TABUK October 13-31 2008

Ahhhhh, Tabuk! It is there that I fell deeper in love with midwifery, the Filipino people and my Savior.
Tami and I flew to Manila, bussed 12 hours through the night and then got off into the rain and dark and honking tricicabs……at the wrong stop!

Georgia Macad is a Canadian from the lower mainland who began the Abundant Grace of God Maternity Clinic in October 2006. Her ministry there is astounding and far-reaching and it was such a blessing and honor to join her for 3 weeks. We lived at the clinic with Georgia, her tribal husband, Achao, their baby, Emmaus, two young Filipino midwives, some Filipino students and countless others coming and going. Pregnant woman would come from the surrounding villages and stay in georgia's house/clinic for a week before and after giving birth. It gave me a whole newperspective on the relational blessings of midwifery. Georgia’s hospitality, generosity and heart for the women was so inspiring and I learnt so much from her about what it means to be a missionary midwife. Cathy had her baby the first night we were there, it was pretty intense because she had a shoulder dystocia!

One of my highlights was going on day trips to the nearby villages where I led devotion and we gave the women a health teaching, a prenatal check-up and then stayed to eat and fellowship with them afterwards.

And of course, tons of babies!!!!

Early morning we were roused out of bed for a 17 yr old labor, Marziza, the morning was beautiful!

Mariza delivered at 10:31am that morning

Me, Mariza, her baby boy and Belyn- the primary midwife for her birth

Late one night as we were up with a beautiful young labor named Alma God worked a miracle. The minutes were intense, the umbilical cord was wrapped four times around the baby’s neck, the shoulders were stuck, the baby’s face turned blue but God intervened and she gave birth to a miracle baby boy. Praise God.
I am left…..speechless.

His still small voice

Oh the joy of being a midwife in the Philippines; Brand new babies, beaming mothers, long exhausting labors, sleepless nights, tribal villages, waterbuffalo, traditional dancing, rice four times a day, robberies, death, devastating fires, muggings and lots and lots of prayer.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

If I were to write about all of the babies from October, I think I could write a book, so instead, here is a glimpse of one of the most precious moments. A very pregnant first time mom had come to Mercy that morning for a prenatal but then had been rushed down to the birth room because her baby’s heart tones were dangerously low and her blood pressure was very high. She had been lying on the bed with her IV for a couple of hours when I heard God whisper for me to go and check on her. She wasn’t my patient but I opened the curtain, crouched by her bed, looked into her eyes and asked her how she was doing.

Bethany inserted her very first IV into my hand......and I turned pastey white!

FIRE, SUNDAY OCTOBER 5TH

It was Sunday evening, about 6:30pm. I was sitting in the study room working on my assignment when, bang, everything went dark. The power went out. As I was shutting down my computer I heard the scramble of feet and urgent voices come from upstairs. I knew there was an emergency. Quickly I ran though the door into the living room and then was swept with the rush of girls out the front door and onto the street. FIRE!!
Across the street about 3 houses and a few little shacks down, flames licked the night sky. The girls from our house were the first people running onto the scene. Joy ran over and alerted the clinic and, because the fire was spreading fast, they transported all of the labors and post partums to Jenn Germain's house, (a married midwife with seven kids.) I have never seen a fire so big. As Serena and I ran towards the flames I prayed, loud and urgent. The whole corner where you turn off Dacudao to Mercy was up in flames. About a dozen families were scrambling to save what they could from the lower floors. A woman was sitting by the ditch wailing, "my balay, my balay" (house) as she watched it get devoured by the flames. Seeing the need, a few of us began grabbing the piles of clothes, blankets and shoes from the street and throwing them into the grass on the other side of the street. Four or five young Filipino guys kept running into their house and throwing armloads of anything they could salvage onto the road for us to throw away from the fire. My perfuse effort and the heat from the fire made my head feel like it was going to explode. We worked for about 8-10 minutes before the first fire truck showed up. Quickly I ran onto the sidewalk beside the fire truck just before it started spraying. Serena got blasted a bit from the water. By this time there were hundreds of people gathered in the streets. Another fire truck came, then another, soon the street was crowded with 8 or 9 fire trucks.

The darkness of the night was sliced open by the ominous flame engulfing charr-broiled frames of what used to be homes, and by the urgent flashing of a what seemed to be a million red lights. The silence of the night was sliced open by the yells of the firemen, the crackling of the flames and the shriek of the sirens. But, what sliced the darkness and the silence the most was the dark, silent look of hopelessness on the faces of those who had just lost everything.



Within a few minutes, the spray of the water overpowered the flames and they were drenched into submission. Slowly the crowds sauntered away to their homes, and slowly the fir trucks packed up and left the scene. Slowly I leaned my tired shoulders against the telephone pole on the corner just below the Mercy Maternity Sign and looked with a heaviness at what was before me. Mangled heaps of ancient washer machines, baskets, pots and piles of clothes were on the street opposite each place were a door had once stood. On each heap sat the victims, shoulders slouched, eyes fixed on the devastation, clothes reeking of smoke. There was nothing more for me to do than pray. My bare feet sloshed through the flooded street to my home three doors down, the pavement still hot from the flames, my face still burning from the heat. I estimate about 12 families lost their homes tonight. The whole corner was burnt and there were shacks stacked upon shacks that went up in flames. Please, please, please pray

Marchell a Marathon and a Merciful God

It was a beautiful, (hot- of course!) day as I made footsteps to the clinic to begin my swing shift at 2pm on Sept 24. Little did I know that the beauty of the day would not even compare to the beauty I was to witness. Later that afternoon a radiant 17 yr old came to Mercy......so young,......so beautiful. Her bana, (husband), was also 17 and they had a peace about them that was uncommon for parents their age. God bless Ritchell and Marvin. I labored with her all afternoon and evening.....the hours pressed on and so did her baby:) (catch that play on words all you mothers!) Then 10 pm came along and the schedual said that it was time for me to go home.....but, my heart said that it was time for me to stay. She was too precious and I knew that her birth was one that I did not want to miss. Lovely excitable Janelle was endorsed Ritchell and the Filipino supervisor on night shift gave me permission to stay!!!! And so, this is the tale of my first birthroom marathon! Janelle squatted on the bed and expertly guided a tiny head out of an opening that still seemed too small! (oh dear, I am tired, I shouldgo to bed before I stain the pages with midwife lingo). Ritchell and Marvin had their baby girl just before midnight. It was absolutely beautiful. They and named her Filipino style; Marchell…..a combo of both their names. Marchell was placed on mom’s tummy, nursed and then gave us a print of her little footprints.

By two in the morning the patter of my footsteps could be heard as I walked home, overjoyed, blessed beyond description and praising God for his abundant Mercy. Mercy that a new life was added to this world and mercy that I got in the door that night. For I while I was considering sleeping in the laundary room because the house was all locked up, I couldn't get my key to work, I had no load left on my cellphone to text anyone and, besides, it was 2 in the morning and they were all tucked snuggly in thier beds.

Prayer and Praise was on my lips all night. Everyday, as I serve with Newlife and witness the miracle of life, I am given a Newlife in Christ.

Marchell Magapundag
Born: September 24th, 2008 @ 11:44pm
Weight: 6.5 lbs

JUNIOR

I arrived for night shift at 10pm on Wednesday September 10th and a beautiful newborn was “endorsed” into my arms…..where he would remain for the rest of the night! He had been born earlier that evening but, not even an hour after his birth, his mom had been transported to the hospital due to retained membranes. Nameless, little “junior” was left at Mercy. It was so honouring to be this brand new baby’s only source of care and love for the first long hours of his life. A second yr midwife had just had a baby of her own so she pumped us some of her breast milk for junior. By about 1:00am, since there were no labors, we began to go to bed but I couldn’t sleep a wink; junior was too wriggly, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him and I couldn’t stop praying for him. At quarter to three he started to cry so we tiptoed across the hall to the kitchen for some milk. As I stood there with a brand new baby sucking happily I was overcome with the Love of God. Everything was perfectly silent. A warm breeze crept from the darkness, through the screen door, and into the light of the kitchen bringing with it an orchestra of night-time scents. This is why I am here, for such a time as this.

“Junior” and I had just lied back down when the screech of a taxi interrupted the silence; I heard the slamming of the doors, the creak of the gate and urgent footsteps scuffle down the hall. Sure enough, a moment later, the guard poked his head in and snapped all the sleeping midwives into action with his one famous word, “LABOR”. The hours that followed are ones that I’ll never forget. As I held junior and charted for Menjie’s labor, she kept looking with longing at the bundle in my arms. By 5:06am the longing was gone from her eyes and the struggle was gone from her breath…..she had one of her own!

SIGH......THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE OF A MIDWIFE!!!

After night shift, Janelle and I whipped up some spicy noodles and watched our little alley wake up as the sun rose over Davao.

Rain Pours Down

Life here is so BIG and I have been experiencing a BIGGER God here than every before. It has been tremendously life-changing to be in a place where God is the center of everything and I am the center of nothing. Even though life here is very fast pace, there is a calm serenity that follows me throughout my day and gives me a peace that surpasses all understanding. God is my stronghold in whom I take refuge.

Yesterday baby Nicole Ailyn came in with her mom, dad and big brother for her one week baby check-up. She is the baby that surprised us all by crowning in her own "timely fashion" which sent us helter-skelter running into the room just in time to see the amniotic fluid hit the wall and pour onto the bed, followed quickly by her blue-tinted, wriggling body! It is overwhelming to hold such a precious gift of life in your arms and pour prayers into her.

Baby Ailyn and her family on her one week baby check-up at Mercy

Studying Visayan, ( language) on the porch of my house; we have three lessons a week My neighbours, the view from the porch. If you look closely you can see a white sign that says Mercy Maternity Center that shows people where to turn off Dakudao onto our street.

We are in the middle of the rainy season and for the last couple of nights, when and Davao is already tucked in for bed and the warm streelights cast their glow, the rain pours down. Fervently, the army pounds on our roof tops and roars in our ears. Everything surrenders and becomes thoroughly soaked and it feels as if time stands still . At times like this......we go running. Through the night we add the pounding of our feet to the pounding of the rain and I think of the awesome power of God. As the rain drenches our clothes and streams off our faces my heart sings with thankfulness for his abounding, cleansing mercy. There is something absolutely freeing about returning home, dripping and refreshed after a long run with God.

Love Kinshasa

GIFT OF LIFE

As I sit on the deck of my new home in Davao, Philippines I am surrounded by the sights and sounds of a culture that I have already grown to love; I can see tin shacks crowding the street, each patterned with an array of palm tree shadows cast by the yellow glow of the streetlights; I can hear the honking of jeepnies, the voices of children playing in the street, the clang of an iron gate and the sputtering rumble of a tricicab as it labors home; I can smell the neighbors frying rice and the thick, sweaty air as I breath it in; I can close my eyes and feel that God is near...very near. I have only been here two weeks and I already feel absolute peace calling this place home. It is such an incredible feeling to be in God’s perfect plan for your life.

Thank you to all of you who have guided me over the years to this place with God.

The adventure began as I boarded a plane on August 9th 2008 and flew away from everything I had ever known and everyone I had ever loved to begin a new chapter of my life in the Philippines. All of the Americans and Canadians mission-students met in Portland, Oregon and we spent a few days with a couple who had recently served with Newlife for 7.5 years. It is an incredible experience to learn the life stories of girls who were my strangers yesterday and who I know will become my sisters, partners in ministry, roommates, classmates, fellow midwives and best friends tomorrow and for the next two years.

After 31 hours of international travel and crazy time changes we arrived on the other side of the world...........................................................................................Davao, Philippines.

I live in an orange house filled with girls, which is right next to a green house filled with girls, which is right next to Mercy Maternity Clinic filled with girls…and some newborn baby boys! It is such a blessing to be surrounded by 40 plus sisters who all love the Lord and whose hearts beat on the same rhythm as mine...Praise God. My first night I fell asleep on my precariously wobbly top bunk sweating and woke up to the rooster crowing, dog barking and jeepney honking, still sweating. Originally I wondered if I would ever acclimatize to the muggy, stifling hot weather but thankfully I have found myself already used to it. I share a room with three amazing girls, 19, 20, and 25 yrs old, and all three of them are from families of 14! The next morning as we toured Mercy Maternity Center, I heard my very first cry of a brand new Filipino baby. I will remember it forever.

The first week we were given our “welcome to the mission field” orientation by founders and directors of Newlife, Matt and Krys McNeil, which included:

....................... two days of culture and information sessions on Paradise Island......

...............a teambuilding day at Outland Adventure, their outreach ropes course..................

..........a tour of the local hospital where we have to transport the high risk labours and lots of Visayan (language) lessons. One of my highlights of the week was, Saturday, when the Filipino midwives and staff who serve at Mercy Maternity Center took us out to see and experience as much of the Philippines as they could cram in to one day. I spent the entire day bouncing around in a jeepney to a museum, a cultural monument, an elaborate festival..................

....................and surviving their favourite cultural foods to feed foreigners:

Hola Hola- crushed ice with beans, jello, a weird, white, stringy fruit and condensed milk.

Durian- a potent yellow, gooey fruit that has a stench like none other and a very strong “gaseous” taste. I actually liked durian and ate more than my share!

Balut- a boiled duck egg with a 16 day old fetus inside. And, yes, I did eat the ENTIRE thing and, yes, it really grossed me out!

One week after our arrival in Davao I awoke at 5:00am and walked down the street to Mercy Maternity Center for my very first shift in the birth room. I was so excited! Little did I know that God was about to answer one of my wildest dreams and implant a calling of immense strength into my heart. By the grace of God I was given the privilege to witness three babies enter this world on my very first shift! The first birth was absolutely radiant because the mother was a calm, expert labourer and beamed when here baby boy scooted out without any complications. The next two babies had to struggle a bit harder before their eyes were brought, blinking into the light and their lungs let out their first shaky cry. Even so, each one of them were absolutely miraculous and left me overwhelmed with an unworthy sense of gratefulness. “Who am I”, I continually think, “that I have the opportunity to love women during one of the most vulnerable and fulfilling times in their lives. Who am I?”

I was also very impacted by the huge influence Mercy has on the women during their months of pregnancy. Every day, 50-60 pregnant women come to Mercy and participate in a worship time, devotional and health teaching before their check up. After watching two or three prenatal exams I had the opportunity to give one to a 15 year old girl. She was terrified and her wide eyes and kicking baby broke my heart. The mission field here is vast and yet the workers are few. I am so incompetent and without the constant reminder that it is “not by might, not by power but by my Spirit says the Lord”, the burden for the poor can be overwhelming.

Yesterday, another miracle was born right in front of my eyes! We were behind the next curtain with a new pregnant patient when we heard the labouring Filipina’s “bana” (husband) urgently say, “The baby is almost out!” I tore around the corner just in time to see the baby come shooting out on a waterslide of amniotic fluid followed by nearly a litre of blood! Then the stress grew as there were some complications in delivering the placenta but Praise God He watches over us and both mother and baby were healthy. I cannot even begin to describe the intense electric feeling that whooshes over my body as each baby is placed, safe and sound, on mom’s tummy for the first time. It is such a blessing to be the hands to receive such a gift from God and He has been teaching me to receive each baby with as much love and sanctity as possible.

My desire for this next year is to be so in tune with the Holy Spirit that I no longer need to rely on my own human strength, but instead be a vessel for the fruits of the Spirit to flow through me and sustain me. Since living here, God has amplified my longing to love, serve and share the story of Jesus Christ with one face, one baby, one mother, one family at a time. I would like to ask, (plead) that you would hold me up with your prayers and pray specifically that I would grow in love. I know it sounds very elementary but, without love I am nothing.

LoVe YoU AlL vErY mUcH!!!!!!