Blog Post 5 - It's that time already!

It's that time already!

Hi everyone! Well, this is it. My last blog. This month has gone so quickly, but in other ways has gone slowly too... lounging about in business class seems like a dream it was that long ago! I thought I'd reflect over the last 4.5 weeks and write about how God has used little old me to be His hands and feet.

When leaving England I honestly had no idea what I'd be doing over here in the Philippines. Obviously I knew I was coming to a birthing centre, yes, but would I just be observing births? Would I have to care for women and deliver babies alone? Would I be running the centre with only 3 years of training??! (thankfully the answer to the latter question was no). However, all my fears disappeared when I was welcomed by the lovely midwives and nurses here and soon after arriving was hurried into the delivery room to watch my first Filippino birth.

Since that first day, I feel like I have become part of the Shalom team and have met people here that I will remember forever from the midwives, to the missionaries, and not forgetting the 2 great interns I've being living with too. They have taught me all so much about patience, thankfulness, and, most importantly, how to cook and do laundry ;) The people here are a great inspiration and are so full of the love of God that it radiates to everyone around them, and I have certainly been touched by this. Whether you're reading this as a follower of God or not, you would certainly agree if you were here that there's something amazingly different about the humbleness of this wonderful bunch who are working and living in the Philippines :)

I certainly feel that God has used me in this place with the little midwifery knowledge that I have compared to the midwives here, some who have being working in this career for longer than I've been alive! However, I have been so encouraged from the response that I have had from writing this blog that I feel that if God only sent me here to bless all you readers from my experiences, then I'm so glad that I came for that reason alone. All your comments and messages have made my 30 odd days here so much brighter :) Although I feel that I have only inputted small amounts in the short time I've been here, I know that God will use them for good... which reminds me of the 'Starfish Story'. If you've never heard of it before, it's a good one!

Early one morning, an old man was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, he noticed a small boy approaching who was bending down and throwing things into the ocean. As the boy came nearer the man called out, “Good morning!  May I ask what it is that you are doing?”. 

The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves. When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.” The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”

This story explains perfectly how although I'm just a little person in a massive country, or even in a massive world, that my actions, although small, will hopefully leave a lasting impact on people that I have met here. Who knows what will happen in the future. I don't know whether I'll be called out here in years to come, or whether this visit will be a one off experience that I'll treasure forever. But what I do know is that God has it all in control and He's not finished doing His work here yet. I'll leave you with a few lyrics from the song, 'God of this City', written by Bluetree and made famous by Chris Tomlin (look it up!). The simple, but heartfelt words from this song sums up my amazing trip and how even though there is great poverty and corruption here, that God still has an amazing plan for the people in Antipolo...

You're the God of this City

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are 

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless 

You're the Peace to the restless 

You are

There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come

And greater things are still to be done in this City

Thank you all so much again, and I hope to see you all very soon back at home :D Don't be afraid to message or grab me when you see me (not literally) to chat about my trip or about anything that you've read in the blog that may have stood out to you. The concept of 'God' may be totally new to you, and I'd be thrilled to answer any questions you might have - face to face or by message!

Over and out,
The Travelling Midwife x

Blog Post 4 - Life, but death too

Life, but death too

Hello fellow readers! Over the last few days I've been learning more about how Shalom Chrisitian Birthing Centre was initially set up and why the need was so great for it to be started here in this location specifically. I apologise in advance for the not-so-cheery update, but I thought it was important to share both the good and not so good times that I'm facing here.

The birthing centre is situated in Antipolo, which is next to the capital of the Philippines, Manila. Manila is the most densely populated city in the world with an estimated 1.7 million people living here in handmade squatter shacks and huts; most people staying here illegally.

In 1991, a retired nurse and midwife, Mavis Orton, came over to the Philippines and created this safe and dignified environment for women here to have a chance to live and be healthy through their pregnancy and childbirth. Not only that, but for them to take home a beautiful, healthy newborn too. Something that we, in the UK, would totally expect and see as the norm. We wouldn't expect to not take home our baby after going through 9 months of pregnancy and enduring the pain of labour, but it was, and often still is, the reality for women living here.

One of my good friends that I've met here on this trip experienced this only a few weeks ago when the baby that she delivered sadly died a few hours after birth at a nearby hospital. The baby had been born prematurely due to the Mum being physically abused by her partner. Not only this, but I found out a few weeks later that this Mum's older child also died a few days after her baby did from asthma...please keep her in your thoughts and prayers through this very difficult time. As midwives, you expect to be bringing new life into the world, and mostly we do, but sometimes we have to say goodbye soon after we've said hello.

Psalm 23:4 - Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.

Death is a strange thing. One of the only things we are completely 100% sure of in this world is that at some point in our lives, we will die. Every one of us. However, when this will happen is often unknown and we can't stop it from happening. This, I guess, is what is scary. What's more scary though is what comes next. What happens after we die? Do we just... die? Do we just live here on this world for so long and then, that's it? Or is there a purpose of us being here? Is there more to life than simply living our day to day routine lives? Maybe you've never thought about it before. This might be the first time it's entered your mind that there may be more to life than you getting up in the morning, doing your thing for about 15 hours a day, and then going to bed (or in other words... eat, sleep, rave, repeat!). Maybe you do think that's it. You might believe that that's all we're here for. To live, grow up, get old if we're lucky, and then exist no more. Yeah, we might have great family and friends to share it with, but still... is that it?

I don't believe that that's it. I can't believe that that's it. What a depressing existence that would be, not just for me or you, but for the whole of the human race! What would be the point in existing?! The people living here have a faith and hope in something much greater than themselves that helps them to get through this eat, sleep, rave, repeat type of life... and for them it's probably a much harder life than ours. Please take time today to consider why you're here on earth, living. Who put you here, and where are you going to end up? If you don't know, maybe the verse below will give you something to think about...

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16 

Hope you haven't shed too many tears and I promise I'll make my final blog more uplifting! :) Thanks again to all of you who have taken time to comment, message and read my blogs while I've been away. It's been a great encouragement and I love you all.

Ciao,
The Travelling Midwife x