Wow! We have been having such a blast here, and it's sad that we only have another week. Molly and I have been participating with the King's Kids on the different outreaches, as well as working at the clinic too. On Saturday Molly and I got to attend a birth together. I got to catch and Molly was on baby duty, but as soon as the baby had come out, another mom came in and had her baby within a minute! They were both beautiful baby girls, but the second one was a preemie. We actually had another preemie the night before, but they've been getting excellent care, but their immune system is still really low :( Please keep them in your prayers that they will be free from disease and their little bodies will develop fully. On Monday, I worked an evening shift on the green team. During the shift, our laboring mom had to be transported due to prolonged decels (where the baby's heartbeat drops). I was able to pray with the patient and then go with her and Marielyn (one of the midwives) to the hospital where one of the clinic's on-call doctors would perform a c-section. I was hoping to peek in on it, but the hospital's OR was too busy. Consequently, it turned out that the mom had a normal delivery anyways and a healthy baby, praise God! I was really glad I got to pray with her :) We also attended the VBS that the King's Kids held in the neighborhood of the clinic. And today I went with them to their VBS at the Badjao, which is an interesting place! The houses are on stilts so we had to walk on 2-3 planks of pathways to get through. It was quite scary! I'll have to post a photo. But the VBS was great, and the precious little kids are so much fun to watch while sit on your lap and praise God! Please just pray for all the people who have heard the Gospel through this group and that God will bless the seeds they have planted.
Well our days here our numbered, but we're hoping to make the best of it!
See you all soon!
Love,
Melissa
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Correction
The baby was named Princess Meliza. Lol. Apparently "z's" are better than the double "s" here =)
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Oh Happy Day!
Hello! The King's Kid got in yesterday afternoon, and we've been having lots of fun meeting all of them, as well as adjusting to living with 30 new people! Today, we all went down to the clinic for prenatals. Some of the girls followed us and learned how to do a basic prenatal check up; others learned how to take vitals; and since the guys aren't able to partake in the labors and prenatals, we taught some of the interested ones how to start an IV =) Then the King's Kids did some dancing and a drama skit for the moms and played with the neighborhood kiddo's. During the songs, Molly and I had a couple of kids on our laps, and it was one of the cutest things watching them do the hand motions and singing along. They all had huge smiles on their faces, and nodded ecstatically when I asked if Jesus was in their kasing-kasing(heart). It was a great time of praising God and getting to watch the King's Kids in action. Later in the afternoon, we visited another poorer neighborhood they did their whole performance again. We also got to play basketball with the teenagers, dance with the kids, pray with some of the parents, and meet a lot of new Facebook friends! haha. The older kids typically ask a few questions-your name, age, brothers and sisters- and then it's followed by, "Ate, do you have a Facebook?" Makes me laugh everytime! I'm on my way to beating Fuzz for the number of Facebook friends...haha well, not quite there yet.
Anyways, between all this fun I also got to catch a beautiful baby girl! I even got to start the IV ad everything =) It was a great birthday with a precious little Princess born. Literally. That's the most recent name I heard from the mom.
Well all is well in the land of Cebu! We're loving it and making lots of new friends.
Love you all!
Melissa
Anyways, between all this fun I also got to catch a beautiful baby girl! I even got to start the IV ad everything =) It was a great birthday with a precious little Princess born. Literally. That's the most recent name I heard from the mom.
Well all is well in the land of Cebu! We're loving it and making lots of new friends.
Love you all!
Melissa
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
And the countdown begins...
It's been awhile since I've posted, but this week has been quite busy! I saw 2 births last Thursday, and there were SIX births at the clinic yesterday. The clinic is packed full with one of the babies in isolation. Molly and I got to attend the last birth this morning at about 1am; we never seem to be there during the baby booms. Darn, lol. We were helping get ready for the youth group that is coming tomorrow, King's Kids. Preparing meals for 30 people is quite a daunting task, so Molly and I helped prepare the meals. We are quite excited for the kiddo's to be coming this week. But this also means we will now be relocating to the clinic, and as an added bonus, we will be seconds away from any birth =) We'll also be doing some of the projects with the group in the next two weeks including taking them to the dumpsite and some construction for housing projects. We can't wait! Although we're sad that we only have two weeks left in the Philippines =( But we're looking forward to whatever God has left for us. Please keep the youth group in your prayers as they travel from another island to here and just for all the logistics.
As a side note, please continue to pray for the Glory Reborn Clinic. It's so amazing to see what God is doing here in the Philippines, and how He has used Hilary and David. They are absolutely amazing and you know they can only do it through God's strength. As the clinic continues to grow in quality of care -including IV meds, phototherapy, and post-op ligation care- there is an increasing demand for a larger facility. The plans are already in the works, but please pray that God will provide for this endeavor and supply the necessary people and willing hearts.
Only 2 more weeks left here in Cebu!
Love and miss you all,
Melissa
As a side note, please continue to pray for the Glory Reborn Clinic. It's so amazing to see what God is doing here in the Philippines, and how He has used Hilary and David. They are absolutely amazing and you know they can only do it through God's strength. As the clinic continues to grow in quality of care -including IV meds, phototherapy, and post-op ligation care- there is an increasing demand for a larger facility. The plans are already in the works, but please pray that God will provide for this endeavor and supply the necessary people and willing hearts.
Only 2 more weeks left here in Cebu!
Love and miss you all,
Melissa
Monday, July 5, 2010
4th of July Baby
On the morning of July 4th, I caught my third baby! She was a beautiful baby girl. It's still just as exciting each time, wow. I also got to assist with suturing, which isn't all too pleasant, but still a fun skill to do. Aside from the Sunday morning birth, I'm now on the Green team, which is the 2-10pm shift. I'm getting a lot more comfortable with IE's and even got the right dilation each time I did one yesterday! Today we're having a baby party for the babies that have been born, complete with cake, gifts, and vaccines!! hehe. What kind of party would it be if there weren't vaccines? :)
As we continue our trip, I can't help but think of what can I do to help, what can I change, etc. But the truth is, there is nothing in myself that I can accomplish in my own strength. But I feel like one thing God has been showing me, is that I may not be able to give the whole dumpsite a new home, but I can create relationships with the people here and be a vessel for God through that. God's love continues to amaze me every time I see the smiling faces of the kids at the dumpsite when we show up, "Hi Melissa and Molly!." And when I hear a tiny boy yell "Hi Melissa" on my way to buy bread. And when I hand a baby to a glowing new mom. It's more rewarding than I can possibly imagine, and I thank God for using me in even the little ways.
Ephesians 2:10, For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
And great news! We had a baby that was suffering from severe jaundice due to an A-O incompatibility. Apparently, the parents had lost their first baby to this same problem. Consequently, she needed a complete blood transfusion (replacing all her A blood to O). It was going to require three separate transfusions, but praise God, she only needed two and is now on one more day of phototherapy. Please keep baby Abigail in your prayers that she will have complete healing without any complications.
Love,
Melissa
PS. My mom is putting together a welcome home party for me either July 31st or August 1st, and you are all welcome!
As we continue our trip, I can't help but think of what can I do to help, what can I change, etc. But the truth is, there is nothing in myself that I can accomplish in my own strength. But I feel like one thing God has been showing me, is that I may not be able to give the whole dumpsite a new home, but I can create relationships with the people here and be a vessel for God through that. God's love continues to amaze me every time I see the smiling faces of the kids at the dumpsite when we show up, "Hi Melissa and Molly!." And when I hear a tiny boy yell "Hi Melissa" on my way to buy bread. And when I hand a baby to a glowing new mom. It's more rewarding than I can possibly imagine, and I thank God for using me in even the little ways.
Ephesians 2:10, For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
And great news! We had a baby that was suffering from severe jaundice due to an A-O incompatibility. Apparently, the parents had lost their first baby to this same problem. Consequently, she needed a complete blood transfusion (replacing all her A blood to O). It was going to require three separate transfusions, but praise God, she only needed two and is now on one more day of phototherapy. Please keep baby Abigail in your prayers that she will have complete healing without any complications.
Love,
Melissa
PS. My mom is putting together a welcome home party for me either July 31st or August 1st, and you are all welcome!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Twilight and Spiderman Stickers
Molly and I were very excited because we were graciously given free tickets to the see the new Eclipse premiere here in Cebu. We took some of the girls from the clinic, so it was a fun night out with all of them seeing the new movie.
On another note, Molly and I went to the dumpsite again today. It was so much fun! We took some stickers with us and a volleyball to play with the kids. They loved it! They kept sticking them all over themselves...and us, haha. Volleyball was quite fun too except for when the ball landed in sludge :-/ Little to say, my shoes will never quite be the same :) But we had such a great time with the kiddos playing around, dancing, giving piggyback rides and laughing. It's so great to be able to spend the time with them and see their faces light up! Despite their poor living conditions, these little ones have the biggest smiles and laughs you can imagine. We love going to the dump each week, and even more so we love how the Lord continues to teach us humility, kindness, and thankfulness from the kids.
Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. It's always so encouraging when I talk with someone on facebook and say that they're praying for me. Thanks! Molly and I are working with one of the midwives tomorrow to man the clinic while everyone else does a CPR class. Please pray that all goes well and perhaps we'll even get a birth :)
Love,
Melissa
On another note, Molly and I went to the dumpsite again today. It was so much fun! We took some stickers with us and a volleyball to play with the kids. They loved it! They kept sticking them all over themselves...and us, haha. Volleyball was quite fun too except for when the ball landed in sludge :-/ Little to say, my shoes will never quite be the same :) But we had such a great time with the kiddos playing around, dancing, giving piggyback rides and laughing. It's so great to be able to spend the time with them and see their faces light up! Despite their poor living conditions, these little ones have the biggest smiles and laughs you can imagine. We love going to the dump each week, and even more so we love how the Lord continues to teach us humility, kindness, and thankfulness from the kids.
Thank you for keeping me in your prayers. It's always so encouraging when I talk with someone on facebook and say that they're praying for me. Thanks! Molly and I are working with one of the midwives tomorrow to man the clinic while everyone else does a CPR class. Please pray that all goes well and perhaps we'll even get a birth :)
Love,
Melissa
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