Life in the Philippines

Dear Friends and Family,

Life at the clinic has continued to be busy for the past months even though I have been silent. Babies are born daily and we’ve had over 400 births since we opened in October! Recently we switched to seeing patients for out-patient care on a daily basis instead of only 2 days per week. Last month there were 77 births! God is so good to continually bring us people to give us the opportunity to serve.

This past month the other two supervisors and I moved across the street to a separate apartment. It has been a great transition to a more peaceful, more private place. Moving was a total answer to prayer. It has provided us with a place to call our own.

I’ve had the privilege of having quite a few visitors over the course of the past few months. First my parents in January, then Cynthia Stevens, Amanda Reitsma, and my sister Krista through April and May. Krista being here for the past 2 months has been so awesome. We’ve loved being able to serve side by side and look forward to sharing stories when we come home in August!

Below is one of the stories of life here. I pray that it will give you a sense of what goes on here.

It was a day that started just like any other when I decided to go to Welfareville and visit Ate Vicki and Ate Carolina’s houses. Or dare I even call them houses. They are their houses because it’s all that they have, but compared to North American standards they are more like a shed or a tree house. Ate Vicki has 5 children and Ate Carolina 8. This visit was different because the reality of what they face in their daily lives came closing in on me. I found out this day that Ate Vicki’s oldest daughter, Apple, who is 11 years old, was collecting garbage along with two of Ate Carolina’s children. I realized that day that if these children do not collect garbage, or recyclable products, these families will not eat tonight. They have a small cart that they peddle around and dig through bags of garbage, collecting anything recyclable and exchange it for a small amount of money. With that money they buy rice, and if there’s enough they will also buy a little bag of “ulam” (any Filipino dish that is served with rice). This night I realized that the kids hadn’t collected enough. Even though they’d been out in the heat and sun all day long, they had only collected a small amount. I heard the kids asking their mom in Tagalog for food, telling her they were hungry. She was trying to keep them settled while she talked to me, ashamed that she had nothing to provide for her family.

I think something changed in my heart that day. I realized the depth of poverty in a new way. 11 year olds with the responsibility of whether or not their family will eat was not the way it was intended. Yet I know that God has given me this relationship for a reason. Since then our clinic has been saving all our recyclable products. The families come here weekly, sometimes more often, to collect everything we have saved and exchange it for money at the local recyclable sheds. We are praying that the small thing we can do will make a difference!

Please continue to pray for Ate Vicki and Ate Carolina’s families. That God will provide work for their husbands. That He will meet every one of their needs. And that they would see Jesus Christ as their provider!

This is just a glimpse into what life is like here. One day it’s this. The next day, another story. Sometimes the stories are overwhelming. But God is showing me that in the middle of it there is beauty found in the ashes of poverty. Beauty that is raw and has yet to be discovered. Beauty that we have the privilege of unveiling.

Thank you for being a part of the continuing work that takes place here, in Welfareville and in the Philippines.

Nicole