Since 2020, we’ve been developing custom training for our Zoe volunteers. With input from professionals in therapy, pastoral care, government regulations, child protection, and organizational leadership, we’ve created invaluable material to equip our Zoe Advocate volunteers — those who support guests face-to-face and via live web chat.
This past year, Katy sensed God leading her to offer this training beyond Zoe Community. We began to see how both the content and our approach to supporting women experiencing unplanned pregnancy translate naturally into pastoral care settings.
At just the right time, God brought two professionals alongside us — a pastoral care professor from a Bible college in Dublin and a specialist in developing structured training programs. Together, they helped us reimagine and refine the course, shaping it into a clear, accessible format that could serve a wider audience.
We’re thrilled to share that we’ve just completed the first round of this newly developed training — and it was a great success. Two new Zoe volunteers and three members of pastoral care teams from local churches across Ireland participated. Their feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and they offered thoughtful suggestions to help us improve and expand the training for church and community teams nationwide.
This milestone matters deeply to us. Zoe Community’s mission is not only to directly support women facing unplanned pregnancy, but also to equip communities across Ireland to do the same. While we remain committed to providing hands-on services, we are equally committed to multiplying this support through training others.
This first course marks an important step toward that goal.
Thank you for making it possible to provide this resource — not only for our volunteers, but for churches throughout the country.