back to perth

hi guys. thanks for the covering. we actually got put up in a hotel thanks to the airline instead of 16 hours in the airport, what a surprise and picture of G*d's grace. one of the students hurt her back two days before we left and needed a bed for the night and we were expecting a turn around of getting home this evening and showing up for report back not having had great rest...anyway we did have excellent rest and free food! so thanks guys and thanks G*d.

hello everybody. just a small note to tell you that i am sitting in the airport of manila. this is our last leg of travel for the team. wowie. onwards to KL for a 16 hour layover and then to Perth. all pr*yer cover welcome.
thank you.
a final update very soon.

mmmm yesterday

For all of those inte*cessors from yesterday, I wanted to pass on the happenings of the day...isn't G*d the best? I think so.

I was able to converse extensively with a man who is part of the Church of Ch*ist. It is disguised as Chris*ianity but rather cult-like in the engagement with G*d. So much truth was spoken, specifically through testimony and G*d's word. In the end he allowed us to pr*y for his wife who is struggling with infertility and share that we believed when she would be healed it would be from G*d (they are only allowed to pr*y 3 times a day, very specific pr*yers).

At another clinic Reinette finished a prenatal check and asked the mother if she could pr*y for her. When she finished pr*ying Reinette was surprised that the woman was crying and deeply moved, she shared that 6 months ago there had been a large conflict in her ch*rch, so much so that she hadn't been able to return to the ch*rch and was longing for G*d.

We also were able to facilitate a discussion at women's bi*le study about oral hygiene (massive need here!) and here them share their worries for their children and then brainstorm about ways to save up for toothbrushes and toothpaste for a family of six...even looking equally effective alternatives. The women left having heard G*d's thoughts on stewardship, the parental influence and blessing! It was a very spontaneous time of G*d bringing his love and care through the teaching!

I am inspired by the power of pr*yer, G*od really met us. He is here.

bekah

points of the day.

Hi Guys!

Tomorrow is the 18th of May and my day to make sure that the team is covered in pr*yer. A couple of people had said that they had wanted to partake, but I decided to send out the requests to many just in case the day has opened for you and you have a moment to talk to Dad.

-There have been MANY open doors to share with Catholics (in the Philippines they are into idol worship, sacrifices, lacking in relationship) about the way we meet with G*d. Please ask for more chances for today.

-Please ask for our final days in the health care centers, good byes will commence on Thursday. A final covering over good relationships specifically, so that will translate as the base here starts it's own birth center.

-Please ask for the women on 12th Street (where we have been joining in with community development). Few can afford to see the midwives after we leave or to be able to pay for a skilled attendant at their birth.

-Please ask for our transition. May 30th we will arrive in Perth for a final week of debrief and then the students will graduate!


Thank you! So, if you are able to cover this stuff, double thank you!
You guys rock, couldn't do it without you.

Bekah

tstmny

Sunday night we were wandering down a boardwalk, near the beach, where many foreigners come, in between the lighted walkways are bars and dance clubs. I met a young girl who was trying to sell bracelets and small trinkets. My heart hurt to see her there in a lustful environment, going from tourist to tourist, up late, doing things children shouldn't be doing. I didn't have any money with me but so badly wanted to win her over, look into her eyes and tell her how precious she was. She didn't speak any English and was frightened when I would softly touch her shoulder. I asked G*d "what can I give to her?". I reached into my bag and remembered a bottle of nail polish that I had bought for a girl in India that I never saw again. I handed the shiny, red bottle over to her and she accepted it and walked away, not receiving what she was hoping for. All I could think was that she deserved a bigger picture of life then what poverty was giving to her family. As we were leaving I ran into this same little girl, her whole demeanor had changed; a joyful little girl with light in her eyes waved me over to see the masterpiece on her friend's hands. Even if only for a moment, she was able to shrug off the responsibility and see the creativity given to us through a child's eyes, it was a glimpse of G*d's kingdom. Thank you G*d.

This week concludes our work in the clinics here, next week we will say our good byes, pack our belongings and head back to Perth, Saturday the 29th. I am wrestling with the reality of this, wondering what life is going to look like when I am back in Perth. Although I will be involved with the school (doing background prep-for outreach, and participating in small groups, etc.), I will also be serving in other ministries. My heart is preparing for the painful good byes that are ahead and the sudden changes that will follow.

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.

Relationship Perversion. How do our sins affect others?

I haven't researched my thoughts and opinions, and probably never will, but need to get them all out on "paper". So have a look if you'd like. I don't if I have pinpointed the beginning of the sex trade, but these are the conclusions that have roughly been formulated these past couple weeks through inter*cession and interaction.

What are the implications of a massive hub, drawing mostly men, in and out, day after day, hour after hour...
Years and years ago the US Navy planted a base here in Subic Bay. It was around that time that Olongapo city was stigmatized as "Sin City". The chains that poverty leaves cities in has outworked itself into the sex trade...For years and years the women of the city have found that this is how they can provide for the family, this is what they capable of doing. Still today, when I walk up the street, there is bar after bar after bar advertising their "women", it is a booming industry.
Why did the women need to provide for their families? What are the implications of such a thriving economy stimulated by prostituting of bodies?
Each time I have done prenatal checks with women, they have had a "partner". The term "partner" is widely accepted here in Olongapo as a proxy for "husband" and vice versa. Most families are matriarchal because the father is such a temporary or ever-changing figure.
What does this do to the family structure here in Olongapo?
Girls are missing their fathers. Boys are missing their dads. The value that is due to each child from a father has been withheld. This also means that the view of G*od as our father, that is most greatly affected by our fathers, is absolutely thrashed when fathers are not a part of the picture. Meaning that boys and girls are searching in other places for what they are longing for.
How does this affect who I interact with each day?
I have seen maybe ten women, in total, that have been over the age of 25 in prenatal care. Our greatest number of pregnant women fall into the 15-19 category. I would say 4 in 5 of the women we see fit in that category. The teens of this city have not found the value that G*od intends for them to receive and the cycle of either prostituting themselves or rushing into relationships is the outcome. Daughters, mothers, sisters, women, have been absolutely raped of their value.

So what now?
G*od let your kingdom come in this place. Through man and woman being in covenantal relationship with you. Men and women who are committed first to you and then to each other. We want to see burst of your kingdom in this place.

i have been trying to upload videos for three days. this will have to do for now.

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!

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.

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.


mmm...sunset...a lovely background to have up while we play beach volleyball.

that's all folks. hope you enjoyed!

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

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!

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!

This is my friend Zara. We met at the hospital, a couple of us went to visit her. Enjoy the photos. These are the women of India.


Zara's sisters. The one on left (I forget her name, ahhh) did all my henna. Fatuma, with the blue scarf, she is 17 and awaiting her marriage in a couple months, she did our arm tat henna.




This is when they served me Bidyiani, three times, I was so full.


The mahindi-ed us (henna) and did our hair. Doesn't Kali's hair look great?


mmmm...henna


All too quickly we had to leave, and once again...burqua-ed up.

this is the world's largest imax theatre.


these are the world's largest 3-d glasses.


this was the world's most thrilling movie to see.

And now, completely unrelated to Avatar...

This week I spent three days in the labour ward welcoming babies with the students. I stand in awe at the end of this week thinking about the foot in that I have into women’s lives because of the favour G*d has on this school to get us in these doors. After processing with a student on Friday, she told me about her English midwife friend who couldn’t believe what she was learning to do, the skills, etc, and I agreed with her and we talked about how cool it is that when G*d calls us, he equips us. We are living testimonies.

As much as I would like to, I often shy away from graphics or too intense of imagery in relation to the labour ward, those stories are better for one on one conversation. That is, seeing how I don’t know my blogging audience and all. Perhaps I should start a separate blog? Kidding. I know I appreciate the details, but I have learned that my language needs to be accessible to all, especially when talking about things pertaining to birth.

With that said, the following is appropriate for all.

Our image of a woman labouring in a hospital with her separate room, having ice chips served to her hourly, the contractions recorded on the monitor are things of luxury and not actually how most women in the world spend their hours labouring. With that said, it is not at all wrong, but not like any of the deliveries we as birth attendants usually are a part of. The women here in India, as well as the women of every other country that I have birth attended in, labour in community, all sitting on their separate-or sometimes the same, bed. Usually there are about eight women in labour in one room at a time, but on an especially busy day, like it was most days this week, there are 10-14. Every once in a while, there are those quiet women that don’t say a word, and before you know it, baby is coming and it isn’t waiting for nobody. One time this week, a woman delivered into her sari and the rest of us were so engrossed into our work with postnatal moms until we heard a crying baby and realized, “it’s too late”. In these situations, although it hasn’t been the best care for the mom, but you can still slap on some new gloves and welcome the baby in the name of J*sus, sing it happy birthday and ask the mom “larki-larka?”, “babu-papa?”, “bathchi-batcha?” and any other way you can remember to say “boy or girl?”. The mother has to respond with the answer of the correct sex of the baby before you can take it to warm it up. If no one is looking, we can keep the baby on mom’s belly, turn off the fans and let a little bit of bonding happen… Sometimes there are no students around and as baby’s don’t wait for nobody, I get the chance to stand with the mom, encourage her to push, smile at her, ask her what her name is, introduce myself and reunite mum and bub. Although we want all the students to get as many opportunities to be a part of conducting deliveries, sometimes they all are busy and in these situations, I am so happy to take part!

On Friday, there was one mom who had been labouring since six am in the labour room, and once they are in there, they are not allowed to eat (for cases of caesarian sections, etc.) and this mom was crying at us, begging us to let her eat. We tried to advocate for her and ask the madam (OBGYN) if we could give her something or if she could get some tea from her family, but she still said no. The mom was so angry with us, she didn’t want us to listen to the baby’s heart, to let us put a line up for her, nothing. We stayed with her and continued to encourage her. Low and behold, at the end of the day, when everyone else was tied up, baby was coming. I went and stood with her and asked a student nurse if she would like to learn to conduct a delivery. I began with guiding the mom in her pushing and recognized she wasn’t progressing well and asked the madam to come. After about 45 minutes of focused pushing, her baby girl was born. Anjana was a new woman after, she cried and thanked us for all of our help and we told her J*sus helped her and then she insisted on exchanging phone numbers. Hopefully we can visit her. These joyful-ending situations with tough beginnings can seem frustrating. Yet, I think of how Jesus is so persistent in standing with us, even when we push him away-kicking and screaming we deny his help, and in the end, we are so thankful, so thankful that he has been there with us through it all. Granted, women usually can’t be held accountable for how they act during labour, but that doesn’t mean G*d can’t teach me through this stuff.
G*d is right there with us in the labour room.

Thanks for reading guys, I hope the details were palatable.

Your friend,
Bekah

feeling the feb.

February, I remember feeling that last year this month went too fast, and again I echo this thought.

Last year, a girl called becca led my outreach until the month of January. She then went back to Perth briefly and then to Vancouver and got engaged and was married before we saw her for our debrief in May. She was a part of staffing the lecture phase this year and then moved to Wollongong . Last week, the pregnant becca and her husband Chris visited our team while they were doing a project here, ahhh friendship. While on our way to get iced coffee, she began sharing with me, “it’s not about the outcome, it’s about the relationship on the way”. Oh how I needed to hear that, to hear it from someone who has been in my shoes with years of experience. That’s why we are here, to meet the women, to share with them in their pain, to learn together as a school. There are tasks, skills, evaluations that of course that need to be ticked off, but those are not to rule me in co-leading the team. The principles of the kingdom are based off of what builds relationship. I once heard a man, (I think I’ve shared this before) who said you can replace the word “sin” with the term “relationship breaker”, that’s how serious G*d is about relationships. My feeble task-orientated self needs to change.



I have been sharing in my blog updates about how the battle between life and death has intensified here. We are not elite to the strongholds of the city, but aware, and thus must stand strong. Just opening your eyes in the morning can be a brawl of lies. We have entered into more fights for our unity, more difficulties with sickness and most of all, more struggles in communication. As a result, we have gone deeper into wor*hipping and inter*eding for this city and recognized our authority because of the name of J*sus.



We have one more month here in India . Staying for only two months is actually such a short time, then again, even four months in Tanzania felt short. We will be heading into the Philippines in my next update. I do have a mailing address here. I can send it to you individually, but through a mass email is slightly insecure.

I want to leave you with a beautiful testimony from earlier in this week. G*d has met us in the hospital. Since the first birth attendants came here seven years ago, we have seen his kingdom begin to advance. There is now a new location/building of the hospital-that gives much more space and is just more livable, there are more doctors-whom we have seen relationships increase with, there is newer equipment-that we have seen give much better care since we have been here…

So here is the story from Consuelo. Consuelo was once a student on the school and then returned back to Texas to receive her accreditation as a midwife there. Since the car accident in Nigeria in 2005, Consuelo has committed to see the school rebuild so she is here for our final month in India- teaching us, working with us at the hospital daily.

The Miracle of Life at the Edge of Death

(Consuelo York, midwife serving with the Birth Attendant School , 2 March 2010)

A lady was laboring today. When she was feeling ready to push one of the other tutors saw that the umbilical cord was coming out before the baby’s head. This is a very dangerous, and often life-taking emergency situation. I was called over, as well as the doctor. I arrived first and checked to see if she had opened enough for the baby to be born, and she had. I maneuvered the baby’s head to take pressure off of the pinched cord so she could get the blood she needed to stay alive.

The doctor arrived and told me that they knew that the cord was coming first and that I should just wait. I asked if the baby was still alive. I knew that if she was, the mother had opened enough to deliver quickly to preserve the baby’s life! I knew that delay would certainly mean death. WE checked and found the baby to have a heart beat; so I commenced with assisting this baby to be born safely. The doctor saw that the baby delivered quickly and revived immediately. Resuscitative measures were not even necessary.

As I entered the newborn room a few minutes later to see the baby, I had such joy that G*d’s hand in this child’s life had preserved her to fulfill her destiny. Yet, I was also aware that sadly her mother seemed not to be delighted to have a female child. So, for my pr*yers over this child, I called her Joy. My prayers to G*d for this child were that she would fulfill her destiny as a child of G*d, He delighting in her life being preserved, and asking that He would cause her to be accepted and loved by her family.

tank you (as said in telagu) for reading.
bless you guys.

nothing much.

hello there.
today is day off. it seemed as if i had very little business to take care of at the internet and now my time has ticked away.
things continue to daily be a battle here. the enemy is not against flesh and blood, but he often disguises himself that way. my daily push comes out of wo*ship and inte*cession times. if it wasn't for those times together, i wouldn't be able to make it through each day.
G*d is so worthy. So stinkin' worthy.
Today I have been blessed to go to the IMAX. Wowie. I am so excited.
I will post more later this week.
Bless you family and friends.
bekah

photoooooosssss!

i know mom and dad are going to be happy. :)

i have a quick story to share with you and then some photos!
hereeeee weeeee goooooo!

A Muslim woman clad in her black gown, exposing her lovely face stumbled into the ward complaining of back pain so severe that she could hardly lift her leg to take a step. I grabbed a student nurse to come and translate and was pleasantly surprised when she responded clearly in English. Between her winces she shared that she usually goes to a Muslim women’s hospital and was not feeling comfortable with men being around. The pain became so severe that she was endlessly crying out “Allah”. She begged for us to pr*y for her. I shared that we would pr*y in the name of J*sus and after resisting slightly she agreed. Shortly after her groans for “Allah” became groans for “J*sus”. We remained by her side since she was feeling insecure; she continued to whimper until it was time for her to consult the doctor. At that point she claimed that she couldn’t move because her vision was so blurry and the dizziness was so intense. She again quickly asked if I could pr*y, this time, specifically in the name of J*sus. I pr*yed a simple pr*yer for the “dizziness to be gone in the name of J*sus”. I asked her if she felt better. She looked me in the eyes and said, “Yes, Doctor, I am better”. She proceeded to get treatment for her back pain and left, having felt the touch of J*sus.

Yipee!!!!

Oh, before the photos, just wanted to mention we saw three salv*tions this week at the hospital!



the lovely emily with sarah christine, an abandoned baby that we visit daily in the nursery


this is hollie. my fellow staff, with a mum who delivered this beautiful breech bub.


rickshaw central. outside our home.


worship time on the rooftop shout it out.




a day of evan*elism ended up in a poetry slam.



booya. cricket at the park.



beautiful school children by our home. photography kudos to richard simmons.

here we go.

A bit of a longer post… feel free to skim it-I won’t hate you.

Hi guys…

I don’t know really how to start this post or what it will include. It feels as if I have been living in this country for months now, but as I recognize the date of my last post I am shocked into the reality of only having been here less than two weeks.

India.
Clothes are comfy like pajamas. Everyone has a bottom bunk. We still like bucket showers. You will be fuller than full if you have one dollar. A rickshaw for the first time is similar to a ride at the theme park.
India.
Beggars claim every corner. Men stare unashamedly. Incense to gods invade each breath, the call to prayer, your silence. The battle of the mind is unending. To leave the busyness at the door is victory. Women draped in black gowns, men in white.
India.
Take the city. He has said. Reclaim what’s been stolen. Be yielded. Be obedient. Guard your unity. Fight for the team, together.
Do not come under these strongholds.
India. Here we are.

So there is just a bit of a summary for you. It kind of came out like a poem.

We are living at a Pastoral Centre, where they have conferences frequently. They are interesting and draw a unique bunch of people each time. So far there has been a conference for the deaf (one of the girls was confused the first day and thought they had all taken a vow to silence), one called “Women for Secularism” and this week one on the H*ly Spirit. In the mix of all the strangers we have our hideway home just a staircase away. There is also an amazing rooftop, perfect for wors*iping, breaking off strongholds of the city and enjoying the view. Our life kind of takes place in our bedrooms, we meet, sometimes eat and sleep in them.

We started at the government Maternity Hospital this week. Yes, a hospital only for women who are pregnant…they need it. I keep thinking that I need to take a little video to show how many pregnant Indian women exist. They are neck and neck with the amount of deliveries per day as in Tanzania (T:60-80, I:60) but they definitely see many more pregnant women daily here.

Spi*itual warfare is constant. The battle within your mind is relentless. It is necessary to often ask someone to p*ay for you or you get in a maze of anger, miscommunication, lust, greed, anxiety, intimidation, you name it, and the rest of the day you feel bitter towards people who have done nothing to you. It is simple to just think, “oh, I will get over this”, man but the enemy will get a hold of you and yanks your chain. I am learning more intensely about the authority I have. With the name of Je*us, I don’t have to come under this, I can be free, I’m not a slave to this. Of course I still do. But this is the place to learn authority. I am buckled in for the ride. We have seen the unity of our team takes some hits here and there. When the enemy is allowed our unity, we will be useless. It is something we are actively on guard for.

I have decorated my new little home…photos and art that have been sent to me. Everyone has their little space and we are all thrilled at the convenience of having our own bathroom. I appreciate that so much. There are no bunk beds so we all have a place to sit, so welcoming.

I have been bombarded with the need of beggars. Asking big questions, not wanting to get hard, but still getting feelings of resistance to walk when I know I will be faced with one. Easily you see three or four just on the way to the main road in the morning and it is pain free to avoid…
bleh, not what G*d has called me to.
There have been moments of exhaustion these past couple weeks. Once again traveling was tiring, starting from “scratch” here, adjusting to a new home. Several times Melisa and I needed to remind one another, that this is exactly what G*d has called us to for this time. The team is incredibly gracious, as we have learned how to lead here in India, a place that both of us are very unfamiliar with. Hollie and Rach, our new staff that we are leading with, are experienced and so supportive, they have brought such a fresh breath to Melisa and I and the team.

Tomorrow we are singing at a church as the birth attendant choir, it is “Medical Sunday”. I will be singing soprano. Watch out Dale.

Okay, that’s enough for now. I will post again next week.

i made it! my internet time is up! eeek! more later.