If you've been following our lives at all over the past 30 months, you have seen what a difference taking Christ's viewpoint has made.
Here, in Uganda, we are surrounded by poverty and pain that is unlike anything we could experience in the US. There are a million possible ways to "help", but often, what looks like help to us actually does more harm than good.
Discernment is more important than ever here, and often we can become immune or paralyzed from helping because we don't want to do it wrong.
Thus, the need for Jesus glasses. I cannot be led by my emotions or by the gravity of the situation. I can only be sure that what I am doing is right by following the will of God in each case. I need to constantly be checking myself against who I know my Savior to be. I spend my days getting to know my Father's voice so that in the moment of need, I can be sure that it is His voice that I hear above all else.
Many women come to us for help with a sick child, wanting some clothes for their children or really anything that we might be giving out. For this reason, Healing Faith makes it a point to NOT hand things out. Our goal is to be in relationship, to lead our friends to Christ, not to the next handout. We do, however, partner with Mercy for Mamas to get kits to pregnant mothers for a healthy, safe delivery. We do this often and it can become routine.
God was about to rock that routine though.
Halie became friends about 3 weeks ago with a young, pregnant girl, named Fauza. They walked together holding hands and talked each day. The first week, Fauza told us that she was new in Wakisi, and asked if we could hang a mosquito net in the home she was staying in.
The next week, with Halie by her side, she peeked her head around the corner of the school building to hesitantly ask for a Mama Kit and a baby kit (blanket, outfit, socks and hat for a newborn), I thought nothing much of it.We gave her the kits, prayed over her and her soon-to-be-born baby, and asked her to come see us after the baby was born so that we could rejoice with her.
We all sat down together to watch the kids playing soccer and jumping rope, when out of the blue, Fauza began to tell me her story. She said that she wouldn't be happy when her baby was born.
Okay, God. I am listening. Guide me. How are you calling me to act on Your behalf?
Fauza is 17 years old and has been in school most of her life. She is at Senior 2 level, but is on holiday right now. She speaks English well and is very smart. She had been living with her uncle, who also paid her school fees, but when she became pregnant, she was told to leave and to only come back when she no longer had a baby.
We talked about the choices that lay before her. We talked about her heart. This was not an easy situation. We talked about the gift of this child, but also about the aspects of being a young, single mother that are hard.
She shared that she wanted to keep her child, but she didn't know how she would provide milk or soap. Fauza had no idea about breast-feeding being sufficient for at least a year. I assured her that we could find a way for her to be able to provide soap for her and her child. We prayed that she would bond with this child and allow herself to love him or her. Mariam, a Healing Faith interpreter and I asked her to stay with the baby for at least the first few months to give the baby a strong, healthy start. We assured her that she wouldn't walk this path alone.
We left that day prayerful. There was no way of knowing where her heart truly was.
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The following week, we came to check on her, and the grandmother that she was living with said she had gone to a clinic to give birth. She left early the previous day, but no one had heard from her since.
Now, these are not woman who spend three days in a hospital recovering. These are woman who give birth alone on the floors of their homes and then get up and do the laundry. For her to be gone for 2 days was odd.
When we arrived at the clinic, she was 48 hours into intense labor with little if any sign of progress. The contractions brought her to tears every 3-5 minutes. She chewed on a root plant to keep the nausea away.
Again, we prayed and encouraged her. We walked with her between contractions, and we held her through them. We told her how strong she was and that she could do this.
As hard as it was to see her in so much pain, what pained my heart the most was knowing that there was true risk here. The baby was not coming like it should. My silent prayer was for protection, health and a safe delivery for mom and baby. I prayed that God was not leading us into a season of grieving with this young girl.
The following day, I expected to wake up to news of a birth. The update was that there was still no change. Day 3 of intense labor on the floor of a simple clinic. We continued in prayer knowing that things are done differently in Uganda than they would be in America. We were not called to barge in and fix things, we were called to walk alongside this young woman on her journey. And that is honestly the absolute hardest part of ministry.
We had checked in throughout the day, and finally that evening got a phone call that the clinic staff said Fauza needed a c-section. That meant a transfer from the village clinic to the hospital in town. A friend lent Fauza, still in intense labor, a phone to call us and tell us that she was standing on the side of the road in the village waiting for a boda (a motorcycle taxi) to bring her to the hospital. She wasn't asking for us to do anything, but the image of her traveling 30 minutes on a motorcycle after 3 days of labor was too much.
Dave, Mariam and I got in the van and went to get her.
Once we arrived at the hospital, Dave and I needed to stay in the van because the prices for any services would skyrocket as soon as the color of our skin was seen. We are so thankful for Mariam and her strong, sure negotiating skills. For no charge, Fauza had a bed, would get an examination and would be where she needed to be if and when the doctor decided a c-section was imminent.
The next morning, a phone call informed us that she had been dilated to 7 all night long, that the baby was handling labor well, and that the surgery was scheduled for later that day.
Around 9pm the call finally came that the surgery was done, and a baby girl was here! Mom and baby were both doing great! The price for the surgery had been negotiated, so I was able to come visit. Finally!
Want your mind completely blown? I assured Fauza that we would cover all costs that she had to get her baby here. All of the medical care that she needed from the village clinic to the c-section to the hospital stay was under $30. UNDER $30!
Holding this precious child was such an incredible answer to prayer!
So, the baby is here. We rejoice together. (Though Fauza is still holding a slight grudge against her daughter for causing her so many days of pain.) :-)
This week, as Fauza recovers physically, we celebrate what God has done, but we know that life continues to loom ahead of her.
We don't yet know where she will go when she leaves the hospital. We don't know how she will provide for her child, where her heart will be about returning to school or staying to care for her child, or what their future holds.
So, we pray. We stay by her side and we walk with her through the process of making her decisions. We point her to her Heavenly Father and assure her that to do what is right, His is the voice that she needs to hear above all else.
Continue to hold this little family in your prayers with us.
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