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