July Update

Dear Friends and Family,

This will be the last email/newsletter you receive from me while I am still in the Philippines. My time here is quickly drawing to a close, and God is moving me forward with eagerness and anticipation for what the next year holds.

Last Friday was a big day – I took the final exam along with 5 other girls on my team and we all passed it with flying colors! Thank you so much to all those who were faithfully praying. I know that a huge part of the reason why I did so well was the prayers you all were offering up on my behalf for peace and retention of the things I had studied over the last two years. Later that day, I worked night shift, 10pm-6am with two of my teammates and my supervisor Sister Ermie. I caught the first baby which was a hard birth, and the baby was transported to the government hospital for respiratory distress (but praise God – he is doing great now, and I saw the whole family yesterday at a baby check up). Then, Tiffany caught a baby which went well and the birthroom got quiet. As I was finishing up with my first patient, Liza, two more patients walked in about to deliver. Laura (my other teammate) took one, and my supervisor asked to be skipped in rotation so that left me to catch my second baby of the night! This birth was beautiful, and there were no complications at all. In two years, I have now delivered 88 babies (and still counting until July 18!).

The weekend was spent at the beach with my girls – a time of remembering fun memories from the last 2 years spent together, and making new memories to remember in the following years. Then, early Monday morning we left the beach and returned to the city to run around getting ready for our graduation ceremony/celebration. It was a really nice time had by all with good friends and good food.

So now, we are done. Well, except that we all still need to pass the NARM board exam for midwifery in the USA – which I will take in August. So you can mark the date of August 20th in your calendars as another date that I will need your prayers yet again!

This next year I will serve as a volunteer mentor at Bethany College of Missions, where I graduated in 2005., This will give me the training I will need to successfully lead and mentor other girls who become overseas midwives when I return to the field again. During my time in the States I hope to attend some births on the side – so if you all know of anyone looking for a midwife, let me know! I am told mentoring at Bethany is a challenging role, and I look forward to growing and being stretched in an environment that is familiar to me, but in a role that will be new. I will have a great support system of Godly leaders to mentor me as I mentor young girls entering the program as missionaries-to-be.

I will be volunteering like I said – 40 hours a week, so if any of you feel lead to continue supporting me financially or start supporting me financially, to help cover basic life necessities, I would be so grateful. It would continue to be tax deductible through Voice In The Wilderness, the wonderful organization that has been making it possible to give donations tax deductible these last two years for me. If you have not yet joined my support team but are interested in doing so, please ask me for more information.

For those of you who like to follow my journeys through my blog, I will be continuing that, but under a new title after I start mentoring. When I get that set up I will let you know, until then, please continue to visit my blog at http://www.midwifejenny.blogspot.com/ for stories as I make the transition from life here in the Philippines to life back at home.

I will continue to write monthly updates even after I get home, but if you would rather not receive my updates, let me know and I will remove you from the list. Otherwise, if you know of anyone else who would like to receive my updates, please give them my contact information so I can add them.

Thank you for all that you have been for me these last two years, the support, financially, emotionally, spiritually have sustained me above and beyond my greatest expectations. I have grown into a midwife that will be able to reach more people for Christ as I go and minister to women physically and spiritually in a country desperately needing good maternity/baby care. Right now I am considering somewhere in Africa. Pray with me that God will open doors for that.

Much love,
Jenny