Ask me questions :)

Last week I had the privilege of being with one woman for the whole day. I was able to pray with her, care for her and be with her from the beginning of her labour until the end of labour and it was so calm and beautiful. She was so happy sitting on the bed with her newborn little girl.. just exclaiming "I can't believe it, I can't believe it." She was so happy to be a mom, so happy to have a healthy baby girl in her arms after 9 months of carrying and hours of labouring. At last, the life God created in her womb was living and breathing in her arms! :)

I have been learning so much, and there's always so much I want to share with you,
but sometimes it's just hard to know what to say.

I want to ask you, the readers for your help with something...

ask me questions. questions about anything...
questions about the hospital. about the culture. about daily life. about church in africa. about little villages. about what it's like living with 27 other people in community who have come from 8 different nations. about the joys. about the struggles. about the injustice. about the hope.

I look forward to your questions.
I have been enjoying the sunsets :)

Love to you all,
Orissa

"I'm dreaming of a white christmas..

enjoy the pictures!

a green mamba - he was in the mango tree outside our window

this is how we get to the hospital from our village each day

that is my friend - that is where we hand wash our clothes

my team sporting the african khangas outside our classroom

One students experience of hearing God's voice..

The update posted below can also be found on the YWAM Perth website - ( http://www.ywamperth.org.au/ ) Thanks for reading!
P.S. the girl who wrote the update below is my classmate and fellow midwife :)

29/11/09
NOVEMBER UPDATE FOR THE BAS IN TANZANIA
By Katrina Roraff

One students experience of hearing Gods voice and drawing closer to Him in the midst of suffering and sorrow.

The month of November has come and gone in the blink of an eye, with so many memories and images imprinted in my mind forever. I couldn’t think of a better way to have spent November. Our team has assisted in over 60 deliveries already! As the primary deliverers we act as “gatekeepers” and pray for the future of the child. Last week, one doctor friend of ours became our ‘brother’ during a lunch break! He has been joining us in our early morning prayers before we start work. We are hoping and praying for more to join!!!! Our school has been busy! We have been providing healthcare to an average of 80 women and babies per day! It has been such a thrill to be learning more and more skills: taking blood, setting up IV’s, taking blood pressures, giving shots, listening to fetal hearts, etc. It has been even more rewarding to be with the mama’s. Smiling, saying what little Swahili I know, praying with them, holding their hand as they cry over the child that didn’t live, comforting, and reassuring them. As I walked through the Postpartum (after birth) Ward, I smiled and rejoiced with one mama, then I turned around and took three steps and there stood a mama who had no child. In ICU there were two mama’s who had gone in for C-section. One had two beautiful babies, and the other sat empty handed. I was asking God about this. All I kept hearing Him say was that He sees. He is not ignoring. He has not forgotten. He is crying. He is calling. He is there. He sees. He sees. I saw 2 C-sections within 7 days. Both were urgent, emergency procedures. Sadly, neither child even had the chance to breath. Both were declared stillborn. Both were beautiful little girls. The last C-section was just this past Thursday. She weighed less than 1 kg (less than 2 lbs). As I held her in my arms all I could hear, over the discouraging voices of those who had seen so many deaths before, was His voice. He saw her. Being the hands and feet of Christ took on a whole new meaning for me in that moment. ‘The other night I watched the sunset with God. They are so beautiful, yet it is quite sad to see another day melt away. It is also sad to think that sometimes you miss the sunset because you are too busy. However, the beauty and subtle sadness of sunsets gives me hope. If one can find extreme beauty in the simple moment of a sunset, how much more beauty can be found in the simple moment of a life. We may miss it, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t there. He sees. Hope inside of pain. I suppose every person is like a sunset. You never see the same sunset twice. No one sunset is ever the same. Those girls were like sunsets. There will never be another like them. I can’t believe that I had the incredible opportunity to see them. ‘ It has been such a blessing to get to know the doctors and nurses. They work so hard, and they are searching for answers to their questions. Please pray that the doctors and nurses of the Hospital find Truth. Pray that we will have boldness to tell them about the Truth. It is a constant prayer of ours that our fellow co-workers will come to know Him. We have already had so many moments where we have been able to pray for them and share stories… please pray for more opportunities!

Bwana Asifewe!!! ( Praise the LORD!!! )

Dear Family and dear friends :)

I want to share a couple testimonies with you about what God has been doing and how He has been using us in the hospital where we work.

First Testimony:

In the packed ward, a tiny 15 year old girl was waiting to be seen. When they eventually examined her they found the cord and a little foot were out. This is life threatening for the baby, the cord is its source of oxygen. She was rushed to the labor ward, three of us went with her listening to the Spirit, praying and cutting off death and praying life over her and her baby. To save its life, the baby had to be delivered rapidly, but with such force that it led to a dislocated knee and a twisted neck. He wasn’t breathing and his heart was barely beating so I did chest compressions, whist the nurse gave him oxygen, his little chest began rising, gasping for air. The nurse handed me the blue, floppy, broken baby to continue resuscitating. I prayed speaking the name of JESUS over him, asking for healing so he wouldn’t have any affect from lack of oxygen, and for the side of his body that was floppy whilst the other side had reflexes. I wept to GOD and the baby let out a cry moving both hands. As his mum heard this we smiled at each other. My prayers continued, mingled with tears, speaking words of hope for the future over this precious little one. The nurse said they would have to be transferred to a special care facility. So I went to say goodbye to his, she smiled at me again and thanked me. The prayers in intercession built expectancy for complete healing. The next day when we arrived at the hospital, they were both there. I knew in my heart he was ok, we checked his body, his knee and neck were totally normal, there was no sign of any trauma. I know GOD did a miracle and heard the prayers, this little one and his mum both have a hope for the future. Her name is Hadija please pray for her and her precious one, that they will come to know the LORD JESUS.
Thank You JESUS.

By Emily Wells - midwife missionary

Second Testimony:

Usually babies are born,
but on Thursday in the hospital where I work we saw a grown man born again!!!

Everyday in the labour room we work side by side with Dr. Godfrey who sees what we see.
He sees when we pray together in the morning.
He sees when we pray for the mamas in Jesus' name; asking God to give them strength to deliver their babies.
He sees when we stand as gatekeepers over the lives of little ones at the resusitation tables and he hears us call on the name of Jesus to give them breath and life.
He sees us living out our faith in God every day. And he sees the difference God's presence is making in the labour room.

And on Thursday, November 19, Dr. Godfrey came to us and said he wanted to be born again! He said he was ready to follow Jesus' footsteps and listen to God's voice.

Sitting outside at the hospital canteen, Dr. Godfrey asked us to pray with him and we did.
We prayed with unsuppressable smiles lighting up our faces as this man accepted Christ into his heart. After praying, we talked to him about discipleship and hearing God's voice.
We encouraged him to read the book of John over the weekend and he said he will talk to us about it when we see him again on Monday at the hospital.

Now that this doctor is born again - this hospital will never be the same. The labour room where he works will not be the same.

He looked so happy as he wrote down on a little note "This is the day that I decided to follow Jesus. Help me God." Praise the Lord for salvation!!!

By Orissa Mora - Kent - midwife missionary

waiting for their children to be born..

this is where i work.

Welcome to the world baby!

Last week I had the privilege of welcoming life into the world with my own two hands!!

Hello.

I've been in Africa for six weeks now with the birth attendant school. We are fully engaged in the applied lecture phase - volunteering as midwives at a busy referall hospital in the coastal city of Dar es Salaam.

Life on the base where we live in Mwandege is simple. Very different from home - like meals being cooked everyday over firewood. The people on the YWAM base work hard and sing beautifully! I have noticed one woman, named Martha, who is YWAM staff at our base --

Martha works hard all day and into the night too. Everytime I see her she is smiling and it's obvious she does her work to please God and not men. I am thankful for the daily living example I see in her.

The songs they sing in Africa! Oh my! Often in their worship songs, they will repeat a few verses over and over and over. Songs about the character and nature of God. It's awesome!!

To see the nations of the earth coming together in unity and loving Jesus as one body is beautiful and powerful.

In my team alone we come from all over the world -- U.S. ,Canada, New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, Australia, Holland, and Belize. It's awesome to meditate and reflect on God's character as you sing. Over and over and over.

Every Friday we stay home at the YWAM base to worship in the morning together as a class and afterward we have midwifery lectures from our WHO ( World Health Org. skills books ) -

One morning during worship, we split up into five groups and each of us wrote a little song choosing one characteristic of God as the theme. Then we came together and taught each other the simple songs and spent time worshipping God with these new songs!!It was so cool!!

I wish you could hear them!! We sang about God being the King, Healer, Anchor, Protector, and Holy. Since then we've had opportunities to keep singing those songs -- at the base where we live, in Churches here in Tanzania, and even as we drive to work - we sing.

TEMEKE HOSPITAL

Monday through Thursday,

8am - 3pm every week my team volunteers at Temeke Hospital.

The first week I was in the antenatal and postnatal ward with three other girls from my school and one staff member. Our ward is before the women go into the active stage of labour and after the women give birth. Second week I was in the ICU. Alot of time was spent cooling off babies with high fevers and teaching new mothers how to breastfeed. Some of them need help because they are recovering from C-sections. Next week I will go to the labour room --

I want to communicate the need.

There is a great need here at Temeke Hospital for more trained birth attendants.

It is a need I see every day I go in to work at the hospital.

This morning out on the street of the city I picked up a local newspaper. The front page caught my attention...

It was a picture of the antenatal and postnatal ward where I worked my first week in the hospital.

- From this article I will quote a statement made by WRATZ coordinator Rose Mlay, stressing that "the single proven approach that has reduced MMR ( maternal mortality rate ) and NMR ( newborn mortality rate ) worldwide is the presence of skilled birth attendants or health professional at every child birth. "

According to WRATZ, every single hour in Tanzania a woman dies needlessly in childbirth or from complications in pregnancy. For this reason, the organizations nationwide stragety focuses on encouraging policy makers and society as a whole to train, employ, deploy and retain adequate numbers of qualified health workers in a bid to reduce maternal and newborn deaths.

an E-MAIL that I wrote to a friend that I will share with you all.

Because I wanted to write more, but I am running out of time today..

I'm going to include an e-mail that I sent to a friend of mine with a little more information.

Enjoy!

"Oh dear Liz!!
SO happy to get an email from you :)
I'm in the city today with my team, it's our day off so we're all busy writing emails in the internet cafes. I miss you too!!
I saw a picture of zach and juli's wedding. they look so happy and beautiful together!!

I am learning so much. And not only growing in my skills as a midwife, but also growing spiritually in my relationship with God. There are challenges here, and we see hard things sometimes.. but the joy we have is so big too. and seeing the hope that jesus can bring to women in labour and the comfort he can give is awesome.

Pray for my heart liz, I want it to remain soft and hopeful. To keep joy even when the pain we see is so great. To be able to weep with the women who lose their child. Comfort and hold and pray over the baby whose mom died after labour. and keep trusting God with all my heart. Deeper and deeper I want my trust in God to go; and I want to be a midwife who makes Jesus known to the women in labour and the child that is born. Pray for more labourers to be sent into this harvest!! There is such a great need here in our hospital for trained birth attendants. The need is so great liz. The hospital is so crowded. with 4 -5 women on ONE bed, and even lying on the hospital floor. We have seen life here and we have seen death here too.

We have seen babies live that were pronounced stillborn, praise the lord!! He is able to give life again!!

I love you so much liz, my sister in Christ. Keep strong, and follow the leading of God wholeheartedly. I know God will use you in mighty ways with the deaf people. You've got such a passion and it's beautiful. I can't wait to hear YOUR stories too!! I have to go now.

Love ya' "

In Closing.

Thank you all for all your prayers and support. It means so much to me.

Perhaps God will call some of you into this harvest field. Wherever you are, remember there is HOPE. God is the author and giver of life.

Living and learning, Orissa

Miji FINALLY posts that update.... (;

So, heylo people. I am very sorry for not posting this update sooner. But, here I am, at long last, posting it! Hurray(:

So, my dear sweet Ori has been in Tanzania with the rest of the Birthing Attendant School for over three weeks! They have been waiting on their work visas all this time.........and finally were able to work their first day in the clinic on Monday! Yay(:

Well...I'm not quite sure what else to say at the moment, so I'll just post parts of Orissa's email to us when she first arrived in Tanzania. (:

Orissa's email:

We are in the country on 81 acres. They have a farm and grow food. There are a lot of mango trees here and the season for them is December. They also have pineapples and coconuts. ( Miji, how did you make haupia in Hawaii? ) We are very blessed here to have clean water. They have a well and have tested their water, it tastes good and it’s a relief to be able to drink from the tap without worries.

Today is our first day free and some of us are taking a trip to the city; to get out money, send our emails and buy fruit. By the way, it is Saturday.

Breakfast here is usually a piece of bread with peanut butter or sugar and to drink we have tea and coffee. For lunch we eat Ugali ( look it up ) it’s a staple food here. With the Ugali we have beans and sometimes a little vegetable or boiled potato. Last night the meal was delicious! For two days we have seen someone scraping the white meat out of coconuts and then they put water over that and squeeze it to extract the milk. They took that coconut milk and cooked our rice for last night in it. With red beans and a little salad of tomato and onion.

I had a hard day yesterday, and cried a little but I finally talked with someone and felt better. We shared testimonies with each other yesterday.

I am typing up this email in my room at the base and then I’m putting it on a stick to take and send quickly in town.

We wash our clothes by hand here and dry them on a line. We have a classroom with a concrete floor, windows and desks that seat two. In my room there are three bunk beds. We have one shelf that we’ve divided among the six of us. We keep our books in the windows and we have two chairs in here. I am the daily storyteller here and we have been reading ‘Little Women’. We hear the call to prayer here; the first one is at 5 a.m. The village surrounding this base is mainly Muslim.

If you want to pray for the base, you can pray for rain because they really need rain.

PS. UPDATE!! I bought a cell phone today!! I bet you’re smiling about this news as you read it!! My cell phone number is 011-2557-5-846-4573.

(NOTE: Tanzania is 8 hours ahead pf Central US Time)

I can’t wait to get a call from YOU!! I love you. (Mom's note: if you have at&t mobile you can add global world for $3.99 month, and then calls to Tanzania are only 55 cents a minute. You can cancel the plan form at&t at any time)

· We might get internet here on the base. But we could ONLY use it for sending emails and no pictures.


I want to write more Mom, but we’re leaving soon and I need to finish this e-mail before we go. Please give my love to the family. I love you soooo much. Thanks again for the wonderful box you sent. And for the card. I brought it with me to read in Tanzania. And I have the ‘Oh the places you’ll go’ book here with me too.


Love, Orissa

I'm in Africa now :)

Hello to all!

I'm sorry there haven't been any updates in awhile...

I am in Tanzania now. We are going to start working in a hospital in Dar es Salaam next week.

On the bus today into the city I met a woman who is an assistant pastor. I was singing a song in Spanish about having faith like a grain of a mustard seed that can move mountains and she heard me and initiated a conversation. She is a born again Christian and we had a nice talk as we drove along. She said their Church is going to be praying for us midwives who are here to bring healthcare and God's kingdom.

If you want to hear testimonies from our team, check out the website we have ( http://www.ywamperth.org.au/ and look under the BAS birth attendant school and read our outreach testimonies each week! )

Keep praying for us!

Lovin' Jesus,
Orissa

My friend and I went to a park last Saturday and we saw kangaroos. We were there that day celebrating two wedding;

Marchien's friends were getting married in Holland and my friends were getting married in America. Since we are both in Australia and couldn't be with them on their special day we decided to have a little party here in thought of them.

These pictures are from that day.

" Congratulation Luke and Katie!! " Love, Ori

Yesterday we went on a little field trip to a local private hospital. We were given a lecture and we got to examine a placenta that had been delivered earlier that morning. So cool!

I hope none of you mind the sight of a little blood.

We leave for outreach in 11 days! Peace out.

HI :)

Dear family and friends,

I am really sorry that my updates have been few and far between. I think about you all alot and wonder how everyone is doing... Mom says you all wonder about me too and that's why I really need to write more when I update this blog and write more frequently. So, .. yes - I'll keep trying. Sometimes there's so much happening here I'm just not sure what to say.

I'd love to hear updates from you too, about your lives.

The sausage sizzle fundraiser went really well. I'll have to check again on the exact figures and then I'll post how much we raised!

My school leaves in one month for Tanzania.

It's late here and I don't have much time for this update because the skype callI made to my family lasted for almost two hours! That is a good thing - it was wonderful to see them ( video ) and talk to my mom and sisters.

I'm going to bed now - Goodnight ( really goodmorning to most of you! )

Sincerely, and thanks for checking in.. come back soon, love...

Orissa

Sausage Sizzle with a mission...

G'day mates!

We, the Birth Attendants are standing at a sausage stand sizzling for a cause.. India, Tanzania & Philippines - those are the nations God is calling us to go to with our midwifery skills and serve.

My school is doing a fundraiser this weeekend. We're selling sausages and all the profit money is going towards the cost of our 8 month outreach. Pray for us this weekend. Pray for heaps of hungry sausage lovin' people to support us in our endeavor...

Picture to come soon.

If you've been waiting for an opportunity to support mission's work in developing nations, this is your day! Take this opportunity and don't let it go. You can give towards our outreach. Contact me to find out how.. orissamora@yahoo.com I'd love to talk to you!

Bless you heaps.

Sister Love.

Brave. This is someone whose servant heart has been a constant reminder to me of what love looks like the way Jesus loved. This is someone who will not just give someone a fish, she will teach them how to fish. She is loyal to the truth and values family. She speaks her mind and she's got a good mind. She really pays attention to people; she's observant and articulates those observations into words that have creative power to encourage actions. She's worth getting to know. Her opinion is important to me and I value her words because I trust her to speak the truth. She is becoming even more beautiful each day. This is someone who will go the extra mile. She'll get her hands dirty and get things done.

She is a natural born leader.

She is loved by God and she is fearfully and wonderfully made.

This is Marijah Erin Nitai Dasi, she is my sister.

We are separated by an ocean right now & I want her to know that my love is reaching out to her all the way from Australia!

Miji, I love you to bits, crumbs and pieces of apple pie,

Your big sister - Orissa the missionary.

August 4th

It was one year ago today that my friend Joshua Aaron went to be with Jesus. If I had to tell you in five words who Josh was;
I would say ... a man after God's heart.

Now on this very day one year later;
another good friend of mine, Christah Cato - has given birth to her first child!
A baby girl named Stella-Grace Adair.

Praise God "he makes all things beautiful in their time." Just wanted to post as I remember the life of a dear friend whose love changed my life and rejoice with another over the new life of her first baby girl! Life continues for Josh in heaven and one day we'll all be rejoicing forever!

I can't wait to meet you Stella-Grace. I love you heaps already.

Lovin' Jesus and people too,
Orissa

another late night..

I went to the doctor today after morning lectures and found out that I have an ear infection and a sinus infection. I am now taking antibiotics. But they don't help with the pain. If you want to you can pray for my ear and sinuses. Thanks.

I've been editing statistics and writing a research paper on Tanzania for the past few hours. My group is three people and we've all had our sick days -But we're making it with God's help and getting the work done. It's due tomorrow! PS> tomorrow night is evangelism - I am so excited because I shared with a man named Alex two weeks ago at the mall about God's love and now he is beginning to believe in God. I may get to see Alex again tomorrow night and talk to him more. I will post the whole story later.

and in class today we heard a few more birth stories. and watched a birth video.

G'night ya'll.

Second Month

These are my friends who are doing the Birth Attendant School with me and our staff.
Top left: Paula from NZ (staff) , Robyn from Australia (staff) , Priscilla from Canada, Kali from Texas, Katie from Wisconsin, Cara from Florida, Hyn Suk from South Korea, Bek (staff) , Taylar from Canada, Me from Louisiana, Synnove from Denmark. Second row from left: Melissa from Canada (staff) , Emily from England, Corinna from Germany, Darcy from the States but her home is now Perth.. she is our school leader, Fia from Canada, Marchien from the Netherlands, Alana from NZ, and sitting down in the pink and blue are Daphne from the US and Reinette who is from South Africa.

We found out that we are going to the Philippines, Tanzania and India. We are all very happy!!!!Midway through our outreach we are coming back to Perth for two week for YWAM's 50th anniversary and YWAM Perth's 25th anniversary. Loren and Darlene Cunningham will be here at our base.

Last week we had Leslie from the Philippines with us teaching us about antenatal care. On Friday our classroom was set up like a mock clinic; some of us were the "midwives" and some were "pregnant mom's". It's now the beginning of my second month being here in Australia. We will be taught about labor and delivery next week.

I've had a little cough and sore throat for over a week now and it's been going around - then last night it got worse and I was running a fever of 38.8 degrees celsius..
I slept most of the day and was drinking water and took something to reduce the fever which finally did come down at 2:30 this afternoon.
Right now the other girls are at a kangaroo park but Marchien and I are home because we're still a little weak from being sick and we both have homework to catch up on that is due tomorrow morning. Before I got really sick last night we had a dance at our base and my school performed a dance from the movie Slumdog Millionaire. One of the girls got a video of it and so I will try to post that video soon.

One of my good friends from home is due to deliver her first baby girl within the week! I so wish I could be with her. I am so excited!

Hingles I don't know if you read this blog, but thank you so much for the birthday package! That was so sweet! Mom, it was great to skype with you the other night!

I'm walking back home now with Marchien. We're going to study. Thanks for reading. Check back soon for more updates =)

- Orissa

IN AUSTRALIA

Dear family and friends, I have settled in well to my first week of living in Perth at Youth With a Mission. I felt to share this verse, it's been really important to me since coming here.

"God's way is perfect, and All of the Lord's promises prove true."

Lovin' Jesus,
Orissa

Missionary Midwife to be

*Update! The letter below was written a couple of months ago.
I want to let everyone know that God has been faithful and the money I need for the cost of my 8 month mission/outreach has been coming in! I trust that God is going to provide the rest! Thank you all so much for your love, prayers and support! I love ya'll!

Okay, so this is my second post. But, perhaps it should have been the first! Below you will see the letter I wrote to explain what I am going out to do this year. Many of you have already seen this letter, and so I overlooked to post it here, but someone reminded me today that it would be a good idea to put it up for those of you I have never met - or maybe you know me, but you have not read it yet!

Now you can read on and see where my journey begins as I embark on this adventure with God.. I am so excited to be called to serve women as a midwife; I believe it will be an amazing year!! I expect to see Great things happen. It is humbling, and beautiful, just to think of being that first one to touch their lives, to pray for them and show each family I am a part of; the awesome, redeeming, strong, faithful, healing, life-giving LOVE of God. Pray for me! Pray for the families I will meet! That God's love would change them forever! That these children would grow up to serve God faithfully! That is my prayer! Oh that they would taste and see that God is good!

May God bless you. " Delight yourselves in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37

Without further ado, here is the above mentioned letter that I wrote.. My name is Orissa,
I am going around the World.
Read on to find out why...

My dear friends,
Knowing you has blessed my life! I will miss all of you! But, I'll be back in a year!

Many of you know that I recently sold my car. I sold it because this Summer I am going on the foreign mission field. I have been accepted into a year long Birth Attendant School that is based out of Perth, Australia. I will be training and serving as a midwife in developing nations with an international Christian organization called Youth With a Mission. I depart for Australia at the end of June. In the past, the BAS School has taken teams of midwives into such places as Uganda, India, Sudan, Southeast Asia, and the Philippines... just to name a few. For most women, pregnancy is a happy time, but for many in the developing world it is life threatening. Almost 600,000 women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth each year - 98% of these women are living in developing nations. The vision of the school I will be attending is to establish mother and child health clinics in developing nations and to teach and train women in maternal and child health care.
Youth With a Mission is a movement of Christians using their God given talents and abilities to create bridges into people's lives for the purpose of reaching those who have not heard, with the Good News that Jesus died to set them free and that He rose again to give them hope for their future. And when I speak of bridges, I speak of bridge builders; these are surfers, skateboarders, musicians, dancers, nurses, doctors, midwives, artists, athletes, teachers, singers, and the list goes on... each of them carrying out the Great Commission. We are united in our purpose; we are united in our love for Jesus. As I embark on this journey to become a midwife, I am committing this year wholeheartedly to Jesus! I exhort you to do the same in your own lives! Whatever you are doing, whatever your talent or ability, commit your life to God and serve Him with your whole heart!

From the sale of my car, I have already paid for my classroom/lecture fees, a few pieces of medical equipment that I need for school, a hiking backpack, and my round-trip airfare to Australia. Because I will be in full time study and ministry this next year, and I will not be working to support myself, I am in need of support financially. I am asking you to prayerfully consider giving towards my mission trip. Know that as you give, you are "going with me" because your support enables me to go. You can mail your support to me at Orissa Mora-Kent, 410 E. Park Ave, Hammond, LA. 70403.
If you are not able to give financially; will you give of your time and pray for me as I go?
Above all, I earnestly need your prayers!
If you would like to write, I'd love to hear from you! e-mail me: orissamora@yahoo.com
And for more information about YWAM check them out online at http://www.ywamperth.org.au/

Thank you for your support,
Until all have heard, Orissa

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, " How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14-15

God is a lover.

It's 1:34 am - it's my first time to post on here.

To be honest,
I have struggled with what to say first - the words just aren't coming! I sat here, and thought and sat here and stared at the screen..

I decided to share something with you that I wrote earlier today.
Hopefully you will get a glimpse of where my heart is as I prepare to leave home for a year of midwifery and missions.


I said, "O, God I hear the rumbling, the clamor, clash and distant thundering.... I am afraid."

He speaks to me in a gentle breeze, and washes me in perfect peace.
"Do not be afraid; I am with you. Be strong, Be strong - I will lead you on."

"Yes, lord." I'm yours! I love you!

Like an Oak Tree planted by streams of water, you are my Abba, Father!
Each word of His in perfect rhythm, kept by wisdom.. learned by faith.

I utter, "Thank you Jesus for your Grace!"

And when fears surround me to imprison, I hear His Spirit offer wisdom - " listen, listen."
I stand to say that "Christ is risen!"

Of whom should I be afraid?
When by a call upon God's name I am kept safe. - Proverbs 18:10

O, lead me to a stream,
To a rippling stream of laughing water!

I delight to be with you, delight to be near you...
I was a stranger once but now your daughter,
You were unknown to me before I knew you as my Father. - 1 John 3:1-3

My heart is beating for one reason, my King, my Love.
You are.

I said, "O, God I hear the voices of angels singing, the strong and steady call is ever rising, of light and color now colliding!"

God thunders from Heaven and I smell the sounds of His voice in the fragrant honeysuckle-drenched rain.

I am woven in a love, so swept up that it's movements change me...
Away from the old things, alive to everything. God is my God. He is Beautiful above all things.

Written by Orissa M. Kent