Can I just start off by saying that I am sitting here and I can't stop thinking that God is so good.
"Fire of love, crazy over what You have made. Oh, divine Madman. (Prayer of Catherine Siena)
Simply do the next thing in love.
I have no sense of myself apart from you."
What an incredibly loving and generous Father we serve.
I’m back in Las Vegas.
I’m home and I’m away from home all at the same
time. I’ve kind of learned to live
by the mantra that “home is where you lay your head at night.”
Over the last year I’ve laid my head in a lot of places
and subsequently allowed my home to be spread across the globe. I’ve laid under mosquito nets in
Tanzania, boats in Uganda, a borrowed mattress in Australia, and a sad idea of a bed in India.
I’ve laid my head in more airports than I would care to count and now here I
am, lying in the place that I come from- surrounded by the people I love.
It’s so nice to be with family.
I And it’s so nice to see people who know who I was and
not just who I am. There’s history in this home and there’s just something I
can always appreciate about history.
I’ve had the privilege of spending some time with some
incredible people who care about my work and support me in what I am
doing. Thank you to everyone who
has made this trip refreshing for me. Thank you to my church who continuously
provides a platform for me to go and be the hands and feet of Jesus. I am so
blessed to come from such a church! I am especially grateful for my parents,
who are the greatest examples of how to make the word “generous” a noun. They
are impeccable people.
I must apologize, once again, for my lack of updates
that have come through my blog. Since returning to Australia in December I have
been through a lot of transitioning. Besides the biggest transition of stepping
away from midwifery for a bit and joining some different ministries with YWAM,
I have also been moving! Man, who knew moving could be so time consuming? I
live in a house that accommodates 13 single girls. (The joys of community living
in missions!) However, only 4 of us are currently in the country and/or
available to make the big move. Internet hasn’t been connected yet- but
really I am just making a lot of excuses. It’s humbling to know that people are
even reading my blabbering…. But I am incredibly grateful that you do. Thank you
for following me and sharing in on my stories.
I feel like there is so much to share so as I type I am
trying to figure out how to communicate it all in a time efficient way.
I can start with what I am up to at the moment- besides
being Stateside.
Back in Australia I have begun to work with a ministry
that deals with human trafficking and prostitution. It’s a huge change from
working in the hospitals and delivering babies, but it has been an incredibly
eye opening experience to see the huge need that there is for this type of
ministry in our world. I have
stories and I will be sharing them in due time. For now I guess it is just
significant to know that it hasn’t been easy to be away from the work that I
love. But I am learning to serve in missions in different ways and because I am
still working so closely for justice issues with women and children it is not
completely away from what my heart desires. It is definitely an opportunity to serve in a real practical
way. Prostitution grosses $30 million annually in Australia and there are
3,000 children, some younger than 10, in the Australian sex industry. It’s
appalling!
The next Birth Attendant School will be starting in July
so in the mean time I will continue to work in Australia. I am anxiously
awaiting the arrival of the next set of eager students to come and learn
the practical skills needed to serve the women of the nations. Currently the team
that I took to India has just arrived in Zambia for the last 2.5 months of
their training. Their work continues to be incredibly fruitful as they are
serving the women and healthcare workers in Africa. They have some incredible
stories!
I am
hoping to be able to take a trip to Ethiopia before the next school runs. The
Lord has placed a burden on my heart to learn more about obstetric fistulas. The
UNFPA stated, “Every day nearly 800 women
die from complications of pregnancy. For every woman who dies, 20 or more are
injured or disabled.
One of the most serious injuries of childbearing
is obstetric fistula, a hole in the vagina or rectum caused by labor that is
prolonged – often for days – without treatment. Usually the baby dies. Because
the fistula leaves women leaking urine or feces, or both, it typically results
in social isolation, depression and deepening poverty. Left untreated, fistula
can lead to chronic medical problems.
Like maternal mortality, fistula is almost
entirely preventable. Yet at least 2 million women in sub-Saharan Africa, South
Asia and the Arab region are living with fistula, and some 50,000 to 100,000
new cases develop each year. The persistence of fistula is a signal that health
systems are failing to meet the needs of women.”
The
thing that really gets me is that obstetric fistulas are totally preventable
and treatable! Women need to be educated. They need trained healthcare workers
and they need access to treatment.
That’s
why I have to go.
“Fistula is a serious problem in Ethiopia, one of
the poorest countries in the world. The maternal death rate is among the
highest in the world. Pregnant women customarily deliver at home with only a
female elder in attendance. The closest skilled doctor may be hundreds of miles
away. In fact, the number of obstetricians and gynecologists is abysmally low —
just one for roughly every 350,000 citizens.”
I know for the time being God has stirred in me a desire to physically respond to the need in the nations. He is sharing His heart with me. I love when He does that. So with a lot of question marks I am moving forward with planning this trip. As soon as I know more I will gladly share.
