Art evangelism in India.

This took place in India, sometime in March 2010...
Written by Orissa Mora-Kent in the Philippines May 27, before returning to Perth, AU.

The heart of the Birth Attendant School is to see God’s Kingdom extended to women and children everywhere. We believe we can see His kingdom come in many ways, whether that is comforting a woman in labor, catching babies and praying over them or teaching about women’s reproductive systems under a mango tree. His kingdom is real, and it comes when women who have been considered not valuable enough to educate are given value through a teaching about their bodies or shown love and respect during the process of giving birth instead of being slapped and yelled at. Kindness sends a powerful message that the one receiving is valuable, made in the image of God and loved unconditionally.

As students of the BAS we also make intercession a regular part of our lives. Waiting on God and hearing Him speak is what stirs us up to take action and live lives that are obedient to His will and purposes.

One particular day God spoke some exciting things for us to do using our gifts of art and storytelling as tools to draw people in to hear about Jesus. And so it was on this particular day that we left our blue hospital uniforms at home and donned our colorful Indian punjabis to have an adventure day with God.

God spoke to us about “filling up the buckets“,
We got the idea from that to draw a picture of an Indian woman filling up buckets at a well. Someone drew the picture and we set out for the park. Settling down on the grass we spread out our art supplies and started doodling away..
Soon the sight of us caught the attention of two young Indian women. They giggled, pointed, smiled and hesitated to pass us by.. one pulling on the other’s arm to stop. We called out to them that they were welcome to come and sit with us. Excitedly they hurried over and sat down - becoming our fast friends. Having prepared for this moment beforehand in prayer we knew it was not a coincidence that these girls so easily began to share with us the personal details of their lives. The girls offered me a drink from their water bottle, which as you will later see, is very significant. Soon an opportunity presented itself for me to take out the picture that was drawn earlier of the Indian woman filling up buckets at a well. I asked the girls, “Do you want to hear a story?” they said yes.

I told the story of the Samaritan woman who met a man named Jesus at a well a long time ago. I was able to refer back to the water they had offered me earlier, and say how even though it had quenched my thirst temporarily, I was naturally thirsty again and I would always be thirsty for that kind of water. Just like that Samaritan woman. I told them about the water Jesus had offered to her and wanted to offer to them too. Living water, that if you drink of you will never thirst again. The story amazed them and they said.. “All of this, from one picture?” “Wow.”

They stayed and drew pictures with us, and we were able to continue speaking truth into their lives. In the end we prayed with both of them. One of the girls, touched by a picture that was drawn of her dancing with Jesus, exclaimed with obvious joy, “This is really from Jesus, I know it, because I love dancing!” All I can say is, praise God! It was an unforgettable day. We still have contact with these girls from India and our prayer for them is that they will choose to drink the water Jesus offers to us all freely.


Thirsty?

at work :)

Sudden rainfall brings refreshment.

Yesterday I spent my last day in the labour room of the hospital in India.

It was a nice calm day.. I spent it sitting by a labouring woman's bedside talking to her through signing because neither of us understood each other's languages. She did not deliver her baby during my shift so I was not able to assist, but we did have a nice day together.. laughing, and feeling her baby kick, and listening to the baby's heartbeat. It is so nice to share those moments with women as they prepare to become mothers :)

It started raining hard as we were leaving the hospital so we all got soaking wet as we ran to the street from our building - I stood by the curb trying to catch a rickshaw (transport) in the pouring rain just laughing, so happy because I love rain and laughing because I was getting SO wet due to the fact that the rickshaw drivers were being difficult with the price; I kept getting wetter as we couldn't come to an agreement.. Then finally one man agreed to a fair price to take us home - and we gratefully squished ourselves into his rickshaw dripping water everywhere!!
I snapped a couple pictures as we drove through the streets as they were quickly filling up with water that was ankle deep.

I leave India on Good Friday and will arrive in the Philippines to continue studying antenatal, labour and delivery, and postnatal care for pregnant women.
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for our team!!

I snapped this on the drive home from my last day at the hospital -
I am leaving India in two days.
Someday I hope to come back to India...

Fear of the Lord

Hello to all,

Yesterday I had a great day in the hospital -
I felt so happy being there, and being able to help.
I will miss India so much when I leave in two weeks to head to the Philippines with my team.
Being here has been a fulfillment of a long held-in-my-heart desire..
This place has been intense in so many ways, and being in the hospital has given me a clear picture of what India is like.

I attended a birth on Tuesday for a first time mother who delivered a beautiful baby boy in the early afternoon.

I cut my first episiotomy for this mom and then I did the suturing too.

Today she went home with her family and newborn son, and as I passed them all in the hall she smiled at me for the first time! I think she was so happy to be leaving the hospital!

Yesterday was an interesting day..
I was in the post-natal ward (that is where women go after they deliver) following up with the mom whose birth I had attended on Tuesday - and while I was there I noticed another woman laying on a bed in the corner of the ward near the wall..
she smiled at me and then I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to go over and meet her; so I walked over to her bed and said "Hi".
Surprisingly she spoke very good English and started telling me immediately about the pain she was feeling. After talking with her for awhile, and reading her case notes - I decided to get permission from the doctor on duty to examine this woman more thoroughly. I was concerned that the episiotomy she had may be infected. I got permission to examine the patient and this is how I discovered that the stitches were actually loose and some were coming out; there was a gaping bit where the skin wasn't connecting. It was opening up even into the muscle. I reported this to the sister on duty in the ward who then gave me permission to bring the woman downstairs for re-suturing. I brought her down with the daima and was able to clean the wound and stitch it back together. Then I taught the mom how to clean the wound with clean salt water twice daily to prevent infection.
This experience is important to me because God helped me to find her.. in a busy room full of women, alone I would not have known that she needed immediate attention, but with God helping us, my team and I are learning that fear of the Lord is an essential principle that we must build our midwifery practice upon. Being sensitive to obey the Holy Spirit's prompting; we will be better midwives.

I am thankful that God used me to help that woman and teach me a valuable lesson about hearing His voice in the hospital. God is able to see what I cannot -

Today I checked up on the woman who needed the re-suturing and she is doing much better. She said her pain is less today and she would be going home soon. Then I got to share God's love with her in a story about the lost sheep and the Good Shepherd - who I introduced later on in the story as Jesus, God's son. I told her how much Jesus loves her, and how valuable she is to God.

Thank you all for all your prayers. God is good.

Crying with them.

It is uncomfortable to write this. But I want to share it with you, because it is real. Some days are harder than others. Some days don't call for smiling and hugging to celebrate life -

On these days, there are deep moments of connecting with strangers in desperate grasps and holding on when all you can do is cry with them.

A child of 12 years old was brought into our ward after having been attacked and raped by three men. She was so small. The police came in to get a report, sitting by her bed, asking her questions.. she lay there still, answering them without looking at them. We wanted to scoop her up into our arms and speak comfort to her. I wanted to hold her, but some family was there by her, around the bed. So we could only watch from a distance. Her hair was stiff and dirty, so were her clothes and she wore no shoes on her feet. She was wearing a green dress and gold arms bracelets.
At one point, one of the women had to carry the little girl to the toilet because she was in too much pain to walk by herself.

At the same time,
on the other side of the room a young woman laboured to give birth to her second child. Her first one had been a stillborn.

We walked over to her, where her mother was speaking to her -- encouraging her to keep going, keep pushing. We saw two feet come out first.. breech babies usually deliver themselves.
So we waited -

Then the madam (doctor) came over..
The breech wasn't delivering by itself this time. It was a little stuck. So she began to pull and coax the baby's head out. The three of us stood around the bed, clutching the mama's hands, and the grandmothers hands in ours..
Those were tense moments, of praying and waiting to see --
Then the baby came out, lifeless.
A baby girl of 28 weeks.
The grandmother wept in our arms. The mother wept on the table. They held our hands and we cried with them.

"God is near to the brokenhearted." We prayed for His comfort to draw them close together. Hope will rise -

learning an important skill

A woman tore very badly giving birth today. My teacher and I sutured together - I was able to suture 10 stitches. Then we prayed that the sutures would hold up nicely while she is healing. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy that she named Aneel. He is her first child, she is 18 years old.

- Orissa

It is near to us, in our hearts, today

What book can transform a nation? - The answer is, the Bible.

There are certain books in the Bible that I just haven't read straight through;
books like 1 & 2 Samuel -- well, that all changed yesterday..

Maybe you have wondered what a group of midwives do with their free time while they are settling into a new country awaiting permission to work in the hospital?

We decided to read through the whole Bible together as a team!! It has been so incredible, so so so amazing!!

Starting yesterday we made small groups and took different books from the Bible to start reading. The purpose of this is to read the whole book in context and get the full story. And to read the Word out loud, which is an important part of the whole thing because hearing the Word of God does something, something radical.. like bringing revelation - and transformation, which is why I am convinced, it's living and active, sharper than any two edged sword..

I feel so grateful.

My small group read outside in the courtyard yesterday for about 4 hours. We didn't do anything else during that time - we just read. We started with the book of 1 Samuel, then 2 Samuel, and today we began reading the gospel of Matthew. Tomorrow we hope to start reading the book of Acts, which is about the early Church.

Samuel is a book about wild men. Matthew is the beautiful account of Jesus, a 14th generation descendant of the great king David ( who we just read about in Samuel ) and how Jesus brought a message to the world that had never been preached before..
love that turned the world upside down.
I am eager to get into the book of Acts tomorrow and see how the early Church lived life together.

getting the Word in my heart,
Orissa

PS. Today we made some friends on the steps of the Church where we live. The children were outside after school waiting to be picked up so we stopped to talk to them --
They said their national anthem for us in Hindi; and then I had to sing the American anthem with Bek for them! I do think we croaked as we strained to reach the high parts, but o well - it made the children laugh!
In the end we sat around with them discussing the Bible and how much Jesus loves.
It has been a full day - full and wonderful.

O beautiful land, at last, in India

our eyes are adjusting to being open after a long flight,
the click and whir of another airport fills our ears, and we gather together

with our backpacks
bibles
and water bottles,
we are an interesting group of 26
women, children, husbands, mothers, daughters, and a son

bright colours, splashes of bright, soft and light -- we don our punjabis and breathe in deeply!

O, we are here!
O, we are in India!

the outside air is cool
I think this place is amazing

it seems that all of my life i have been waiting for this moment, for this feeling, of being here..
i had been hoping and praying and wondering about this since childhood,
dreaming of going to India, that far away land -- where my name Orissa comes from

it feels good, and full
to finally be here

walking here, breathing here, talking to them
to them in their bright colours, selling fruit on the corner
or zooming past on their fast motorcycles - a whole family on one bike!

near us i notice a group of deaf people signing to each other,
i am captivated by their animated conversation and wish to join in
later over dinner i sat next to one deaf man and we signed to each other!
they are so beautiful, their speech movements so captivating

standing in the courtyard, in the hallway, on the stairs..
i love them, these deaf men and women who i watch,
and i want to learn more so that i can join them in laughing over the joke that's just been told -- this is my welcome to India!

Malaysia

hi friends!
it's been awhile..
well, our time in Perth was so refreshing, i am so grateful.

currently we are waiting out a 24 hour layover in Malaysia
we have been exploring what the airport has to offer, plus enjoying the free internet!!

soon we will be in India!!!
assisting in more deliveries, welcoming more lives into this world :)

we also found a cool spot in an upper room that is carpeted and quiet where we have spread out our tribe of midwives, husbands and children..
it's a real blessing to have found that spot and so far we are the only ones who know about it :)

bless you guys,
orissa

Bangkok, Thailand

We are on our way to "Oz" also known as, Australia
I am in the Bangkok airport with my team waiting out the 18 hour layover we have here
When we arrived, the airport gave us all 15 minute internet vouchers
Upstairs we are internet'ing and sippin' coffee while some of the others sleep in chairs downstairs near the gate
The flight from Kenya to Thailand took 9 1/2 hours, just now I am starting to feel the difference and mixed up 'ness of traveling :P

It's nice to sit in air-conditioning again after living without it for 3 1/2 months :)
Not that it was too bad ;) We made it through.
Walking around the airport is strange, everything is so NICE, everything is so pretty and clean and expensive

A soccer match is playing on the telly and I can hear the cheers as I type with my back to the screen..
the game sounds intense!!

I'm thinking of you guys
And feeling so thankful for your love -

We said a tearful goodbye to our friends at the hospital on Friday,
And my heart aches thinking of what we have left behind, because the need is so great for midwives, doctors and nurses
Temeke Hospital, with all of it's challenges, will always be a very special place for me, for all of us -- Many of the skills that we have at this point as midwives, we learned first in that hospital

Please pray for the doctors and midwives of Temeke Hospital who remain here as we go; they are amazing women and men who have dedicated themselves to serving their nation -- God is bring healing, yes, it will come!! Keep praying!!

Much Love, from Thailand, Orissa

PS. Marijah, dearest
I wish you could be here with me in this place because I know you love Thailand and the people here. I have looked outside at the gardens around the airport and think of how nice it would be to walk in them. But we have to stay inside the airport. As I browsed the bookshelf, and looked at Thai cookbooks, I thought of you. As I ate chicken pad thai for dinner, I thought of you. And I am looking very hard for a cool birthday gift xxx love, your sis Ori :)

We are leaving Tanzania in 7 days!! Wow.

It looks like it will rain today. It did rain on us yesterday as we were leaving Mama Witnesses's house. Mama Witness is a Pastor's wife that we met here, and we have been going to her house every week for a few months now to give healthcare teachings to the women who live in her village.

Yesterday we went to say goodbye - and instead of a healthcare teaching, we did a scene from the nativity play and then we prayed with all the women - it was so much fun because we were outside and there was a cow :)
It gave a realistic flavor to the part where Mary gives birth to Jesus among the animals.

I was really touched anew as I listened to my friend share with these women about our King who came into the world in such a humble way. Jesus was born in a low place, but God lifted Him up! God's ways are beyond amazing.

Jesus truly does understand us. He even understands what it feels like to be far away from home.

you reached out your hand and touched him
you touched a leper
the unclean, diseased and despised

near to death,
near last breath,
near to breaking from the ache of isolation

you sought him to offer salvation
better than life lived completely

you touched him who had not been touched
and brought healing
Jesus, you are good.

by orissa

A Miraculous Heartbeat

Bekah Dinneen

January 5, 2010

A student and I were conducting a delivery with a case that had been labouring since morning. As Birth Attendants, we learn and put into practice covering each delivery in prayer, saying aloud a prayer for the woman and welcoming God’s presence in that exact moment. All seemed to be going normally when the baby delivered and appeared lifeless. Seconds later the placenta delivered as well.

The placenta is the baby’s sustenance, with it delivering so shortly after the baby we knew this baby was not getting any oxygen and asked ourselves “How long has the baby been without oxygen?” When we laid our hands on the baby it miraculously had a heartbeat and so we quickly separated the baby so that it could be stimulated and resuscitated. We knew we were experiencing a miracle, how was the heart beating if there was no source of blood?

At the exact moment that the baby was being delivered, a doctor was bringing two med students around for a tour. When the placenta came so quickly, he commented to the effect of, “too bad, the baby is dead” and when he heard our exclamations that the baby was alive, he shook his head and said “this is because the followers of Jesus are here”.

We have had many conversations previously with this Muslim doctor about the power in Jesus and in this moment, he gave glory to God and rightfully acknowledged that the miracle of this baby’s life belonged to God.

"Jesus loves these women!"

Orissa Mora - Kent

Monday January 4, 2010

I was working in the hospital last Monday taking care of women in the postnatal (after they deliver) ward. One woman caught the attention of another student who then called me over to her bed. We checked the woman and discovered that she had been sent over from the labour ward with an unrepaired tear that looked quite bad. We called for one of the doctors to come who had experience repairing tears.

“First, she will need a catheter to empty her bladder, and the hospital doesn’t have any more,” said the doctor. This was a serious situation; her tear needed immediate attention. By saying this, he meant, “There is nothing I can do right now.” She didn’t have any money, so she would have to wait for until her family came and brought a catheter.

It was at that exact moment that Emily walked by and said “I have a catheter, she can have it!” the doctor looked at her a moment and then asked “Did you buy it with your own money?” rubbing his fingers together.

She smiled and said, "Yes, Because Jesus loves these women.”

And then she left to get the catheter. I was still standing there with the doctor and he was obviously very touched by this act. I looked at him and he looked at me with moist eyes as he shook his head saying, “I would never expect someone like you to do something like this for one of these women."

Breathing in the beauty of this moment, I echoed Emily’s words, “It is because Jesus loves them, and we love them.”

This man, a doctor and a Muslim looked at me and said, “I know – and that is what I appreciate about you; you love.”

In the end, the woman got the catheter and her tear was successfully repaired. It was so cool to see how a simple act, done in love, at the right moment, could have such a tremendous impact on a doctor and make such a difference for that woman. That is how Jesus is; His love changes people’s lives.

More Testimonies

December 21,2009

by Taylar



During a health care seminar this week, I noticed an elderly woman peering through her fence and welcomed her into the church. She eventually came and listened intently until the teaching finished.



She turned back to thank us yet another time, and I felt such an urgency to ask her if she knew Jesus. The translator told me that she had asked this woman many, many times if she had wanted to know Jesus, but the old woman was Muslim. I persisted to say, please ask her again.



The translator relented and asked her if she wanted to know Jesus; to the surprise of our translator and everyone around us, she said yes.



January 3, 2010

by Synnove Lie



Some time ago, I had a conversation with a Muslim intern doctor at the hospital about how many kids he wanted. He shared with me that he and his wife had been trying for a long time to get pregnant but nothing had happened. He said that it was the will of Allah, but as I looked into his eyes, it was clear that he wasn’t settled about it.



As I was standing with him I asked God, “What do you want me to say?” …and God whispered; “Proclaim my healing power. Tell your testimony.” And so I did. I told him about my own journey with the questions, the hurt, the loss and the fear I myself had gone through as doctors had diagnosed me with an illness and stated that I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant. I shared my process in dealing with that fact, and at the end I could boldly proclaim God’s healing power that was manifested in my own life during lecture phase in Perth. Supernaturally.

As the intern doctor heard about this, he asked me: “Can you please pray for me and my wife?” And so I did. I felt God putting the words in my mouth, and as I ended I said: “when you and your wife get pregnant, you will know that God did this. And that He was the one that healed you and the one to give glory to”.



After that day the subject never came up again, not until last week where I heard that they are now pregnant. HALLELUJA! I didn’t get to talk with him myself, but I’m curious to have a follow up about our talk and our prayer to see where God will take it.



So what started off to be a random conversation, ended up with being a powerful talk about God!

He works in mysterious ways and nothing is impossible for Him!

SUNDAY

The sky was darkening above us,

Our careful footsteps matched the soft pitter patter of water falling…

Loosening from the clouds;

The rain fell with a soft cool breeze

We continued walking, the group of us

Beside me she prayed for the heavens to hold back

But I spread my arms wide open and turned my face to embrace the impending downpour

The Church on a hill was nearing our view,

At that moment, all at once, the sky poured out a heavy burden on us

We ran for shelter wherever it could be found;

Some under trees,

While others pressed close to the side of cement houses,

I found my way shrieking and laughing into a small room, perfect for waiting out a storm

I met others there,

And we sang together in the rain; the spray welcoming itself in through the open window

In the distance we could hear drums

Drums coming from that little Church on a hill…

As we peered out the open window,

We saw steam rising from the rolling green hills,

Bending and swaying in the wind, the palms stood strong in the beautiful landscape set before us

Also there, we saw two young African boys were enjoying the rain as well

We saw them take off down the muddy road, wearing nothing at all as they ran with their backs to us

They quickly disappeared into the greenery…

And we decided to run too,

We stepped out of our dry shelter and ran,

Down the slippery, water washed dirt hill we ran

Into the plastic chairs of a beautiful Church with a roof but no walls,

A dirt floor,

With puddles of water,

With so much joy – we entered

We let our voices rise with theirs as our hearts lifted up praise to God,

“Thank you for the rain, Lord.”

Together we prayed that our own lives would be like that rain,

Bringing refreshment to our communities, and to the land we live on, in the name of Jesus.



It's a new year,

Orissa

January 1st 2010 – Tanzania, East Africa

When you put me under the soil,

I was so scared;

I didn’t know what was happening to me.

My whole self began breaking,

As I opened up --

And something new pushed itself out.

This thing knew its way,

It stretched and grew ‘til it broke through.

Out of my death,

Hope was conceived --

And there in the secret place;

Life grew.


By: Orissa Mora - Kent

Your questions answered...

I wondered about the birthing center or is it a hospital?
The condition at the hospital is very different from what any woman living in the West would be accustomed to.

Before we left Australia my school and I took a tour of a private hospital's maternity wing and they showed us one of their private rooms where a woman could come to give birth. It was a nice clean room, with a private shower, a tv set, chairs, a table, a comfortable bed, and big enough to have friends and family around. The room was equipped with everything. And it was just across the hall from the OT in case of the need for emergency C-S.

Now I will contrast that picture with the conditions for women here in Tanzania.

The hospital where I work does not have private rooms for anyone. All of the pregnant women labour together in one small, crowded ward. There are not enough beds for every women to have their own, so they share - sometimes with 5 pregnant women on one twin sized bed. And even then there's not enough room for everyone. Some women just sit or lay on the floor. Often the women labour alone, because there are not enough staff to give individual care to each woman.

Can the ladies have their husbands with them in labor?
No. The husbands are not allowed to come in with their wives into any of the wards. And even if the hospital policy allowed this, many of them would not do that simply because it is not something culturally normal to do.

Are most of the ladies married? Many of the women are married. However some are not. A few weeks ago I was in the labour ward standing by the bed of a young girl, 16 years old who was a Christian living with her Muslim boyfriend. She spoke English very well and so we were able to talk in depth, which was one of the first times I had a conversation with a woman at the hospital. She told me some of her story. A difficult one to hear. She was raped by her father at the age of 15 and had run away from home. Since then she has not spoken to her mother or seen any of her siblings. She told me that she was ashamed to be pregnant. I asked her what her dream was and she said her dream was to be a pastor and tell people about Jesus and God's love. As this young girl lay there labouring with her first child she quoted John 3:16 to me. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..."

She talked to me about her fears. And in fragments of speech she conveyed her emotions about this pregnancy. How she decided she could not choose to have an abortion because in her heart she knew that the baby growing in her womb was valuable. - "This baby maybe has ears or a nose, and it is valuable to God just like I am." She understood something very important, and even in her distress and heartache she recognized that Her Creator loved this baby in her womb. She chose life.

Can you give the ladies any medication during labor?
If you are wondering about medicine given to relieve pain, we do not give any. There isn't any available to give. However, the women are sometimes given oxytocin IVI ( intra-venous infusion ) to augment their labour. And it is protocol to give every woman oxytocin IM ( intra-muscular ) after the birth of her baby to contract the uterus and deliver the placenta by controlled cord traction. For eclamptic women we give magnesium sulphate IV and IVI to control the fits. And for women with hypertension we give hydralizine IV slow push. I have done this once.

Is their a doctor always available or are you on your own sometimes?
We usually always have our staff with us. They are trained midwives who have completed this school before us. But there is rarely a doctor available; due to the shortage of staff. For the first delivery I was a part of however, I was completely alone. The story explaining why that happended is in another blog post.

Can you freely share the gospel with the ladies? Yes!! We do freely share with the women and the nurses, midwives and doctors whom we work with. We are able to pray with the women during labour and after their babies are born. Birth is a beautiful and unique opportunity to share God's love and character with the women. Think about Psalm 139.

Do you work a certain shift? We work in teams from 8am - 3pm Monday through Friday.

Do you have indoor plumbing? We do but we are only allowed to use the indoor bathrooms at night or if we are sick because it is expensive. On the base there are two outdoor pit latrines for everyday use. And there are three stalls with buckets for showering.


I hope you enjoyed reading. I am sorry I did not have time today to finish answering all the questions, but we need to start heading back home from the city before it gets dark. I'll try to finish answering the questions soon. Thank you for asking, they are all very good quesions.

May your new year be filled with joy from knowing God's love.

Love, Orissa