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.
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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.
