Ryca’s story is similar to stories of teen pregnancies all around the world. All her friends her age were entering into adult relationships with their boyfriends and she was the only one not doing it. She finally gave in and let her friends talk her into having sex. She got pregnant. She was not ready for pregnancy, so she tried to get an abortion. Ryca was 4 months pregnant and twenty years old when she came to Bethesda. When she first found out she was pregnant, she decided to kill her baby by taking abortion pills and when that didn’t work she tried something else. Ryca tried to use a catheter to abort the baby. A catheter is a hollow tube used to drain fluids from body. Ryca thought the abortion worked, but later found out that it did not. Finally, a friend referred her to Bethesda and she ended up at Bethesda. When she first got to Bethesda, she would do nothing but cry. She felt guilty and she was scared. She was afraid to tell her parents about her situation. She was scared that the baby might not be normal because of the things she did to try to kill the baby. She was scared of being a mother. She was even afraid to touch a baby because she might drop the baby or she might end up killing the baby because she wouldn’t know how to be a mother. The Bethesda staff and I ministered to her and prayed with her. Like all girls that end up at Bethesda it is not long before she got to know Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Although there were still times when she felt unsure and scared of her situation, it was evident that she had God’s peace. She spent the rest of her time at Bethesda eagerly learning more about the Bible and about Jesus. When the baby came out, he was perfect. He was complete and normal. She has a baby boy. He was 6.14 pounds at birth. She named him Hazhem Karl. Initially, her decision was to give up her baby for adoption. Somewhere along the way, she decided to keep the baby. She finally decided to tell her parents about her situation. They forgave her and prepared a party for her and the baby to welcome them back home. She is with her parents now in Tarlac (north of the Philippines). She turned out to be a great mom. She was carrying the baby as if she’s been doing it forever. God calmed all her fears and gave her the strength to be more than a conqueror.