Also, a wee report from my buddy Rach who just left Hyderabad with the rest of the team for Central Asia...this is from her update. Do you remember the woman I talked about meeting on the last day at the hospital? Well, they went and met her and this is how it went...
On Friday we went and did home visits and Cara, Alana and I were able to visit Shanaz - the woman Bek met at the hospital, She had lost her baby (due to placental abruption...aka...the placenta detaches from the uterus early). Her husband (Josef) was really lovely and directed our auto. They live a bit far away (about 75 rs) but we got there fine. They welcomed us into their home and we got to ask Shanaz a bunch of good post-natal check-up questions. We talked to her a bit about grieving and although she said she wasn't still sad she broke down crying. We let her cry a bit and then I asked if I could pray for her in the name of Je*sus and she said yes. Later we got to share with both her and her husband about why the school exists - who Je*sus is - how much he loves them and also talked to her husband a bunch about differences (and similarities) between is lam and chris ti an ity. They made us lunch ( dahl, rice and chicken - sooo good) and tea afterward. We stayed nearly 4.5 hours and they wanted us to stay longer but we had to go. We spent the entire afternoon laughing, crying, playing with her 5 year old (first child) daughter, loving and sharing with her and husband about the Hope that we have. She told us before we left that it felt like her sisters had come. (she has no family - her dad is dead, her brother and mother won't speak to her because they had a love marriage). It was a really beautiful day... we saw glimmers of hope in her as we hugged goodbye.
Here is some stuff Rach had in her post as well that maybe you would like.
NUMBERS: Although numbers only give a small part of the whole picture - let me give you an idea of what our time here has held. We delivered approximately 171 babies (and assisted at the births of countless others)of which 33 were in the last two weeks. More than 1000 people received some form of healthcare, around 500 people were prayed for, 5 came to know J*s us as their savior, and several hundred heard a test i mony of how G*d loves them. We visited more about a third of the women we delivered in the post natal ward the next day and 10 in their homes.
Yay! So cool!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
this is the day!
So, for those of you who were wanting to send up some memos to our dad, here goes the requests!
• Yesterday we had five of our team members join up with us, who were doing a health care seminar in India. Please ask for the re-unification of our team and their adjustment to the culture, strongholds and dynamics of the whole team here in the Philippines.
• Ask for our team in central Asia who just arrived on Sunday. There are 4 students there (one of them is a student with a family of 4), a staff and our school leader with her family. They are scouting out the needs there and how our school can connect in for the future.
• Ask for Hollie, my fellow staff member, she is 13 weeks pregnant. Daily she faces the feeling of “seasickness”, more like all-day sickness as opposed to morning sickness.
• Ask for Melisa and I, in leading the team, while the dynamics are changing, we are still trying to settle the daily schedule here. In all of this we are learning to communicate with each other and keep on keeping on through tiredness we are sometimes facing in our spirits.
• Ask pray for the work here in the PHILIPPINES! So many open doors! Yippee! Birth clinics galore want us to come, such a chance for evangelism and learning from the midwives and doctors here.
Thank you thank you thank you! We have definitely sensed a difference since we started this and I am grateful to you for pitching in. Bless you!
G*od is so stinkin good.
• Yesterday we had five of our team members join up with us, who were doing a health care seminar in India. Please ask for the re-unification of our team and their adjustment to the culture, strongholds and dynamics of the whole team here in the Philippines.
• Ask for our team in central Asia who just arrived on Sunday. There are 4 students there (one of them is a student with a family of 4), a staff and our school leader with her family. They are scouting out the needs there and how our school can connect in for the future.
• Ask for Hollie, my fellow staff member, she is 13 weeks pregnant. Daily she faces the feeling of “seasickness”, more like all-day sickness as opposed to morning sickness.
• Ask for Melisa and I, in leading the team, while the dynamics are changing, we are still trying to settle the daily schedule here. In all of this we are learning to communicate with each other and keep on keeping on through tiredness we are sometimes facing in our spirits.
• Ask pray for the work here in the PHILIPPINES! So many open doors! Yippee! Birth clinics galore want us to come, such a chance for evangelism and learning from the midwives and doctors here.
Thank you thank you thank you! We have definitely sensed a difference since we started this and I am grateful to you for pitching in. Bless you!
G*od is so stinkin good.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
it took so long.
Well, how do I sum up the time thus far in this land that I really do love.
Here are some photos from the lovely Reinette of South Africa. I have some of my own that I will upload a little later, for now. Enjoy these.
Sorry it has taken so long. I have been trying since Sunday but the internet has not been on my side.
this is our amazing dining room where we enjoy home cooked Filipino food almost everyday. Melinda, the cook, hopes to open a restaurant one day.
On this day we went to visit a birth center for the first time, we are now doing prenatal checks and immunizations there.
Elections are happening. I will send a movie shortly of what that loaded phrase entails. For now, this is mayor James "Bong" Gordon, hoping to be re-elected. He has my vote.
Taking a stroll on the beach. I'm clearly still in the Mu slim world with my head wrapped and all.
These are the lovely children of 12th Street, we go often during the week to be with the pregnant moms as well as these little cherubs.
and here we go with the pregnant mums...i take photos. that's my job.
Anyone can always come and get their BP taken. always a great time to love and people and send up some pra*yers for miracles!
we like kids chairs.
oh the "houses"...it is common for most people to have their house flood three feet everyday, yes, everyday.
we thank the u.s. navy for our transport.
These are the base leaders, community developers, loveliest of most lovely people.
every saturday. kids program. thank goodness i have the mother i have, I owe Kids INC a lot.
we take a little boat "banka" to the clinic each day, this is the view.
.JPG)
mmm...sunset...a lovely background to have up while we play beach volleyball.
that's all folks. hope you enjoyed!
Here are some photos from the lovely Reinette of South Africa. I have some of my own that I will upload a little later, for now. Enjoy these.
Sorry it has taken so long. I have been trying since Sunday but the internet has not been on my side.
this is our amazing dining room where we enjoy home cooked Filipino food almost everyday. Melinda, the cook, hopes to open a restaurant one day.
On this day we went to visit a birth center for the first time, we are now doing prenatal checks and immunizations there.
Elections are happening. I will send a movie shortly of what that loaded phrase entails. For now, this is mayor James "Bong" Gordon, hoping to be re-elected. He has my vote.
Taking a stroll on the beach. I'm clearly still in the Mu slim world with my head wrapped and all.
These are the lovely children of 12th Street, we go often during the week to be with the pregnant moms as well as these little cherubs.
and here we go with the pregnant mums...i take photos. that's my job.
Anyone can always come and get their BP taken. always a great time to love and people and send up some pra*yers for miracles!
we like kids chairs.
oh the "houses"...it is common for most people to have their house flood three feet everyday, yes, everyday.
we thank the u.s. navy for our transport.
These are the base leaders, community developers, loveliest of most lovely people.
every saturday. kids program. thank goodness i have the mother i have, I owe Kids INC a lot.
we take a little boat "banka" to the clinic each day, this is the view.
.JPG)
mmm...sunset...a lovely background to have up while we play beach volleyball.
that's all folks. hope you enjoyed!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
ooohhh mail
If you like, here is the address that I am "at" for the next 2 months. Some have been asking and so I offer it to you.
P.O. Box 166
Olongapo City, 2200
Philippines
P.O. Box 166
Olongapo City, 2200
Philippines
Monday, April 12, 2010
i may never March in the infantry...
March's update.
Kamusta ka?!
Greetings from the Philippines! We have arrived safely and have been greeted by guest-house standard accommodations and fans enough to keep us cooler than our bodies can handle sometimes. The L*ord is giving rest.
I want to share with you about our last month in India, but if you are interested in the recent transition to Subic Bay, you can check out www.bekah29.blogspot.com where I will be posting.
The strongholds of India that G*od first spoke to us continued to be things that factored into daily life. The implications of two major religions being entertained in the space of one city resulted in a battle that was constant, so many things being worshiped, sacrifices being made, led to a very active spiritual realm. For our team, the constant battle caused sickness, fatigue and the feeling of oppression that can cause a reluctance to participate. In the final week of our stay in Andra Pradesh, the Muslims and Hindus broke out in fighting. People were killed, stabbed and injured all in the name of false gods. This gave us the final push, showing us once again that G*od was calling his people to this place to bring his kingdom. And so we left the city through inter*cession and wor*ship, calling out the body of Ch*rist to live differently to show the city that blood has already been shed and atoned for each of us.
Our time in the hospital is a ministry that I thank G*od for at the end of the day…well, most of them. Being in a place where women are travailing alone, G*od quickly brings us along side to inter*cede silently or with them. The overall feeling of the maternity hospital was quite oppressive and once again a battle. G*od made a way for us to share his name, for students to learn skills needed and to make friends.
I just wanted to share a story with you about a woman I met on the last day. It doesn’t have a happy ending yet, but I believe that seeds scattered were in fertile soil…
Our last day in the labour room I felt burdened to speak with each of the women labouring. I didn’t get much further than a woman called Shohazi.
Shohazi locked eyes with me and said “Baby dead, my baby dead.” She was lying on a metal bed in the corner, waiting to be cleaned up and for the blood to finish transfusing before she could leave. It seemed as if no one had spoken to her since she came to the hospital. Her eyes were empty with loneliness. She shared her story, about how she had grown up rejected by her family for being a girl, that her first husband died of kidney failure and then she was married to her current husband as his second wife. She said several times “I hate the gods, I hate all the gods.” Nothing that anyone said would comfort her where she was at. She listened to me as I shared with her to tell G*od all that she felt, that Allah, the Hindu gods, they would all fail her, but G*od wouldn’t. He can handle us telling him how we feel. She cried and cried for her baby and let me pray for her that she would have another baby and that she would meet G*od. A softness came over Shohazi as she grieved and shared. It will take a lot of prayer to see her moved to J*esus, but those who have experienced as deep of suffering as she has meet J*esus in a deeper way. I got a phonecall from Shohazi’s husband the day before we left India, some of the girls still thee will visit her. It is an open door.
Recap. G*od is moving in India. We saw 5 salvations while we were there, hundreds prayed for, hundreds given healthcare to and about 100 babies delivered. His kingdom is coming. I believe he is calling people to commit to India, in inter*cessory prayer and long term miss*ions. I have tasted and seen that the L*ord is good over India.
Bless you family and friends. I will talk to you at in a month…
Bekah
***One more thing, our team felt that G*od was leading us to get more pra*yer cover as a team until the end of outreach. Each of us have taken a couple of days to ask if people we know (that’s you) are willing to take some time during these day to pr*ay for our team. My days are April 28th and may 8th. If you are willing to commit to pr*ay for the team at any point during any of these days for any amount of time, please email me so that I can send specific requests to you! Bless youuuuuuu!
Kamusta ka?!
Greetings from the Philippines! We have arrived safely and have been greeted by guest-house standard accommodations and fans enough to keep us cooler than our bodies can handle sometimes. The L*ord is giving rest.
I want to share with you about our last month in India, but if you are interested in the recent transition to Subic Bay, you can check out www.bekah29.blogspot.com where I will be posting.
The strongholds of India that G*od first spoke to us continued to be things that factored into daily life. The implications of two major religions being entertained in the space of one city resulted in a battle that was constant, so many things being worshiped, sacrifices being made, led to a very active spiritual realm. For our team, the constant battle caused sickness, fatigue and the feeling of oppression that can cause a reluctance to participate. In the final week of our stay in Andra Pradesh, the Muslims and Hindus broke out in fighting. People were killed, stabbed and injured all in the name of false gods. This gave us the final push, showing us once again that G*od was calling his people to this place to bring his kingdom. And so we left the city through inter*cession and wor*ship, calling out the body of Ch*rist to live differently to show the city that blood has already been shed and atoned for each of us.
Our time in the hospital is a ministry that I thank G*od for at the end of the day…well, most of them. Being in a place where women are travailing alone, G*od quickly brings us along side to inter*cede silently or with them. The overall feeling of the maternity hospital was quite oppressive and once again a battle. G*od made a way for us to share his name, for students to learn skills needed and to make friends.
I just wanted to share a story with you about a woman I met on the last day. It doesn’t have a happy ending yet, but I believe that seeds scattered were in fertile soil…
Our last day in the labour room I felt burdened to speak with each of the women labouring. I didn’t get much further than a woman called Shohazi.
Shohazi locked eyes with me and said “Baby dead, my baby dead.” She was lying on a metal bed in the corner, waiting to be cleaned up and for the blood to finish transfusing before she could leave. It seemed as if no one had spoken to her since she came to the hospital. Her eyes were empty with loneliness. She shared her story, about how she had grown up rejected by her family for being a girl, that her first husband died of kidney failure and then she was married to her current husband as his second wife. She said several times “I hate the gods, I hate all the gods.” Nothing that anyone said would comfort her where she was at. She listened to me as I shared with her to tell G*od all that she felt, that Allah, the Hindu gods, they would all fail her, but G*od wouldn’t. He can handle us telling him how we feel. She cried and cried for her baby and let me pray for her that she would have another baby and that she would meet G*od. A softness came over Shohazi as she grieved and shared. It will take a lot of prayer to see her moved to J*esus, but those who have experienced as deep of suffering as she has meet J*esus in a deeper way. I got a phonecall from Shohazi’s husband the day before we left India, some of the girls still thee will visit her. It is an open door.
Recap. G*od is moving in India. We saw 5 salvations while we were there, hundreds prayed for, hundreds given healthcare to and about 100 babies delivered. His kingdom is coming. I believe he is calling people to commit to India, in inter*cessory prayer and long term miss*ions. I have tasted and seen that the L*ord is good over India.
Bless you family and friends. I will talk to you at in a month…
Bekah
***One more thing, our team felt that G*od was leading us to get more pra*yer cover as a team until the end of outreach. Each of us have taken a couple of days to ask if people we know (that’s you) are willing to take some time during these day to pr*ay for our team. My days are April 28th and may 8th. If you are willing to commit to pr*ay for the team at any point during any of these days for any amount of time, please email me so that I can send specific requests to you! Bless youuuuuuu!
Sunday, April 04, 2010
here so very safely.
just a wee note to let you all know that i have made it to the Philippines. i am relearning the use of toilet paper, how ranch dressing tastes and what it means to sit at the table together as a family for dinner. it has been absolutely wonderful, splendid and restful yesterday and today. tomorrow we will dive in, but slowly and surely it is beginning...
Happy Easter all!
Happy Easter all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)