abridged april.

Hello my dear ones...

“Ground breaking” were the words that G*d spoke as we began the first week of April in Subic Bay, The Philippines. The month has been a compilation of transitions, meeting midwives and learning from them in their clinics, crying out for this nation, joining with the work of community development and meeting G*d in rich ways to carry us through these last months. I have some stories to share with you and hope that they will give you at least the slightest view of all the ways the kingdom of G*d are breaking into the lives of the Filipino people we are doing life with.

Here in the Philippines, the enemy has sabotaged relationships. Absolutely.
As team, three times a week, we sit in groups of four or five and ask G*d, "What do you want to say?" Almost every time, G*d reveals the twisted views of women and men and family life here. In one time of int*rcession, G*d brought this up and raised the question to us of “What are you going to do about the teenage pregnancies that you are seeing everyday?” There are too many fatherless homes, a lack of commitment in male and female relationships and it has caused teens to move into relationships, searching for that intimacy that was not received from their fathers, therefore skewed their vision of G*d, therefore almost every day of prenatals we are meeting 16, 17, 18 year olds. Out of this time of listening, G*d gave us the strategy to link in with some teen girls in the area we have been doing community development with and begin to share with them our stories of finding relationship with G*d in the midst of the world telling you to find value in boys. We also got to do teaching on G*d’s view of women and how that is seen in the way he has created us (always my favourite teaching). We have a larger group of girls that we will be meeting with to share this same message next week.

As a team, we have been looking into Jo*hua 1 for the last month and this week we were talking about being the “first fruits”. That we are a “first evidence of the new creation” coming… “a foretaste of future glory”. So just by being here, G*d’s kingdom is here in Subic Bay. How encouraging.

More stories and pictures are on my blog (www.bekah29.blogspot.com) if this has left you hanging. Just one month is remaining for the 2009 Birth Attendant School. In some ways I think, “it has been so quick” and then when I stop to breathe my body tells me that it’s tired and yes, it has been 11 months.

So, until next month...bless you family, bless you friends, for all your support, reading this email and blessing me with your love.

Bekah




we went to "zoobic", a home for tigers here in subic bay.
to all my zoo hating friends: they have been raised in captivity. i feel like they are well cared for there.
this was an amazingly large and gorgeous white tiger who was very hungry because he hadn't been fed yet that morning when we met him.


here is a tiger family. this was also my favourite picture, this one is for you molly.


this was to make up for the previous photo "the bad one" (according to the photographer).


here we are, ready to go for the day.
there are more pictures, not that i have yet. just a taste.