MISSIONS OF A BABY CATCHER

General Update

2009-03-11T16:37:00.001-07:00

Well hello everyone, this is Chad.
I am amazed by my wife Naomi's drive and determination to get her schooling finished. She works very hard, we hardly ever see her. She's always off at a coffee shop somewhere study hard. We don't have to much further to go. If we can get through the next few months we'll be on our way. I don't mean on our way back home i mean on our way further into the calling God has on our lives.
sometimes things, situations, and challenges have been difficult here for us. The challenges of raising support, and coming up with tuition is hard hard enough. We are trying to keep our minds on the end goal. That is to have a clinic in a rural area where babies are healed from any sickness, people are set free from any oppression, and people come into a loving relationship with Jesus.
Then there are the challenges of being (for the meantime) a stay at home dad. I started teaching drums and guitar a month ago so that's been good, and I still play sometimes around town. I enjoy my two boys immensely. i started potty training our almost two year old son. He's doing pretty good, other than some number two's on the floor of my side of the bed. Jordan is a sweet handsome young man with limitless facial expressions.
Noah just graduated Nursery, and in the Philippines it has all the pomp and circumstance of a high school graduation. Awards for things like most patients, cooperative, best listening, most neat, most polite, most creative, most active, etc you get the point.
Noah got second honors, which means he received the second highest average in the class. He is as cute as ever and very considerate of others.
So life continues on. We pray dayly for the Lord's guidance and protection. we trust in Him and he believes in us.

The Boys and Girls

2008-11-25T04:22:00.000-08:00

So Sheba our Dog had puppies. She had 10 but one died. I've never been apart of this before so it was quite interesting.

And of course our lovely boys

another Long time

2008-11-25T03:55:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a while once again since we've updated our blog.
Things have been more on track lately. I (Chad) since we've been back have spending more time at home with the kids. it's been challenging for Naomi to find time at home. At the age that the kids are now they really need at least one of us around.
You know you get here and you think God is telling you all these different things to do when the most important thing is your family. Without your family you are LOST. So the water filters have not been happening. I have still been meeting people of influence and other people concerning the filters, but I have been passing them on to Tim after an initial meeting. I've been told not to go into areas of need due to the dangerous activities of MILF or NPA. Other people have chosen to disregard these suggestions, but I understand the chain of command and no matter how much I would like to run into these areas I will not. God has placed these authorities over us for a reason and though I feel I would be safe in many of these areas I will heed those words. Besides it's only a little while longer until we are out from under neath them anyways. At first I was a little bitter, but then I got over it.
I know that God has called us here for this time. Naomi and I are realizing more and more that we are a team.
My Music ministry has been going well. I still continue to meet many musicians here in Davao. I have recently met a American musician named Geoff Logan and his wife Erica. They are here with YWAM and another group called heartsong international. They record the tribes music and help hem get it to the world to be heard. They have been here the same amount of time we have. He's a great guitar player, as a matter of fact we are recording in a couple of days for some missionary cd for cambodia.

the kids have been real good. Noah is turning into a little Phillipino boy, and Jodan is understanding a lot of Visaya.
I'll post some pictures soon.
Peace
Chad

A long awaited update

2008-07-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Wow. April 8th. Sorry guys. No excuses, just being lazy on keeping all of you up to date. I should probably summarize all that has happened since April 8th.

April 15th: I caught my first set of twins, then had the honour of being their wet-nurse for 6days while their mama recovered at the hospital from blood loss. The two precious girls were named 'Cuttie' (3lbs 5oz) & 'Swheety' (5lbs 5oz).

May: Jordan got his first haircut, our class pictures were done and we made preparations for going home. God provided money for us to fly together as a family. We got home and had one of the craziest 5wks ever. It was great to see everyone, but very tiring. Next time we'll make our visit longer ;)

June: We flew home to Davao to begin our house-hunting adventures and my intensive academic catch-up on homework. It was a crazy month. It was also the month Newlife had their second graduating class, the girls of 2008!!

July: I had opportunity to partake in my first outreach. We went to Talikud Island and did about 11 initial prenatals and a whole bunch of well-woman exams, which often became primary healthcare sessions too. Mordegai came back from Cambodia and went with us to pull teeth. He pulled about 150 teeth that day. It was an amazing time and I look forward to my bi-monthly outreaches now to Talikud and Somal Islands.

This month we also found our new home. It is such a blessing to be able to find a home that is not only the right size, but also has a great yard for our kids to play in. It is everything and more than we had asked for. God is so faithful.

Thank you all for your prayers. We'll work on keeping this site more up-to-date.

Installing Filters 2

2008-04-08T19:27:00.001-07:00

A continuation of pictures from the previous blog. Enjoy!!

Installing Filters

2008-04-08T19:07:00.001-07:00

Ok so we started going full boar in installing water filters. Many people just outside the city have to pay for their drinking water. We are helping them change that. They use there own well water and within a day it's 50% cleaner.
We are not only installing them but also training the people how to install them, so that they can do it themselves and serve other communities in their region.

Bio Filters

2008-04-08T17:14:00.000-07:00

Well the water filter project is cruising along. For those of you who don't know I have been working with Tim Stewart on the Bio water filter project. We are giving the technology for clean water to areas of the Philippines that need it the most.
I recently made contact with a group called TRI-CON tribal concern. They help with the development of tribes in indigenous areas of Mindanao. They are a group that help the tribes understand their rights and the policies in place for the land that they have been living on for hundreds of years. Big corporations want to take that land away from the people for commercial use.
I was invited to a seminar that TRI-CON was doing (very last minute) to share with the tribes what we could offer in the way of clean water. The tribes represented were Bla-an, T'boli-ubo, and Manobo Dulangan and some in the area of Tiboli. These are mainly Muslim tribes. There were also many people that just showed up with their own stories of life for their communities. It was a very emotional time. After I gave my presentation there were many questions. I only planned on presenting the opportunity. I didn't expect an overwhelming response adding over an hour to the time. One lady said that there were 106 children that died in her community in 2006 due to dirty water, and the stats have only increased since that time. Another local government official said that no one has tried to help them in the area of clean water. These are places in the middle of nowhere with no electricity and no running water.
This time was very interesting and educational. I had been out in the BUK (jungle) before on other outreaches, but never as far away as this meeting was. We were 6 hrs away from home in S.Cotobato. This whole area is 90% Muslim. It was an eye opening trip that allowed me to see some of the realities these communities face. People are dying and thank the Lord, He has given us a way we can help.
On another fun note: the area we were in happened to be the Talapia (species of fish) capital of Mindanao. I also had an opportunity to play for the first time ever the Gong drums. These drums are made of solid brass and indigenous to this area. The video of my first attempt at it is below. In case you think I was kidding about being in or near a jungle, I took a picture of a monkey for you too:)
You can tell the condition of the "resort" that we stayed in. The toilet facilities were exceptional. Nothing like a squatty potty to relieve yourself;) It's not exactly the Fairmont or for that matter a Motel 6 on the outskirts of Spuzzum. I did suffer two days later from the trots after that trip. The bacteria there is obviously different than where we live. All part of being a missionary in a third world country. Cheers

Much has Happened

2008-02-12T00:22:00.000-08:00

Life in the Philippines has been very good. I am very busy still with work and school, although I've gotten somewhat of a break academically. Our last assignment was creative art and history of midwifery, so it was a nice way to start off the new year. The present assignment is on Breastfeeding and because I've already done some training in that area I've been able to forego the assignment and actually teach the class instead. Its been wonderful to review and teach. There is much less work involved with teaching than doing the assignment.

So far I've caught 14 babies and enjoy building relationship with the mamas I've worked with. I ended up having two of my continuities be transferred to DMC on the same day. Fortunately we are keeping in touch and one of the mamas came in to visit me today. It was the first time seeing her beautiful daughter and she is lovely. She will continue to do her baby check-ups here at mercy with me. Not only does mercy handle labouring women, but we also take care of accident victims who arrive as you can see in the picture above. This man had fallen off his bike and skinned numerous parts of his body. His elbow needed stitches, so Jonna, one of our supervisors did the honours. Despite the pain this man was in, he was a very happy fellow. It certainly lightened up the mood in the birthroom.

Chad has been playing regularly now on Monday nights. He truly is in his element when he plays and I enjoy going with the 30-something girls to hear him. There are three of us girls who are in our early 30's and we have all bonded very well. We're going to try and make our outings a regular occurrence.

Chad is also gearing up for more water filter work in March. Presently the Stewart's are away, so the water projects are on hold until they get back in late February. Once that gets going again it will be a busy time for Chad

Noah is going through some changes lately which have been challenging. He recently gave one of his classmates a black eye. Quite a surprise to hear for all of us. We dealt with it promptly, Noah has asked his classmate for forgiveness and made her a card apologizing for what he did. We'll be keeping a close eye on his behaviour over the next while. Otherwise his language is developing so well and he is so gentle with his brother. He really enjoys getting on the floor to play with Jordan now. It's wonderful to see the two of them play so well.

Jordan will be walking in a few months. He is 10mos old now. I really expected him to be walking before Noah did, but I don't think that will happen. There is still time to surprise us though. Jordan 'talks' now and is very fast when he crawls. He also plays with our reactions when he is at the top of the marble stairs. He knows if he lifts his hand while placing himself near the edge, we will jump. It makes him laugh. He's quite a tease.

We ended up hiring a new helper. Lea and Ken-Ken decided to move to Lea's sister's home and so we needed another live-in helper. Lea is still with us everyday as well as our other part-time helper. This new girl we have is 16yrs old and quite alone. Her previous employers were so cruel to her sometimes having her malnourished and always severely over-worked. When we heard her story (not through her, but through friends of ours) we couldn't resist and we hired her. Her name is Nikki and she is FABULOUS with the kids. She really plays well with them. She is a hard worker and we are excited to have her become a part of our household.

We have been so blessed to get our Visas taken care of. We also ended up losing our fridge after it died and we had enough provision to purchase a replacement. It was a tremendous blessing and reminder of how God provides for us. You our supporters are incredible and we love you all. We are honoured you are a part of this mission God has placed on our hearts.

Remembering Denver

2008-02-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

This morning I arrived on shift to find a non-responsive baby being transferred to DMC. This mama had delivered 5mins before I arrived and it was her third baby. I held the mama's hand and we prayed. She asked me if she had a boy or girl. We told her a boy. I asked her what his name was and she told me his name is Denver. Three hours later the father returned from the hospital with Denver to say the x-ray revealed his heart in the wrong place, all internal organs misaligned, absence of an anus and lungs severely compromised. The hospital had allowed the baby to return to Mercy to be with his mama before he died. He was breathing weakly. We surrounded her and her baby boy with prayer and he died in her arms at 9:45am. He was beautiful.

Please pray for this family as they mourn the loss of their baby Denver.

Bio Filters

2008-01-17T17:09:00.001-08:00

Well Sorry it's been so long since I've talked to you all. We have been busy, but that's no excuse.
Well Timothy Stewart and I are Finley on our way with the water filtration project. It took a little while to get going but we are well on our way. Davao city proper has very clean water, but when you get outside the city the facts change. Most of the surrounding areas have wells that they can only use for cleaning clothes, if that. Most can't use it for drinking. The people especially the children get sick after the great rains that come and stir up all the sediment. This in turn leaves adults and especially children very sick. We all remember when that 3 week stretch of rain came down in Vancouver last year and what a panic it caused when we had to boil water for a week. Imagine it every time a heavy rain came, and we are not talking about well water we are talking reservoirs and other water sources. So Tim and I have started delivering the water Bio Filters to areas that need it. these filters are being put in the hands of people that can have potential for themselves to make a micro Enterprise out of it. The first one was delivered to a man named Edwin in Panabo outside of the city who manages banana plantations. They have to bring there water in from the outside and of course pay for it. They have a well but can only use it for washing clothes etc. Now they can have a unlimited source of drinking water. the next filter went out to the dump in a place called New Carmen. This is a village that used to be squatters at the dump, and now are living in a new village just outside of it. This village has seen a spiritual transformation. They are now farming vegetables and fish. Every one is a christian and loves Jesus passionately. One of the last things to do in the village was to have clean water. That's were we came in. They have 3 springs and only 2 are ok to use. The kids would get sick because of the water (diarea). This village will be receiving free water filters. The third one went to the man who actually brings us bottled water. he just lives outside the city and the sub-division he is in oes not have clean drinking water. The filter was placed beside the pump to his well. he is very happy. We have been finding many communities that need clean water. The ministry opportunities are endless in the way this can go. We are brainstorming other ways of blessing people through the open door of clean water.
If you would like to donate a filter the cost is about $25.00 CAN. Tis filter will go to a family in need, and change there lives. Go to www.impactnations.com for more info.

On other notes I have been making headway in the music scene here. I've been getting to know the key musicians in town. I'll be playing monday nights at a Samba bar in town.
I'm also going out next week to Calinan again to do more music clinics.
Naomi has caught her tenth baby and is looking forward to her next one. She also got 100% on her last assignment.
Jordan is getting closer and closer to walking, and really enjoys grooving to music.
Noah is loving school and enjoying his playmate Ken Ken.

Bio Filters

2008-01-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

Well Sorry it's been so long since I've talked to you all. We have been busy, but that's no excuse.
Well Timothy Stewart and I are finally on our way with the water filtration project. It took a little while to get going but we are well on our way. Davao City proper has very clean water, but when you get outside the city the facts change. Most of the surrounding areas have wells that they can only use for cleaning clothes, if that. Most can't use it for drinking. The people especially the children get sick after the great rains that come and stir up all the sediment. We all remember when that 3 week stretch of rain came down in Vancouver last year and what a panic it caused when we had to boil water for a week. Imagine that every time a heavy rain comes, and we are not talking about well water we are talking reservoirs and other water sources. So Tim and I have started delivering the water Bio Flilters to areas that need it. These filters are being put in the hands of people that can have potential for themselves to make a micro enterprise out of it. The first one was delivered to a man named Edwin in Panabo outside of the city who manages banana plantations. They have to bring their drinking water in from the outside and of course pay for it. They have a well but can only use it for washing clothes etc. Now they can have a unlimited source of drinking water.
The next filter went out to the dump in a place called New Carmen. This is a village in the local dump with the people living as squatters. The people are now living in a new village just outside of the dump. This village has seen a physical and spiritual transformation. They are now farming vegetables and fish. Every one is a Christian and they love Jesus passionately. One of the last things to do in the village is to bring in clean water. That's where Impact Nations came in. The community has three springs and only 2 are okay to use. The kids get sick because of bacteria in the water causing severe diarrhea. This village will be receiving free water filters as the people are not in a position to purchase them. The third filter delivery went to the man who actually brings our family bottled water. He lives just outside of New Carmen and the sub-division he is in does not have clean drinking water. The filter was placed beside the pump to his well. He is very happy. We have been finding many communities that need clean water. The ministry opportunities are endless. We are brainstorming other ways of blessing people through the open door of clean water.
If you would like to donate a filter the cost is about $25.00 CAN. Each filter will go to a family in need, and change their lives. Go to www.impactnations.com for more info.
On other notes I have been making headway in the music scene here. I've been getting to know the key musicians in town. I'll be playing Monday nights at a Samba bar in town. I'm also going out next week to Calinaan again to do more music clinics.
Naomi has caught her tenth baby and is looking forward to her next one. She also doing very well with her assignments.
Jordan is getting closer and closer to walking, and really enjoys grooving to music.
Noah is loving school and enjoying his playmate Ken Ken.

Calinaan

2007-12-09T16:34:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Chad here.
I embarked on two new ministry projects this last week. One was building a concrete water filter with Mr. Tim Stewart and the other was traveling to a nearby community to do some teaching on worship and music. The water filter project was good for me. It gave me some hope that I'd be doing more things here. We will be sending water (after testing) to communities in need. Generally the water is very good here; however after a heavy rain, the sediment comes and people are sick for about a week after that. The first filter we built was a dud, but the second one after some modifications was a success. I think we plan on building at least one a week and as the demand grows so will the production.

Next we have Calinaan. Calinaan is a community north of Davao city proper about an hour away. I took Noah with me just this past week. The weather is a bit cooler there, because it sits at the base of a mountain. We stayed at my friend Sadoc's father in-law's house. His name is Fred Sicat. He has planted over 100 churches on the island of Mindinao. he has about 4 hecters of land that his entire family lives on. They farm fish and animals. Noah fed the fish and goats and had lots of fun with the local kids. I took on the challenge of fixing the drum set. After making it sound better I held a music clinic and talked about purpose of worship.

Here in the Philippines music for the most part is loud and timing is poor. So guess what else we talked about? Hopefully there is a better understanding now that louder doesn't always mean better. We also took time to discuss what music and worship meant to them, how to sound good, timing, dynamics, form etc. The talk and clinic was really well received. There are over 1000 youth in this church, and most of them play either music or sports. That night I played for their Friday night service. For the first time they could actually hear everything in the band. It's funny when you make the drums actually sound good, what a difference it makes. Ha Ha.

Anyway, the time in Calinaan went really well. I have been given free reign to discuss and preach anything that is on my heart there. I'm excited about this door God has opened for me.

Naomi is doing well. It's a lot of work that she has to do. I think she's feeling overwhelmed some days. Please keep her in your prayers.

Jordan is crawling and falling everywhere. Noah is three and testing his boundaries, but he probably still the most well behaved boy I've ever met (I'm bias of course).

Blessings,

Chad

Head Visible, Head Out, Baby Out!!

2007-11-06T04:30:00.000-08:00

Another baby was brought into my hands last night. This one didn't need pulling in anyway and actually caught us all a little by surprise. This mom who had come in at 1pm, just an hour before my shift began had been a little stubborn to try techniques and position changes we were suggesting to get her rather slow transition phase finished. She had actually spent some time pushing before she was ready, then finally moved into the requested hands and knees position to get rid of some swelling she'd now acquired on her cervix from pushing too early. This woman was a mother of three already and was expecting her fourth child. I learned that sometimes when the women who come through don't really know what's going on with their bodies, especially those who've had babies before, they tend to push ahead to just 'get it over with'. No matter what I or the supervisors told her she wanted to do her own thing. She did finally stay on her hands and knees for quite some time, then I noticed her intensity of pushing was changing and she was having some perineal bulging, which is a great sign of baby progressing. With how slow things were going prior to this point all of us thought the pushing would be a little slower than expected. Boy, were we wrong!! I notice with my next glance I could see black hair, so I shouted "head visible" to the supervisors who were outside of the birthroom. In the same breath shouted "head out"!! There was no time to get sterile gloves on. I then shouted "body out" as this darling little vigorous baby arrived safely in my hands. The whole event unfolded within 30seconds. It was a lovely birth, despite the panic of how quickly it took place. This mama had given birth to a lovely boy. I'm please to say I now have the 'million dollar' portfolio with one boy and one girl so far on my list of births.

God is so gracious to be allowing me this honour. My health seems to become compromised though every time I have a birth. Not sure why. Please keep me in your prayers about this.

Chad is in Korea doing music with Russ Rosen. Please pray for his protection during his time there. He will be staying until the 15th of November. What I do know is they're playing for an Intercessors and Prophets conference. He said the musicians he's with are fantastic and it's great playing with good players again. He will have an update and pictures soon enough.

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-11-02T01:23:00.001-07:00

I'm a Baby Catcher Now!!

2007-11-02T00:37:00.000-07:00

October 31st, 2007 was the day I got to experience what it is truly like to be a midwife. At 3:24pm I caught my first baby while on my swing shift. IT WAS AMAZING, yet at the same time so natural. I am humbled that God has called me to do this and now I was doing it. I wasn't jumping through the roof with joy like I thought I might. I was totally at peace....and totally TERRIFIED!!. Ate (atay) Mayflor, my supervisor was by my side during the delivery, and I didn't want her to leave. I carry so much knowledge in my head, but in the moment I went completely into "I don't know what I'm doing here!!"mode. Let me begin the story...

I wasn't sure if today would actually be the day I'd catch my first baby. First of all my supervisor has to feel I'm ready to move on and secondly a woman in labour has to show up. Just as I was doing a baby check that had come in just when our shift began, the guard called that a labour had entered. Ate Mayflor, my supervisor, said "give it to Naomi". I guess she felt I was ready. Ate Susan, the supervisor who was supposed to be going home, kindly took over the postapartum check I was doing and allowed me to check in the labouring woman who was "not very active" according to one person. Our routine at the clinic is to have the women come in to pee and wash first, then we check their vitals and assess if they are able to stay based on how progressed they are. My labouring mom was in the CR (comfort room/bathroom) when I got her chart, so I didn't see how active she really was in her labour. She had arrived at the clinic around 2:55pm. When she came out of the CR she was saying how "Sakit" or "painful" the contractions were. I took her to the bed to check her vitals. Her facial expressions told me she was active, especially as this was her 4th child, but I kept running through the motions of the routine check.
As I was measuring her fundal height and getting heart tones, the mom (named Hyde - pronounced 'Heidi') gave me a look that said "I need to push". It was now 3:10pm. I asked her where her 'bana' (husband) was and she told me his name was Bernie and he was waiting outside. I ran outside saying to my supervisor, "she wants to push" and called her 'bana' to come in and wash up. Fortunately Ate Susan was still there to explain in Vizian what the father Bernie was to do and got him all in order before delivery.

I headed back to Hyde and proceeded to don some sterile gloves. The waters had ruptured at some point (we didn't know when exactly), but did not 'explode' all over me, which is common here. It was a gentle birth. Hyde laid on the bed, opened her legs and there was already opening with some head visible. She began officially pushing at 3:16pm. I was gloved and ready to go as I knew things were going to be swift. The moment I was sitting at the end of the bed realizing I was at the catchers end, it completely terrified me. My heart was racing, but at the same time I was totally at peace with the entire event. I knew in my heart of hearts that I was exactly where I belonged, doing what I was called to do. It only took eight minutes. I guided the mom to 'ginghawa' (breathe) as the head was emerging. She did amazing!! It was incredible holding the baby's head back as she was guiding the baby out with her breath. I didn't realize how much I'd have to pull the rest of the body out though after the head emerged, but it was quite a tug. There was no cord around the baby's neck, but the baby was large. Fortunately baby emerged causing mom only a skin splint and nothing more. It was amazing!! The thought process going through my head of what it felt like for me at that moment when the little legs were coming out was so vivid. I thought "oh she is so much more relieved feeling those legs come now". We both knew the hardest part was finished. Baby was born at 3:24pm.

As soon as the baby was out, all I could think about was getting that baby to prove it was breathing well. Within less than minute I saw this beautiful baby cry out in it's first breath. I didn't even know at this time the gender. As soon as I had the assurance of life, I brought baby up to mom's abdomen and asked the parents what they had. My wonderful assistant opened the legs and Bernie, the father said in a very straight, stunned voice "a girl...". I soon learned they had three girls at home. I promptly said "now you have four", with a huge grin on my face:-). He was very happy once he got over the shock. It was funny to see his reaction. What a great dad. He was all over getting the bath ready when the time came, washing the plastics after the birth and getting food for his hungry wife. It was beautiful.

I also got to do my first newborn exam. It was great being able to apply what we are learning right now, right after my first catch. It so happened, this HUGE little girl named Jonhy Vine was not happy unless she was attached to her mother's breast from the moment she arrived into the world. I ended up having this beautiful little person yelling at me through the entire exam. I guess she was training me to operate under stress;). I did alright and even got complimented on how I did from my darling supervisor Ate Mayflor.

This birth was amazing. I was so stressed to get to this point and now I'm there things are so much more relaxed. Now I'm a midwife. I will be learning the skills necessary to assist and support women in giving birth on a very different level. The timing was also perfect in that I got the last six hours of the shift to really realize how much paperwork goes into being a midwife. UNBELIEVABLE!!
God is so faithful. I was so afraid of getting my hopes up to catch at this shift, but God brought the right mother for me just like I had asked. Hyde was so grateful after the birth, even after I told her this was my first time catching (after the fact of course). She was so gracious and didn't even bat an eye. I was so honoured to be there for her. What an amazing experience.

Mom and baby are doing very well. Hyde looks like she hasn't had a baby and Johnsy Vine is thriving. I did their first postpartum check-up the following day and will see them again tomorrow for their day three check in. I look forward to seeing them.

My Trip to the Mountains

2007-11-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is Chad providing you all our latest update.

Well I finally did it. I went out on my first trip into the mountains. It was only suppose to be a four-hour car ride and an hour hike, but ended up being quite the adventure. Eight of us, headed up by Mordegai, who has ministered in the mountains of Davao for the past 11 years, started our trip at 4:00am. To start off our journey – while driving through the banana plantations – our tiny open top multi track vehicle was hit by pesticides. No kidding! We saw the plane overhead at the last minute and before we could get the tarp out and up, several of us got hit. I love the smell of pesticides in the morning. That was most enjoyable. Anyway, our trip turned into a five and a half hour drive and a much longer hike. The first delay was met in the river on our way up the mountain. The multi track got through most of the watery crossing. We were just past mid-way when we realized the floor of the river was too muddy to cross over. This now meant we all had to get out into the river to push the vehicle back out to find another route. We had to cross the river individually on foot while Mordegai took the multi track up and over another way. After that it was smooth sailing…kinda;)

The next challenge involved very large mud traps. Again, we had to get out of the vehicle and push with all our might to dislodge it from the mud. This ended up being a very ‘dirty’ job, which happened three or four more times. Twice we had to literally pick up the back end of the multi track to lift it out of mud in order to move it to solid ground. Eventually the time came to abandon the vehicle altogether to begin the hike down the mountain into the village we were going to minister. Because of the amount of physical work we’d already done with our journey so far, we decided to hire a few men to carry the bags of clothes we were bringing to the village down the mountain. I, along with a few others, spent an hour repeatedly falling on our rear-ends down the mountain to finally arrive at the swinging bridge. Now, unlike the Capilano Suspension bridge, this one had large gaps of missing planks. There is nobody to sue out here if you fall into the river. We crossed the bridge safely and arrived at the village very tired.

We bags we had brought contained clothes, medicine and sandals for the villagers. The village was called “Tapikis” and they speak their own dialect, which is different from Visian. The children greeted us enthusiastically and were thrilled as we handed out clothes and sandals. Most of the children didn’t wear sandals. Not because they didn’t want to, but because they couldn’t afford the 50 pesos to buy sandals, nor were they able to travel into the city to purchase them. We played with the children and Mordegai spent part of the morning providing primary health care and doing some teeth pulling. It was such a blessing to be able to bless the people at this village and be a part of the practical application of the Gospel. We also had opportunity to lay hands on the sick and prayed for one man who was deaf and another woman who had stomach pain. The people have so little, yet they fed us noodles and canned fish for lunch. Shortly thereafter we headed back home.

We now had to go back up the way we came, which was no Lynn Valley hike. We eventually made it and were completely exhausted by the end of it all. The hike back up the mountain took about one and a half hours. The trip down the mountain in the vehicle was much smoother than the trip up. The opportunity for me to go on this outreach trip was a remarkable experience.

The Sunday before this trip, I had the opportunity to lead worship and preach for the church split we are attending. It had been a long time, but I was in the groove of the Spirit and didn’t feel like I was in foreign territory. It was a little disconcerting though when at the end of my sermon the people clapped. I found that odd. Naomi and I haven’t committed entirely to the church now that the split has happened. Please keep us in your prayers as we seek God’s Will for this difficult situation.

Naomi continues to do well at her work scoring a 98.7% on her last assignment and doing equally well on her test. She will soon be catching babies and may already have caught her first one by the time you read this letter. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it on the blog. Naomi was also pleased to meet up with one of her continuities who had been missing in action for nearly two months. She had done a prenatal on one woman who ended up finding she had growths on her uterus after an ultrasound. The growths turned out to be of no concern for the pregnancy and she was able to continue her care at Mercy Maternity. Naomi and another student had prayed healing over her body. The tumours are still present, so please keep this woman in your prayers for complete healing. Her name is Rose and she is expecting her first baby in late February.

Jordan and Noah are growing so fast. Jordan fell off the bed the other day. I felt horrible. He is quite capable of moving over the pillows on the bed, so he won’t be left alone there anymore. Noah is becoming very good at negotiating lately and often challenges why we ask him to do one thing or another. He is a very bright boy and a blessing to us.

God has opened a music opportunity for me to play worship in Korea on the 5th of November with Russ Rosen. Please pray that the flights and immigration go smoothly. There are no standard rules for immigration here. You have to pray that you get an immigration officer who woke up on the right side of the bed with a hot coffee in hand in order to get through sometimes.

All in all everything is going well. Our support is still down and we are beginning to feel it. Please be in prayer for that. We are blessed to be keeping you up to date with what is happening in our lives. We love you all and look forward to hearing from each one of you. Do continue to keep in touch with us. You’ll hear from us again toward Christmas, or perhaps sooner.

Pictures to Follow...as soon as I can find them:)

Two Shoulder Dystocia's in a row

2007-10-21T06:14:00.000-07:00

That's right. Right in the middle of my assisting run I encountered two identical scenarios of shoulder dystocia, where the baby's shoulder gets stuck on the mother's pubic bone once the head is out. It was even with the same midwife both times. Each time it left me a little floundering with what to do and fortunately there were some amazing Filipina midwives to jump in and 'come to the rescue'. I am quickly learning about many things involved in the birthroom. Back home I'd only witnessed one shoulder dystocia and it was managed in the hospital by an OB. The babies in both these cases were just fine and did very well. Neither mom had any complications either. I need to remind myself to pray more in those scenarios too. The Filipina's are such a blessing and we are learning so much from them.

Chad did his first sermon on Sunday afternoon at our new 'split' church. We're not sure if it's permanent or not for us to stay, but right now that is where we feel God wants us. The teaching went well and it was great to see Chad doing another part of ministry he is so gifted at. God has opened so many doors and it's exciting to see each of us grow from the experiences. Not all of them are easy though.

I have taken my first continuity and I should be in the catching phase of my training by the time she delivers in January. She is a very sweet girl having her second baby. She is only 16yrs old. I am hoping to have the opportunity to build a good relationship with her and really minister to and get to know her and her family. I saw her briefly yesterday and she'll be back again in 8wks. We've been cutting the number of visits for healthy pregnancies, because we have so many mamas to see. The clinic seems to have been having a birth room blitz lately with as many as six babies being born on one eight hour shift. Considering we only have five birth beds and five postpartum beds, this is quite a lot. It's really funny how it seems to have seasons of being really slow and seasons of being just insane.

Our kids are doing great. Ken-ken and Noah love playing together and the dog is getting more exercise too with them running around. Jordan is so content and just adorable. I do miss them with school keeping me so busy. They will be little for only a short time.

Life is Crazy

2007-09-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Now September has come into full swing both Chad and I are VERY busy. School is full-time for me and I literally will spend an entire day on my assignment and only finish about 1/4 of a question. When there's 14 of them it's a slow-going process. I spend many of my days with my newfound study-buddy Medea in the coffee shop. We have fun together and get lots done too.

Chad is making connections with other ministries and will be getting to know some other church plant leaders in the community. Music doors are opening for Chad and the worship pastor at 'All Nations Church' helped Chad find a guitar at a pawn shop. He got a great deal for it and been great hearing him practice regularly. Chad's playing has improved by leaps and bounds.

The birthroom has been great. Presently the marrieds with kids have only been scheduled for one shift a week, mainly to help us keep our sanity with the assignments. It is a blessing, but I'm itching to get into the birthroom more. The ladies in scrubs are my birthroom and clinic teammates. The cute short Filipina at the left is Mayflor my supervisor, the Filipina in the middle is Jane & the blonde on the right is Janelle, who is my classmate. We had a great time singing songs together with the guitar that evening and we had two wonderful mama's give birth. One of the babies unfortunately had to be transferred because of difficulty breathing after the delivery. He turned out to be fine though and was released from the hospital the next day. I am moving along well with things and will be able to assist in the deliveries soon, which is the final step before 'handling' or baby catching:) I'm getting very excited.

Teaching sessions have begun and I've already taught one Labour & Delivery class and one Breastfeeding class. The breastfeeding was great and the moms had a fantastic time. Turned out Jordan needed to be fed just as I was about to teach positions for feeding. Very convenient. This got lots of stares and giggles from the mamas in class. We had so much fun. It was the first time I really saw them actively participate in the discussion.

God has been so faithful to us over these months here. There have been some spiritual struggles, which is to be expected on the mission field, but amidst the struggles God's purpose for us always shines through. We are learning a lot here in the Philippines. Sometimes the journey is lonely, but we are beginning to make strong friendships. We are praying for the Lord to continue bringing the right people into our lives. He's also opening the doors for us to minister to the locals. One of those dear to our heart is our helper Lea. Chad and I prayed for some time about having her son move in with us. It was just this week we really felt God wanted this move to happen, so on October 8th Ken-Ken will be moving into our home and joining our family. He will be five on October 5th and I'm sure he and Noah will hit it off beautifully. Our helper Lea is ecstatic and we are thrilled for this opportunity to support her family and positively influence the relationship between her and her son.

Let me just get through this first assignment...

2007-09-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

...then I can get some new pictures up. Things are CRAZY busy, but good. There will be a better update in a week, but for now school has begun, the homework has started and the remainder of our classmates arrived safe and sound. We have much to share and look forward to getting the new info out soon.

Blessings to you all.

No label for this post

2007-08-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today we went for a swim at Linnmarr pool. It was my first time and Chad's second time at this place. It was nice. Not busy at all and Noah went under the water for the first time today. We were so proud of him. Jordan did too.

Things have been going well. We're still working on getting settled, but things are coming together. We finally got most of the insulation in our place. This will make a HUGE difference for us in the temperature of our home. There was nothing between our metal roof and the ceiling. It got very hot in our house. This new addition should help to lower our electricity bill.

Chad and I will be going to a church I checked out last week called "New Wineskins Fellowship". Chad was sick last week, so I took the kids out of the house to check out this church we'd passed by a few times. I was pleased to arrive to a completely Filipino church. We were the only white folks in the place. The people were very welcoming and invited us to join them for their community lunch after. I had a great time with the kids, so Chad will come this Sunday and hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I did. One thing Chad and I are looking for is a church which is Filipino, not North American. It turns out this church I stumbled upon was founded by a Filipino pastor, who is also a missionary and presently in Indonesia doing missions work. The services are completely in Cebuano, but the speaker was very accommodating by trying to interpret in English for us too. It should be interesting to see how they respond to us this Sunday. Hopefully we will learn the language much more quickly now we may be attending a Cebuano service.

Next week will be my last week before school begins. September 7th will be when all the single students arrive, then the following Monday is when we begin orientation. I look forward to meeting the nine girls next Friday. We have all been warned by not only the directors, but also the existing students on the intensity of the program. I have heard rumor I should spend about 6hrs/day minimum on homework EVERY day. Should be fun:)

Chad is meeting a Christian musician today for coffee to try and get connected into the music scene here in Davao. Please pray this is an open door for Chad to get playing again. He's itching to play and I'm itching to hear him play again. We are so blessed by his talent and I look forward to sharing his gift with the Filipino people. We'll keep you all up-to-date on this as it unfolds.

Durian, Prenatals & Buzz Cuts

2007-08-19T23:25:00.000-07:00

Durian. The "King of Fruits". Not the king in our books though. Last week Chad and I finally were brave enough to go to the market and buy our first durian. We invited Manny & Heather over (two avid Durian lovers I might add) to be our inspiration. For those of you who've never had it before, it has a cream cheese texture and a garlic after-taste. We were informed that we had actually bought quite a sweet one, but I couldn't bring myself to finish even one pod. The fruit surrounds a seed and a cluster of seeds grow in sections of the fruit. The closest comparison I can come to with the compartmentalization of the fruit is a pomegranate. By the time we came around to eating it we had already put the fruit outside as it was soooooo STINKY!! Another admiring trait of durian. It was a good experience we most likely won't be having again.

I was finally able to get a picture of me working during a prenatal session. The picture you see is me palpating the belly of one of our moms at the clinic. This mom was 32wks along and expecting her first baby. She was very kind to allow me to take her picture and very excited about her baby's arrival. I was able to get at this visit an indirect continuity. A continuity is when you work with a mom prenatally through to postpartum and newborn checks. Like being a doula I would be on-call for this particular mom when she goes into labour. This woman captured my heart when I was measuring her fundal height and she measured 11cm larger than her dates had indicated. She was only 11wks along according to her last period, but measured 22cm. When I went to palpate her belly I could feel a mass under her ribs, but couldn't find heart-tones. I had one of the other students work with me on her case to confirm my findings and we referred her to get an ultrasound done to see if her dates were accurate, or even if there was a viable pregnancy there. The mom went to see the ultrasound tech that day and came back later that evening with her results. The ultrasound ended up confirming there was a 12wk 2day pregnancy, but three huge masses on the top of her uterus. We prayed for healing with this mom and strongly encouraged her to visit ASAP with the Obstetrician to see what all this would mean for her. Honestly we did not expect to see her return, but a few days later I was informed that the OB said she could continue under the care of Mercy Maternity. I was so excited. Hopefully I will be seeing this mom again on Wednesday. Please keep her in your prayers and I will keep you up to date on what happens with her.

Noah got a buzz cut and he believes he looks like Buzz Lightyear. He does, doesn't he? He really likes his haircut and so does Jordan. Jordan is still sporting a 'hawk and is growing very well. Nearly 11lbs now. Considering he was only 5lbs 10oz at birth he's just trucking along. The boys are doing well and they enjoy playing together and making each other laugh. Noah is such a great big brother!

Nasuli & our New Puppy

2007-08-05T23:48:00.000-07:00

Greetings. Chad and I had the opportunity to get away with all the married families at Newlife last week for a four day trip to Nasuli. Nasuli is an all but deserted missionary compound which was used for translators. The compound is four hours away from Davao City and it was just beautiful. All of the families stayed in one very large house and the children had a wonderful time. All 14 of them:) The compound was fully gated, so the kids could run free. There was a playground within view, a basketball court and volleyball net. There was even a fresh water spring we could all go swimming in just outside of the compound. The water was defined as "cold" by all the veteran Filipinos, but us newbies found it to be quite refreshing. This swimming spot was also the bathing spot for many of us. We did bonfires and smorse in the evening and the marrieds got to go for dinner one night and leave the kids behind thanks to our amazing helpers. It was nice not having any worries while we were there.

When we returned we were nailed with illness. One of the poor kids even came down with measles. Noah was ill with a cold and cough prior to us leaving, but then the rest of us got sick too. We've all gotten better now and are settling into a routine.

Noah began his first day of school on August 1st. He is in a program called 'Project Hope', which is one of the government funded schools. The school is located right by the Barungay office and is the school many of the upper-lower to middle class send their children. Chad and I had looked into other more expensive schools, but not one of them taught the native language Cebuano or even Tagalog. We really want to see Noah become immersed in the culture here and so far Noah loves his school. He goes for two and a half hours Monday to Friday and he is doing very well, especially with being the youngest one there. His teacher is so sweet and does very well with the children.

On August 2nd Chad and I had our four year wedding anniversary. We were both sick, but we treated ourselves to a beautiful lab puppy. Her name is Sheba and she is 3mos old. She is very well behaved and very smart. We've had two accident free days in a row and we've only had her for four. She is very content and has a gentle disposition. We are so glad she's joined our family.

Chad and I continue to settle in and learn the language here. We love the people here and really look forward to what God has in store for us. As the weeks approach for school to being I am finding myself more and more excited about our calling to serve these women for the time we're here. God is so good to us and He has exceeded our expectations for what He has in store for our lives. Please continue with your prayers for our family in all aspects of our lives.

The first Grads of Newlife

2007-07-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delayed post. We had our first graduation for Newlife International School of Midwifery on July 12th, 2007. The first grad you ask?? Yes the first grad and we had the honour of being a part of it all. Because of a separation of Mercy Maternity from Mercy in Action, the actual 'Mercy Maternity Clinic' has been around for 15yrs, but Newlife is the new school which has come from the separation. It was a neat feeling to be able to be a part of that. Chad and I even provided the snacks:)

It was a great night of celebration for the seven girls who graduated. Each and every one of them graduated with over a 90% average. They've really set the bar high for us. We ate traditional Filipino cuisine at a poolside and the grads threw the director into the pool toward the end of the night. Noah and Jordan both took advantage of the swimming too with daddy.

Today we got baby number three in our care today. Another little boy. He is a sweetie with no name yet. We're calling him Fil Jr.

We began language lessons for Visian this week. Tomorrow we have our second lesson. Chad is picking it up beautifully. I've got a bit of a phobia to learning languages, but I'm hoping with working in the clinics and birthroom I'll be picking it up quickly. We are hoping to maintain lessons twice each week and Chad wants to be fluent by the time we leave here in three years or so.

Not much else is happening. We're enjoying each day and working more on becoming settled. I was finally able to get a thorough tour of the clinic and quickly realized how much this clinic relies upon donations. They are lacking in some things such as reusable blue pads, suturing supplies, sterile gloves and non-latex gloves. They are also in desperate need of new dopplers. If anyone is keen to send a donation or specific supplies to the clinic please do so. Simply email me at ngbjorgan@gmail.com and I will be sure to provide a mailing address for any cheques or supplies. Any and all donations would be greatly appreciated.

They made it in one piece

2007-07-09T04:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that Tim and Bethany Stewart arrived to join us here in Davao. We met them at the airport with the Germains and Matt, then took them out for lunch to Victoria Mall. They were tired, but running on adrenaline like we did. They should sleep well tonight and be wide awake at 4am:) The joys of time change!

It turns out the Stewart's had a very easy time going through immigration in Manila. An answer to prayer. It also turns out they had been wondering why their car hadn't sold yet and at the 11th hour God came through with a couple from the church who had gone away, then wanted to know if the car was still available. Not only that they paid over their asking price, just to bless them on their journey over. God's timing, although sometimes challenging, is so good!!

Our official orientation for Newlife for us married folk will be on Friday. We are looking forward to it as it will allow us to all get back into the clinic. We've been taken out for this week until everyone (meaning the Stewart's) arrived. We will hopefully be back on rotation by next week. We'll keep you posted.

Orange House Dedication

2007-07-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Last night we had the housewarming party and dedication of the new house the single girls moved into. The big move had taken place the previous Saturday. It was a gift from God that the clinic was able to acquire this house as it was only 6mos old. It turns out the owners are immigrating to Canada. For the housewarming Chad was asked to lead worship. He did so well leading from guitar. It's great to see Chad being used in his giftings here in Davao. You see Matt, the director of Newlife being Chad's music stand:) I was also able to get some of the Filipino midwives and workers to pose for the photo op too. It was a very blessed time.

Earlier in the day Jenn & Jo, the family with seven kids, came to visit and borrow some of our internet. Part of the move was their family moving into one of the dorm houses the girls moved out of. Because of this, they are now without internet and may be now for quite some time. Like I said before, things don't move fast here in Davao, so it could be at least another week or two before they get connected. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them in the next while:)

Last night was also my first night shift. There was one birth taking place. This mom was having her third baby and had been labouring for quite some time. When it came time to push it turned out she had an anterior lip of cervix holding things up. Once it was moved away by one of my classmates out came a beautiful and not very small baby girl. Mom did terrific and she didn't even tear. Delivery of the placenta was smooth and easy too. It was great to see such a straight forward birth take place. I only have one more observe, then I'm onto the next step of charting.

It turns out many of the births at the clinic have hemorrhaging because of poor diet and low iron. The staple diet in the Philippines among the poor is white rice w/ some sort of meat or vegetable broth. Not very conducive to growing big healthy babies and getting iron. Some of the women deliberately stop eating enough at the end of their pregnancies because of the 'fear' of having a large baby. There is a great lack of education around prenatal health. I look forward to working with the other women at the clinic to create further awareness.

My First Clinic Day

2007-07-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

With two babies in hand I showed up late to my clinic, but made it in one piece. I had time to sing worship with the pregnant mama's and then started by observing one prenatal with a second year student named Carmen. She then "threw me into it" by having me palpate for baby's position, measure fundal height, listen to heart tones with the fetoscope (much more difficult than the doppler) and answer questions. The women are so wonderful and have no problem allowing a 'newbie' try things out on them. There was only one position I was unable to identify, but many heart tones I was unable to catch. I pray God will tune my ears to pick them up quickly as they are not loud with this instrument.

Tonight we have the single girls housewarming party at the 'orange' house. It should be fun. We're also counting down the days that Tim and Bethany arrive. We are really looking forward to them joining us. God has been so good bringing all of us out here. We are excited to see all of our new classmates.

Well, no new babies have come through. I'll be pulling my first night shift here tonight. I do hope it's a busy birth night. Only two more births to do before I start charting. Let you know how it goes:)

Waking to Songs of Praise!

2007-07-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Every weekday morning Chad and I have the honour of hearing the women next door sing praise in their prenatal class. They are so sweet and love singing. I will be starting prenatals tomorrow morning in the clinic and look forward to joining them in their praises.

Last night we received baby number two to feed. Mom was transferred for blood loss. We still haven't heard what is happening with this beautiful little girl presently in our care, but we're assuming at this point she'll be staying another night. The picture you see is of our first little boy we took care of eating in tandem with Jordan. Jordan is so kind for sharing:)

I'm sure many of you know this, but NOTHING moves quickly in the Philippines. It was only today we finally got set-up online. The next step will be setting up a phone line on the internet. It's nice to be entering this blog at our home.

Official Resident Wet-nurse

2007-06-28T01:15:00.000-07:00

Well I've seen two births, one which was smooth and easy, the second also smooth until the placenta was delivered, then there was hemorrhaging like I've never seen before. The mom was a first time mom and she pushed like a PRO. She had such control, then it totally went sideways at the end, right down to getting a 3rd degree tear because of baby's hand being up by his face, to needing a transfer the following morning for severely low blood pressure. The hospital these poor women get transferred to is rumoured to be just AWFUL. The midwives and students hate having moms get transferred, but we cannot send them anywhere else, because they can't afford the care. The clinic does everything in its power to keep moms and babies with them, but sometimes there is no other way.

The case of the wet-nurse title came when I had one of the midwives ring our doorbell this morning with a babe in her arms who was less than 1hr old. This little boy's mom had to be transferred for retained placenta, and he was hungry. I happily took him and gave him second best to his mom's colostrum. He ate very well and got his fill. Hopefully this little babe will be reunited to his mom soon.

Noah and Jordan are adjusting very well and Noah is making lots of new friends with the two families already in Davao for their training at Newlife. Both Chad and I are very excited about the families we've met and look forward to the arrival of Tim and Bethany from Vancouver. They will be arriving on July 9th. It's been interesting to learn that all of us are on the same page in our walk with Christ and we will be starting up some sort of small group during the week so we can grow and encourage each other on this amazing journey God has placed all of us on.

Tomorrow will be my first 'shift' at the clinic. I'll be there from 6am - 2pm. Hopefully it'll be busy. I have three more births to observe before I'm allowed to start charting. They really throw you into things here. It's an amazing place to learn.

God's Favour, Colourful Streets and Some of the Craziest Driving We've Ever Seen

2007-06-14T04:14:00.000-07:00

Well we made it in one piece!! We are in Davao and WOW what an experience. Our flights went very smoothly and immigration was a breeze. We couldn't have it be ABSOLUTELY perfect, so we did include a pee accident on our flight as well as pooping on the change mat mid-air to Manila. All our luggage arrived intact and our stroller even made it with hardly a scratch. Both Noah and Jordan did marvelous on the flights and Noah got a tour of the cockpit during our domestic flight to Davao.

When we arrived Jenn, Jo and their troupe of seven children, along with Matt the director of the school were there to meet us outside. We had our first cultural experience with two porters at the airport who took our luggage for us, then awaited payment. Of course Chad didn't have anything smaller than $5US, but Matt stepped in and made sure they were paid "appropriately". He explained that if we had paid them the $5US we would have been giving them roughly two days wages. These porters are famous for targeting tourists and will even go so far as to make claims for charges which don't even exist.

Once the porters were paid their rightful amount we all piled into the truck (well not all of us, but us four and Matt) and headed to Matt & Krys' home about 20mins away. The drivers there are CRAZY. People tailgating, cutting in front of each other within inches, honking your horn to cut in front of oncoming two lane traffic to make a left turn, etc. Pedestrians I have learned, have no right of way, but if a driver hits one he/she is fully responsible for their medical bills as well as lost wages. In some ways it makes sense how they "just drive" here, but it certainly would not translate well in our Canadian culture.

When we arrived at the McNeil's home they immediately made us feel very welcome and expressed they want us to relax as much as possible and take our time moving into our place. We did get to see our new home. It is very nice with stone floors and rich mahogany trim. I am looking forward to getting settled. We are also literally 10 steps from the clinic. I got a tour of the clinic and was pleasantly surprised at how large it was. It's certainly not BC Women's, but they have quite a bit of space. I am welcome to get started on rotations as soon as I feel ready and I'm feeling pretty keen to get started, but I also know I need to relax and take things one step at a time.

This evening the single students invited our whole family over for a dinner with them. We were served Indian food and it was delicious. It was great to hear the stories of how things run at the clinic and how they enjoy the program. There has been nothing but praise for the school and how it's run. Everyone expresses it is a lot of work and quite intense, but they really enjoy it.

God has been so good in our process to get here. With the families coming in for this semester we know God has some exciting things in store for all of us this year. Both Chad and I look forward to drawing closer to him in this calling He has put on our lives.

Four More Sleeps

2007-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

We're four sleeps away from our flight to Davao City, Philippines. Preparations seem to be falling into place and God has given us so much Grace to get through this time. Both Chad and I are looking forward to arriving to the Philippines for some much needed rest. We'll get about 2 1/2mos of rest before school starts. It'll be interesting to see how we adapt to this new culture we're going into. I do hope to be on clinic rotations though to get some experience and get into the flow of things before the 'back-to-school' shock I anticipate I may go through.

The boys have been doing very well. Noah is a little confused about why we can't go home, but he's settling in nicely at Papa and Grandma B's house.

Our support is coming together. On June 2nd we had our benefit concert with Russ Rosen, Chris Janz, Badgentina & the Wildings. It was a great show and we brought in a few more monthly donors as well as more one-time gifts to get our initial expenses met. We still have a little ways to go, but we Trust the Lord's provision for this calling. We've come so far already. His favour seems to be all over this calling and we've been blessed by so many people we both know and don't know.

Once we arrive to Davao we'll have a whole new story to tell. We'll be keeping you all up-to-date.

It's Official

2007-05-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

This morning the passports arrived for Chad, Noah and I, and Jordan and I picked up his passport this afternoon. I guess now that we have our passports and our tickets that means we're really leaving for the Philippines!! I better get workin' on the house some more.

Poor Noah had the peak of his cold today and didn't fare so well at the daycare. He only lasted half the day and dad got called to pick him up. I did get to spend some wonderfully precious time with him though this evening. While Jordan was sleeping we had noodles and cheese for dinner, a water fight in the bath, cake, and story. The evening was ended in play time with daddy before bed. I love my Noah. He's so sweet. He is learning so much and growing so fast. He makes me laugh every day. I'm sure he'll love the Philippines and will have no problem making friends.

'hawks Rock!!

2007-05-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just like his brother did, Jordan sports a mohawk! Proud to say we have a pretty cool kid with a pretty cool doo. Jordan has been doing so well and is eating A LOT!! Noah adores him and constantly is shoving his face in Jordan's. We do need to keep a close eye on the two of them together.

This week has been full of blessings for us. We have had more donations come in and we have had a Waldorf Daycare offer us a spot for Noah two days a week at no charge while we prepare over these last three weeks for our big move. Noah had his first full day at the daycare today and had a WONDERFUL time. He came home so happy and full of energy. It has been hard not being able to have the time to get him out of the house, so this generous opportunity has literally been a Godsend. This will allow us to get lots accomplished while he's away, then we can focus the other days more on him.

Today I spent the day informing relevant parties of our change of address from our home to Chad's parents home. I also got caught up on some more packing work and online work. I did try to buy the rest of my midwifery supplies, but the vendor and I were playing phone tag. Hopefully tomorrow we can get that taken care of. Even though it didn't feel terribly productive, it turned out to be quite a productive day.

Noah is such a good boy and so full of grace. He is sensing the upcoming changes and is doing very well. I can tell Jordan is picking up on our stress levels too. He is needier and likes to be held more. I have found our new 'cuddly wrap' to be a HUGE help. Jordan loves it and will sleep for hours against my chest. It frees me to do lots of work and pay attention to Noah too. Gotta love modern carriers going back to how it was done in the old days:).

Chaos, Mastitis & Postpartum Blues

2007-04-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

The house looks like a tornado ran through it and both Chad and I don't even know where to start. The worst part of the job will be pricing everything we have for sale. It truly is amazing how much one collects even only in a few years. Chad and I are pleased with how little we're emotionally attached to. Our focus is to get to the Philippines now and we will use whatever we have to meet that goal. At the same time we want to be cautious to not get rid of things too hastily and keep the things we truly treasure.

Well at the three week mark of Jordan's birth I got nailed with a smokin' case of Mastitis. Some say it will broaden my experience for when I become a midwife, and some say it is an attack of the enemy. I agree with both statements. The blues hit hard when I was putting make-up on in the van on week three and one day as Chad, my doula Tracy and myself were driving to Abbotsford for a Breast Cancer Tea fundraiser. Here I am putting blush on and I start crying for no reason at all. I then promptly laughed at myself, which is also what I did when I had my crash day after Noah's birth.

Chad and are so close to leaving now and the amount which needs to be done is at this point seems overwhelming. I know we will pull it off with God's grace and annointing of productivity. Everything will come through.

Keep us in your prayers.

11 Days Postpartum

2007-04-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Our little Jordan is doing very well. He is a delight. We're 11 days now after the birth and life has been getting back into busy mode. We had our first two nights to 'nest in' with Jordan while Noah stayed at Papa & Grandma Bjorgan's house. Noah had a great time, was spoiled rotten and we enjoyed the peace and quiet. Both Chad and I were ready for him to return though after two days. We missed him very much.

Noah had a period of adjustment four days after the birth, which totally caught us off guard. With the foster babies we had no problems with him adjusting, but Noah realized this baby was different somehow and didn't respond entirely well to it. We had some pee 'accidents' on Easter Sunday and Monday, but since then it's been good. Noah is very gentle with Jordan and loves showing him his toys. One big hit, was Jordan got Noah a new Buzz Lightyear doll. Jordan is definitely in the good books with him now:). As some of you know Buzz is Noah's favourite superhero. Noah really is a wonderful big brother. Jordan is very fortunate to have him around.

It was surprising to me how little emotional adjustment there was this time with having Jordan. What a difference from the first time. I guess once you've had a baby your body remembers the hormonal roller-coaster it had the first time and takes things more in stride. It has made it easier to deal with all we're managing.

We have only 8wks or so before we leave for Davao City, Philippines and we have a lot to do. I'm trying to make lists of what needs to get done, but some days it seems overwhelming. I don't know where to start. Please pray for swift order in our home and quick progress for our organizing tasks. With a second baby in the picture we need to be more diligent and plan efficiently.

I did go over our financial picture in our Newlife preperations with Chad today and both Chad and I are amazed at how far we've come. We've nearly accomplished half of what our target goal is in the last two months. We have two more months to go and we have faith and confidence God is going to see this through to the end. This calling is certainly a challenge of our faith. God is so faithful. He is the Great Provider!

Jordan Has Arrived

2007-04-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

Jordan Levi Bjorgan finally made his long awaited arrival on Tuesday April 3rd, 2007 at 6:05pm. My labour began around 9am on this beautiful, warm Vancouver sunny day. At first I was thinking it might be another preterm start that would die out, but by 12pm I was realizing the contractions weren't getting weaker, although they weren't quite patterned yet either. Chad was out that morning at the weekly pastoral meeting at our church, then had a few errands to run after that. I kept in touch with him on the phone and told him it looked like today was the day!! I spent the day working around the house to get it tidied up before the birth and I set Noah down for his afternoon nap, so I could get even more accomplished. By this point it was around 2pm and I got some more solid signs of delivery being imminent. One of the signs was I enjoyed the ball in front of the sunny window and "needed" to be there every time a contraction came. By 4pm when Chad arrived home things took a good turn. My contractions were very strong and they were now coming nearly five minutes apart, but were still short. Being GBS + I knew it would be good to have the midwife come sooner, rather than later to give me my IV Penicillin, so she said she was on her way. We then called our birth team to head over. Traffic at this time in Vancouver is NOT GOOD, so by the time everyone did finally arrive I was feeling a bit anxious for the extra help. We had my amazing Doula Tracy, and dear friends Bethany, Carolyn and Carmen present. Tracy was much needed physical support to me and Bethany was amazing practical and prayer support. Carolyn was another one on the prayer team and made sure this amazing event was caught on tape. Carmen was our brilliant photographer and another prayer warrior for this incredible birth.

Bethany was the first to arrive, so we got her working on decorating Jordan's birthday cake. I had made the lemon cream cheese icing, then became 'fed up' with knowing if it tasted right or not, so Bethany came to the rescue and assured me it was great. The next to arrive was Carmen and by this point I was in the tub and my contractions were coming very fast. She immediately started taking photos, some of which you are seeing here.

My doula Tracy and Carolyn, with 6wk old baby Donovan arrived next. I think it was around 5:25pm. I was in the tub and my labour at this point was very intense. Around 5:30pm my midwife arrived and she came in to see me and asked if she should just call in the second midwife. I told her "yes"! Our midwife didn't even get time to give the hospital a heads-up on the birth and had barely enough time to set up her equipment. The IV penicillin wasn't going to happen. At 5:45pm I got out of the tub and at 5:50pm my waters broke, SPLAT, up against the bathroom wall. I then began feeling pushy. Tracy got me back into the tub and we were calling Chad over, because I was pushing without question!!

While in the tub I wasn't comfortable. Because things were moving so quickly the pool wasn't quite ready yet either, but I made the decision to move to the pool anyway to give us more room and be more comfortable myself. It didn't take long and at 6:05pm (15mins after the waters broke) with Graham Ord's "Praise the Lord oh my Soul" playing in the background, our little baby boy Jordan was born. I was on my hands and knees, guiding out his head and he was caught by Chad with some assistance by Sarah our wonderful midwife. It was an amazing and very God breathed experience. My birthing team was incredible!! All of them. Our second midwife Terry Lyn arrived about 10mins after the birth. When everything was settled Jordan was weighed in at a whopping 5lbs 10oz. The entire experience was more than I could have asked for. God is so good and certainly knows the desires of mine and my husband's hearts.

Thank you to everyone again for all your prayers.

Still Waiting

2007-04-02T06:05:00.000-07:00

It's official!! This will be an April baby. We're four days overdue now and still awaiting our little boy's arrival. I've got the house all ready to go and now I just feel like I'm waiting for labour to start. Often by the end of the day I find myself bored and somewhat frustrated things haven't gotten going. We're praying for a morning start and evening finish. Wouldn't that be convenient?

Besides waiting for baby, this week has been fairly good. Chad was quite sick, which wasn't so great, but we were blessed with some of our monthly support coming in. The timing couldn't have been better. God is so gracious and full of many surprises. We've now come to $660 of our required monthly support with only about $1000 to go and then we'll have met our goal!!

It occurred to me just yesterday we only have about 10wks before we leave for the Philippines. I put it into perspective by telling Chad that it will pass as quickly as going from 30 - 40wks of pregnancy, if not faster. That's rather scary!! We're getting quite excited though and things are moving along. Once this little baby arrives we'll be sending out another batch of letters to all our friends and family along with the birth announcement.

We look forward to our next post including a picture of our little baby.

Baby's Coming Soon!!

2007-03-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

I'm 39wks along today and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our precious baby boy. We're doing what we can to prepare Noah for witnessing baby's arrival and I'm busy nesting and getting the house all ready for the birth. I even went so far as to take Q-Tips to the grooves in the window sills to clean them out. Yup, baby will be coming into a clean house:)

On Tuesday, BC Women's top perinatologist saw our growth ultrasound from that day and told us we don't need to worry about returning for further checks on baby. He is doing very well and is completely normal. He no longer has any sign of assymetrical IUGR. God is so good!

Our plans for the Philippines are still chugging along slowly, but surely. We have our house lined up and we have our furniture moved in (thanks to the incredible directors of Newlife). We're still praying for the money to come together to book our plane tickets and get our first semester of tuition. We trust God will handle that for us. There are many other odds and ends which need to be met also, but God is having money show up in the mail and presenting us with surprise donors too. It's incredible to see how He provides for our needs and the calling He's placed on our lives.

Baby is Growing Well

2007-03-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

Both Chad and I have been so much more at ease now that we have had confirmation that baby is growing well. The OB and our midwives have said we can go forward with our homebirth plans and now that we're at 37wks we're in the clear. We praise God this news has come to us. The worry is now over.

Last night Chad had a HUGE gig which holds much potential for our future. I will post pictures soon. It was with Colin Janz, an amazingly versatile musician. Chad's drumming as usual was superb. It was a showcase for private investors and we should have a better idea of how this will affect us hopefully in a week or two. We'll let you know:).

The News Was Good!!

2007-03-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Today we saw the OB and she was happy with how healthy baby seemed to be and even admitted all of this fuss could possibly be due to genetics. Amniotic fluid levels were perfect, she said his physical profile was perfect and he was growing well. The belly is still small, but she agreed I didn't have to go to non-stress tests twice per wk. We compromised at once per week with the continuation of follow-up growth ultrasounds once every two weeks. She said as long as the midwives were comfortable with it, we could proceed with a homebirth. HOORAY!! PRAISE GOD!! The OB also did an ultrasound in her office and she got a wonderful angle of baby's face. He was opening and closing his mouth drinking the fluid. He was very happy and active. This pleased all of us. He is very cute, but I'm biased:)

Thank you for all your prayers. Please pray his growth continues at the same rate.

We Wait with Great Anticipation

2007-03-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

This night has been so slow. I even sent Noah to bed at 7pm absolutely sure it was after 8pm. Tomorrow is a big day for Chad and I. We see the OB to discuss what is happening with baby and how she feels about how the birth should proceed. We are praying she will say everything is fine and we can plan our homebirth, but she may want to induce as a worst case scenario. We have to trust God is in control. I feel like I've grown a lot and I know the baby has been doing well and is very active inside. He is definitely more busy than Noah was at this time. I will post the outcome tomorrow.

Update on Baby

2007-02-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

After our visit with the midwife yesterday the news was about the same. The good news is baby is growing, but the bad news is his little belly is still in the 6th percentile. We need to get it to the 10th at minimum. I have to continue my non-stress tests, ultrasound follow-ups and OB consult. This may or may not hinder us in having a home birth. It all depends on whether or not the OB feels baby is doing well. If so, home birth should be fine, but if not they will need to induce me to get baby out and get him nourished from the outside by me. The other good news is there are no long-term negative effects on the baby from having this growth problem in-utero.

Please continue with the prayers.

A Test of our Faith

2007-02-19T22:36:00.000-08:00

Well, God is putting our faith to the test right now. The day I came home from my first non-stress test for baby (which he passed with flying colours) , I found out our little foster baby had been found a new home. First of all, we're going to miss this little one terribly. He's been with us since he was 9days old and is now 6mos. He's been a joy and a blessing for our entire family. Secondly, we didn't anticipate the placement happening so quickly as it is very hard to find baby homes. Thirdly, we are now out of a job, which we had hoped to hold until May 15th, 2007.

I know this is God's timing for us with the news of our little baby not yet born, as well as that fact our foster baby has been placed into a native-approved Christian home, which is what we had been praying for. We just need to trust God's provision for us at this time and know He has gotten us this far in our finances and will see our calling to missions through to the end. Prayers of support are greatly appreciated at this time, especially as I am to be resting to fatten our little one up. This added financial stress does not make for good rest. Please pray for God's peace for our whole family.

The Interpretation of One is Not Neccessarily the Same as that of Another

2007-02-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday late afternoon we got a call from the midwife about our ultrasound and her prognosis was not as optimistic as the tech who did the ultrasound. She is concerned about the size of baby's abdominal cavity compared to his head and so now I'm lined up with close observation at BC Women's going through ultrasound scans, non-stress tests and even an OB consult. I have also been ordered to SLOW DOWN!! We are making the best of this stressful situation. The baby is moving about very well and I would consider him to be very active. Maybe he keeps on burning off his dinners?? Anyway, we now are trying to line up help around the house and we are asking all those willing to just pray for the growth of our little one. The worst case scenario is they will need to deliver baby early if he is not 'thriving' in utero. Best case is they realize there's been an error with technology, baby is growing well and everything can go back to normal. We are praying to have a home birth, but if baby needs greater intervention I have peace to have this little one at the hospital.

Hi Baby!!

2007-02-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

This morning was hectic, getting a two year old, six month old, husband and myself out the door by 7:30am to make it to our ultrasound appointment. We made it just in the nick of time and got set-up shortly after arrival at St. Paul's Hospital. The technician we had was very nice and used a doula with the birth of his daughter 19mos ago. He seemed quite intrigued with what we were doing too with our move to the Philippines. Anyway, we looked at baby, saw the child was definitely a "he" and also found out he is perfectly healthy, proportionate and petite. The amniotic levels were good and all was well as far as he was concerned. They figured baby was roughly 3lbs 10oz at this stage with a margin of error of 8oz either end. It was a huge relief to know things were fine and I wouldn't have to go on bed rest.

Thank you Lord!!

Baby Whatchya Doin'?

2007-02-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Today I had my 33wk midwifery appointment and our little one is measuring small for dates. This didn't help my stress levels with all we have on the go. This now means another ultrasound on Friday morning to see what's going on. It is possible the baby could be lying more sideways, than up and down (even though his head is down), but we'll need to wait and see. Prayers at this time would be helpful. IF baby is small for dates, then that means I'll have to go on bed rest, which should be interesting with a two year old and a 6month old on my hands, as well as everything else. We'll wait and see. I'll let you all know what happens on Friday after the ultrasound.

Missionary Letters are On Their Way!!

2007-02-05T21:53:00.000-08:00

HOORAY!! The HUGE job of putting together our first missionary letter is finally finished. We got them out in the mail today (all 180) and it felt soooo good. We'll trust God's hand on our calling and we look forward to seeing what comes of them:). Lots of work to do still so I gotta go.

God's Provision is Raining upon us

2007-02-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

This has been a fabulous few days since our last post. We sold quite a bit of our baby stuff we had for sale and now we've been able to pick up the Phil and Ted's stroller. Perfect for our ever growing family and compact enough to take on the plane to the Philippines!! We're so pleased. I've wanted this stroller for about 2yrs. We still have more to get rid of, but it's happening. We also sold a beautiful bed a friend donated to us in less than 24hrs after posting it on Craigslist at exactly the asking price we wanted. We now have enough money to get our mailouts sent in the next few days. PRAISE GOD!! It feels like every day we're getting closer and closer to where we need to be. We're just praying now our February 14th benefit dinner will fill up. If not, then we'll trust God has something else up His sleeve for us. He has come through every time so far.

The start of our journey

2007-01-29T21:44:00.000-08:00

In December 2006 I was accepted to the Newlife International School of Midwifery. My husband, 2 year old son and unborn child will be flying to the Philippines in June of this year. Our lives are about to dramatically change. This has been the hand of God on our lives and a dream come true for me. We are about to embark upon a missionary journey, which is beyond our wildest imaginations. We will not only be working as missionaries while I train, but we will also be planting safe birthing centres throughout the developing world with India as our first stop after graduation. We have a tonne of work to do between now and the time we leave, but with the Lord's grace and provision we will accomplish it all.