a snippit here

Hey guys,
6 days until Christmas. Today I will buy my stocking stuffers. I didn’t write a specific post this week, but here are some excerpts from emails to some friends about what’s been happening over here…

“We are getting ready for Christmas over here. Next week we have some days off, I am looking forward to being a bit more chillaxed! I am missing home, missing the cold weather that seems to go hand in hand with this “time of year”. I am sweating right now and it is 9am.”

“Our two families are getting ready to leave, both are headed back to Australia to meet up with the rest of their family to celebrate Christmas. Neither planned on going back that early but G*d made a way for it to happen. It is a quick change and will decrease our number from 27 to 20 for Christmas and the three weeks following until we go back to Perth.”

“The team is amazing, and G*d is abundantly full of grace. Each day women and babies are slapped in the face with injustice and somehow G*d puts us in the place at the moment to int*rcede practically with pr*yer or action.”

Okay, love you all. Happy Christmas!
Bekah

Here’s the thing. G*od is really cool.

Okay, I have been thinking a lot about grieving lately. Learning how to do it. All of us need healing. I think grieving and healing are deeply connected. Grieving releases healing.

Yes, all of us need healing. Whoever who you are, your parents probably weren’t perfect, you have probably made mistakes, you have probably been rejected, you probably haven’t seen the character of G*od in the painful things you have walked through in life…

About the healing.

I’m not so good at the grieving part. I like to keep the peace. To feel the peace in my heart. Grieving offsets the feeling of balance I love to feel.

You know when you cut your finger, and if you suck hard enough or squeeze hard enough, the pain subsides. That is, until you let the blood rush back to your cut. For me, the blood is the grieving, I like to cut it off and slowly let it flow to the site of the cut and kind of control the pain that I feel. It is actually the blood that contains the healing agents for the open wound, the very thing I cut off. Or like cartilage, cartilage takes a long time to heal because it is less vascular. You know when people tear their meniscus it often has to be repaired by surgery because the healing would naturally take too long. The blood, the pain, is necessary.

So here is this for now. Maybe more later.

We had an excellent week at the hospital. I personally got to be in the labour ward, and it was awesome. I love life.

Bless you guys.

Hey guys!



This month, as a team, we welcomed 85 babies into the world.

G*od is working not only in the present moments, but also changing things for the future, a doctor gave his life to the L*ord! This doctor has begun joining us in our morning prayer times before we enter the wards to work.



Here is a bit of a testimony from my lovely co-leader, Melisa:



“Throughout the morning we had several difficult births but every new baby was full of life and strong. Then there was one little one who a student midwife at the hospital was having trouble delivering and I ran over to help her. The little one was turning blue and I knew we had to get him out quickly. After he was born, I put my hand directly on his chest to feel for his heartbeat and there was none, he was blue and limp…lifeless. So we moved into action to get him separated from the mama so that we could resuscitate him and we pra*yed like crazy and spoke out life over him. Then just before he was moved to be resuscitated one of the students exclaimed “He has a heartbeat but isn’t breathing”. After 2 of the girls resuscitated him and we continued to pr*ay and call on the name of J*sus, this new beautiful baby boy was breathing and alive and doing much better and before we left for the day he was breastfeeding with his mama in the postnatal ward… “ asante Yesu” his mama exclaimed with us. Praise the L*rd!”



We have now heading into our third month of life in Tanzania . Our schedule in the hospital is in full swing Mondays thru Thursdays. Fridays are set aside for assessments and teaching. Saturday and Sundays for rest and ch*urch.



Three times a week we meet together to inte*rcede for whatever G*od is saying. As a team we are on the journey to see the marriage of wor*ship and inter*cession. This week G*od put it on multiple people’s hearts to seek G*od in a child like way about the injustice women are entangled in daily. We jump roped, hop scotched and leap frogged to prepare our hearts. As people were reminded of songs from our childhood we shouted them out and danced around while also recording on the chalk board what G*od’s heart is. While we got G*od’s heart and perspective we also recorded the injustices we are seeing:

“No BP cuffs to recognize warning signs of pre-eclampsia (a condition of high BP in pregnancy)”

“Premature babies without incubators”

“Women delivering on their own”

We arranged the “injustices” in a circle and marched around them six times and the seventh time screamed prayers for justice. We closed the time by dancing upon these injustices. G*od is using these pr*ayers.



Christmas is approaching rapidly. We hung our stockings tonight on the windowsills. May you find deep joy in refocusing you and your family on the miracle of life that Je*sus has given us.



Feel free to email me back! Merry Christmas my friends!



bekah

Hi all. Here is a testimony from the post caesarian section/eclamptic ward that I was in this week.

We cannot detest the small. Even taking someone’s blood pressure can change their life.

This is written by one of the students from South Korea .




I was working in the ICU and met Rehema she is 20 and had just lost a baby for the second time, I asked her if I could pr*ay for her but she said no, so I just took her vitals. After lunch I went to take her vitals again, her pulse was weak, and she didn’t want to eat anything. Her heart was broken. I told her I knew she was feeling sad, and I told her my testimony that before I knew J*sus I didn’t want to live, but I met JESUS. I said “Now I am here so I want to introduce you to J*SUS, J*SUS gave me hope, do you want to believe in J*SUS.” This time she said YES, I led her in a pr*ayer of sal*ation, and I pr*ayed for her after and her face was radiant and her smile beautiful, her pulse was strong and she even wanted to eat. The next day I went to see her again; I gave her Kiswahili sc*ipture and taught her how to pr*ay, she was so happy to know J*SUS.

I am multitasking: typing and wincing at my sunburned shoulders and legs.

Sunburned from our Thanksgiving celebration. Contradiction?

Yesterday, with the locals on staff and our whole team, we crammed ourselves into two “vans” and we were on our way to the ocean. I spent the day playing catch, beach/water balloon volleyball, beach soccer and swimming. It was freeing, not only to wear shorts, but also to be together as a family for a whole afternoon and evening. In the evening we shared why we celebrated thanksgiving and then around our tables, while nibbling on Trifle, we also shared the things that we were thankful for at that moment. Throughout the week we have been doing this, polishing up on habitual thankfulness, each time there has been something different that popped into mind. I think Thanksgiving is Bib*lical, as is feasting. So enjoy your family feasting on Thursday, can’t wait to hear all about them.



I am hopping back and forth between the stories to tell you. Okay, I think I’ve got them.



Thursday. I was in the postnatal/admissions ward. 4 students. About 100 women.

One student was caring for the women who’d had their babies, taking vital signs, doing breastfeeding teachings, looking for extra digits, etc. She found one baby who had a fever of about 38 degrees (100F). It is all too common for fevers to happen, which leads to exhausted babies who won’t feed and become dehydrated and then diarrhea and then every day is a fight. After notifying the ward charge, she began to take this mum and bub under her wing. She began with assisting the feeding process, which resulted in the mom expressing milk and cup feeding. She also stripped the baby’s layers down to a single piece of fabric and dabbed him with another wet piece of fabric. All the while she continued to pray. Within an hour or so, the baby’s temperature was down to 37 degrees (98.6F) and his overall condition had improved! Mir*acle? I think so.



This same day, one of doctor friends, whom most of us have worked with, came to us with something on his heart. He said “I want to be like you people, can you pray with me?” And just like that, Doctor G repeated after Melisa in a prayer and gave his life to the L*ord.



So much to thank G*od for.

I am thankful for my blogger friends.

Happy Thanksgiving! Don’t miss the Radiocity Rockettes!

here you are.

This week I was in the labour ward. We have weekly rotations so the students are in one section for a week and we as staff do the same, rotating weekly so we are with different groups and in different wards. This is a story from this week.

Our first week in the labour ward began by orientating ourselves to the protocols and learning about the function of rotation, few women were close to delivering which gave us the chance to strip down the baby’s cribs where resuscitating happens and the “waiting room” crib. We pra*yed over the cribs, binding and rebuking the spi*rit of death and blatantly proclaimed it was a place for life to be loosed. There is also one crib in the corner of the room where babies who die remain until their family can take them. The babies stay there from the night and are there when we arrived in the mornings. The first day, there were three dead babies, our second day to the hospital-two dead babies, the third day-one dead baby. Yesterday was our last day in the ward and as we walked in several of us quickly shot a glance at the crib and it was empty. Not one baby died while we were present in the labour ward this week. Life is coming abruptly at Temeke Hosipitali.


I feel like I still have a lot to process. How often do I say that in my posts? Very often. I want you to know where I am at though even if my mental filter feels blocked like a siev with soggy noodles, if you will.

Bleh, so I feel hopeful, but I don't geel like it is coming right now, but I need to sit in this place of "where is the hope for these women, the hospital, the overworked staff?" I need to think, pray, dream and the hope will come. I need to wrestle with these realities of suffering, the lack of joy, the overcrowding, the chaos and in the meantime daily ask for sustinance to be hope, to be light, to be with the women in the hospital.

There have been endless opportunities for the students this week to insert catheters, cannulas, catch babies. They are bubbling with excitement and experience.

This week each group found themselves deep cleaning their wards, nothing slowed down in the wards, rather-sing to a mama while dusting the window sill, drop your mop, change your gloves-catch that baby. On the ride home one ward shared that they had the inside scoop, Naomi Campbell-the British super model, was coming on Friday.

Normally, we don't go to the hospital on Fridays but Robyn heard from G*od that she was to go and share. She recalled a prop*hesy over our team that we would go before Kings and that we needn't have anxiety because G*od would fill our mouths. And so, yesterday, Robyn and two students headed to the hospital while the rest of us remained for our day of teaching. G*od was there. They were able to share about the need in the hospital, share about G*od!, share about our school...ahhh, incredible report. They spoke with Princess Sarah of Jordan, a photographer from Spain, a musician from Tanzanian, a journalist from Tanzania and of course-Naomi Campbell.

G*od is really cool. I will send a more specific test*imony next week but couldn't wait that long to tell you the amazing way G*od redirected yesterday.

Thanks guys. Love you my friends. Thanks for pra*ying for healing, in total 17 ended up having malaria, only two are still recovering.

Just a couple photos. I was a bit hesitant to post them. I don't want to exploit the women, but I decided to. So, this is how it is, this is reality.

the ward where our lovely women wait to be 4 cm, and then they go to the labour ward.



This is one after they have delivered.




One thing that Princess Sarah of Jordan said yesterday was "These women shouldn't be on the floor", we agree.

hmmm

well, on the bus ride here i was racking my thoughts from the last week about what in the world to share.
so this is what i've come up with:
this week katie and paula were part of a breech delivery and the baby came out without breathing, looking flat, and the nurse handed them the baby and said "fresh stillbirth". they jumped to resussing the baby and soon enough with pr*ayer and hard work the baby was crying. the nurse was just a little surprised.
thank you J*esus.

short and powerful.
learning a lot. wondering even more. what about the endings that aren't that happy?
still processing.

bless you guys.

my update from last week. don't worry i will post a new one too.

Hi family and friends.



Today is undoubtedly Halloween, however, what I found out in Germany is that saying “Happy Halloween” usually denotes that you welcome demons, etc. So I have erased that little phrase from my vocabulary. Something still dings in my brain every time I see the 31st of October written that I cannot simply ignore it…give it a couple more years.



All of that to say that today is the last of the month and I get to update you for the first time since I have been in Tanzania . Let me first just exclaim “Thank you G*od for all those who have sent me and are still supporting me!”. It is such a joy to update you. Now that I have that out of the way, what a startlingly impressive month we have experienced together as our team of 27 hailing from 11 nations in a brand new nation.



We are living in a predominately Muslim village. The local greeting comes from the strong Arab influence of Zanzibar where slave trading was heavily indulged in. To anyone considerably older than you, so for me to say to a 40ish year old, I would say “shikamoo”, meaning: “I am under your feet” and they would respond with “marahaba”, meaning: I reduce your punishment”. We have learned about the passivity of the people to see any change in their village, due to “enshallah”, basically everything is Allah’s will, so why would I try and change anything?



In having the last month to settle in and wait for our work permits for the hospital, we have been able to dig our heels into the environment of the village. Through pra*yer walking and making friends in the village, we met a Chri*stian woman who gave us an open door to begin doing health care teachings with children, which lead to more friend making, which lead to the women’s class. It was a massive pra*ise report to be able to start a women’s class with about 18 Muslim women because of this prevalent mindset that “everything that is happening to me is supposed to happening to me, why would education change anything?”. We are committed to see the group continue to meet while we are here and dream of handing it over to a new staff here at the base that also has a heart for health care. Women need a space to be silly, dance, ask questions and find solid friendship. It is beginning with health care and we pr*ay that it will fuel freedom and value for each of the women.



We have been battling for work permits for our team and saw them released finally! We started going to the hospital and clinic this week. On average there are about 50-70 deliveries daily at the hospital. There are many women, labouring there on the floor, sometimes delivering without anyone near them, babies dying from fevers, mothers with eclampsia. We have been discussing on our lunch breaks “How can we bring God’s kingdom here?”, knowing what is happening is not God’s will. G*od is all about reconciliation (2 Cor 5:16-21) and rebuilding and redeeming. The answer does not always lie in beginning our own clinic, but we know G*od’s heart is restoration, now. So we are set to be a part of it all for the next three months.



Here at the base is a small clinic. It is peaceful, like a refuge. We are able to see the two extremes and learn from both, we are so blessed to take part.



Thank you guys for your support, each month. Every email is a tangible blessing. Please feel free to send some input or questions and I will get back to you when I am able!



Bekah



A request; the team has been riddled with malaria and currently seven are infected. If you could offer that one up and cover our unity we would appreciate any pra*yers to see the sickness flee.

Here is a test*imony from last Friday. We had a good time. Thought I would share this one with you.



The four of us headed out in the blazing heat of the day set onward to our destination. In planning to do a children’s health care teaching on keeping your food covered, we thought the soccer field was where we would find plenty of onlookers to take part in the teaching. En route to the field, we watched the children waiting for dahla-dahlas (local transport) throw rocks up at the mango tree. If your rock hits a mango, score, but watch out for the mob of children headed for that same mango. Quickly it dawned on us that we could do our teaching right there. So we went for it…Firstly, attracting the children with a song about peeling, smashing, shaking and eating bananas, and then a failed attempt at playing “electricity” and finally with a teaching about dirty flies landing on our food and that can make us sick. At this point the original 10 had quadrupled and all eyes were on us. We shared a small devotional about our responsibilities, and then thought, “hey, let’s tell these kids about Je*sus”. Just that morning we had been crying out in intercession for salvation for the predominately Muslim village and faith without deeds is after all, dead. Our small friends, who weren’t distracted by dive-bombing fruit, listened to the story of a refugee baby who saved the world and following, five children said that they wanted to get to know him. Woohoo! We continued to sing and dance with the children, they would sing songs and we would pipe in with the one or two redundant Swahili words we understood and eventually did the teaching again as the group reshuffled. Following the teaching we did a short drama about the gifts we have been given as people to share, and when we share them, they grow. Jacob, our local friend, gave a short message that was on his heart. We were about to depart for home but felt like something was still there. Once we realized this, we asked Jacob if there were any questions, one boy about ten years old asked, “Who is Je*sus?” and another asked, “Why do you call him father?”. It is common for there to be skewed teaching within the schools on the Bi*ble as well as many children attend Islamic schools. In both cases, questions aren’t readily encouraged. We closed the time with all the children by praying for Je*sus to show himself through a dream that evening and then of course, we united as bananas and sang again once more before we left.



Since that testimony things have been on a roll here in Tanzania. We have been here about three and a half weeks. I apologize; I still have not posted my thank you notes to all of you who have helped me get here. I have not forgotten you. Soon and very soon.



I am wide awake this evening after a spontaneous improv game night. I sit here writing to you in hopes of winding down my active thoughts. I am sweating through my skirts these days…everyday is getting more and more humid. I don’t know how much more of my sizzling laptop I can handle. Currently, I have white girl cornrows since one of my beloved students restyled my frizzy hair. Monday commences our time at the hospital. We are growing ever eager to be immersed in daily health care. We had to fight for the work permits and as they were granted this week after a two-month process, we are now able to go!



We have been spending these weeks orientating ourselves as a team to the base and the culture. A couple hours teaching at the clinic here, a few home visits there, some jackfruit here, bucket shower under the coconut tree there, applied lectures here, inter*cession and wor*ship there. It has been a gliding descent into the relationship-orientated culture that we are now ever present in.



I found myself this week, daily asking G*od, “We are such a massive team…how can we all be used?” And we are figuring this out. We are not a normal midwifery school that bends over backwards and spreads ourselves thinly so that everyone can be a part of X amount of deliveries, but we focus on the G*od’s will for un*ity and trust in him and pray forth the experience we all need. Also knowing that G*od is going to create facets for each gift to reflect, that we have more illuminate and we don’t want the number of students to hide but create a brighter light. I am seeking to overcome my ideas of what we did as 6 students and 2 staff and asking God to exterminate my small expectations. We are a powerful army and there won’t be any playing “left bench” this year.



Yeah, that’s kind of where I am at.



Some thoughts from this week:

-Mongooses do exist, they are more than a BMX brand.

-Don’t sit under a coconut tree in the wind. They are deadly, branches and all.

-One more ALWAYS fits in public transport.

-SMSing/Texting is a blessing. (I have a cell phone now!)

-Americans can register their travel destinations online, although meeting the consulate at the Embassy is exciting.



Ok, long post. Maybe I will split it in two.

Miss you guys. Callie called me this week AND my family. So much love.

You too can call me/text me and I will respond!

I’m still waiting, 7 days later, for Charlie to respond.

a first little report.

earth to my fellow family and friends. i am now alive and well in tanzania. communication is looking limited. but i want so badly to keep you posted.

my time is running slim on the internet, but in the next five minutes i will do my best to watercolour and little illustration for you...

we arrived safely and happily about twenty four hours after departure from perth. beate, a german midwife and her kenyan husband have been our amazing hosts. they are helping melisa (my trusty sidekick co-leader) and i to set up work in the hospitals and in surrounding chu*rches. the past week has been full of becoming orientated, fighting in pra*yer for our work permits, settling in the second lecture phase and for me--learning to lead.

some exciting highlights have included seeing a tarantula (like memeseeku's) in our classroom, becoming distracted as a class during inter*cession as the monkeys chased each other in the trees and eating a guava off a tree while washing my clothes.

i felt as if i arrived at home when we were bouncing along the road back to the base for the first time. oh how my heart loves east africa.

the village we are living in is primarily muslim. the call to prayer echos through the mango trees of the base every couple of hours. many women cover themselves with a full burka while others just a full head covering or small scarf. we have been diving into friendships this week. one exhilarating moment was when a small team of four girls returned back to a house they had visited the previous day, when they arrived, the woman asked "where is the fifth? i know there were five of you yesterday." there was a moment of confusion when they tried to communicate to the local translating that there were only four, the four that there right then. she was adament. it was clear that G*od had been with them.

We are bringers of his presence. Our value is in his love for us. Not what we do, what we complete, in his love for us.
Let us together, carry this message to the nations.

bless you my friends.

This is the day, this is the day...

Shimbly September.

I do feel as if I have possibly neglected my news from this last month…I feel like I am late, I’m not thought, right? It is just the end of September.

First of the firstlies, I want to thank each of you for your petitions in pra*yer for our school’s finances. Such a beautiful ending came about ten minutes before our plane tickets needed to be purchased. We were standing in the classroom, singing songs of tha*nksgiving while Darcy, the school leader frantically recalculated all the inflow of finances. Sure enough, while we shouting “there was thunder in his footsteps and lightning in his fis---“, the board was erased. All 232,571 dollars had come in.

What has been learned?
1. I want to be like an air popper, where seeds (finances) are poured into me and I pop them right back out.
2. I have never seen a worried bird.
3. Pra*yer IS where it’s at.

Countless stories of generosity, money flowing through one person and into the hand of another. There were a couple instances personally about G*od prompting me to ask a specific person for a certain amount…not something so “socially acceptable”, but man oh man, I saw G*od use this in a massive way. Much more massive than release of finances. Okay, just one story. I asked a friend from Germany to pr*ay about giving 200 euros. Now that’s quite a bit of money, about 400 AUD. So he was praying, and after a week we were able to talk again, and he shared that he was on the brink of losing his apartment and that he still had bills to pay and that at this time he couldn’t give. I was able to pr*ay for him over the internet and to keep me posted. He needed a friend at that moment. Even though that felt purposeful, I felt for sure that that where there would be release. Anyway, I walked home, feeling confused, exhausted and wondering-“G*od, tomorrow I need 3,600, where is it going to come from?”...Oh me of little faith.
I walked into my bedroom and splayed across my floor was 400 AUD.
Unity. So G*od’s heart, that we are cared for and that we learn to care for each other.

Today is the day that we leave as a team of 27 for Tanzania. G*od has been faithful to me in making moments for me to take deep breaths and refocus, time to scramble to the city and half hour blocks to call my family.

We will be staying at a base there, working in a local clinic that has about a delivery a day as well as a government hospital that has roughly 50 labouring women a day. Our team will live in a muslim community where the main water source is on our property, we will have many chances to share the liv*ing water. ☺

Well guys, this month has come and gone with eagerness. The students are ready on the front lines. They are amazingly inquisitive, encouragers of one another, dreaming big and diligent learners.

Thank you all for the pra*yers and ask for your continued support! I will still be blogging and communicating there approximately weekly. You guys are the best!

Bekah

i just wanted to let you all know...

That 10 minutes before the purchasing of our tickets needed to be happen...
all our finances were finally covered.

We are done. We are absolutely finished paying finances...

Yay! Thank you for your pra*yer cover!
More stories to come.

we are almost there.

Well, Wednesday came and went and it was a party. I don't have a full, conscious, story for you yet because of my inability to focus due to sleep deprivation. However, I wanted to let you know, that G*od is indeed good and is indeed faithful.

As of last Friday, I was personally needing 6,200 dollars and our class was sitting in the sixty thousands somewhere. On Tuesday night we were at 42,000 and by last night we were at 15,000. We are currently still needing about 10,000 dollars. Is G*od not fait*hful? As of Tuesday I was personally needing 4,200. By Wednesday morning I needed zero. Thank you L*ord.

So, if I could ask you to still be standing by our side tonight for the final release, especially over the Montoya family. They are needing a lot of thousands still.

We will keep fighting for the full release.

A fuller update, with all the insider/life lessons/how cool G*od is, soon to come.

ein kleinen update

a little update.
down to 42,000.
and by this time tomorrow. it will be zero. and i can't wait to tell you all about it.

a schpeshawl email.

Hey Everyone...

I think it was just last week that I sent an update, maybe two weeks ago. Anyway, since we are so close to our due date for finances, I wanted to send a special update to keep you posted and ask for your pra*yers especially these next couple days.

We are currently needing to see 53,000 more dollars by this Tuesday and could use your pra*yers at any moment and any time. Especially for one family; The Montoyas are a family of five who are coming on outreach and need to see 23,000 dollars come in by Wednesday. They have been receiving mixed responses from family and friends about their choice to come into mis*sions. We all have been pushing for them and I felt the next step was to ask you, my family of friends, to also push for their finances.

I am getting closer and closer to seeing all my personal finances roll in. This weekend we had an amazing, last minute, anointed garage sale and we got to see a nice chunk come off my number, bringing me down to 4,500. Thank you to everyone who participated through donations of goods and of time.

So let me know if you have questions or you are receiving strategy or want to be a part of giving to our school!

Bekah!

garage sale

hiiii everyone.
thanks to an amazing community of people that my family lives in, we were able (well mostly my family was able) to organize a garage sale for tomorrow.
on the fifth, from 9-4 at the Dinneen Household we will have a garage sale to support volunteer midwives!
yahoo!

everyone is welcome!

AND>>>

down to $54,000.
:):):)

these 3 teams of perth were...

...commissioned tonight.

One of the girls from the entry level school shared a small testimony that I wanted to pass on.

She started out by nervously opening a crumpled paper. She confidently read "G*od is perfect in all his ways". She made eye contact with all of us listening and said that 9 weeks ago she didn't believe that statement. She and her husband came to go deeper with G*od. They were living a life minus relationship with G*od. Every one of their difficult and painful circumstances was what shaped how they looked at G*od.

She shared that G*od began to work on this and swapped the viewing of life through circumstances to the viewing of circumstances through G*od's character. This launched her and her husband into a hot pursuit of understanding that G*od is constantly wanting to speak to us, even the next step of life. They sought the L*ord for what was next and he spoke clearly with "I have something bigger". They obediently laid their 2 desires down. Two weeks ago we watched a film about the needs of the unreached peoples. During that evening G*od called her husband to China. She quickly said "I will go in support as your wife". Two days later, the L*ord spoke the same vision to her.

After the completion of their school they will take another course that will launch them into the nation of China.

From skewed vision to hearing the voice of the L*ord to the burden for people to committing to go.

as of today...

we are down to $64,000ish.
wowie zowie.

august update. decreasing the numbers.

Hi Family...

One month has passed since my last email and this is shocking. It is now almost over, August, that is.

We are really in the finance push right now. FInances for outreach are due in 11 days. I just wanted to share with you a fresh story. Starting need: 230,697.45. Basically, a house.

One of the lovely girls, who has been staffing here for two years and just completed the primary health care school, felt the L*ord said to give all her outreach fees away. That is about 9,000 dollars. Obediently she did, and she came to a place where she needed the L*ord to provide again. So for two weeks she has been seeking about how to approach this and didn't feel released to ask people yet. She did send one email and got 1000 dollars last Thursday! And then today, as I am walking to the base, I am met by a teary eyed girl. She said that she felt prompted to email her dad, whom she hasn't asked for money in 20 years, who also doesn't believe in G*od. (I realize that the term "girl" may be decieving, she is just so young at heart, although she has put in more years of life than me.) She specifically felt to ask him in participating in the building of G*od's kingdom. The story comes down to her dad saying yes to giving 4800...so "yes" to building of the kingdom, but he also gave much more than that. Needless to say, her full outreach is paid for. Pr*aise the L*ord.

Another story comes from Reinette, a South African (who is sitting right here and said I could use her name) and a lovely British girl (who shall remain nameless since she is currently car-washing and inaccessible). Each morning for the staff debt, there is pra*yer time that everyone can participate in but is specifically to see the debt decreased. During a prayer time last Friday, Reinette felt led to tell the "lovely one" that she would see half of her money come in. The "lovely one" was quite shocked and she claims "doubtful". At the end of the prayer time Reinette told the "lovely one" that G*od had spoke to her about giving half of her money to her. All of Reinette's money had been paid in, and only 50 dollars of the "lovely one's" had been paid in. So now, they are neck and neck, trusting G*od together for the final push.

So in the beginning, we needed $230,697.75 and as of this morning, we need $76.548.45. So in total, we have seen the provision of $154,149.30.

Otherwise, the teaching, small groups, wor*ship times, inter*cession times, etc. have been a time of refining. I feel like G*od has been bringing personally to the surface all the ugliness. Why do I say that? What is my motivation? Why do you think that way? There is plenty more where that came from, and he is surfacing it bit by bit. It could be discouraging, but right now, being a place of dis*cipleship, this is a good time for it to be happening. Thank you L*ord that you consider us worthy for a work that is much greater than ourselves.

Okay, I think that's all. I mean I could keep going on and on...but maybe that's enough for one month. (If it isn't enough, I am still blogging at www.bekah29.blogspot.com). Please send me your thoughts, pra*yer requests, funny riddles, I love to hear from you guys.

Bekah

from the students. :)

what are they learning these days???

this one is from Cara. she is from orlando, florida, has an infectious laugh and bouncy curly hair. i love her.

Gatekeepers for women and children
The BAS... I have already been here for 5 weeks now, and I would say it's an amazing school!! Honestly it’s just been awesome learning about birth and how G*od created a woman's body for it! I stand in awe of G*od all the time as I am learning about labor and delivery, Anatomy & Physiology, antenatal care, and what it really means to be a G*od fearing midwife!! Also learning about our role as midwives how we are the gate keepers into these women and children's lives, we are there to protect and pr*ay over them; basically we are going to be inter*cessors in the lives of these women as they bring forth G*ods creation!!! How exciting is that, I love this school and we are only half way through our 3 month lecture phase!!!

this one is from Kali, a Texan...no I am not partial to the americans.

It is amazing how G*od can cleanse our eyes and give us His view of the world. One of the ways that G*od has changed me is breaking this world view of a sacred and secular divide in the kingdom of G*od. I had such a wrong view on G*od's look into health care and had no idea that He speaks and cares about so many of the details that go into health care. I always saw G*od as the healer, but never as the practical G*od that would provide preventive tools to avoid ever needing healing. He goes to the source, G*od provides the practical things to prevent us from ever getting sick,. He has such a love for us that He doesn't just rebuke all sickness, but teaches us how to raise up our lives out of it, how we can play a part in keeping ourselves well. I am in awe of G*od's love constantly and in His ability to constantly be gently bringing us into His kingdom in so many ways.


I love them.

hrmph.

twenty four hours without complaining. can you do it?
i'm in the middle of it. i will post it for you when i finish. :)

ooodles

Pra*ise the L*ord family!

This week has been massive breakthrough in the authority and unity that our school beholds. We had a speaker share with us on Tuesday night about the authority that has been given to us. Ah, so much revelation. One thing he talked about was how G*od gave authority to Adma and Eve and then they gave it back to sa*tan. Then Jesus walked the earth for 33 years, winning the authority back through dying on the cr*oss and then hands it back to us. We have all auhtoiryt on hea*ven and earth to bind and loose. G*od has given us the keys of the kingdom. That means we can unlock those who are enchained, we can release a sp*irit of freedom over strong*holds of darkness, we can he*al the sick, make decisions in parliament. Ah, incredible! All I need to do is act upon it. I did see a headache healed this week, 24 hours of pra*yer be planned in 3 days and thousands of dollars released through pra*yer for a specific ministry after I took a hold of this. This is supposed to be the norm. Signs and wonders are to follow us.

As we enter labour rooms and places beckoning for hea*ling, this is what we as G*od fearing midwives need to have mastered. We must practice our pra*yer, intercession, essentially, grow spir*itual muscles. If I’m not comfortable speaking out hea*ling—I need to get comfortable. If I am used to prayers of passivity, speaking in pleases and thank yous to the enemy, I need to recognize authority and defeat him with it. This teaching flowed into the teaching we received as a class on unity and team dynamics. I have realized how many small excuses I can make, “I just am an internal processor, I don’t like to share out loud”---the enemy is going to speak for me or to me if I don’t claim what I learned and communicate to those around me. How many times have I had a relaxed face on (which looks sometimes grumpy or uninterested) just because I was relaxing and didn’t share my thoughts because I wasn’t sure of them and before I know it, I have, without saying a word, not contributed to the unity, nor cultivated G*oddly thoughts, nor claimed what I am learning and people can easily think I don’t want to share with them, that I don’t feel comfortable sharing…i.e. not the best unity builder. And the thing is, I can become better at this, this is something I can excel at, if I just practice…I can contribute or deteriorate the unity. This is such a big deal because almost every problem in the world is a relationship problem. You can replace the word s*in with “relationship breaker”… I am beginning to recognize that G*od takes friendships/relationships just as seriously as relationship with him…we are all mini reflections of him, if he have distorted visions of each other…well…

Thoughts? Anyone? It’s still fresh…and I could keep on…

Anyway! I am amazed by the dedication and excitement of the students. The way they ask questions to the speakers and study with eagerness. I am blessed to be learning alongside them. One of my favourite parts of being in their lives as a leader is reading their journals…”G*od spoke to me about being in obstructed labour”, “G*od spoke to me about repairing the breech”, they have taken a hold of the powerful imagery of labour.

This week we have a Dr. who has specialized in tropical medicine and has been serving the needy for decades. He speaks with great convicition and as a servant leader. Really looking forward to the impartation of his wisdom.

One of my special roles as a staff is co-leading wor*ship. Shocker, possibly. Although I am not musically inclined, I get to be a part of the planning with an amazing friend of mine, becca. Today we were brainstorming about the quote “Let jus*tice and wor*ship kiss” for our wor*ship time…maybe I should get into this one later. I am still trying to figure out the extent of it (maybe the rest of my life I will) but I know they are supposed to be intricately woven together.

A lot of thoughts. A lot is happening. Please send me some questions via comments or some things that you would like to know about, etc. I love to hear from you guys.

Oh, staff debt is down to 160,000! That’s 141,000 in!

thanks for the read guys!

MY G*OD IS THE GOD WHO PROVIDES.
HE IS LIMITLESS IN HIS CREATIVITY.
HE IS OMNI-RESOURCEFUL.
HIS WELL OF PROVISION WILL NEVER RUN DRY.
I have seen $225 come in this week for outreach. :)

wizzy wizzerton.

who would've known how full on staffing a school would be? i was warned...and didn't really take it to heart.

man, G*od has been surpassingly fai*thful and present.
through multiple people, G*od is speaking the legitimacy of my work in establishing the kingdom here on earth through correcting assessments, cleaning guest flats and listening during one on one sessions (accountability times).
I am a worker worth my wages.
I need to keep pressing in, with fa*ith and great expectancy over my finances.
this is a season of great excitement and joy and exceeding discomfort.

the kingdom of G*od belongs to those who will move forward violently, with authority, claiming truth and life in his name. sometimes the cultural/social awkwardness seems not worth it and that's a lie. i cancel that, in the name of j*esus. amen.

love you guys.
more of a detailed post coming soon.




almost all 16 of the students (missing one on a visa run) and 5 of the current staff



this one is even better. true colours.

Jovial July's Update...and tomorrow is my birthday.

Hello my friends.

I feel like I have not updated you all in so long. Actually, I am on time though. Maybe things are just moving at accelerated speeds here in Perth. 16 students. 7 nations. So many visions growing. So much radical, concentrated development of character.

Although we are the Birth Attendant School (BAS), we are only the eyeball of a much larger body. Currently there several happenings, including a music and mis*sions school, 2 entry-level disc*ipleship schools, a Bib*lical core course, English for mis*sions, teaching English and then us. Not to mention many separate mini*stries cultivating at the same base. We are one small piece of the mosaic.

This week launched a vision that G*od has been speaking to our base leader about. Perth's base has been here almost 25 years and she and her husband were the ones to pioneer it. Shirley is our leader's name, and on Monday presented us with the debt that the base's staff owes. 306,708 dollars. G*od has been leading us as a base into greater things, and part of it is corporately trusting G*od for the provision of the staff debt. Not everyone at the base has monthly supporters, we all come from different countries involved in different ministries, but we're all expected to make monthly payments like the rest of human beings on this earth. Anyway, the base has grace on those who can't pay their monthly fees and always is discipling in finances, but Shirley felt that this season is specifically to see the accumulated debt erased. The strategies for this begin every morning at 7am until 8am for those in debt to pr*ay together. Then each day at 3:15 for 15 minutes, no matter what we are in the middle of, everyone stops to pr*ay for the staff debt. In accordance to the action, we are receiving a number of teachings on fa*ith and finances.

On Monday, 7000 dollars came in. Tuesday 14,000 dollars. By Friday the number was down to 250,000 dollars. Thank you Lo*rd.
I think that these are the mountains Je*sus is talking about moving when we have the fa*ith of a mustard seed.

As I have arrived on staff, it is required that I do the basic leadership school (BLS...we love acronyms). Each Monday I receive teaching, really applicable teachings about being involved in staffing a school. I am learning to fuel my gifts into places of leadership and developing the weaker skills. Turns out, you don't naturally become a leader after you complete a school :).

Last week we had a speaker on the character and nature of G*od. If you don't know G*od, your whole life is going to be based on skewed perspectives. You must view the world through the nature of G*od and then peer into your circumstances. The moment we look through our circumstances into G*od's character, we become confused, bitter, dazed, apathetic (you name it) followers or non-followers of Jesus. This is such a necessary principle for life.
To look at the situation of a baby dying at birth... Is G*od unloving? So, I can look at G*od through the situation, which would mean, Yeah, G*od is unloving. But, if I look at "G*od is love" and then view this situation I can recognize, there is evil in this world, there is improper transport for women to get to a local hospital, there isn't always resussitation equiptment, etc. A lot of time, we are the cause of the pain, SIN is the cause of the pain... NOT G*od. I repeat NOT G*od.
We have to know G*od personally. Reading the B*ible isn't going to cut it. Hearing people's stories isn't going to be enough. Talk to him. Know who he is in these real-life tough situations.

Other than that, I am absolutely enjoying my responsibilities of leading the students, caring for guest speakers, learning from my leaders, participating in the life of the base.

Yesterday we shared with the students about outreach locations. In September we will depart for Tanzania until January, from there we will return to Perth for the 25th Anniversary of our base. We will be here for some days before we depart for India (YAY! Megan) and then to the Phillipines in April and back to Perth for our debrief.

Through all the teachings we are receiving, I feel excited for this time of fund raising. You can be including it in pra*yers, for strategy and boldness.

Thank you for reading this months update. Of course feel free to shoot back some questions or comments, I love to hear from you.

As usual, still blogging at www.bekah29.blogspot.com

Bekah

week one and two.

Hi everyone. It is the end of week and I'm so glad for the Saturday rest.
Last Monday I arrived and from the airport, we came to lunch and orientation for the students began after that. At one point during orientation the students came up and pra*yed over their staff...They possibly were thinking that I was a lunatic who needed pra*yer...at least I was in the right place to have pra*yer. Hehehe...

Anyway, it has been such an incredible experience hearing the stories of each students battle to get to Perth. To hear where they have come from and the vision they are with G*od for. For such a time as this, G*od has brought this amazing group together. Last week we learned about anatomy and physiology of the female reproductive system, the pelvis and the fetal skull. The girls have dove into the the lectures and homework, they are a group of go-getters. These weeks have been laying a foundation for the next eleven months. We have spent time learning about becoming a G*od-fearing midwife along with the character and nature of G*od.

Along with helping the students along, I am so blessed to be in the lectures again. There is so much I have forgotten or was on overload last year and couldn't take in, but now, I am fresh and ready to take in...

My responsibilities are in hospitality (preparing cakes, cards and tables for the birthday people, three so far... and getting drinks and snacks and preparing/maintaining the guest flat) making a guest speaker book with info about each student, facilitating assignments, correcting homework, being in class and leading out in inter*cession and wor*ship times. We as staff found out about outreach locations this week, but we are still pra*ying throuh details, so I think by next week I will be able to share with you. Let's just say, I am having a hard time not leaking the locations through this blog.

Yeah, I really want to share about this week lectures. Give me some time to pull some stuff together. It has been an intense little week.

Love you guys. Thanks for reading. I would really love your pra*yers over my finances and the finances for the school. We are gearing up for fundraising. I'll keep you posted.

here i am.

Guys! I made it to Perth. It was a nice trek and I have hit the ground running. So excited to be here, still feeling quite homesick. Somehow stuck in the middle but pra*ying to jump the gap soon. I will post a more detailed update soon, I still don't have internet access, but I did want to let you know I am alive and very well.

my 100th post.

This is my June update. For those of you reading my blog who would like to have my monthly updates sent to your email, feel free to leave your email in a comment or email it to me at bekah29@yahoo.com or keep reading them here each month!

First things first everyone, I got my visa! Thank you for your support. It has been an awesome time of seeing G*od's power. So many people have told me they are pra*ying for me or they are waiting to hear what is going to happen and because of that I have again seen how being in need brings people to their knees and brings them closer to each other and G*od. So lovely, G*od knows what he's doing. So, I will return to Australia on Saturday.

Over the month, I have shared with the missions board at Northlake, shared in the ch*urch services, shared in the youth service and an inter*cession time in the junior high. G*od has been faithful (as always) to provide opportunities and brought gl*ory to himself through the stories of miracles and healings and through seeds that have been planted.

Well, this past month has been absolutely incredible. I have been able to see many of you and hear about your families and what has been changing over the year first hand. I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see your faces, store away what everyone looks (some people have changed) and refill my tank of new memories.

Thank you to everyone who came over to the Dinneen house. It is beautiful to see community here in Everett...loving together, eating together, sharing together. I hope that it was a time for you to look again at who our G*od is and how he is moving through the nations.

So there isn't too much to share about this month, my family has been relaxing together--Mariners games and days at the beach, but actually more like me relaxing and everyone else finishing school, working and vbs... I was able to meet Wisdom, our exchange student from Ghana, which was excellent because he helped me to adjust back to the culture :) ... and Dad and I got to share our first experience of jumping out of a plane.

Just a brief message about what's next...
I leave on Saturday to return to the new Birth Attendant School (BAS) of 18 students. I will be staffing for the next two years, which for the next three months look like: covering the school in pra*yer each morning, holding discussions for the students, leading small groups, correcting homework/tests, planning for outreach.
I also will be taking a leadership school while I am in Perth, that will continue as independent study on outreach. I am looking forward to stepping out into leadership and bridging the gap of once being a student to leading in the school. Once a week we meet in class and have a speaker and outside of class have weekly requirements to meet. Once our eight month outreach is upon us again, roles will look a little different.

I am still looking to cover my monthly living fees in Australia. I am about halfway there! In our organization, Y*outh with a M*ission, we are all volunteers, from base leaders to new staff like myself. If you are interested in donating monthly or a one time donation, you can reply to this email and let me know.

I am also interested in starting some kind of fundraiser to involve a wider group of people, extending the word of what G*od is doing from people in the chu*rch to those in our neighborhoods. If anyone has some ideas about this, I am anxious to hear!

Thank you guys for your continual support. I am grateful to know each of you and have been blessed to connect with you all over this month. Please feel free to respond because I love to hear from you!

Bekah

And as always, I am still blogging at www.bekah29.blogspot.com atleast once a week.

june 26, 2009---a day to remember

i went skydiving just hours ago. since i won't be able to say that again tomorrow, i thought this called for an urgent blog.

for my dad's christmas gift and my birthday gift (he patiently waited and surprised me), we headed down to snohomish's harvey field and did it. we climbed in about 10 minutes to 3000 feet (3962.4 meters) and free-fell for over a minute. when my instructor pulled the parachute, we dangled in the air waiting for my dad and his instructor. there we were, hang time, talking about how beautiful our city is...mountains...clear sky...cruise ships...farm land...gorgeous.

never before has my mouth been so dry, my face so cold or my mind so boggled. while free falling my instructor grabbed my arms and cranked them to the left and right and we spun around and around. he would give me thumbs up and i would give him two back. i never knew you could control the parachute, but sure enough he let me pull it left and right and swoop us around. amazing. better than any amusement park ride.

i think this could be addicting.

definitely the best 15 minutes of the day.

hey guys it has been a while since i have written. this time at home has been sheer bliss. i wanted to ask for your pra*yers. this week has been a hurried week of visa finales...and now i anxiously await approval by my flight on saturday. i cannot leave without my visa. so if we could together trust and fight for this one to see G*od's power. thanks all.

open house

Hey Guys, I would like to invite you to the Dinneen Household on this Sunday, the 14th of June at 3pm. It is an open house, so you can feel free to stop by for a short time or stay until your little heart desires. We will check out some photos and eat and talk together. Let me know if you need some more information. toodles.

This week has been strange, coming back to a western country, re-entering a place that once was so familiar when I was here earlier, communicating with my family regularly, doing everything inside as opposed to life under a tree. I am enjoying the amenities of instant hot water, warm showers and new (well, it's been in a suitcase for 8months) clothing. I have been processing things with my team and inwardly about who I have become, what I have achieved and what I am still setting goals for. Thoughts of Uganda and Lingira are in and out of my head, knowing that life is continuing the same way there as when I left it and for now I am on a different path. I have learned a lot about the school to come as the staff have accepted new students (18 accepted by the way, biggest school ever), where my new house will be and the new min*istries running at the base. It has been a week of reflecting and being informed. I feel a little backed up, like someone dipped the funnel in water before putting sugar into the shaker and the level of the sugar just keeps growing in the funnel. So slowly I am processing this reverse culture shock and the changes that have occurred. At certain moments I think I have just had to say "G*od, you are good". I know his character, I know there is nothing but good in his heart and I can stand on that, even when I am swaying in different directions wondering what is happening all around me and who I am in it all. It has been a challenging week. I am dreading the goodbye to Sarah, one of the students who is returning to Peru, for almost everyday of the last 11 months, she has been by my side. She has taught me to be resourceful; patch the worn out thighs of my jeans, make crepes out of onions and kill a chicken with a dull knife and most of all, she has taught me to love. It will only be one year until we see eachother, but until then, we part in the physical.

Here I come Seattle.

afhkajvodhonefoihcjlnf

YIP YOP HOORAY (can I even say that?)! Photos for all to see! I have put eight from Uganda and the last two are from Cameroon. It is looking like we will have an open house on the 14th, where we will look at gazillions of photos, until then there are these. I will send more info on the open house when I have talked to my mom about it more.


studious and eager students from our mother and child healthcare seminar in uganda.

teaching about sterile technique. should i touch my hair if it is itching me with my sterile gloves?

a snap from the top of the mountain on lingira island. not really doing it justice.

and a nighttime snap.

the women listening to a teaching on tetanus under a tree and waiting patiently to be injected.

from the shore of lingira to other islands.

the dreadful day of bikeriding to a distant clinic for anc. the anc was great, the biking however...

riding in style on the way to ministry.

"this is a song for women everywhere, let it ring around the world and never never cease..."March 8, International Women's Day!

Mommie Mary! and if you call her anything else it is disrespectful.

just a little something to nibble on...

hi family.

hello everyone. from uganda to kenya to bangkok and now back at the base in perth. here we are! all set for a week of debrief. it's been alright transitioning...just missing our friends that are now so far away. i will update with some photos shortly.

home again, home again, jiggity-jig

Guys! I am back from Lingira to Hopeland in Jinja. The time on the island was one of testing and challenges. I am proud of my team. These last couple days that we are in Uganda will be spent debriefing, saying good-byes and packing. The thought of leaving this continent soon is sad and realistic but the joy that awaits me is attractively close...Here is a short testimony to give glory to our G*od from the island...

Last week we were speaking at a neighboring camp in a Sunday service. While having lunch with the pa*stors we were told about a labouring woman next door. We had been in fai*th for some deliveries and immediately I felt a hug from G*od as we heard this news, all that I, and the others, had been pra*ying for, had amounted to this answer. Strategically, we divided up who would stay with the mom, who would go back to our camp to get the birth bag and found the meeting point. Once we were all united, we learned that the mom’s name was Joy, that this was her seventh delivery and she had already been labouring for 20 hours. We began to monitor Joy and her baby closely. Hour after hour we thought that surely the baby was coming soon. In the third hour of monitoring her, meconium stained waters came, a sign of fetal distress. In the hospitals we wouldn’t worry so much because if anything went seriously wrong, they are in the right place. But here, on an island, almost two hours away from the mainland, we wanted the baby to come quick! We thought the baby was coming because the mother was pushing so feverishly with each contraction, but when we checked internally she was only 6cm dilated. We invited the presence of G*od and spoke life over the distressed baby. We needed G*od’s wisdom in what to do if the baby didn’t come shortly. At this point she was now reaching 24 hours of labour and we spoke to the family about the need to take her into Jinja, they cooperated and understood the severity and fragility of the baby. Quicker than expected, a boat was in order and we were ready to sail in the night. The mother had been told by a neighbor that she should continue to push with each of the pains that came, and each time we told her to stop she would only keep pushing, even as we began sailing on Lake Victoria. Wanting to be cautious, with each contraction we would shine a light, just to make sure the baby wasn’t coming. Robyn sat closely to Joy, rubbing her back when the pain would come and Hollie led us in some wor*ship songs to comfort the mom. The majesty of the L*ord was evident; he was there with us the boat and all around us in the lightning storm, with the fisherman and in the reflection of the moon on the water. I cannot deny the feeling of G*od there with us. On a routine push, Hollie shined the light and there was the baby’s head. I couldn’t believe it. We shouted at the driver, but he didn’t stop. We continued driving and the baby kept coming. Once the head was out, I had a difficult time not only with leverage but also the head did not want to come. Then I felt the cord was tightly twice around the neck. Finally we were able to yell loud enough to stop and I clamped and cut the cord and quickly delivered the body. The baby boy was flaccid and not crying. Bulb suction, stimulation, bag and mask, all of us rescussed anyway we could. Slowly his heart rate picked up and his eyes opened. The whole time Joy was calling out for Je*sus, she said nothing but his name. After about a half hour and a somewhat stabilized baby, it was decided that we would return to Kyoya camp to Joy’s house. Pra*yers of thanksgiving were endless as we rode back to the island. G*od’s hand had surely been in the difficult delivery. Although the baby wasn’t in great condition, we pra*yed and trusted the L*ord to keep him through the night and told the family to come and get us if need be. I am blessed to share with you that the next morning when we came back, we heard the baby before we saw him. He let out a cry that we had been pra*ying for the night before. G*od heard our pra*yers and the cries of his mother and brought full health to this baby boy. As we were rocking in the boat, pra*ying over the weak, deflexed newborn, G*od spoke the name Moses to me, “saved from the water” is what it means. Joy giggled when she heard this the day after and called her boy just that. Man, my G*od is a mighty G*od. All that he ordained happened that day and to him is the glory. I consider myself blessed to know the name of Je*sus and be a part of a team who serves him together.

Woot! Woot!

Yes, it is in fact May, and I am in fact updating you, my ever faithful pra*yer warriors and moral supporters.

I bid everyone greeting from the distant island of Lingira, where monkeys roam free, the air smells of drying fish constantly and everything you could ever imagine is only a 3 hour boat ride away. Here I didn’t think that I would be able to update you for the past month, and I have been blessed with the chance to come back to mainland and share with you about the last three weeks we have been here on the Island.

If all goes as planned, I will have left Lingira by 9, arrived in Jinja (mainland) by 12 and had three hours in town until the boat leaves between 3 and 5, you cannot be too sure when it will sail.

These last weeks we have been rowing to the surrounding islands, villages and camps to immunize babies and children and child bearing women. Yes, I was kidding about the rowing part, we do have a motor. I am feeling more and more comfortable with making the kids cry when I give injections and I am growing in my technique as well. The most exciting part of our Monday, Wednesday and Friday outings, is that we have been able to begin giving antenatal care to the pregnant mothers. There are two faithful staff here at the base that know the local language and are committed to training in antenatal care. G*od has been so faithful in bringing rare cases, teaching opportunities, etc. I love seeing them learn something new, loving on the women, bringing justice where it is due through health care. We will leave the clinic and base here, knowing that there are people better trained in mother and child healthcare, and that’s what we like to see.

Life here is slower paced, making for creative evenings, plenty of chances to hear G*od speak and blessed time to relax. I wish I could depict the beauty that surrounds us. We are greeted each morning with an orange sunrise that stains the clouds a deep pink and fades into a cool morning. The thick, “safari” shaped trees fill what little space has been allotted, while the tall grass makes for a stunning streak to the striking views of Lake Victoria. It takes about 1.5 hours to walk through each camp (settlement of people) and it is worth each step.

I always have to leave out so many details. Plain, Times New Roman black font, cannot do justice to all the mighty works our Fa*ther is doing in accordance to his plan with and through our team. Thank you for reading my little letter. I would like to say, that it is quite possible that next time I write one to you, I will no longer be on this continent. On the 27th of May, we will begin the journey home to Australia, where we will debrief the last eight months for about 10 days. On June 6, I will go from down-under, to the Happiest Place on Earth, Seatac airport (people will try and tell you it’s Disneyland, you can send them my way and I can correct them). I am so looking forward to the reunion and transfusion of life that will happen between me and all of you. I will keep you posted on an open house and any other events for us to meet up at. Bless you friends!

maybe on facebook?

i tried again to upload phots and it is not working. blogger, you fail today.

let it be redeemed.

Well guys, our amazing leaders gave us half the day off the come to town and wrap things up before we leave for the island tomorrow! Which means (drummroll), I can post my old post after all! Redeeming internet visit. I also will post my update letter that I sent out via email on Saturday! Bless you guyssssssss!

We all have my parents to thank for no update last week. I got to videochat with them! For the first time since November, I got to see their faces. Even when I call them at ungodly hours that would give them reason to pretend like the phone never rang, they rejoice at my calling. Thanks mom and dad. So due to the Skype call, everything else was pushed aside and my internet time was finished before my updating was…

Anyway, last week, well, as we waited on the L*ord to speak to us about the day and what we should be doing, we felt to serve the base. We had been sensing that it would be a large part of our time here, but felt on Tuesday specifically to do physical work. After an hour of scrubbing bathroom walls, a man barged into the room and asked if we were the Australian team. When he received a positive response, he rushed into the news of a woman labouring in the village. After rushing around we gathered all the necessary belongings and ran, yes, ran to the home of her mother, a traditional birth attendant. Jane, the mom and TBA, had sent for us to be a part of the delivery. We gathered all the info we could while she was writhing with labour pains in the dark mud hut. After an examination we found that she was 8cm dilated and within 20 minutes, Sarah assisted in the delivery of a screaming baby girl. Praise the L*ord. Since then, we have been checking on baby Sarah Joy and mum Rebecca. After she was delivered I was able to swaddle her up and sing over her. G*od spoke “Joy” over her and he had spoke the same thing to Sarah, I love when that happens. They asked for a name for her and we shared what we had received.

Here is a more “formal testimony” I wrote to send to the base in Perth from last week’s seminar…

All during the week we had a group of women trekking, in order to attend our seminar on mother and child healthcare. In the beginning, we planned on just the Traditional Birth Attendants coming, but as news grew, we ended up going from the expected seven to a room cramping 31. As childbirth and homebirths are much more common and normal here, many more women get their hands in on labour and delivery than we would see in the west. Quite of few of the women conduct their deliveries alone; from the contractions up to the cutting of the cord, they are independent. What struck me during the week about the women was the heart that they had to learn and willingness to come each day, even though that meant sacrifice towards their family and income. Purely by the eagerness of drawing their reproductive systems, the questions they would keep on with for hours if we let them and daily attendance, I understood that these women want to give of themselves for something greater then their own knowledge. True fasting is to expend yourself on behalf of others, truly, they have taken this burden on in how they committed to actively taking part in the seminar.

And back to the present… Yesterday I geared up with two of my teammates, Melisa and Paula. Retro Mariner’s cap, Molly’s old black tank top and inherited brown stripe bag, billowing Steve and Barry’s hot pink skirt, Jakartan Jelly Sandals (that have seen better days) and aviators, to pull the outfit together. A rock-like bike seat and skirt eating chain awaited me. The three of us took off, biking in the morning sun to a “local” clinic to do antenatal care. One hour later, we arrived with sore bottoms and sweaty faces to palpate bellies and pr*ay for life. There is only one nurse on duty so she gladly accepted the pre-arranged help we offered. It was just like G*od to bring in several absurd cases for us to learn from. One women showing signs of eclampsia whom we got to share about the L*ord’s provision with, another whom we diagnosed with a twin pregnancy, another who was pregnant with her ninth at the age of 32 and another twin pregnancy. It was a lovely day. We rode home and appreciated the views of sugar cane lining Lake Victoria while slowly pushing our bikes up unconquerable hills.

This Thursday we will be leaving for the Bavuma Islands on Lake Victoria. There is one clinic on the island of 100 families that is run by the base that we will be staying with. It is the final 6 weeks of our outreach once we arrive and I think they will be adventuresome. We will be helping with immunizations, antenatal and maybe some more seminars. The boat ride there will take three hours, and quite possibly will be without internet access. They were optimistic that there would be some way to connect, but I don’t know for sure. This could quite possibly be one of my final blog updates. Frightening, hey? I promise though, I will journal and update you on it all. A fun fact about the island is that there is no fresh fruit. Hrmph. The monkeys get it all. Katherine, one woman who established the clinic, is trying to get permission to shoot them if they are on her property. I think she is fed up with them.

Okay guys, thanks for following along. I will try and attach some photos, I hope it works!

UPDATE-

Hi Everyone,

It is the 11th of April, which means someone is late sending out their update. As I said in my blog, we all have my parents to thank for no update last week. I got to videochat with them! For the first time since November, I got to see their faces. Even when I call them at ungodly hours that would give them reason to pretend like the phone never rang, they rejoice at my calling. Thanks mom and dad. So due to the Skype call, everything else was pushed aside and my internet time was finished before my updating was…

If you have been following my blog you may know upon leaving for Sudan, we found out that the situation became too unstable. Aussies were unable to be covered by their insurance, the LRA was lurking in nearby villages and soon after we arrived in Uganda the borders closed. Although I faced difficulties in my heart with not going where I expected to go, G*od has been faithful in the time here in Uganda!

Since we had no plans when we arrived, it took many days of inter*cession and asking and waiting to see what we would do for our time here. The first week we made contacts with a local village and met the traditional birth attendants (TBAs) and planned for a seminar for the following week. Last week we had our four-day seminar and this week our graduation for the 33 students who attended. G*od has been encouraging us to plug into the base from day one. We have been blessed and challenged by life here on the Jinja base, we have had the chance to lead inter*cession and next week we’ll have a fun night for everyone.

In about five days we will leave for Bavuma Island on Lake Victoria. There we will support a couple that is running the only clinic on the island. I am anticipating this time to bless them with whatever we are capable of doing for them. It is however, quite secluded, so I do not think I will be sending out a May update on time.

All in all, thank you for your continued support and pr*ayers my friends, great is your reward in hea*ven. Enjoy this Easter Sunday…

Bekah

who has two thumbs and is forgetful? this girl.

I am literally banging my head on the keyboard right now. I typed a wonderful and witty update up at home and now here at the cafe, I never put it on my USB stick. Guys, I'm bummed.

I want to let you know that things are going wonderful here in Jinja. OUr seminar was incredible, complete with a graduation. We did a homebirth in a mudhut last week and this week we are leaving for the island where there is one clinic that provides healthcare.

G*od is good and my mind is somewhere else right now.

Thank you for your pra*yers. I don't know if I will be able to update the next 5 weeks since we will be secluded in the middle of Lake Victoria. I will do my best.

Thanks guys!

rumbly in my tummy

I think everytime this week that I got the gurgly-oh-no-what-are-we-going-to-do-feeling in my belly from having to talk about our schedule, G*od came through. Can I just say, that he always does. Not how I expect, but he does. Oh man, we had about 47 amazing inter*cession times this week about how G*od was leading us for this time and in the end, we don't have our full 9 weeks planned out, but he keeps ushering me and our team into his promises and faithfulness. I love him.

This week we met some TBAs (Traditional Birth Attendants) who help with the deliveries in their villages. We also met several woman who deliver their own babies. Sarah, it's what you have always wanted. One woman has done it seven times. Anyway, we have planned a seminar with them to teach about the things that they are longing to learn more about. We are hoping for it to be more like a discussion and then we pitch in some new info. I'm looking forward, these women are wise and experienced.They are passionate about good care for their women, I think we will learn a lot from them.

Some deep impressions that we got were to serve the base. They are growing in their inter*cession and community and we are enjoying partnering alongside them for this time. It feels like every country we land in, there are amazing people, pushing to bring in the presence of our G*od, while using their passion and joy. Ahh, I am greatly encouraged and enjoy making new friends here. This week we joined in with their prison ministry and I was able to share about the reproductive system and the uniqueness of women to the women who are on death row. I was scared to speak a word to them, but the moment they greeted us at the gate with a hug, I knew I had heard from the H*oly Spirit about what to speak on. They were giggly and loved asking questions about the body and my life.

We have been blessed to be a blessing my friends and through that G*od blesses us, a cycle of abundance.

Thank you for your pra*yers. I am enjoying this new home in Jinja.

so i'm not in sudan...

On the Monday before we left for Sudan we found out the situation was getting rougher with a couple attacks in villages near the base assumed to be the LRA. Anyway, our leaders in Perth sent us word that it was not safe for us to go at this time. The Australian government also is not covering any Aussies that are in Sudan right now. This was all taken into consideration including our inter*cession times and their prayer times and experience. On wednesday we found out we would be going to Jinja, Uganda. So here we are, in Uganda.

I wanted to update you all, but we really don't know for sure what we will be doing here yet. This is a land crying out with need and so with Go*d's hand, we will take part.

On Friday, another team memeber, Anna flew home to Sweden. We have almost lost all our Scandinavians. It was a sad day. She has been battling with her health for months and clearly G*od spoke about her leaving the school. She is planning to return next year (when I will be her staff, hehehe).

Thanks guys for your Pra*yer and support. You can continue to lift up this time of following his lead.

the big one. keep out of reach of children. cool.

I don’t have so much time to update you all this week. Our time is almost to a close here and the week and weekend is packed. It is our last free day to get all that we need to do done and the house is buzzing with people and their to-do lists.

The highlight of my week in the delivery room would be the birth of a 6kg/13.2 pound baby. For those of you who have birthed a child, you are probably aware of the massive size of this baby. She came out looking like a three month old. No, the mother did not have gestational diabetes, just a history of large babies, the last being 4.5kg/9.9lbs. I am grateful for the experience to learn how to extract a child who is seemingly “stuck” and what my role is in that. The mom was very happy following the delivery and the father just as excited, if not more.

Yesterday, a mother who my friend delivered, came to visit us at the hospital. She had made some of us dresses and we immediately tried them on once we were home from the hospital. I wore mine the whole night, and probably will be wearing it as I am uploading this at the internet. I have received nothing but ill comments about the dress. I think you guys would like it. I have been likened to wearing a pumpkin costume, Raggedy Anne and Cinderella, a cow milker and a cowgirl.

On Thursday, we depart for Douala and then we will fly out in route to Sudan. Maybe you have heard about the issues in Sudan this week, and we are considering them all. Our base leaders, school leader and Hollie and Paula have been pra*ying and communicating about the problems and risks. I am feeling at peace and have received a word from the L*ord about going. I must walk where he is leading. Please pr*ay for the leading of our team and our leadership. I am greatly expectant of the time we are going to spend there.

Ten points to the person (besides my family)who knows what movie the "title" for the blog is from.

yes!!!! it worked!

see, we do blend in.

obama. baby obama.

a lovely mum. same age as me, baby number two.

mommy mary. you will be rebuked if you don't call her mommy.







Recently I have been seeing a lot of white men (meaning white people in general). Guys, I feel so awkward when I see them. It’s absolutely ridiculous. It must stop (at least before June).

It is Saturday morning, I am sitting in my dark room, typing on the top bunk before I head to the internet with Paula at 11, listening to some German music from a good pal at home, craving a crunch wrap supreme with one fire sauce.

So I know that some of you who are reading my blog are not receiving my updates. A couple of times I have posted them on my blog for this reason, but not always. I have decided this is the best way to keep everyone in the loop, post it on the World Wide Web, thanks Al Gore. So here is my update for the month of March…brace yourself---

Never before have I experienced such a short February! We have one and a half weeks left in Cameroon until we begin to make our way to Sudan. We will take a bus to Douala on the 19th and then fly out on the 20th to Kenya, then from Nairobi to Entebbe, Uganda. We will take a bus to the north and then stay at the Arua base for two days in Uganda. From there we will take another bus to the south of Sudan. As much as I am dreading the farewells, I anxiously anticipate the people and landscape of Sudan, a different beauty awaits our team.

During this month I saw G*od fulfill the experiences that we as a team needed. The previous schools have spent their clinical time in Hyderabad, India where there are about 60 augmented births a day and had no problem with deliveries. As a team, individually and corporately we have been pushing for deliveries to gain the necessary experience. The thing that I have loved about this is the breakthrough times we have seen, a dry season and then a day with four deliveries. Even though we still don’t have piles of deliveries, each experience is deeply valued. The time we spend with the woman is cherished. We have all learned how to monitor a labouring woman and when it is time to refer. Slowly we are completing the standards of the school. In the slow times in the labour room, we have met many women in different wards, completed our interviews with women and searched for case studies, all leading to relationships that we wouldn’t have been able to build otherwise. As much as I have seen G*od provide the experience, this has been an equally difficult time. Our schedule stays tight with breakfast at 7 and then finishing the day at about 8-9. Wanting to meet G*od in the hospital with the suffering and then trying to process that at the house. I am still trying to learn about drawing from G*od’s strength and investing into others when I feel absolutely empty. For the long-term, I need to learn this; I cannot simply brush this off my shoulder as an optional lesson. G*od has promised this strength to us, he intends for me to live this way.

I wanted to quickly share about my friend Judith. Melisa and I went to visit her and her family again yesterday. She was overjoyed to see us walk through her door and was afraid that we had changed our minds since we were late. She embraced us and welcomed us into her home and introduced us to her friends. After she served us a heaping bowl of rice and fish sauce prepared by her eight year old daughter, she went into a monologue of gratefulness to G*od for her friends. She shared with us something we didn’t know about her pregnancy. She went into labour four days before she actually delivered. She was pra*ying for people who loved G*od and would care for the baby to deliver the baby. When she arrived at the hospital, the contractions stopped after the initial exam and she left. She said she was so grateful, the way she was received and the relief that was on the midwives face when she told her that the pains were stopping made her feel like they didn’t want her to deliver. Another time, the day before she actually delivered, the pains began again and when she arrived to the hospital, the midwives were ridiculing someone for not having a toilet roll and pads creating a hostile environment, again Judith’s pains stopped. The next day, she arrived with some small pains, and we delivered her within an hour. She shared the testimony that G*od gives us the desires of our heart and she wanted someone who would care for her and her baby. Oh, how he uses everything to work together for the best. I am amazed at his provision.

Thank you all for faithfully reading my updates and praying for me. We will continue to grow together through pra*ying for each other. May the Spi*rit of G*od lead you all. ---

Okay, so next Saturday will be my last in Cameroon. In Sudan it will be a 4 ½ mile walk to the internet and it apparently costs 6$ per hour. I am not sure how it will all pan out, but I am going to do my best in keeping you all update via my blog and monthly email updates.

Eat some Taco Bell for me.

i am constant. i am near. i am peace that shatters all your secret fears.

Hello Everyone…

There are only two and a half weeks left here in Cameroon until we will travel to Sudan. My heart is growing more and more for the city of Bamenda. I feel comfortable with the people, working with the midwives, shopping in the market and soon we will leave for a new country. There is something so melancholy about leaving a culture and I am feeling like; I just haven’t had enough time here. It makes me believe that in the new creation we will be able to constantly enjoy one another’s cultures, we are made for something eternal.

I have made a new friend named Constance. About two weeks ago while we are the hospital, one of our doctor friends, a gynaecologist, told us that he was performing a c/s. We read up on the indications and found out this 22-week pregnant woman was eclamptic. I don’t know how many of us are familiar with this term, so let’s have a brief tutorial. Pre-eclampsia is a conditon that pertains only to pregnancy. The symptoms are high blood pressure, protein in the urine, swelling-especially pertaining to the feet/face/abdomen. This is why it is essential for women to receive regular antenatal care, so things like eclampsia can be recognized. Pre-eclampsia transitions to eclampsia at the point where the blood pressure raises even higher, there is more protein in the urine and fitting occurs. By “fitting”, I mean “convulsions”. (I don’t know if we use “fitting” as a medical term in the US, the first time I heard it, I envisioned Claire throwing a tantrum on our hardwood floor.) The thing about eclampsia is, at this point, you can’t just take medicine for it to go away, you can only recognize it and then treat it. The only way to treat it is for the baby to be delivered. So, now that we are all on the same page…

We prepped for theatre and entered to see Constance ready for her c/s. Once the baby was extracted, the staff were shocked that baby was alive. They had not been able to find a fetal heart and therefore assumed the baby was dead. We quickly rushed to the nursery and resuscitated the baby for an hour. Eventually, the baby was breathing normally and her heart was beating regularly. She was only 22-25 weeks old though, and the odds were against her. We pra*yed for a miracle and returned the next day to find that she had died a couple hours after we had left. I met Constance for the first time that day but with sky-high blood pressure and a recent operation, she wasn’t so responsive. These past couple weeks I have been able to hear her story.

Constance is a soldier. She has two jewels glued to her teeth, I don’t know what for, but she makes them look nice. She smiles as bright as the sun and loves to talk about her country and ask you questions about yours. She has one daughter named Roseline and wants so badly to have a sibling for her. Her second pregnancy was an ectopic pregnancy (to avoid another tutorial, maybe you can google that one) and this was the third pregnancy. She had never been to antenatal care and did not understand why she needed to. Her blood pressure slowly has been going down these past couple weeks since the delivery, but since then, we have been able to share with her about our lives. No one told her about her baby, so we got to tell her how much she weighed, that is was a girl and when she died. We were able to share that she is no longer suffering and that we believe she will get to meet her one day. Constance could answer any question you have about Je*sus dying for her, but I don’t know if she knows him yet. I feel blessed to know this woman of great strength and burdened for her to know the living and breathing, ever-present G*od. She shares that her heart is hurting but she knows that she must get over it. In the places where culture interferes, it can sometimes be difficult to explain and even relate how G*od wants to heal these hurting places, and that grieving is so much a part of it. It just isn’t culturally acceptable to speak of your feelings and cry.

Constance will be discharged on Monday and we are hoping to visit her village next week. Even in these times of pain, in times when the outcome isn’t the will of G*od, he can bring redemption, bring healing. This is my cry for her. I guess I am just learning how strong these woman are, when they lose a child, they are sad, but they shout for joy…even when I fully believe there is a place for grieving, they know joy and no one can deny it. I can’t ever deny that G*od will teach us through other people and their trials, when we allow our judgements or our “group” we are missing whole groups of people, we miss these small opportunities that turn into great lessons. I cannot deny that G*od is ever present in each of our lives. Oh how much I have to learn.