1. Speak the Truth in Love

"Truth is a very different thing from fact; it is the loving contact of the soul with spiritual fact, vital and potent. It does its work in the soul independent of the soul's ability to explain it. Truth in the inward parts is a power, not an opinion."

"But love is the first comforter, and where love and truth speak, the love will be understood even where truth is not. Love indeed is the highest in all truth; and the pressure of a hand, a kiss, the caress of a child will do more to save, sometimes than the wisest argument, even rightly understood. Love alone is wisdom, love alone is power. And where love seems to fail, it is where self has stepped between and dulled the potency of its rays."

George MacDonald --- The Lady's Confession

2. Be Ministers not Manipulators

"Meddlesomeness is the very opposite of helpfulness, for it consists of forcing yourself into another instead of opening yourself as a refuge to the other."

George MacDonald - The Lady's Confession

 3. Every Woman is Sending Out an S.O.S.

"Recent research on the psychology of pro-choice women suggest that modern American women of childbearing age do not view the abortion issue within the same moral framework as those of us who are pro-life. Our message is not being well-received by this audience because we have made the error of assuming that women, especially those facing the trauma of an unplanned pregnancy, will respond to principles we see as self-evident within our own moral framework, and we have presented our arguments accordingly. This is a miscalculation that has fatally handicapped the pro-life cause. While we may not agree with how women currently evaluate this issue, the importance of our mission and the imperative to be effective demands that we listen, that we understand, and that we respond to the actual concerns of women who are most likely to choose abortion."

Paul Swope --- "Abortion: A Failure To Communicate"

 4. The Four Qualities of an Effective Helper

Before her downfall a woman's heart is proud, but humility comes before honor." ­­ Proverbs 18:12

"Watch what God does and then do it . . . Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that."

Ephesians 5:1-2 ­­ The Message -by Eugene Peters

"All a woman's ways seem innocent to her, but motives are weighed by the Lord." ­­ Proverbs 16:2

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down her friend can help her up. But pity the woman who has no one to help her up!" ­­ Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

 5. The 5 Communication Skills

"She who answers before listening that is her folly and her shame." Proverbs 18:3

"The purposes of a woman's heart are deep waters, but a woman of understanding draws them out." Proverbs 20:5

"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." Proverbs 19:2

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

 6. The Six Phases of A Crisis

A crisis is an event, a set of circumstances, or a sudden realization that threatens one's emotional or physical
well-being, and in turn, interferes with one's routine of daily living.

The word crisis in Chinese is comprised of the characters for "danger" and "opportunity." The literal translation is "opportunity riding on a dangerous wind." A crisis poses a danger to our sense of well-being, and at the same time, provides us with an opportunity to grow and learn and make different choices.

 7. The Six Steps to Crisis Intervention

"In the Christian faith, we should be able to use the word "feel" boldly and without apology. What worse thing could be said of us as the Christian church if it could be said that we are a feelingless people?" A.W. Tozer The Pursuit of God

To learn about the specific components in each of the Seven Fundamentals and how to incorporate them into your volunteer training, visit the Products & Services page for information about the Equipped To Serve Volunteer Training Manual and the accompanying Leader's Manual.