A God Who Answers Prayers

Having prayers answered is such a rush! Because I think sometimes in the waiting we really have a hard time expecting that God is working, and acting on our behalf. I'm not good at waiting. I am good at worrying.
And what has been interesting about the clinic closure this summer is that I have not been excessively worried about what will be. From the beginning it has been clear that God is so fully in control, that I could not doubt His plans or timing, but that my only posture right now is to trust. And so I have not been consumed with worry, I have not lent much time to it at all. But questions have formed in my mind, wondering how long this could go on. And if my easy expectation of a January departure was simply pie-in-the-sky. I won't tell you that those have disappeared, there are no easy answers.
But yesterday - yesterday we got amazing news, the kind that is so completely orchestrated by God that I can only respond - of course! Of course He was at work, of course He had far better in mind. Of course I can continue to trust Him in these next few months.
Earlier this week the Department of Health officials in Manila met with our staff in the Philippines and admitted that all of the charges they had brought against us were trumped up! All of them! The thing is that several DOH officials have their own "laying in" (birth) clinics that are for profit. And they see the Mercy clinic (not for profit), as competition, stealing from the paying population, rather than giving to the poorest of the poor. But along with admitting the charges - they have given them up, which puts Mercy in the clear!
Here is where we stand now:
- the DOH feels that if we stay where we are we will continue to face a lot of pressure, they are suggesting moving our clinic to another area of the city,
- we are hoping to get the OK to open the clinic temporarily, while we sort out the details of a different location,
- we are working with Filipino doctors and midwives to open a new clinic in Puerto Gelara, an island over,
- the DOH wants to write a memorandum that commits to work with Mercy in the future and to help us run clinics!
So to those of you who have been praying - here is the result of your prayers, your efforts on behalf of the poor!
Now - don't stop, keep praying:
- we want to open our current clinic and provide care for the women of Welfareville, there are still hundreds/thousands of women who NEED a place to be cared for that is safe and free.
- we want to empower the Filipina midwives to serve their people and hope that they can be more and more involved in running these clinics.
- we work with a Filipino doctor who is giving everything to be a part of caring for the poor and he is facing a lot of pressure and embarassment over the state of medicine and politics in his country.
- all of our staff and the medic and children's workers teams will be going to the Philippines in the next few weeks to begin to work and serve, they will be doing a lot of travelling and working with the sick and abandoned.
Thank you - this is your ministry, and God is at work!

Normal School Ends Now

The last day of NORMAL school has come and gone! I can not believe that I'm already here - it doesn't seem possible that the everything is through. Starting today and now until next Thursday we have split up into our own disciplines. The midwives are meeting each day for intensives, where we learn skills for emergency deliveries, and complications. Today we studied breech births and twins! WOW! We watched the most amazing, shocking video ever. This women has a homebirth of twins, the second of which is a footling breech!!!! And the crazy thing is that there is no doctor or midwife (midwife doesn't make it in time), so this women delivers completely calm and in control, while her husband videotapes! Anyway, its impossible to explain, and most of you don't want the details. I'm gonna try and get a copy of the film for myself - so I can do private showings once I get home!!
If you're interested - check out www.earthbirthproductions.com. This was the anassisted birth of twins. Crazy amazing!
In one week school will be completely over, and just days after that I will head home to wait out, and enjoy, and study away the fall! Can I ever get this much info inside my head for good??

Coming Home!!

Here it is finally. The NEWS of what I am doing a mere 3 weeks from now, (confirmed only this morning)!
I am coming back to GP! For September-December I'll be home and I'll head out to the Philippines come January.
A little different than I had originally planned - but I'm feeling more and more comfortable with it now. In fact God is really getting me excited for some time at home. I'm hoping to work part-time, study full-time (lots more school work to do with midwifery, even after we finish up here), and hang out with the jr. high kids at church.
So I'll see you sometime after September 5th!! More news to come check the church Chronicle.

One Prayer Answered!

If you folks remember I had asked you to pray for one of my classmates about a month ago - Suzette and her boys. Well God answered your prayers the little sis of one of my classmates has come to watch them for the rest of the school! She's such a sweetie, and is bonding great with the kids! We're so glad Suzette is back in class fulltime. Praise God!

21st Birthday!

Well I celebrated my 21st yesterday! It was a fantastic birthday - I got so much love from my friends here and family and friends at home! Thank you everyone for making my day! Now that I am finally legal down here in the US-of-A I headed out with a few friends for a free drink at an Irish Pub!
But do not worry - I'm a good girl - we weren't up to anything too crazy!

Taking It To The Streets

Sitting around Saturday night we tossed out idea after idea - what are we going to do tonight? Nothing seemed to fit.
Until we came to a thought that really blew our others out of the water! We decided to take the truth about maternal and newborn health and our mission to help them - to the streets! We made many signs with:
- health stats (every 6hrs a Filipino women dies of childbirth related causes, diarrhea kills over 1 million children a year, breastfeeding could save 1.5 million babies a year!),
- catchy sayings ("Send me to the Slums", "I Want to Save the World"),
- and a list of what you could buy with $50 (100 prenatal visits, 15 hot meals for pregnant women, 1 birth with proper care).
And we gathered bouqets of wild flowers, a globe, some music, a birth ball, pamphlets on Mercy In Action, UN/WHO Facts for Life books, bumperstickers - oh the things we thought of! And then the cherry on top - we all blew up balloons and wearing them under our shirts - created our own pregnant bellies!
And then we headed DOWNTOWN! There's a street downtown (8th street) that is lined with cute shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and every Saturday becomes a huge morning market. And at the head of 8th street is a large courtyard with a fountain in the middle, and on a Saturday night the street is full of people coming and going and enjoying life and the warmth of a Boise summer night. So that is where we set up shop, laying out our materials and talking to everyone who went by!
I am telling you that we had a fantastic time! Before we headed out we gathered up and prayed, asking God to send us opportunities to talk with people, to protect us (we still aren't sure if this was legal), and to be with us. And it was clear through the response we got, and some of the conversations we had, that God really honored that prayer!
- we talked to hundreds of people in 2hrs, many of whom had previously been unaware of the issues of maternal health, and who were really interested.
- when it got too dark in the courtyard we were given permission to move under the lit awning of a restaurant.
- 6 different policemen went by on foot or by bike and not one stopped to ask us to leave/arrest us! (YAY!)
- we ended up raising $170 from people's donations!
- a fellow Albertan and I had a 45min conversation with a businessman who works all over Asia, and did know about maternal health needs! It was a fantastic conversation, we really enjoyed it, in the end he gave us his card and told us he'd like to send a check into MIA!!
- then on Sunday morning a women we had met the night before talked to one of the girls, she had come to our church for the first time (!!) and she wanted to give us some money!
So folks that is how I spent my Saturday night, in the company of some wonderful women talking to some very interesting people downtown, and seeing God move! With that last donation yesterday, our total increased to $210! And now we are all praying about how we should invest that money (give it to one particular midwife, buy supplies or equipment?).
The Fair comes to town next weekend, and we're thinking about setting up there!

A Quiet Evening

Time flies so quickly - apparently its been over a week since I've written anything - sorry. I find it hard to think of what to report to you. If I write about midwifery studies - well that can get awkward pretty quickly. If I write about the fun stuff we do in our free time, you know, to maintain sanity - well then it just looks like I'm partying the summer away (which would be quite false!).
So I will say that life is a good mix of heaps and heaps of homework, fun with new friends, working through the highs and lows of living in community, entering missions and seeking wholeness in Christ. We're busy, but tonight is a night off of class, which means dinner at home, a walk through beautiful local neighbourhoods and now a movie. These kinds of nights are rare - I savor them!
Tomorrow we'll be becoming certified in neonatal resucitation - a full day! Missions school respects no schedule!!
Oh, I haven't told you yet - we learned how to suture! Yes we pulled out pigs feet and some chromic catgut and put back together some terrible lacerations! I have pictures to prove it, so when I can organize it I'll be posting those here too.
Until then please enjoy this music video! I stand in amazement, both because I've been to bible college, and because some people have too much time on their hands! Enjoy!