This week my team is working with another team to paint rooms and hallways in the Hospital in the mornings and in the afternoon we are teaching English and VBS at a local church.
DISCLAIMER: if you get queasy, be careful with some of these words & pictures!
This morning we were painting the hallway and the room that the women normally stay in when they are in Labor. There were so many of us painting so I got the opportunity to go with Denise ( a former F squad WRer) to visit with and pray for the women who were in Labor. In Guatemala the men don't come for any of the delivery process and don't see their wives until after the baby is born.
So let me paint the picture for you a little bit. I was in a room with 8 metal beds, in 6 of which lay women who were in various stages of labor. The only other people in the room were 2 nurses checking vitals, no friends or family are with the women as they struggle through the birthing process. Denise and I went from bed to bed and prayed over the women and their unborn babies, blessing and encouraging them. Right outside the double doors 10 other racers were joyfully painting the hallway, only 6 swinging metal inches separated the laughter from the loneliness.
We spent most of the morning with Vilma, a 16 year old child who was about to have her first child. We held her hand and spoke soft encouragements as terror transfigured to pain across her strained face. In Guatemala, the women stay in the labor room until the babies head is literally coming out and then they are rushed to the delivery room. So as we were sitting with Vilma the doctors told her that if she didn't have the baby in the next 30 minutes she would have to have a c-section because she had been in labor for too long.
All of the sudden, Slivia, the 4 time veteran in the cot next to Vilma was having her 5th child: right that second. The nurses rushed a rollaway cot in, Silvia lifted herself onto the bed and we pushed through the double doors, running over painting tools along the way. The Delivery room is across the hall and the baby was born before we made it inside, the doors remained open and as i looked around i could see my fellow teammates painting 10 feet away and new, precious life at my feet. In a matter of 30 seconds I had witnessed my first delivery.
When we went back to the labor room doctors were prepping Vilma for surgery, Denise asked if we could watch and without hesitation i was handed "sterile" clothes , a mask, hairnet, and booties. With in 10 minutes i was in the OR ( for the first time in my life– kris & kev, who needs medschool anways?) and i got to witness a c section from 6 inches away. The doctors had me hand them medicine and needles and it was absolutely crazy. When the precious baby was born i got to spend 15 minutes praying over her new life and raining God's blessing and truths over her and her young mother.
This morning i thought i was going to the hospital to paint, by the time i had left i had witnessed two of God's children take their first breath. Each day on the WR is new and each day i learn more about what it means to live with no expectations. The less expectations I have, the more of God's blessings and character I am able to see. Keep your eyes open… God is moving mountains all the time, but you can only see it with the right perspective.
