Charis Around The World

Tidbits From Ebony

Dear Charis Family,

Time flies when you are having babies!!!!!! Well, maybe not for every woman, but the time has sure been flying right past me this week as the Lord has given opportunity for me to assist with six births in seven days. Can I just be honest for a moment and tell you that ... I am EXHAUSTED! :-) I also have bruises on my arms from one precious woman. Her sweet child was worth it! :-) I may be tired, but I am also so honored to have these wonderful women and their newborns as my teachers right now.  ~Elizabeth Carmichael

TRIP TO CANDYBAR

Let me back up a bit and give you a picture of what I am up to these days. In last month's newsletter, I think it was mentioned that I needed your prayers as I prepared to travel back into the violence and instability of Candybar in order to pack up my house and the belongings of my roommates and store them somewhere safe. Praise God that He DID provide the door for two of my teammates and I to go and accomplish this goal. We were also able to complete a few more necessary tasks as well as meet with many Pushpin women who are friends of our team members as well as myself. It was such a blessing to comfort them as well as grieve with them over the events of the past six months. To our surprise, a couple of these women ASKED to pray with us about the crisis situation we have been facing. The friend who had accompanied me to Candybar was able to pray very clearly in a language understood by these women. Then, they also let us pray for one of their sicknesses in the name of Jesus. These moments were brief, yet such priceless treasures to us. The Lord is still moving in that place, even if we can not be there right now.

 This is a picture of our "along the road" view while we were in Candybar.
Since women cannot ride in the front seat, we basically stare at the back of Turbans,
belonging to our drivers, while we ride along the road.

LILY OF CANDYBAR

Good news!!! Charis has been involved for some time in seeking medical relief for a family in which a few children are suffering from a rare and very painful (also incurable) genetic disease that leaves their skin constantly open and raw. One daughter, in particular, is suffering a great deal with this disease. Through the Charis newsletter, a skin specialist in the States took this case into her heart and home. She diagnosed this little girl definitively and now, along with praying for her, is also participating in supplying her family with medical supplies and other gifts of love just to make their life and her pain a little more tolerable.

We are praying for a mighty move of God within their family and for a miraculous healing for this girl and her brother!!!!!!!

Even though we have had much contact with this family in the past, through all the turmoil of the crisis our team encountered and the subsequent degeneration of security in the Candybar region, we lost touch with them and were afraid they had fled the city and we would never find them. But, find them we have!! Their box of medical supplies was able to be delivered and, of course, we plan to work very hard not to lose touch with them again.  Many Christians have been praying for this little girl and her family and prayers have been answered.


Keep praying for Lawangga and her family to come to know Jesus as their healer and their savior!
To visit the original full article about little Lawangga, click here

BLISS

After visiting Candybar, I attended a seminar in the capital city of Ebony where I learned a community development model for teaching birth life saving skills (BLISS) to groups of women within communities which have little to no appropriate health care and very high maternal and infant mortality rates. The course was wonderful! So far, this program is only being used within Ebony. It is exactly the kind of project my partner and I want to conduct in Candybar some day. What an encouragement to move forward in preparedness for the fulfillment of that calling.

During one of the sessions, I was assigned the role of "mother-in-law" for a dramatization of an entire labor and delivery. The goal of this particular drama was to model what measures could be taken in order to progress labor. In Ebony, the mother-in-law is almost always at the birth. She often "runs the show." Mother/daughter in law relationships can be EXTREMLY challenging in a Cousin society, especially that of a country like Ebony.

In this role, however, I didn't want to focus on being culturally appropriate, but I wanted, rather, to be "doula appropriate," modeling good and helpful practices that could be imitated by the local women attending the course. So, I did my "doula thing"-- everything you would expect. (The woman playing the laboring mom was an Ebony woman, by the way.) I helped her change positions. I encouraged her. I wiped her sweat. I helped with pain management. I let her lean against me in between contractions during the pushing stage. Pretty normal stuff.

After the drama, the class went wild. They were no longer concerned about how to progress labor. They wanted to know where they could get a mother in law like me!!!!!!!!! During the discussion, one woman raised her hand and said, "THAT WAS A VERY COMFORTABLE MOTHER IN LAW!" That is my favorite quote for this year! ;-) Now, if I could only manage to get a husband. Have my own babies. Marry them off ... and then, I could be a REAL mother in law!

A NEW LOCATION

I suppose that brings us up to speed a bit. Trip to Candybar: check! BLISS seminar: check! Find a husband: check! Just kidding!

The big news now is that I am in the Philippenes!!!!! Since I could not be in Candybar during this time, I decided to apply for an internship here in order to progress in my knowledge of assisting childbirth. I am currently one week, six births, five postpartum house calls, and twenty something prenatal check-ups into a midwifery internship with Mercy In Action, a Christian NGO serving several low income communities.

This place is amazing! I feel like I am in the jungle! I am enjoying the greenery, the humidity and warmth, and especially the valuable lessons I am learning that apply so much to my situation in Ebony. Many women here deal with similar problems as those in Ebony. In my current location, we are two hours from the nearest hospital, so the midwifery practice here is crucial and also very thorough for their context and the types of cases they encounter. It is not an easy place to be a pregnant woman. All the women I have seen are under-nourished and anemic. They are in a culture that dictates that they must deliver their babies while FLAT on their backs. Some women suffer from STD's, and many are dealing with emotional scars related to other issues. It is sad, and yet it is hopeful because this ministry IS making a difference. At the clinic, FREE maternal health care is provided for these women. It is just amazing. But, very, very busy.

I have many stories to share with you already, so be looking ahead to those in future newsletters!! I will also, hopefully, have pictures by then!

 This is a newborn baby in Ebony, being held by her aunt.  One of the subscribers to my personal newsletter said she felt she was looking at a picture of Mary holding baby Jesus!  May this child be a special voice among Pushpin people to point them to Jesus! Even though I am away from Ebony right now, I covet your continued prayers for the Pushpin people that I love.

NEWS FROM HOME

Getting news from home when you are very far away can be such a thrill!!! I was so encouraged to hear that the last baby from my first childbirth education series was born into the world recently! What an honor to be a part of the lives of whole families and communities forever, just through educating them and serving them in the love of Christ.

A woman from Elizabeth's childbirth series and her newborn.

Did you ever think of the fact that maybe Jesus looks at US with an expression like THIS mother has on her face?? Did you ever consider that He is delighting in you just as you are, with full anticipation in who you are becoming?! Did you ever notice that He sees ALL your potential and isn't disappointed with your shortcomings, but is confident in HIS power working
within you to ACHIEVE your potential?!

May we walk in grace this month as we extend grace to women around the world.

Much love,
Elizabeth Carmichael