again words can not express what this past week has been for me. it was nice to have a relaxing weekend of pretty much doing nothing cuz this week i was once again rocked, but in a good way!
our speaker was Pete Brownhill, (the husband of Shirley who has spoken to us twice now, also the director of YWAM Perth). the topic being the Spiritual Dynamics of Birth... yup as you can imagine it was pretty heavy stuff. the idea alone of the battle of life and death that we’re going to be facing each day on outreach is daunting enough let alone the concept of entering into a spiritual battle for each of these babies. there are so many mentalities that are different that what we have coming from a western nation. for example; mothers not wanting their child if its a girl, because the status given to girls is extremely low and the mom’s are seen as being a disappointment to there families if they have a girl, our staff told us stories of the mothers trying to give away there babies to the YWAM staff because they didn’t want them.
so i’m not sure how much else to say as to not overwhelm and confuse you readers! another topic we discussed was generational curses and the freedom that can be received through prayer. also the concept of a godly midwife, and what that looks like for us BAS that are going out into these nations to not only share knowledge and compassion for these women but also the gospel. something interesting i thought i’d share with you is our vision statement from the Birth Attendant School. (which i’ll post separately)
our school was also facing the deadline of our plane ticket money by this past friday. (now pushed to monday) as a school the need is still around $15,000. so many girls have had amazing testimonies of how God has brought the money in for them, and many are still in need. we’re waiting on the Lord and have been spending extra time in prayer for this need. we’re also as a school doing another car wash this saturday so if you could be praying for our school and the provision needed there.(as this is a late post, carwash is done and we made just over 900!!!!) we know that each of us were called here by God and he has a plan and way to provide. but times like these when a deadline is so near can still be stressful! the thing with this particular deadline is apparently there are cheaper air plane tickets, but are only cheaper if purchased before monday, then the price goes up significantly. so our leaders have requested these funds to be in by that date. the rest of outreach fee’s are due september 8th i believe. i am so blessed to have all my money needed, and am so grateful for those who have come along side me in prayer during this time of my life. you truly are partners in this ministry!
i feel as if i could go on and on about the revelations i’ve had this week on God and his goodness. i feel there are so many area’s in my life where truth has started to come through. i don’t know why it has taken this long! but am grateful for this time, being in this environment where i can grow and learn so much under leadership that truly does care.
take care:)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
vision statment
Vision Statement
Birth Attendant School
To lay a foundation of worship, intercession and warfare as a key to overcoming the spiritual forces against mothers and their children.
To study the value of new life, women and children from a biblical perspective (Ezekiel 16)
To function as the old testament midwives from Exodus 1:15-20, to fear God in their lives and in the practice of midwifery.
To train and equip students in basic midwifery skills in order for them to be effective in meeting the needs of women in developing countries, with an emphasis on the Muslim world.
To train and send students to practice midwifery and investigate communities and their needs in maternal and child health.
To establish birth centers in developing nations.
To train local women in maternal and child health.
To multiply and establish the school in developing nations.
To evangelize families, women and children.
To establish orphanages for children abandoned by parents.
Birth Attendant School
To lay a foundation of worship, intercession and warfare as a key to overcoming the spiritual forces against mothers and their children.
To study the value of new life, women and children from a biblical perspective (Ezekiel 16)
To function as the old testament midwives from Exodus 1:15-20, to fear God in their lives and in the practice of midwifery.
To train and equip students in basic midwifery skills in order for them to be effective in meeting the needs of women in developing countries, with an emphasis on the Muslim world.
To train and send students to practice midwifery and investigate communities and their needs in maternal and child health.
To establish birth centers in developing nations.
To train local women in maternal and child health.
To multiply and establish the school in developing nations.
To evangelize families, women and children.
To establish orphanages for children abandoned by parents.
Monday, August 23, 2010
little update!
so just to inform you all, its official i will be going to Tanzania for six months, then our team will split and the group i'm in will be heading to Bangladesh!!!!
just the heads up for ya!
just the heads up for ya!
Friday, August 20, 2010
week seven
well past the halfway of lectures... funny to think its been almost two months but it has. i feel at home here but also feel like me being at home was not far away as well.
anywho.... this week was a good one, lecture wise we had a man named Dr. Martin Panter. he has been involved in health care in East Timor for over 25 years and has many other works he’s done. he’s a very kind gentlemen, would be a lovely grandfather! (just to help you picture him a little better!) he arrived monday evening so lectures with him didn’t start till tuesday. so monday we learnt about fistula’s. which is where if a women is in labour for too long the pressure of the baby can cut off the blood supply to the bladder and the tissue dies creating a hole between the bladder (can also happen between the rectum as well) and the vagina resulting in constant leaking of urine out of the vagina. we watched a video based on the book ‘Hospital by the River’ where this couple has opened up a clinic (in Ethiopia) specially to offer surgery and help for women dealing with this problem. its a very common problem for the women there because of; the lack of skilled help during births/hospitals too far away/lack of money to go to a hospital/women not be educated on a ‘normal’ length of labour so then by the time they realize there is an issue, there baby has died and they are left with this fistula for life unless operated on. it was sad to hear there stories, many of the women were rejected from there villages, there husbands left them and they were shunned in public because of the constant leaking. they had no hope, no knowledge of this place that could help them unless they heard of it from a friend. one lady mentioned that it was either get this surgery or kill herself because she could not go on living this type of life alone from her friends and family. there was hope for the women in the movie though, two were healed through surgery, one had no fistula but because of prolonged labour her muscles that controlled her bladder were very weak resulting in no control of the urine. she was given exercises to practice to help build up the strength. for one lady (she was only 17 yrs old through, as lots of these girls are given in marriage at the age of 7 and pregnant by 13) her issue was that her bladder had for some reason become much smaller and had to have a ‘plug’ placed in her urethra (tube that urine goes down from bladder to outside your body) to help control the leaking. all very interesting and mind opening, bringing more importance to the job we as a school will be doing in Africa.
our lecture topic was health in developing nations. he spoke on HIV/Aids, STI’s, malaria, tuberculosis, and the need for people to not just go in, drop off meds and then leave but for people to be aware of the need in the area they are in, to observe how the culture does things, and from there assess what can be done to make life better for the people. an example, having the toilets dug away from the local well where everyone gets there water. because of course we would think that bacteria from the toilet can seep through the ground into there clean drinking water creating not so clean water therefore resulting in many illness in the village. but these things are just not thought of sometimes in a developing nation. also to have compassion on the people and see them as Christ would see them. to treat them as humans, part of our world, created by our creator just as we are too. with the corruption in governments and the ‘class’ systems in place most people are just seen as a something taking up space and have no value. but these people do have value. they were not created just to ‘take up space’. i am very excited to go and show value to the women that we will meet as well as the men.
other than lectures its been a good week, small groups monday night, an evening lecture tuesday night with Dr. Panter to make up for our missed monday lecture. wednesday is a free evening so i finished my homework and then wednesday got to make a few phone calls home and thursday was evangelism and then friday was our friday night meeting (church basically) and laundry!
we find out hopefully next week exactly where i’ll be for the second part of outreach as our team is splitting up. we were supposed to do a car wash this weekend to help raise money for outreach but miscommunication happened with the place who hosts us and so its been post poned, but our BAS is going to get together and go to the park for a bbq instead! i’m sorry i have to miss it cuz i have work duties.... but hopefully i’ll be able to go for a bit! (i couldn’t find anyone to cover my shift) i said i’d bring pickles! i haven't had them since home and every bbq needs a jar of pickles!
whoa longest one yet! hopefully you made it to the end! till next week!
anywho.... this week was a good one, lecture wise we had a man named Dr. Martin Panter. he has been involved in health care in East Timor for over 25 years and has many other works he’s done. he’s a very kind gentlemen, would be a lovely grandfather! (just to help you picture him a little better!) he arrived monday evening so lectures with him didn’t start till tuesday. so monday we learnt about fistula’s. which is where if a women is in labour for too long the pressure of the baby can cut off the blood supply to the bladder and the tissue dies creating a hole between the bladder (can also happen between the rectum as well) and the vagina resulting in constant leaking of urine out of the vagina. we watched a video based on the book ‘Hospital by the River’ where this couple has opened up a clinic (in Ethiopia) specially to offer surgery and help for women dealing with this problem. its a very common problem for the women there because of; the lack of skilled help during births/hospitals too far away/lack of money to go to a hospital/women not be educated on a ‘normal’ length of labour so then by the time they realize there is an issue, there baby has died and they are left with this fistula for life unless operated on. it was sad to hear there stories, many of the women were rejected from there villages, there husbands left them and they were shunned in public because of the constant leaking. they had no hope, no knowledge of this place that could help them unless they heard of it from a friend. one lady mentioned that it was either get this surgery or kill herself because she could not go on living this type of life alone from her friends and family. there was hope for the women in the movie though, two were healed through surgery, one had no fistula but because of prolonged labour her muscles that controlled her bladder were very weak resulting in no control of the urine. she was given exercises to practice to help build up the strength. for one lady (she was only 17 yrs old through, as lots of these girls are given in marriage at the age of 7 and pregnant by 13) her issue was that her bladder had for some reason become much smaller and had to have a ‘plug’ placed in her urethra (tube that urine goes down from bladder to outside your body) to help control the leaking. all very interesting and mind opening, bringing more importance to the job we as a school will be doing in Africa.
our lecture topic was health in developing nations. he spoke on HIV/Aids, STI’s, malaria, tuberculosis, and the need for people to not just go in, drop off meds and then leave but for people to be aware of the need in the area they are in, to observe how the culture does things, and from there assess what can be done to make life better for the people. an example, having the toilets dug away from the local well where everyone gets there water. because of course we would think that bacteria from the toilet can seep through the ground into there clean drinking water creating not so clean water therefore resulting in many illness in the village. but these things are just not thought of sometimes in a developing nation. also to have compassion on the people and see them as Christ would see them. to treat them as humans, part of our world, created by our creator just as we are too. with the corruption in governments and the ‘class’ systems in place most people are just seen as a something taking up space and have no value. but these people do have value. they were not created just to ‘take up space’. i am very excited to go and show value to the women that we will meet as well as the men.
other than lectures its been a good week, small groups monday night, an evening lecture tuesday night with Dr. Panter to make up for our missed monday lecture. wednesday is a free evening so i finished my homework and then wednesday got to make a few phone calls home and thursday was evangelism and then friday was our friday night meeting (church basically) and laundry!
we find out hopefully next week exactly where i’ll be for the second part of outreach as our team is splitting up. we were supposed to do a car wash this weekend to help raise money for outreach but miscommunication happened with the place who hosts us and so its been post poned, but our BAS is going to get together and go to the park for a bbq instead! i’m sorry i have to miss it cuz i have work duties.... but hopefully i’ll be able to go for a bit! (i couldn’t find anyone to cover my shift) i said i’d bring pickles! i haven't had them since home and every bbq needs a jar of pickles!
whoa longest one yet! hopefully you made it to the end! till next week!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
weekend fun!
well since i was late in getting that post up here, internet is bad and i usually write them friday night and post them saturday mornings but this week couldn't!
but i wanted to share about my weekend! short and brief as i have only 15 mins till work duties! but it was lovely!!!! friday night after the meeting (church) Naomi's parents picked us up and took us out for a cuppa!! so lovely! then saturday, slept in (which never happens) and me and Naomi decided we needed a change in scenery so we went to a mall! it was so weird to be in a mall, i felt a little bit more at home, apart from the different stores that sold various Aussie merchandise! haha! but it was really nice to get out! then in the evening a group of us BAS girls went to a cafe called Greens, it was so nice! such a neat environment (kinda an Osbourne neighbourhood feel for those of you who are winnipegers!)
then sunday i decided i needed an Amy day! so i got on the train and went to Subi's to go to the market to buy some fruit! which on sunday is all on sale! so i got some strawberries and kiwi's! then i wanted to go to City Beach. i wasn't sure how to get there as i've never been there before so i looked on a map and talked to a bus driver who directed me in an odd way.. so i thought to myself, well if i could do it in europe i can do it here! so i looked at the map again and decided if i start walking in a certain direction i'm sure to run into a bus or sumthing to take me there! and sure enough thats what happened! i only had to walk for 20 mins then found a bus stop that had a bus to City Beach! it was a beautiful beach, all the sand here is like grand beach at home, white and so fine and soft you just wanna let your feet sink way down! i sat and pondered life, read, journaled and talked to Jesus! great day! then found the bus stop and met a guy (Leah he has the same birthday as you!) from Hong Kong and waited for the bus. he was here on vacation with some friends and thought it was strange i came to the beach on my own! haha! but ya got back home fine and there was Naomi, Ash and Emily (BASer's) walking up the sidewalk on there way to a sunday night service and Naomi's church, so i of course went along! it was a neat sermon, more like story telling about this man's healing ministry, then ppl were getting healed!
pretty neat! i'm still waiting for my healing, which has got to happen before outreach, cuz my feet won't be able to take standing in the hospitals all day long otherwise. but it's coming! (please be praying!!)
but ya its a lovely sunny day and i got a wonderful package! thanks mom! the girls started laughing cuz all i talked about last week was how i just wanted a cheeze whiz sandwhich and now i CAN!!!!!!! hahaha! so thank you! and for the cards! so lovely!!!! its so nice to get mail here! highlight of my day!
well thats all for now! till next time! (ps everytime i say that i feel like i should add 'keep fit and have fun' ahahahahha!)
but i wanted to share about my weekend! short and brief as i have only 15 mins till work duties! but it was lovely!!!! friday night after the meeting (church) Naomi's parents picked us up and took us out for a cuppa!! so lovely! then saturday, slept in (which never happens) and me and Naomi decided we needed a change in scenery so we went to a mall! it was so weird to be in a mall, i felt a little bit more at home, apart from the different stores that sold various Aussie merchandise! haha! but it was really nice to get out! then in the evening a group of us BAS girls went to a cafe called Greens, it was so nice! such a neat environment (kinda an Osbourne neighbourhood feel for those of you who are winnipegers!)
then sunday i decided i needed an Amy day! so i got on the train and went to Subi's to go to the market to buy some fruit! which on sunday is all on sale! so i got some strawberries and kiwi's! then i wanted to go to City Beach. i wasn't sure how to get there as i've never been there before so i looked on a map and talked to a bus driver who directed me in an odd way.. so i thought to myself, well if i could do it in europe i can do it here! so i looked at the map again and decided if i start walking in a certain direction i'm sure to run into a bus or sumthing to take me there! and sure enough thats what happened! i only had to walk for 20 mins then found a bus stop that had a bus to City Beach! it was a beautiful beach, all the sand here is like grand beach at home, white and so fine and soft you just wanna let your feet sink way down! i sat and pondered life, read, journaled and talked to Jesus! great day! then found the bus stop and met a guy (Leah he has the same birthday as you!) from Hong Kong and waited for the bus. he was here on vacation with some friends and thought it was strange i came to the beach on my own! haha! but ya got back home fine and there was Naomi, Ash and Emily (BASer's) walking up the sidewalk on there way to a sunday night service and Naomi's church, so i of course went along! it was a neat sermon, more like story telling about this man's healing ministry, then ppl were getting healed!
pretty neat! i'm still waiting for my healing, which has got to happen before outreach, cuz my feet won't be able to take standing in the hospitals all day long otherwise. but it's coming! (please be praying!!)
but ya its a lovely sunny day and i got a wonderful package! thanks mom! the girls started laughing cuz all i talked about last week was how i just wanted a cheeze whiz sandwhich and now i CAN!!!!!!! hahaha! so thank you! and for the cards! so lovely!!!! its so nice to get mail here! highlight of my day!
well thats all for now! till next time! (ps everytime i say that i feel like i should add 'keep fit and have fun' ahahahahha!)
week six
team unity.... need i say more? this week has by far been one of my most challenging weeks. and not because we have gone (as a school) from strictly text book information to a whole new level of being spiritually and emotionally challenged, but also God has been revealing so many things in my heart that need to change...
i’m not even sure how to put into words all that went down this week. our lectures were full of content doing with not only working as a team, but majority of what’s going on in our hearts thats preventing us from committing and being part of the team.
i think a main difference from DTS to this school is that in DTS you are so spiritually challenged and so ‘forced’ into relationships with your school mates that you have no choice but to open up and become a close knit family with the others in your school, and here in BAS we showed up and began classes and did some ‘get to know one another’ things but in comparison to DTS not nearly enough. i think it left a lot of our school feeling a little distant from each other. not saying we don’t get along, we all get along actually really well. there has been no drama or interference in personality's, and we have a lot of fun together, but because this is YWAM i was expecting (in my opinion) to be on a deeper level with each other by now.
i realized for myself i have a lot of past hurts that have impacted the way i make my relationships now and i need to be able to let that all go in order to become committed to each member of my team. which is especially important since we will be spending 8 months together!
okay so apart from the emtionalness of this week we have learnt another fact about our school. so when we were told of our outreach locations we were also told that there was a possibility that there would be a third option in which after the six months in Africa our team will split. we just recently were told what that would look like, in which ten of us (and two leaders) will head to India and the six others (one staff) will be going to Bangladesh. we have been told to pray about it and report to our leader what we feel God’s direction is... i am torn.... not yet sure what to think. but i’m sure we’ll be finding out in the up coming week or so exactly where it is i will be heading. it makes me a little sad that our school will be splitting up after spending nine full months together, but i also think its neat that we get to expand our work and train and help even more women!
well thats all i got for now! not much planned for the weekend, last weekend we ended up not going to kangaroo island (times didn’t work out) but instead a group of us went to a beach on sunday, where it was very windy and quit chilly, but very beautiful none the less! i think this weekend calls for a little R&R so thats what i’m gonna do!
till next time....
i’m not even sure how to put into words all that went down this week. our lectures were full of content doing with not only working as a team, but majority of what’s going on in our hearts thats preventing us from committing and being part of the team.
i think a main difference from DTS to this school is that in DTS you are so spiritually challenged and so ‘forced’ into relationships with your school mates that you have no choice but to open up and become a close knit family with the others in your school, and here in BAS we showed up and began classes and did some ‘get to know one another’ things but in comparison to DTS not nearly enough. i think it left a lot of our school feeling a little distant from each other. not saying we don’t get along, we all get along actually really well. there has been no drama or interference in personality's, and we have a lot of fun together, but because this is YWAM i was expecting (in my opinion) to be on a deeper level with each other by now.
i realized for myself i have a lot of past hurts that have impacted the way i make my relationships now and i need to be able to let that all go in order to become committed to each member of my team. which is especially important since we will be spending 8 months together!
okay so apart from the emtionalness of this week we have learnt another fact about our school. so when we were told of our outreach locations we were also told that there was a possibility that there would be a third option in which after the six months in Africa our team will split. we just recently were told what that would look like, in which ten of us (and two leaders) will head to India and the six others (one staff) will be going to Bangladesh. we have been told to pray about it and report to our leader what we feel God’s direction is... i am torn.... not yet sure what to think. but i’m sure we’ll be finding out in the up coming week or so exactly where it is i will be heading. it makes me a little sad that our school will be splitting up after spending nine full months together, but i also think its neat that we get to expand our work and train and help even more women!
well thats all i got for now! not much planned for the weekend, last weekend we ended up not going to kangaroo island (times didn’t work out) but instead a group of us went to a beach on sunday, where it was very windy and quit chilly, but very beautiful none the less! i think this weekend calls for a little R&R so thats what i’m gonna do!
till next time....
Friday, August 6, 2010
week five
hmm i’m thinking of a work to describe this last week.... eye opening, intriguing, exciting, challenging, and very interesting! so our topic of lectures was ‘labour’ yes we’ve finally made our way through anatomy, prenatal care and into the nitty gritty of the most beautiful miracle there is, the labour and birth of the baby! our speaker was amazing, her passion for this topic was so contagious that it got me so excited to be going out and actually being able to help these women in what is one of the most memorable moments in life, either good or bad. we watched a many video’s of the whole labour process dividing it up into the three stages, and being able to see how every women will labour differently and every women will have a completely different need and experience through the entire process. something also that stood out to me is just how amazing God created a women's body to give birth. so intriguing also that even just as the pelvis gets more relaxed to shift and stretch to allow the baby to move through also the babies head itself is able to squish without damage to fit through. and how most of the time the baby will rotate itself to allow the largest diameters of the head and shoulders to fit through the largest opening of the mothers pelvis.
not only have i been learning lots and being challenged mentally, but spiritually as well. God has been revealing so much to me about the works that he’s doing in my life and change that needs to come about in many different area’s. kinda reminds me of that song.... ‘he’s just not finished with me yet’. but he is good and he is gentle and i am thankful that he is slowly guiding me through it all!
this weekend we’re heading to ‘kangaroo island’! i’m pretty excited, apparently there pretty docile and you can go and pet them. theres this little island (we are right on the river, like Winnipeg, Perth sits on 2 rivers) that is walkable to there are just a bunch of kangaroo’s chillin there! other than that the weekend is looking pretty chill, our base if having a ‘swing dance party’ on saturday. so we’ll see how that goes! haha! sunday will be a day to relax as i’ve been so terribly busy sometimes i feel my head is just non stop going. i have dinner dishes duty but other than that i plan to sleep in and relax!
the weather has been amazing this week, and there have been a few days where its so warm i could FINALLY pull out my shorts! woo hoo! its a shame we’re so busy and i can’t spend more time outside, but most afternoon’s i’m able to go to the park across from my house and just sit in the grass, finish homework and read. at least for an hour!
well again, i have made this probably too long.. but what can i say! its a whole week’s writing in one statement! i hope your having a great week, next week our topic is on team unity... which we’re joining another school on, so should be interesting..... i feel like our team is already very unified so i’m interested to see what God’s gonna do through this next week.
bye till then!
not only have i been learning lots and being challenged mentally, but spiritually as well. God has been revealing so much to me about the works that he’s doing in my life and change that needs to come about in many different area’s. kinda reminds me of that song.... ‘he’s just not finished with me yet’. but he is good and he is gentle and i am thankful that he is slowly guiding me through it all!
this weekend we’re heading to ‘kangaroo island’! i’m pretty excited, apparently there pretty docile and you can go and pet them. theres this little island (we are right on the river, like Winnipeg, Perth sits on 2 rivers) that is walkable to there are just a bunch of kangaroo’s chillin there! other than that the weekend is looking pretty chill, our base if having a ‘swing dance party’ on saturday. so we’ll see how that goes! haha! sunday will be a day to relax as i’ve been so terribly busy sometimes i feel my head is just non stop going. i have dinner dishes duty but other than that i plan to sleep in and relax!
the weather has been amazing this week, and there have been a few days where its so warm i could FINALLY pull out my shorts! woo hoo! its a shame we’re so busy and i can’t spend more time outside, but most afternoon’s i’m able to go to the park across from my house and just sit in the grass, finish homework and read. at least for an hour!
well again, i have made this probably too long.. but what can i say! its a whole week’s writing in one statement! i hope your having a great week, next week our topic is on team unity... which we’re joining another school on, so should be interesting..... i feel like our team is already very unified so i’m interested to see what God’s gonna do through this next week.
bye till then!
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