2024 Conference Speakers - Ramah International Pregnancy Center Training

Instructors

Sydna Massé

Sydna Massé is author of the book/abortion recovery program, Her Choice to Heal: Finding Spiritual and Emotional Peace After Abortion. She is internationally known for her initial work with Dr. James C. Dobson as Focus on the Family’s Manager of Crisis Pregnancy Ministries (1991-1998). For the last 25 years, Sydna has served as CEO & Founder of Ramah International, an abortion recovery outreach and abortion-vulnerable ministry training organization (www.ramahinternational.org), and author of the HerChoicetoHeal.com website.

Sydna experienced an abortion as a teenager while attending a private Christian college. She was the first post-abortive women to share her abortion story publicly on the Focus on the Family broadcast (1992). Over the years, Sydna has likely listened to more post-abortive testimonies than anyone else living in our world today and is one of the few experts on abortion related pain. She is an internationally recognized leader of the pregnancy center/abortion recovery movement.

Becky Anderson

Becky Anderson – Becky, with over a decade of experience as the Executive Director of Verity Pregnancy & Medical Resource Center in Fort Myers, FL, has demonstrated exceptional leadership in overseeing all aspects of the organization’s programs, personnel, and day-to-day operations. Her role encompasses fundraising, financial management, strategic planning, donor engagement, staff training, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

Before her tenure at Verity, Becky held diverse roles, including serving as Adjunct Faculty at Rasmussen College for five years, owning Anderson Medical Legal Consulting for four years, and spending nearly two decades as Director of Quality and Strategic Clinical Development for NCH Healthcare System. Her extensive background underscores her expertise in various domains within the healthcare and education sectors.

Jessica Deese

Jessica Deece – Jessica serves as the Executive Director of Coastal Choices Pregnancy Center in Deland, FL, where she directs all leadership responsibilities, including staff and volunteer management, as well as the day-to-day operations. Her journey with Coastal Choices began as a volunteer advocate and progressed to the Center Director position. In 2021, she transitioned into the position of Executive Director when the former director retired.

With licensure in ministry and Clinical Pastoral counseling, Jessica brings a distinctive perspective to her work at Coastal Choices, enriching her ability to support individuals in need.

Karen Fifer

Karen Fifer is the co-author of Ramah International’s Legacy Lost: Healing Abortion’s Heartache in Grandparents abortion recovery program, and the new study Boundless Love: Healing Abortion’s Heartache in Relationships and the novel, The Wichita Watcher. She is a post-abortive grandparent who previously served for 25 years as the director of Client Services at a pregnancy center in Wichita, KS. She is a Ramah International board member and has over 33 years of experience helping women, men and grandparents find hope and healing after abortion.

Melissa Horton

Melissa Horton serves as Ramah International’s Educational Director and has over 20 years’ experience in serving, training, and educating staff and volunteers in local pregnancy centers and leading abortion recovery ministry efforts. Currently she serves in a leadership role for women’s ministry all the while supporting her husband in his role as a pastor of a local church the past 17 years. She loves counseling women and equipping them to find healing and peace with God in the trauma that comes from abortion.

Bettina Loughman

Bettina Loughman has dedicated the past 20 years to the pregnancy center and abortion recovery ministry, serving communities in both California and Arkansas. Her diverse roles have ranged from receptionist to center director, showcasing her deep commitment and versatile leadership. Currently, she ministers to individuals through the HerChoicetoHeal.com team and leads a church-based abortion recovery effort. Bettina is also at the helm of the “Embrace Grace” program, providing support and hope to those in need. Residing in Centerton, AR, she cherishes her three children and two grandchildren.

Melissa Rodriguez

Melissa Rodriguez
Executive Assistant, Coastal Choices Women’s Clinic

Melissa’s journey into pregnancy ministry is deeply personal, rooted in her own experiences navigating post-abortion healing as a young mother. Her connection to Coastal Choices Women’s Clinic is fueled by a desire to support others facing similar challenges, evident in her commitment to the clinic’s mission and operations.

As Executive Assistant to the Executive Director, Melissa provides vital support, ensuring seamless coordination and effective execution of the clinic’s initiatives. With a profound understanding of the emotional complexities, Melissa helps extend the clinic’s reach and its transformative impact on the community.

John & Hannah Strege

Marlene Strege

John, Marlene, and Hannah Strege

John, and Marlene Strege, alongside their daughter Hannah, will share their profound journey through frozen embryo adoption, which began with a simple yet pivotal question from Marlene: “Can frozen embryos be adopted?” Their answer led to Hannah’s birth, making her the first human symbol against embryonic stem cell research, a science threatening countless frozen embryos.

The Strege family’s story, which has touched stages from Focus on the Family to the halls of Congress, the Supreme Court and the White House, will highlight their intersections of faith, family, science, and politics. John’s 2020 book, A Snowflake Called Hannah, outlines their fascinating story of God leading them to participate in the first human embryo adoption.

Hannah Strege is a licensed social worker, who received her master’s degree in social work from Baylor University. Prior to that, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Biola University. Hannah is the first adopted frozen embryo in the world and is hoping to open her own adoption counseling practice.

Marlene Strege is a retired occupational therapist and a graduate of the University of Southern California. She and John have been married for 39 years. She is mother to Hannah and is passionate about supporting embryo adoption families and their journeys.

John Strege is a semi-retired sportswriter (Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, and Golf Digest magazine) and the author of eight books, most recently In the Big Inning: Where Faith Meets Sports: A Christian Sportswriter’s Perspective, and Tiger: A Biography of Tiger Woods Paperback.