Elizabeth to foster unexpected joy

30 May 2012

By Mat De Sousa

Pregnancy assistance centre renamed ‘Elisabeth House” during the Year of Grace in honour of Mary’s cousin who welcomed the expecting mother of God into her home.

Pregnancy Assistance have named their East Perth premises “Elizabeth’s House” to mark the Year of Grace.

The site has been named after Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, in Luke’s Gospel who, expecting a child herself, welcomed the pregnant and much younger Madonna when she came to visit.

Choosing to name the site for the Year of Grace was a recognition that Christ needed to be at the centre of Pregnancy Assistance’s work, director Lara Malin told The Record.

“We are so busy it is often so easy to lose what the Year of Grace is all about: asking where is Jesus in this?” Ms Malin said. “It’s so easy to say, ‘I’m so busy and that’s a knock at the door’.

Have I really got the time for this? But we are here for the knock at the door.”

The image of Elizabeth House is the Pearl of Hope, a symbol of reassurance and love.

“I thought this was really similar to an unexpected pregnancy,” Ms Malin said. “The oyster can’t get rid of the grain of sand which is seen as a problem but, over time, is recognised as a precious treasure.”

Elizabeth House receives close to 100 contacts a month, some over the telephone and some as visits.

Lara Malin began her role of director at Pregnancy Assistance at the beginning of the year.

“I love being here,” Ms Malin said. “I had the Year of Grace in my heart before I actually began work at Elizabeth House and I wanted to use that.

“This is a place women can come and get a fresh view on their pregnancy,” she said.

Elizabeth House is currently fundraising for an ultrasound machine; statistics claim that nine times out of ten an abortion-vulnerable woman will not abort her child after seeing the child on an ultrasound.

With the start of the Year of Grace, Elizabeth House is ready to start anew with Christ, Ms Malin said. “We are relying on the Grace of God to carry us through.”

For more information: 9328 2929, info@pregnancyassistance.org.au.