Don hires three men to cut his 13 hectares with a machete day in and day out. They arrive at 6:30 in the morning to leave before lunch. They swing the machete all day chopping the overgrown grass around the property.
The second day I was there, I met one of the men named Mario. His wife was going to deliver his fifth child within the month. I mentioned how great it would be to be a real delivery in Africa… If God ever put in a place to deliver a child, I know I could do it – if only, a c-section never had to happen, and the delivery was easy…
Early in the second morning after meeting Mario, Don receives a phone call that Mario’s wife was ready to deliver. We jumped into the van and begin the journey over dirt roads and footpaths. When we arrived, Mario had helped his wife deliver their fifth child in a little dirt room behind their bamboo house. We walked up to the house to find the child swaddled in clothes, and the other siblings running around without any clothes on. I checked on the mother, and Mario handed me the child. The blankets where still wet on the clothesline, so I took of my jacket and wrapped the baby in it. I asked if it was a boy or girl, and Mario and his wife hadn’t even had time to look. We all got in the van and drove to the small community clinic, where I helped with the afterbirth.
I felt like I was in the olden days. After the mother was cleaned-off, the nurse picked up the baby by the legs (looked a lot like she would hold a chicken) to weigh the new little girl. The mother went to the small room, where another new mother was resting as well.
Although I didn’t get to help with the actual delivery, I got to be a part of the process. God gave me the opportunity to pray with both mothers and bring them food. The next day, I was able to buy clothes for baby and her sisters with the money from supporters for the family and bring them to their house. The way this family lit up because they knew God had not forgotten about them… He loves them dearly.
