When it rains in the Philippines, it pours. Last week we experienced a couple days of what it’s like to be in Manila during a mini monsoon. In LA we rarely see rain, and definitely not like I saw the last few days. When I was in our room listening to the rain before bed all I could think about was the storm sequence in the Tiki Room at Disneyland. Thunder, lightning, buckets of rain–we got it all. The storm was apparently a small one and didn’t do that much damage, but it was strange to see everything in the neighborhood just stop for while. School was cancelled, there were no kids to play with in the streets, the clinic was closed, and so were most of the roads. We spent most of our time taking shifts at the children’s home to see if they needed help with all the kids being cooped up, and spent time together as a squad.
On the first morning I woke up to the see some windows open in our room with the wind and rain blowing through the curtains on a couple of the girls. They were still sleeping so I got up to close the windows and as I walked over to the last one I didn’t realize how wet the tile was and fell hard on my knee. I have a fairly nasty bruise but I was fine. The rain eventually stopped and a couple days later I decided to clean our room while some of our squad was out; after I finished I went swimming with a some people on the squad. While swimming along the bottom of the pool I somehow managed to hit my lower lip and teeth on the concrete. (Note to self: I am not a mermaid, and therefore should not try to swim like one). My knee was nothing compared to that kind of pain. I felt like I had gotten punched in the mouth with a cinderblock and actually had a couple of loose teeth. It hurt–badly.
That’s when I started tallying up all the ways I had managed to get hurt on this trip. This is always a dangerous game, and I’m cringing now just thinking back on what was going through my head. I had already been sick for a couple of days last week, and the continuous pain in my jaw was hard to ignore. I tried to keep a positive attitude and not let the pain affect me, but I was starting to get discouraged. Here I was, in the Philippines, wanting to go out for ministry and I was struggling to get going in the morning. I was exhausted mentally and physically. I prayed for energy but nothing was happening. I knew I was becoming drained and I hated that it was happening so early in the Race. So I kept praying, and talked to my team and squad leader about it. I wanted to be honest with where I was at, but I also knew that nothing would get done if I just sat there and hoped things would get better.
I opened my daily devotional and the entry talked about how God is for us. The verse that day was from Psalm 56:8, “You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle.” It talked about how The Lord is never far from us and that each of us are part of “the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone” (Eph. 1:11). With this in mind I went to ministry that morning at the pregnancy clinic.
Kaitlyn and I were checking vitals in the waiting room for a couple of hours and then switched with two girls in the other room to help with check-ups. Two minutes later a woman came rushing in with a toddler. She was speaking Tagalog with the doctor and nurse when another woman came in behind her. She was bent over and the nurse rushed to help her lie down. The doctor explained that she was in labor and that she had gone to her neighbor for help because her husband was home drunk and didn’t care to help her get to the clinic. She told us her name Johan (“JoAnne”). She said she has three other children and this one was soon to be her fourth. That’s when the nurse turned to me and asked if I was ready to deliver a baby. I looked around and the doctor had left for the waiting room to keep proceeding with check-ups. My first reaction was “UH…what?” I looked at Kaitlyn and a couple of our squad mates and we were all in a bit of shock. In that moment my prayers for energy were answered because that question definitely woke me up. To cut the story short, I did deliver the baby and both mom and child are doing well! She’s a precious 4 pounds and three ounces baby girl. We prayed for both of them and for their family, and came back a little while later from the children’s home with clothes for the baby since the mom didn’t have anything with her at the clinic.
It was heartbreaking seeing Johan so upset when she arrived and knowing that her husband was home drunk, but it was so joyful in the end when she finally got to hold her baby for the first time. She kept thanking all of us for helping her and for praying over her and I’m asking you to keep them in your prayers too. Pray for love and support within their family, and for good health for mother and child.
This has been a long blog, but I have a lot to tell you! There’s so much more I could share from this week, but if you have any questions or comments please email me or post below 🙂 I love hearing from you and thank you for reading!!
God Bless,
Taryl
