Crisis Pregnancy Centers letters of endorsement
Hope Pregnancy Centers, Inc.
1211 Florence Rd.
Killeen, TX 76541
(254) 519-3343
Dear Mike,
Thank you for speaking at Hope Pregnancy Center's Fundraising Banquet on Tuesday, March 6th. The event was one of our most successful. Despite the lower than average turn-out, we brought in more donations than we have in recent memory. I was especially encouraged by the monthly support raised last night. I am certain that it was because of the way you zeroed in on our monthly budget and the need to have constant monthly support to keep our four centers open.
Your presentation that evening was so refreshing because of the way you made the evening about the clients and their needs rather than about your ministry, which we have experienced so many times in the past. Through the course of your speech you continuously brought the abstinence message back to the pregnancy centers and what a cutting edge role we play in getting this message across to young people in our centers and in the community. It was a very effective way of educating our donors on the lifestyle our clients are living when they come into our centers. The donations and pledges that evening demonstrated how much your message hit home with our donors.
Thank you also for the great job you did at the abstinence youth rally the next night. No one expected 500 kids and parents to participate. I am convinced that it was the result of the word of mouth from the banquet the night before. Your presentation was wonderful but the best part was the prayer with the kids at the end. God was certainly doing a work in their hearts. I have heard nothing but good feedback from youth and parents who attended. My vision for the future is to ask you back to do a training for parents, teachers, youth pastors, and counselors. We could follow that with a community youth rally at our local civic center. I'll be praying and planning with my board about this.
Finally, thanks for being a "low-maintenance" speaker! You were very easy to work with from the first contact we had and I appreciate your consideration of my time during some pretty hectic days. Next time you come I'd like to take you on a tour of some of our centers. God bless you, Mike, in the work that you do.
In Christ,
Cathy Mellon
Executive Director
Harrisonburg Pregnancy Center
833 Cantrell Ave.
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
(540) 434-0685
Dear Mike,
Thank you so very much for being our keynote speaker at Harrisonburg Pregnancy Center's Annual Banquet this past Monday, October 2. A significant number of people have told me that this was the very best such banquet they have attended. Further, your vision of "empowering" our young people to enjoy and reap physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of remaining sexually abstinent until their wedding night strongly resonated with our guests.
I also want to commend you for how easy and enjoyable you were to work with. Over the nearly 20 years that I have been in development work for various Christian ministries, I have been responsible for at least that number of fundraising banquets. From my perspective, you are truly a standout in four particular areas:
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First and perhaps foremost, your talk pointed people to Christ.
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Second, in contrast to some other speakers with whom I have worked, your talk was NOT "all about you." Rather, you provided wonderfully helpful information to parents who often struggle in their God-given task of raising up their children in the "way they should go." -and you truly imparted real hope in them. I know that I personally walked away with new vision for my role as a granddad. |
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Third, you helped our guests understand how truly important the work and ministry of Harrisonburg Pregnancy Center really is. In that context, my staff and I drew great personal encouragement from your remarks. After all, not many folks realize how tedious the work that we do can be. |
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Finally, you were VERY easy to work with. Not infrequently, the personal demands and requirements imposed by some keynote speakers with whom I have worked have been taxing and, frankly, sometimes ludicrous. You were most reasonable, undemanding, and helpful. You truly demonstrated a servant's heart during you time with us. |
As soon as the figures are available, I will share with you the financial results of our banquet. I can tell you right now that the early indications are very positive. On of the more significant events occurred before I left the banquet hall Monday evening. A pastor who was actually involved in the founding of Harrisonburg Pregnancy Center 22 years ago came up to me, complimented me on the evening, and told me the he was quite certain that his congregation would be able to provide the $8000.00 we would need to secure a new ultrasound machine through Focus on the Family's "Option Ultrasound" project! What a blessing!!!
Again, thank you so much, Mike, for your ministry. I really hope that we will have the opportunity to work together again in the future.
Most sincerely in Christ,
Jack Richardson
Executive Director
Hope Pregnancy Centers of Broward County Florida
3700 SW 64th Ave.
Davie, FL 33314
(954) 581-6992
The theme for our annual fundraising banquet was "Lift Up the Light of Hope," and our key verse was John 1:4: "In Him was life and that life was the light of men." We invited Mike Long to come to Broward County and help us lift up the light of Christ through the ministry of Hope Pregnancy Centers.
Anyone who has ever planned an event knows that you choose a speaker 8 or 9 months in advance, and then hope and pray that you chose the right one! They all have impressive biographies and endorsements from respected leaders in the Christian community, but all of us know that a good event has an element of "chemistry" in it that you can't predict or second-guess. The real question that can only be answered AFTER the event is, "Will he/she connect with our audience?" We saw Mike Long's promotional video and liked what we saw. Mike seemed a good fit for our annual fundraising banquet, so we issued an invitation and he graciously accepted.
The goal of our banquet was huge - almost $200,000 was needed to meet the budget projections. After inviting Mike to come, the economy worsened each month. We began to experience a decline in giving during the last quarter. Just two weeks before our banquet, the United States experienced great setbacks in the war in Iraq. It didn't seem like the greatest time in the world to hold a major fundraising event. Little doubts continued to creep into my mind and I would find myself thinking, "Maybe we should have asked one of the big-name, nationally recognized speakers….Oh, Lord please be with us and make it all work out."
What a mighty God we serve - and what an anointed and gifted speaker He sent us! Our banquet broke every record for fundraising success in the history of our ministry. The NET receipts were over a quarter million dollars! It was the largest audience that we ever had with 1100 people in attendance. And it was the consensus of the people who came and listened to a very compelling pro-life, pro-purity message that Mike Long was the best speaker we have ever had.
Mike's passion for youth, coupled with his passion for the Lord, is a winning combination that inspires and motivates. His delivery is sharp, quick, powerful, and professional. He definitely left the audience hungry for more. One gentleman told me that he felt so let down when the 2 30 minutes was up - he wanted Mike to go on and share more on this all-important subject of abstinence education!
Mike gave the pledge challenge right on time, and was very forthright and direct about the need to support the local care center ministry. That bridge is often a difficult one for a speaker to cross, but Mike handled it with true leadership skill. His schoolteacher style was responsible for the most completely filled out pledge cards we have ever had! Mike Long came to Florida and helped us lift the light of Hope. That light will shine her for a very long time.
For Life,
Nancy McDonald
Executive Director
Eastern Pregnancy Care Center
1902 Brittany Pl.
New Bern, NC 28584
(252) 638-4673
Ben Franklin said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." That is why I strongly believe in Mike Long. His complete abstinence education program is exactly the type of message our children should be receiving!
As an executive director of a pregnancy care center, I believe that abstinence and character education are paramount to all other aspects of our ministry. Why? When churches, pregnancy resource centers and we parents alike, began to teach abstinence coupled with character education, then we will have fewer pregnancies. Logically, we will have fewer abortions. There is no better way to prevent abortion.
The so-called "safe sex" curriculum cannot prevent disease or pregnancy. Only abstinence and character education can! Furthermore, as we place a greater emphasis upon abstinence and character education, the abortion rate will drastically drop as will school dropouts and Juvenal delinquency. This should in turn curtail domestic violence.
To highlight our own ministry's abstinence program we invited Mike to be our keynote speaker at our fundraising banquet in November. Despite the fact that Mike was not as well known as other speakers we've had, the banquet was our most successful fundraiser ever! His message was sharp, quick, powerful, and professional. He was asked to give the financial appeal at 9pm sharp. He eagerly obliged and we were very grateful. Consequently, Mike has unequivocally earned my strongest personal recommendation to share his inspiring and motivating message.
In Christ,
Jim Elmore
Executive Director
Pregnancy Counseling Center
114 Aiport Dr., #104
San Bernardino, CA 92408
(909) 382-4550
Dear Mike,
I would like to thank you once again for the fabulous job you did at our 2006 Fall Gala. I have to admit I was a little hesitant to invite an abstinence promoter to speak for our Pregnancy Support Center. However, your message meshed beautifully with our vision to be more proactive and intentional in our discussion with clients about destructive sexual behavior.
First, we found we are on the right track as we ask clients direct and open-ended questions so that they can "hear" what is going on in their own hearts and lives. Second, our donors now have a better understanding of the need for us to go forward with our plan to implement a "Sexual Purity" Program. I have had many people comment to me that the evening was an eye-opener for them. That, for us translates into increased support, and community involvement.
Our Gala proceeds increased 30% over last year (2005), but the best thing is that our monthly pledges doubled. I thank you for speaking to our need of on going support to keep the lights on and our door opened. Our guests heard and responded.
Thanks again for working with us to implement the two-pronged appeal and for your input throughout the time we worked together. I had a lot of questions for which you had a lot of answers. I enjoyed working with you. We would like to get you back out here to speak with the youth in our community, and will work to that end.
Blessings,
Lisa J. Stiefken
Executive Director
Tomorrow's Hope Pregnancy Care Center
211 N. Brewer St.
Paris, TN 38242
(731) 642-0600
To Whomever It May Concern:
Mike Long has been the best speaker that Tomorrow's Hope has had in the last seven years that it has been in existence. The comments after the banquet have been nothing but astounding. The insight that he gave the community into the severity of teens and the sexual battles that they are fighting was awesome. He gave great ideas on how to instill the right ideals in the lives of our children and grandchildren about the immorality that is facing the world.
One of the participants who also teaches abstinence for Kay Arthur Ministries was very impressed and is very excited about using some of the information that she received the night of the banquet. She feels that it will enrich her programs.
Everyone was wishing that Mike could have addressed the teens in our community and what an impact it would have made had he been given the opportunity. We look forward to possibly having him back again to do further talks and training.
Cheryl Conner
Executive Director
East County Pregnancy Care Center
677 S. Magnolia Ave.
El Cajon, CA 92020
(619) 442-4357
RE: Devoted to Life - Fundraising Banquet
To Whom It May Concern:
Please allow me to introduce and highly recommend Mike Long as an effective and inspirational banquet speaker! Mike was passionate and engaging as he spoke to our banquet guests about the great need for effective abstinence education and the right way to communicate the purity message to our young people. He convincingly conveyed the importance or our ministry work and outreach to our community, unashamedly asking for the committed financial and prayer support of our guests.
Many of our guests, staff, volunteers, and board members have taken the time to tell me how much they appreciated Mike's message and I couldn't agree more! We exceeded all of our fundraising goals for this banquet; 77 brand new donors have been added to our database and 82% of those who committed to support our ministry each month for the entire year are new monthly givers!
We give God all the glory and we are thankful that Mike Long is willing to "tool" in God's hand, using his spirit of influence to promote a pro-life and pro-family message.
In His Service,
Lori Williams
Executive Director
Community Pregnancy Clinic of Camas/Washougal
1542 NE 3rd Ave.
Camas, WA 98607
(360) 834-7256
To Whomever It May Concern:
It is with great pleasure that I have this opportunity to speak about Mike Long and his visit to our community. Our eighth annual banquet where Mike spoke was a total success, not only financially, but also from the many comments that the guests had to share. People expressed their appreciation for the information being presented in a fresh and interesting way. Mike kept the evening moving quickly and kept within the time frame we expected.
The day following the banquet, Mike spoke in three middle schools in our area to approximately 1500 young people. His delivery was filled with humor and important facts that were very well received by all the students. I believe the faculty members in attendance are going to want more information about Mike's program.
The Saturday adult presentation was tremendous. Folks in attendance purchased books and many took flyers to order the tapes.
I appreciate how flexible Mike was from our first phone call after viewing the promo tape to our farewell at the airport. He was punctual for all the gatherings and a pleasure to spend time with between commitments. I would highly recommend Mike to any PRC organization as well as other groups who want to be on the cutting edge of directive education.
Sincerely,
Ron Huff
Executive Director
Mountain Top Pregnancy Center
111 Alderson St.
Mountain Lake Park, MD 21550
(304) 788-0707
To Whomever It May Concern:
As executive director of three pregnancy care centers, I highly recommend Mike Long. Mike is a wonderful banquet speaker. And whether he is speaking to parents, teachers, or teenagers, his message is the message that needs to be heard. Our pregnancy care center just spent 3 days with Mike as he spoke with all of the above groups of people.
I believe Mike's complete abstinence education program is what schools, churches, parents, and pregnancy resource centers have been looking for as they work with pre-teens and teenagers. His message is not just words, but words from his heart. It doesn't take teenagers long to realize that he is not just and abstinence speaker, but he is one who really cares about them.
With the sensitive issue of sexuality, Mike has a style of communicating with teens, parents, and teachers that is inspiring and refreshing. He actually empowers teens to take control of their lives, and by doing so, they gain confidence in their decisions.
Sincerely,
Nellie Ashby
Executive Director
Eagle Forum
7800 Bonhomme Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63105
(314) 721-1213
Dear Mike,
Thank you so much for your wonderful presentation at Eagle Council. I'm sure you could feel the appreciation of our Eagles. You material was so informative and just exactly what we wanted. I know that our Eagles will put your excellent information to good use in order to spread the truth.
With all best wishes, Faithfully
Phyllis Schlafly
Eagle Forum Education & Legal Defense
Leading the Pro-Family Movement since 1972
Caring Pregnancy Center
202 N. Main
Pontiac, IL 61764
(815) 842-2484
Dear Mike,
I want to take a moment to deeply than you for your presentation to the Pontiac high School students and your evening banquet speech. We have heard from numerous teens that after your talk, sexual purity became a priority. I trust that many vows of "save sex for marriage" were sealed! And I cannot tell you how many wonderful comments were received by the adult audience from the evening banquet.
Mike your passion for today's youth is so much in evidence. We thank God that you are being used as a vessel for His work. Please keep up the great and magnanimous work!!
We look forward to implementing your videos and seeing more lives touched. May God bless you richly.
In His Service,
Darleta Gramm
Executive Director
A Beacon of Hope Women's Center
9855 Nesbit Ferry Rd.
Alpharetta, GA 38022
(770) 752-9188
Dear Mike,
I would like to thank you on behalf of A beacon of Hope staff and the community of Alpharetta for the time you spent sharing the truth and meaning of human sexuality at the First annual Parent/Teen Conference.
A Beacon of Hope, though a pregnancy resource in our origins, really does wish to go to the root cause of the abortion problem in the area of teaching teens and parents the value of God's plan for human sexuality! Your time spent with us in February will not go forgotten and I am sure that much good fruit will spring from this event.
We are ever thankful for the work that you do, for the passion you exude for purity, and for the ways you have helped A Beacon of Hope reach teens and parents with this message!
For all the Lord's Kids,
Born and Preborn,
Tracey Casale
Executive Director
Heather Cantrell
Abstinence Education Coordinator
