Home Again!

     November was possibly the hardest month of my life. So many small things that came together and piled up and forced me to turn to the One who doesn't change, even when we live in constant transition, and the One who doesn't leave even when we feel like everywhere we turn there are new people.

      Most of the time we were there, we got to visit house to house, and experience true Filipino hospitality! We would take blood pressure, do a small maternal survey, then share our testimonies, pray for the family, and even do simple bible studies. It was really neat to get to know the people and see how they live.

A few highlights:
       We had the opportunity to build relationships and friendships with a whole group of youth! ((Like the group in the bottom left picture above)) This was super neat. Many evenings were filled with bible studies, singing, and playing games.

       We also got to know lots of kids, who, although overwhelming at times, were so much fun to chat with and play with. Over a series of mornings or evenings, we did a bunch of bible stories with them. After each bible story, they loved to draw out what they imagine the story looking like, as in a few of the pictures above.
    Below is our depiction of David and Goliath. CristyJoy, somehow so tall, made a very good Goliath, and on the right you can see Bekah, posing as David, ready to slay the giant! :)

Playing 'Pin-The-Tail-On-The-Donkey' in the top left of the picture below. And the bottom left, we invited a few of the kids who lived farther away to stay for lunch!

 Honestly, whats not to love about these faces??!?!?

 A few of the animals we saw...
The geese in the bottom right did try to attack me at one point. Thankfully, I escaped that, albeit narrowly!
For those of you who have seen the movie Seven Brides, doesn't the calf in the top middle look just like Annebelle??? Pretty cute!!

We had some chances to go a little ways out of the village, and see some of the rural areas, including this dam, where we even went swimming.

      We got to do fun stuff like pail in all our water, cook over an open fire, eat rice almost every meal, deal with mosquitoes (lots of mosquitoes!), and take bucket showers.

      One of the funnest things I got to do was ride a carabao!! A carabao is type of water buffalo. The farmers use them to plow their fields, to pull wagons, and any other type of farm work. Almost every villager owned one or more. I found out that they are the national animal of the Philippines. This kind old man was very happy to take the 'Amerikana' for a ride. :)

     We got home this past Monday, and it felt great to sleep in my own bed again. :)
I was tickled to come back to a stack of letters from home, and a package from my mom. Honestly, hardly anything beats mail from home!
      This week, we start our first 'real' shifts in the clinic, so please pray for us, as we begin this new chapter here!
      Also, when we got home, we found out that we had all been approved for our 2-year visa!! This is awesome news! Not only do we not have to deal with the hassle of renewal again next year, but we also got our full money's worth! This is definitely something to praise God for!

That is all! Until next time!
Love, Becca

Off for a month!

Hey everyone!!

Just a brief note, before I sign off for a whole month!

This week was wonderful. We all got to work an extra shift in the clinic, which meant that I got to watch this little girl enter the world!

We also had our Mercy retreat this week! It was a super fun time, hanging out in the cooler weather (up in the mountains), and getting to know some of the staff we will be working with.

The big news is that the six of us girls are headed out into the province for a month!!!

We are leaving tomorrow, doing a few days of orientation on Samal, the nearby island, then off to Butuan (pronounced ‘Boo-twan’) for three weeks. Butuan is roughly ten hours away by public transportation.

We will be learning more of the language, getting a better understanding of the culture, helping with or leading some healthcare teachings, as well as visiting people in their homes, doing a small maternal demographic survey with them, and just chatting. This visiting will hopefully open the way for us to talk about the gospel with them, and pray with them. We have been told that we will likely be cooking over an open fire, sleeping on mats, and bathing and washing laundry in the river. It will be an adventure!

So, please pray for us, as we head out for the month of November, that we will be incredibly blessed by this opportunity and also that we will be a blessing to the people we are working with!

Pray for safety as we travel up there and while we are there, for strength and courage, and that each of us would be stretched and challenged and would really grow in our faith.

Also, this week I had the opportunity to visit the OB ward of the hospital where we take patients who have complications during labour. It is the government-run hospital, and sadly, it is very under-staffed, and although they do the very best they can, there isn’t enough supplies or enough space for the amount of patients. This means that the patients are crammed, and it is hot, and not very clean. It is a sad situation.

So that is a prayer request, that the patients there would still get good care, and that if possible, conditions would improve there. My roommate and I went to visit one specific patient, ‘Julia’* who we had taken there the day before. She had had a C-Section. She was incredibly brave! Prayer requests for her are that she heals well, that her baby is and stays healthy, and that she was blessed through the care at the clinic, even though she wasn’t able to deliver there.

I miss you all very much! I am excited to read plenty of emails and letters when I get home! (*hint*hint :))

Talk to you in December!

Love, Becca

*The patient's name has been changed to protect her privacy.

Graduation!!

Today marked the end of an era... so to speak!
Sadly, we are by no means fluent, but we have a good grasp of the beginnings of Visayan.

Our teachers did a fabulous job of making sure our last day was a special one!

 After a few of our regular classes, we had an official program! Complete with speeches, songs, a poem, coconut demonstration, games, receiving certificates, and of course, delicious food!

Two of my favorite pictures of the day: Our class!!

Praying!

 The day was completed with catching a ride with our favorite jeepney driver, who kindly picked us up right at the gate!!!!

All in all, a amazing way to end language school!!
So thankful for this opportunity to learn the language and beautiful culture of this land!

A wise person once said "Being able to think in a new language is like being able to see the world with new colors."
I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree!!

Another Week

This week was exactly two months since we arrived in Davao City....
The time has flown in a way, but it also feels like I've been gone from home for forever!!!

           

We have wrapped up seven weeks of language school! At the beginning, it seemed like it would be endless, but it really went by so fast!

On Tuesday, a couple of us went out to a little cafe to celebrate Emily's birthday. That was fun, and very relaxing!

This past Saturday evening, we got to go to Jack's Ridge. It is a restaurant, coffee shop, and pool way up on top of ridge, and overlooks Davao City.
Sadly, the pool was closed for another event, so we couldn't swim, but nevertheless, we got to watch the sun go down and see the city light up as it got dark!

Believe it or not, there was a monkey in here, but despite all my whistling he wouldn't emerge to get his picture taken!

A major highlight of the week was on Thanksgiving Day!!
Normally, we only do one shift in the clinic per week, on the weekends.
However, Jenna, my housemate, had a continuity patient ((a patient who she did the prenatals on, then delivers the baby, and does the postpartum check-ups)) who went into labour on Monday evening. I had met the momma before at a prenatal, she was delightful, and she was okay with me being there for her birth!
So Jenna invited me along when she went into labour. Thus, I got to watch this little guy make his appearance! He was absolutely adorable!!
Yep! I'll take that over Thanksgiving Dinner! {Even though, I ended up getting dinner as well ;) }

Love, Becca