Crisis Pregnancy Outreach has been 100% run by volunteers since its inception more than 30 years ago. No one has ever received a salary, which enables CPO to make an even bigger difference in the lives of Tulsa area women. We know that volunteers matter, and to honor them we periodically interview and highlight one of our volunteers. This week we hear from a volunteer who is an adoptive mom of two CPO cuties, Amanda Hudson.
Q: In what ways do you volunteer at CPO?
A: I volunteered as the Mentor Coordinator for a short time, and I also have helped with the CPO gala. In addition, we have served as a host home for waiting families from out of state, and have been able to be a part of helping to provide Christmas to a CPO mom in need.
Q: How long have you been volunteering with us?
A: I started volunteering in December 2013. There are so many places where someone can volunteer within CPO. I think volunteering really allows someone to familiarize themselves with all the different facets of CPO.
Q: How did you find out about CPO?
A: We knew numerous people that had been involved with CPO, but my friend, Carrie Szatsmary, has been a close friend of Cheryl Bauman for years. When I expressed our desires to adopt, Carrie reached out to Cheryl and told her about us. I had actually gone to high school with some of Cheryl’s children, and we knew previous volunteers of CPO, as well as adoptive parents.
Q: Why did you choose to volunteer at CPO versus other organizations? What is it about crisis pregnancies that drew you to us?
A: I chose to volunteer at CPO because we have always volunteered at various organizations, but adoption is close to our hearts, and I believe that we are called to this organization. When we came to CPO we needed an organization that would treat us as a real couple with real life hurts and not just another waiting family to check off the list. The way CPO is with you through every step of the process really drew us to the organization.
Q: Why is our cause so close to your heart?
A: My husband and I fostered children before we adopted. Adoption, fostering, and loving children the way that Jesus adopted and loved us is what makes CPO’s cause so special to me.
Q: What have you learned about yourself since you began volunteering?
A: I have learned that I need to be more organized! I have also learned that I need to exercise more faith. It is my nature to worry, or try to fix things, and volunteering at CPO has exposed me to many people from different walks of life and taught me to let go. There is something so much greater than myself at work in this organization and volunteering has shown me that even in terribly difficult circumstances, there is hope.
Q: How have you seen God’s hand at work in the ministry of CPO?
A: God’s hand is all over CPO. It would be hard for me to pick one specific element, but for me personally, I witnessed how faithful God is through how He ministered to my husband and I because of CPO. As a ministry, CPO has restored my faith in God’s faithfulness to His children. When my husband, Kent, and I initially came to CPO, our hearts were broken. After failed fertility, the loss of our son, and very difficult fostering situations, we felt hopeless. God’s hand was ALL OVER our adoption. From us matching with our birth parents, all the way up to finalization, I watched God’s hand at work. We were blessed with our first baby, our daughter, Maris, on March 21, 2014. When we decided that we would like to adopt again, I never could have dreamed that we would be welcoming another baby so quickly. We received a call on March 7, 2015 telling us we had been picked to adopt another baby. On March 10th, our sweet daughter, Marion, was born. We had always said that if God dropped a baby in our laps we would know it was His will for us to adopt again. As my dad has said regarding Marion, “He didn’t just drop her in your laps, He put her in your pocket!” As someone who thought I might never have a baby, I stand in awe of how God has used CPO to minister to us.
CPO is a ministry that He used to give us the ultimate gift. There are daily stories of adoption, successful parenting in spite of crisis situations, and children whose lives are forever changed because of God’s hand on this ministry. As a ministry, CPO has changed the lives of many mothers who have placed and parented alike. It is amazing to watch what God has done in the lives of so many CPO mothers through this organization.
Q: What would you say to anyone who may be considering becoming involved with CPO?
A: I would say to them that there are so many ways to be involved with CPO, and you can give a little time, or a lot of time depending on what you choose to do. I would also say that volunteering is critical, because it shows you the many different parts of CPO. For example, as a waiting and now adoptive CPO parent, my perspective of CPO as an organization would have been completely different if I had not volunteered and gotten to meet parenting moms, and some of the other people involved with CPO outside of waiting families. I have also met amazing friends through CPO that I would never have been blessed to know otherwise.
