by Lindsey Parsons

Sheila Harper is a true survivor. After a deed she considered unforgivable, her life spun out of control with addiction and despair. But God set Sheila free from the grip of regret and shame. He has turned her pain into a platform for a growing ministry to hurting men and women. Whether you are a leader with an impossible dream, or someone who is haunted by mistakes, this interview with Sheila will encourage you to move forward with God’s plan for you.

What is SaveOne?

We are an abortion recovery ministry; a non-profit organization (501-C3) helping women and men who suffer in silence from a past abortion. We provide a group therapy setting led mainly by people who have experienced abortion. They complete one of two Bible studies over the course of twelve weeks, or one weekend plus six consecutive weeks. We also provide one-on-one help over the Internet.

What experience prompted you to begin this ministry?

I was saved at age 12 and knew exactly what I had done—I couldn’t wait until the end of the service. I got very involved in the youth group throughout high school and loved everything about being a Christian. Then I went to college, and it was like the world hit me. I started dating a non-Christian, and a year later I was pregnant. I knew I did not want to be connected to the baby’s father through a child, and at age 19, I was scared to death. I did not want to tell my dad; I just wanted an easy way out. I asked one of my friends who had had an abortion at age 15, and she said it was so easy. Even though I had never learned about abortion in church, something told me that it was wrong. But I fooled myself into trusting the Supreme Court’s ruling that abortion was legal. Even my boyfriend begged me not to do it, but I convinced myself he would thank me later.

I had the abortion on March 29, 1985. The next seven years were unbearable. I had nightmares, and looked to alcohol and drugs to keep me numb. I even attempted suicide. I knew everything stemmed from the abortion.

I tried to move on, met a new man, got married, and had two children. My second son was born on March 29, and it was like God was screaming “you’re forgiven!” I finally found a Bible study, and it changed my life. I fully realized I could be forgiven, and I could forgive myself.

What were your first steps to building your abortion recovery ministry?

I began to teach abortion recovery Bible studies, and after several years my husband transferred to Nashville. Then I thought my pro-life involvement was over. But I started teaching abortion recovery class to ten women in our new church, Cornerstone Church. In every class I taught, women were saying, “If I could just save one baby, I would tell my story.” From this, God turned on the light bulb: if these women had a platform to tell their story, lives would be saved.

First I prayed and sought God like never before. I questioned, “God, are you sure you want me to go public with my story?” After getting a clear vision and confirmation, I went to my pastor, Maury Davis, for direction and blessing. He gave me so much help to know what to do and where to go.

My husband and those ten women in the class helped me every step of the way. We did not hire an attorney; we just put our heads together. For six to eight months, we went through the paperwork and forms to get the non-profit status. We found the information on state and federal Web sites, and downloaded all the forms. It was a long process, but it was worth it. Once we had the status, we were only required to complete an annual report. Finally, SaveOne was born in 1999.

How is SaveOne structured and why?

I knew I needed people more knowledgeable and spiritual than I. So we began with a board of directors to keep me accountable with money and decisions. Two of them are pastors, and the other two are trustworthy women who have been with me for years. We also hired an accountant to manage our books. This gives us accountability that things are being run with value and care.

Our national staff is divided into seven regional coordinators and two district chapter coordinators. They serve a region of a few states, or a district of one state. They recruit and assist the chapters in their area.

The chapter heads serve locally to teach the Bible studies. Each chapter head must get the blessing of her church’s pastor. We have 71 chapters in America, and 15 internationally (the first Bible study book has been translated into four languages). We require all of our chapters to be affiliated and taught within a pregnancy center or church. This gives accountability to the chapter heads.

All our staff members are volunteers. I have also always been a volunteer, until two months ago, when the board voted to pay me a small salary.

Where did you get the materials for teaching and training?

For the first two years we used existing materials. Then I wrote the women’s book, men’s book, and pregnancy journal, and we self-published all of them. We contracted an editor from my church, who formatted the pages for printing and found a printer. I chose a hard cover wiro-encased binding—expensive, but I wanted to make sure the book laid flat for easy writing on the journal pages. It’s great how God opened the doors and put the workers in front of us to get His work done. He is helping me write another book, The Survivor, my story of recovery.

How is SaveOne promoted and funded?

For promotion, we do all the legwork since we don’t have a huge advertising budget. We go to a lot of ministry conferences and pro-life gatherings. We have many churches who support us and generous people who care about the cause. We currently focus on reaching the Assemblies of God because we noticed it was the denominational minority at pro-life conferences. So for the last two years, we have encouraged our denomination’s involvement by attending only conferences that would touch the Assemblies of God.

In your contact with churches, what are some misconceptions about abortion?

There are three major misconceptions. First, that abortion is not happening in the Church. That is not true; in fact one of our staff members was a Christian, and her father was a church deacon when she had an abortion. She did it because she felt like she had to protect Jesus’ reputation. Many Christians have an abortion to sweep away their sin when it actually compounds the sin.

A second myth people believe is that no one in their church has been affected. The truth is, one of every four women have had an abortion. That means potentially one of every four men have also been touched. This statistic is true of non-Christians and Christians alike.

Third, people believe that abortion is a political issue. When we take politics out of it, we are left with the fact that America is still legally killing babies. That is an issue that the Church needs to take a stand on.

Some men and women may not realize why they are suffering. Tell us, what is Post Abortion Syndrome?

After an abortion, people suffer from trauma symptoms. Most common are nightmares about the child, the future, or things related to their stomach. Many people turn to alcohol and drugs to numb the pain. “Anniversary syndrome” is depression and self-hatred around the abortion date, projected birth date, or even the season of year if the specific dates were forgotten. Women also experience lack of bonding with their children, because they fear God will take away their kids as a punishment for what they did. They are unable to sustain relationships in dating or marriage, and 95 percent of relationships end after an abortion. And after that relationship ends, every new relationship is affected. Between partners, when either person is suffering, both are affected. When one brings baggage into a marriage, the new spouse has to now deal with it. My husband never knew what he’d come home to—if I’d be drunk, or depressed on the couch—he never knew what kind of Sheila would be there.

What would you say to women leaders who carry guilt and hurts from the past?

Don’t let another day go by. Don’t let your pride and shame outweigh your need for help. Allow God to create a miracle in you, so that you can minister to the best of your ability for Him. The abortion was the most regrettable mistake of my life, and I never thought that God would turn it into something to help people everywhere. But if we go to God with the broken pieces of our life, He will turn it into something blessed and wonderful. Again, don’t let another day go by; we are doing God’s work, and we can’t waste time.

What would you say to women leaders who have a ministry vision?

Follow your vision all the way through. You will have setbacks and people will discourage you. You may think your family will be just has excited about your vision as you are, but they might be reserved and want to protect you. So be careful who you go to with your dream. But if God gave it to you, no matter how crazy is seems, don’t doubt it. Just go for it, and He will bring it to fruition.

How can people support the cause?

We constantly need prayer. This is a ministry that Satan hates. He attacks people personally, their homes, kids, and health. He is angry because we are plucking people out of his grip.
Help us financially by giving through our Web site. The donations will help get the word out to churches and communities that there is hope after an abortion. It will also help produce and distribute materials to help women in each of our chapters.
Help us get the word out that we are here. Invite us to speak at your prayer group, women’s group, Sunday School class, or men’s breakfast. Remember, no church is exempt from the pain of abortion. Our goal and passion is to see SaveOne grow to be a common household name just like Planned Parenthood. We want people to know that we are here to tell them the truth with no underlying motive.
Begin a chapter in your community. Contact us and you will receive a packet of information to share with your pastor. Once your pastor has given his or her blessing, we will provide you with training in person or on DVD. We will give your leaders our success principles and then give you freedom to take it from there.

How can people get help at SaveOne?

The easiest way is through our Web site, www.saveone.org. From there you can order books, read stories from the staff, e-mail us, join a chat room, read our newsletters, and find a chapter near you. Or you can call 866-329-3571.

Sheila Harper still resides in Nashville, Tennessee. She is married to her wonderful husband Jack, a pastor at Cornerstone Church in Nashville. They have raised two sons, Jarod (19), and Jakob (17–“God’s gift of grace”). She juggles her role of homeschool mom and fulltime director of SaveOne. She is also passionate about parenting, and the biggest fan at her sons’ baseball games.

Sheila’s desire is for churches to realize the need for abortion recovery ministry, and to provide them with resources. Two people enter an abortion clinic, and only one walks out. But together, we can still SaveOne.

Visit and support SaveOne at www.saveone.org, or call 866-329-3571.

Sheila Harper: Founder/President of SaveOne Sheila Harper
Founder/President of SaveOne
615-826-9503
sheila@saveone.org