PassionLife

American Christians might be surprised to know that 97% of abortions worldwide occur outside the United States. However, pro-life groups primarily concentrate their efforts on abortion within the U.S., leaving the global issue largely unaddressed.

PassionLife (passionlife.org), a Christian ministry based in Marietta, Georgia, addresses that imbalance. Grounded in the biblical conviction that every human life possesses dignity and worth, the organization trains pastors, leaders, and church members worldwide to advocate for the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception. In areas where abortion rates are highest, PassionLife also shares the gospel and provides compassionate support to women facing crisis pregnancies.

Beginnings in Boston

PassionLife’s founder and president, John Ensor, told The Stand that his entry into pro-life ministry began with his own congregation. He recalls a moment of unexpected repentance in a small church in Boston where abortion had never been addressed.

“I was a Baptist minister in a church in inner-city Boston,” he recounted. “I had never talked about abortion from the pulpit. One Sunday, the topic came up unexpectedly. At the end of the service, a woman stood up and shared her story of having an abortion. Soon after, another woman stood up and did the same. More women followed, and then men began to share their experiences, too, having played a role in abortions during their lives.”

As the stories poured out, Ensor came to realize that he, also, bore some responsibility.

“Finally, one woman shared that she had an abortion during the previous year,” he explained. “I felt ashamed to hear that, because I was her pastor at that time. She mentioned that she had prayed, asking God to send someone to stop her if what she was doing was wrong … and no one did. I realized I needed to repent alongside everyone else in my church. Some of us were directly involved, while others had remained silent when they should have spoken out.”

After that Sunday, Ensor and his congregation felt compelled to take action.

“From that experience, our church began to participate in several Operation Rescue [operation
rescue.org] sit-ins,” said Ensor. “Starting pregnancy help clinics in Boston, and eventually around the world, were natural next steps,” which included the founding of PassionLife.

Local to global

For the next two decades, Ensor focused on preparing pastors in America to confront the abortion crisis. However, his perspective shifted when he began investigating abortions occurring elsewhere in the world.

“There was a data point that really changed my life,” he said, “and that is the discovery that the United States represents a very small percentage of global abortion on an annual basis.”

With that realization, Ensor began collaborating with pastors in China during the nation’s one-child policy. This initiative mobilized hundreds of thousands of local believers to provide support and alternatives to abortion – often at personal risk. Over
time, PassionLife evolved into a ministry that is now active in over 30 countries.

Global hot zones

PassionLife prioritizes “hot zones” where abortion is especially widespread: Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Examples include:

China - For every 1,000 children born, about 558 are aborted. Nearly 40% of known pregnancies end in abortion.

Romania - Roughly 20% of pregnancies end in abortion – the seventh-highest rate among larger nations. Following the fall of communism in 1989, Romania experienced a sharp surge in abortions after the strict anti-abortion laws of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s regime were overturned. Today, PassionLife partners with Romanian churches and seminaries to provide pro-life training and support for women during pregnancy.

Guatemala - Although abortion is illegal in most cases, it remains common and significantly underreported – especially as global organizations push for liberalized abortion laws. With limited official data available, local church networks, supported by PassionLife, are training pastors and congregations to uphold the sanctity of life and to compassionately assist women facing unplanned pregnancies.

Grassroots model

The ministry’s strategy encourages ordinary Christians to become what Ensor calls “good Samaritans.” The ministry provides easily reproducible resources that focus on compassion and action without requiring any specialized expertise or extensive training.

“Our philosophy is that we don’t need more experts,” he said. “What we really need is a million more good Samaritans. These good Samaritans only need to know enough to prevent [a baby] from dying. They do this because they love God and care for their neighbors.”

Ensor explained that the goal of training is to empower local leaders to act faithfully within their own cultural contexts rather than proposing solutions that may not be readily accepted.

“God’s people are pretty much the same everywhere, and they need to be faithful to what God’s Word says,” Ensor explained. “They will figure out by the Holy Spirit how to apply [biblical principles of life] in their cultural context, given the limitations or the freedoms that they have.”

The model has proven effective across many different cultures. In Cuba, for example, Christians have established 22 pregnancy help clinics in recent years. Ensor noted that local ownership is key.

“If we had provided funding to establish a pregnancy center in Cuba, it would not reproduce in other towns without ongoing foreign funding,” said Ensor.

“Instead, we allowed the Christians there to find their own way to do it. This approach enables them to celebrate what the Lord accomplished in their community, ultimately inspiring further growth and reproduction. That’s missions at its best.”

A call to the American church

While pro-lifers often focus on political, cultural, and economic issues to combat the killing of innocent children, Ensor emphasizes that a crisis pregnancy is fundamentally a matter of faith.

“The church in America needs to recognize that a woman facing a pregnancy-related crisis is dealing with a crisis of faith,” asserted Ensor. “She has questions like: ‘How would I feed my baby? How would I take care of my baby?’ These are questions of faith.”

That’s why Ensor strongly urges American Christians working in the pro-life arena not to neglect the most crucial aspect of the fight: the gospel.

“Everything about abortion is a gospel issue,” he proclaimed. “Before and after an abortion, it is the gospel that serves as the life-saving instrument. … [The gospel] is what makes the Christian’s rescue work so effective in saving both the baby and the mother.”