Febr 24th 2006 Our Schedule in Manila

Hello everyone!We have been so blessed to get emails from some of you this week! Thanks for your encouragement and prayers! We are also praying for you. We have a glass top on our table and we have slipped photos of you underneath. Everyday we choose a family/ person to pray for. We are missing a lot of you (and your photos!) If you could send us a photo via email, we can burn it to CD and print it here, or, you can send it to us (with a letter!!!) at:Mercy In Action Maternity Center559 J. Luna Street Pinagtipunan Corner Mandaluyong, Manila 1500 Philippines We'd like to share with you what our weekly life is like. So we'll just start with Mondays. They are our day off. That means that neither of us are on call to go into the birth center for primary health care patients or midwifery patients. Mondays, we try to explore the city and leave the area of the birth center so that we truly have a family day off. The photos we have uploaded from Shutterfly show some of those explorations!Tuesdays through Sundays, Jocelyn works usually three shifts (two twelve hour shifts plus Wednesdays - her prenatal day at the clinic) and is on call 24hrs/ day in case one of the women she provides prenatal care to comes into the clinic in labour. She also is called in for postpartum and baby checks and goes on home visits to visit women who have just delivered their babies. On prenatal days, Jocelyn and her team have the opportunity to lead these women in worship (Tagalog and English songs) and then a woman from our partner church around the corner leads a devotional time in Tagalog for the women. We do prenatal exams from 8 am until 10 am and that's when we break for worship (most of the women are there by then!) After worship, we do a health teaching and continue prenatals until everyone is seen. This week, Jocelyn taught about parenting and child development. She really enjoys spending time with each woman during prenatals. This is an amazing opportunity to build relationships. At te end of each prenatal, she has the opportunity to pray with each woman and share about Jesus. It really is a powerful time.Richard gets called in to the clinic for primary child care checks and medic work. Just a few days ago, a man walked in off the street, truly believing he was dying. He had blistering sores sweeping across his abdomen and around his back. He had been involved with prostitutes and thought he might have an STD. He was really terrified. Richard came in and reassured him that he would do everything he could to find out what was wrong. The diagnosis? Shingles. The man was really in pain and Richard referred him to see a doctor. Richard prayed for him and shared Christ with him. He should be returning in a few days for a follow up check. Please pray that He will find hope in relationship with God. He offered the man an HIV test, because of his risky behaviour and also because shingles can be related to HIV, but he cannot afford it. If he does return, we pray that God will provide for him. The clinic does have money for situations like this, but sometimes God provides in other amazing ways! Richard also has aset prenatal day. On Fridays, he works alongside the Friday prenatal team at the clinic taking blood pressures, taking pulses, weighing women, and taking blood tests to test hematocrit (and spins them out in our clinic centrifuge). He also helps with newborn exams and well baby checks. Today, he is teaching on parenting and child development. When Richard is at the clinic, he is also able to spend time with the husbands of women who come for their prenatal checks. This is a fantastic opportunity to build relationship and share Christ.It seems hardly a day goes by that we don't have someone at our door begging for food. It's a heartbreaking reality here. We have a young girl about the same age as Danieke that we give our recycling to. She came by the other night and simply said: "I'm hungry". We always give food out, but not money, as that is the clinic policy. There is also a family that lives on the corner in the broken shell of a tricycab. Whoever is on shift at the clinic takes them food when we have our evening meal. The poverty here is on a scale we have never experienced before and it's hard to find balance in our own lives. Do we go out on our day off for a meal when we know there are so many here who go without? We sometimes feel caught between two worlds. Please pray that we will hear the voice of God in this and respond to the need in the way He would. On Family night (Wednesdays at the clinic) we have a worship time and devotional time. This week's was about how to respond to poverty in the manner Christ would.Are we providers or partners? What is the difference? We're still chewing on this one!We attend church around the corner from us when Jocelyn in on call. It is a Tagalog church with a three hour service! This has been a challenge for the kids (and us at times!) We have not found a solution yet, except that we may attend for part of the service and then come home. There is a Sunday school class, but there are well over 30 children packed into a small office and that is pretty overwhelming for Marijke and Matthijs. Please pray that God will direct us in this...We would love to be part of a local church family, and the people at Harvest are incredible...that is our heart. On Sunday afternoons, we often try to go to a park somewhere where the kids can run around, as there is no "greenspace" where we live. We've found several places to go. In Metro Manila, we can get to these by taxi: Quezon Circle, Rizal Park, and University of the Philippines. Each one has room to run! On Tuesdays, Danieke goes to her homeschool group for violin and art classes. This is an opportunity for her to spend time with Philippino kids and have fun. We have lots of kids on our street as well. The kids are finding the adjustment of drawing so much attention quite difficult. Lots of people come up and touch them or try to hold their hands. The comment we mostly get about the girls is: "They are just like Barbie dolls". It's hard to know how to respond with the kids as Marijke and Matthijs especially tend to bury themselves in us to "hide". Please pray that we will know how to respond in each situation. The people are very well meaning and genuinely interested in the kids, it's just all a little overwhelming.Every morning, either one of us or both, (depending on who is working at the clinic), begin homeschooling with Danieke at 8 am. The kids are up every am at 6:30, so we have time to cook oatmeal or run down the street to a family run bakery to buy pandesol or "encimada" for breakfast. Encimada is a sweet bun smothered in butter and sugar (our kids favourite!) Marijke and Matthijs play together, colour or paint, and sometimes (actually most mornings) scrap it out! Please pray that we will stay patient with them and keep them busy! We boil water on our stove to make coffee in our press (thank you mom and dad for giving that to us!) and get our shot of caffeine for the day!At 11:30 am, lunch is served at the clinic. We eat in community with everyone there and usually lunch is rice and vegetables. In the afternoons, the kids sleep (under our newly acquired mosquito nets) and Danieke plays with friends. While the kids are sleeping, we usually study about midwifery and primary health care and have some private time with God. Please pray that we will stay firmly rooted in scripture and prayer. As anywhere, there are always demands on time, and we want to make this a priority. Please pray that we will recognize the distractions for what they are and stay committed to having regular time alone with God.This past week has felt a little more stressful. We recognize a little "culture shock" creeping in as well as just continued adjustment for our family. We trust that God will walk through this with us. There are others from our group experiencing the same and we are not alone! Please pray that we will grow more in our understanding of Tagalog and in our speaking ability. This will make a huge difference!We love you guys and are so comforted in knowing you are with us here in prayer! Pray we will make the most of every opportunity we have to make the name and love of Christ known. We know that He is the hope living in us...and hope is what those in our neighbourhood need most. Pray also that we will always we ready to give a reason for this hope we have.We miss you! We can get mail at the clinic address and would be delighted to hear from you!Love, Richard, Jocelyn, Danieke, Marijke and Matthijs