I should give you an update.
We got our permission granted to work in the hospital! (if
you hadn’t noticed by the previous posts’ photos.) God opens doors that no man can close. He made a way for us.
He always does. We rejoiced over our
victory and then we went to work. It was so good to go through those hospital
doors again, even when that putrid smell that I once was revolted by greeted us
at the doorway. It gave me an odd sense of ease. I was exactly were I belong. In
the midst of life and death and chaos and crowds and women.
Lots and lots of
women.
I started the day off in the labor room. Eight women,
bearing down. This time I have an audience. The students will watch me care for
the women and conduct the delivery. They will take note of everything I do. Not
only do I now need to provide excellent care for the laboring women and the
newborns that pop out, but I also need to take the time to explain every step
of what I am doing. I need to be deliberate about everything I do. I have to
teach.
Teach? Ha, me? Teaching.
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The first woman begins to crown.
Lights, camera, action!
And I take the stage. I only have 3 students watching me at
the moment. I can feel my hands tremble slightly as I assist the head out of
the birth canal. I normally feel so confident in this position. But it’s one
thing to deliver a baby. It’s a whole nother’ ball game to teach someone else
to do it. Is this stage fright? Perplexed by my physical reaction but
no time to think about it. I've got a baby coming. Every action I take I speak
out,
“The head has restituted, great. Now I am checking for cord
around the neck. No cord. Great. I am going to help the anterior shoulder
out. Okay mom, push! Great. “
And then- just like that- this little life get’s welcomed
into the world.
And just in a moment’s time:
a young girl becomes a mother
for the first time,
a baby takes her first breath; she has just inhaled her life
on earth.
3 students are enchanted by the miracle they have just
witnessed for the first time; a child welcomed into the world. And in a way,
they are more released into their calling than they ever have been before. They
too have been welcomed into the reality of their job.
And just in a moment’s time, I finally take ownership of my
new role in the hospital, “instructor.”
Needless to say, it
was a packed moment.
Some moments just
are.
Since that moment, almost 3 weeks ago, our school has
welcomed over 60 babies into India. Many have been beautiful deliveries,
healthy babies. Some we have had to fight for. Some we have lost. We have seen
miracles. We have seen death. We have seen lots of life. We have laughed. We
have sung. We have wept. We have exhausted our selves to the core, giving
everything we have to the welfare of the women and the babies we work with. And
then we have woke up the next morning to do it all over again.
The students are learning at an impeccable rate. I truly
believe it is the anointing of God over our lives. As we serve Him in this
capacity, He releases the wisdom and skills we need to provide good healthcare.
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| little buggy bubba |
As an instructor in the hospital my role really is to teach
the students how to become God-fearing midwives. How to not only provide good
healthcare, but how to stop and pray. How to be sensitive to spiritual warfare.
How to love deeply, the way Christ does. How to hold a woman’s hand, clean up
after her, and care for her. How to value life. How to fight for it. … and yes,
how to deliver babies and claim them for the Kingdom.
And while at times my flesh wants to take the credit for my role
as an instructor, I am daily humbled by the revelation that while I am the “actress,”
God is the writer, the producer, the director, the orchestrator, and the
creator. Really, He is both the
brains and the beauty behind the entire act. He deserves all the glory. I am
capable of nothing apart from Him and I am so unbelievably grateful that He
uses me, in spite of me. In spite of my weakness and failure and human
limitations, the creator of the Universe, the one who knits us together in our
mother’s womb, uses us to do His work. It’s simply amazing.
Thanks for your prayers. More stories to come...
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| Worked with this mother a year ago. Excited to see babies we've delivered growing up. |
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| the cat, who apparently has a part time job at our hospital |
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eating each others hands. cause that's what friends are for. |
