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Launch
concluded on Friday and ministry got off to a running start for some of
us. Heartlyn is a two-month old infant
girl that the New Faith Family Children’s Home received early in the week. Not long after, she was admitted to the
hospital. In the Philippines, baby
patients are required to have a “watcher” in the room with them 24 hours a day.
Four of
us women – not me – jumped at the chance to take on the first night watch from
8:00 p.m. Friday to 8:00 a.m. Saturday. After we returned to our “base” after our squad dinner at That Old
Spaghetti house, the sign up sheets were posted. With four teams staying on “base” I figured
that the sign-up sheet was filled up already.
Later
that night, Dennis pointed out that there were still lots of empty slots. I checked out the sheet and saw a need for
watchers for the next shift – 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Saturday – so I signed
up. The next morning, Tangi joined me
and we headed to the hospital.
About a
half-hour later, we arrived but I hadn’t realized it. Hospitals in the U.S. are large edifices; St.
Victoria Hospital was a slim looking building with a dusty façade, sandwiched
between other like buildings. Up to the
third floor we walked, and again I was caught off guard when we got to the door
of room 305, tucked in the corner.
We saw
Joy sitting on the bed reading as Sharon held little Heartlyn. Rachel went to the pharmacy to get the
medicine she needed because in the Philippines, apparently, the patients or
their caretakers have to obtain the medicine; it isn’t provided by the
hospital. Meanwhile, Joy and Sharon gave
us the scoop on how to care for Heartlyn – how often to feed her, what makes
her fussy, not to throw away her soiled diapers (they weighed them), not to be
alarmed by the color of her poop, etc.
On our
watch, caring for Heartlyn consisted largely of holding her, feeding her,
changing her diaper, and holding her some more. Tangi was very good at pacing about the room and holding and rocking her
all at the same time. I was able to
sneak in a few naps by either lying down with her lying on my chest or simply
laying on the bed with her. 
Nurses
would periodically administer medication – ointment for her little tushie, or
eye drops which made the little one wail like a banshee, or some antibiotics
via IV – and that made for some fun times. When it came time to change her diaper and
apply the ointment, her bladder would say “Go!” and so she went. The sheets were changed three times during
our watch.
Just when
I thought I already had an elevated respect for parents, my admiration jumped
to another level when we discovered that her IV came out and it would have to
be reinserted in her little foot. Ugh. As the nurses laid her down
at the nurses station, I just tried holding her tiny hand and caressing her
little head. Then I felt nauseous and
had to go back to the room.
I’ve had
blood drawn and tried donating blood so I’ve experienced the pain of having a
needle stuck in a vein. But it was worse
to imagine the pain and discomfort pulsing through that precious baby. Knowing how much it sucks, I still wished
that I could take that IV in her place.
She would
also fuss loudly when hungry but once we began feeding her, she was so
peaceful. Watching her as she drank
deeply from her wee bottle reminded me of Peter’s exhortation to crave pure
spiritual milk. How satisfied she was as
she drank; it made me thirst for God!
I left
the room once to run across the street to get some lunch for us and we fit in a
few rounds of Phase 10. Overall, we kept
her close to our hearts, praying over her, prophesying over her: She is Daddy’s girl, she is God’s beloved,
and He loves her deeply. Her parents
might’ve abandoned her, cutting any ties to her, but Tangi pointed out that
it’s probably the best thing that happened to her.
Yes,
someday, she’ll wonder why her mother didn’t keep her. I get angry at the thought that Heartlyn’s
stay at the hospital could’ve been prevented had her mother simply fed her
formula. Yet we are grateful that she
was surrendered to the children’s home where she’ll receive the love and care
she deserves. Because she came through
KIM’s doors, through the women of our squad, she encountered the living God.
Read
Bev’s blog on what He did on the third watch.
