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.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
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.
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.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
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.
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.
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