La b Deliv ering t or o he Lo ve of J f L esus on e baby ove at a

MAR 2011 VOLUME 43

time.

One of the recent babies born at the clinic. Sweet.

For the last two weeks, the TREMENDOUS amounts of pain, clinic has been extra noisy. Most and NOT ashamed to show it! of the noise has Oh, how they scream! been coming from Most look very grumpy the wound dressing waiting their turn in line. Come, and room -- or the Some start crying at the mere let us return to Room of Doom, as sight of Margaret -- their the LORD; we like to call it. endish torturer. For He has Its where infected Oh, the dread they must torn, but He cuts and burns are feel on their way to the will heal us; cleaned. clinic! Oh, the trepidation of He has Weve had a having to go next! stricken, but extra large number They beg and whine, but He will bind of burn victims do they understand its all for us up. recently, and most their benet? No. ~ Hosea 6:1 of them are under Can they grasp what it the age of ve. means to lose the function of That equates to a hand or leg? Unlikely. LOTS of kids who are in All they know is it hurts, and they want it to stop.

The Room of Doom!

How often do we wail in our own Room of Doom like these children? When we scald a few spiritual toes while playing with re, we wail unconsolably. Reduced to a blistering, limping sac of pus, we ask God to take our pain away. But instead, He makes it worse. He lances the blisters to expels the infection. Oh, how we ght it! We beg him to stop, but does He? No. He knows the quickest way to healing is, often, through the path of more pain. Are you in pain? Then, learn from these kids. Let God bring healing, even if that means more pain.

~ Stephanie

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www.midwife4Jesus.blogspot.com

Santos is one of our translators. Hes been telling me about his very pregnant wife, eagerly awaiting the delivery. Its his rst. He wasnt sure if shed deliver at the clinic, since he was getting a lot of pressure from the family for her to deliver at home. I assured him, we were here if they wanted, but to do what he thought was best. His wife, Mary, started labor at night and by early morning was looking very active. Santos insisted she come to deliver, even though she was resistant. When she arrived she was roughly 8 cm. And even though her progress was steady, everyone seemed overly concerned about how long she was taking. I kept reassuring them, that rst moms take time to open properly. But they werent convinced. When it came time to push, she made slow and steady progress, but her babys seemed ne. I kept reassuring everyone that all was normal-- because it was. However, just before the birth, she pushed like mad, and wouldnt stop for anything. I kept telling her to take a breather every now and again since her baby needed oxygen, but she didnt listen. Its then that everything changed. Her baby was born limp and not breathing. She looked more like a blue-tinged rag doll than a baby. A racing heartbeat and a few grimaces were her only signs of life.

My internal alarm sounded, as I rubbed her spine raw, trying to get her to cry. She wouldnt. She wasnt dead, but she sure wasnt trying to live either. I called for help, and Margaret arrived in a ash. Minutes rolled by like hours, as we cleared her airways and gave oxygen. Every now and again, shed gasp, but that was all. What happened? Just a few minutes before, her heart was a steady rhythm. Now her heart beat was racing, despite the fact, she wasnt breathing. Limp. Cold. Ashen. Gasping. -- Not good. It took a full ve minutes or resuscitation for her color to go from light-blue to dusky. It took another ve minutes for her to gasp every now and again. By 15 minutes, her color and breathing stabilized somewhat, but she was glacial. Sighing, a tentative sigh of relief, we warm her up and waited. Long story very short, she improved only to developed a fever a few hours later. Since there was meconium staining in the uid, I suspect she aspirated some of it and developed an infection. We started her on medications and watched her through the night. By the next morning, she was doing so well, we discharged them! What a blessed miracle. Im so glad she delivered with us. Had she been born at home, I am not sure she would have lived. They named her Friday. --No joke. So praise God with me that My Girl Friday is doing so well! ~SW

-My Girl Friday -- My Girl Friday -- My Girl Friday-

Prayer & Praise!

Thank you for praying for our Sudanese staffing needs at the clinic. We have a neat group of translators and THREE of them are women! Thank you Jesus! Keep praying though for medical volunteer/missionaries to come over the summer as our Kenyan staff take their R&R. Also, we are having a hard time getting the exemption papers for our ambulance. If we dont get it, well have to pay thousands of dollars in import fees. We had exemption status, but with the change in government that changed. Also, pray for the building project to be completed in His perfect timing. Thanks!

Next R&R
Im thrilled to announce I get to see my family during my next R&R. Friends brought me tickets to Europe where Ill meet up with them and some of my family, wholl be flying in to meet me, too! What a blessing. Pray for all my connecting flights, my time there, and my brief time in Kenya. Please pray Im able

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Po Box 4513, 00100 Nairobi GPO Kenya AFRICA (Do NOT send packages to this address, email me for details) Stephanie@indeedandtruth.org www.midwife4Jesus.blogspot.com

Support Address:
In Deed and Truth Ministries Po Box 51253, Colorado Springs, CO 80949 (Write my name in Memo Line) Call 760/ 707-7367 or donate online: www.indeedandtruth.org

to rest properly. Im tired. Im ready for some time where Im not measuring bellies or calculating due dates. Thanks!