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
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
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!
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
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
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
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.
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.
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
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