Women's health class

I have a story to tell.  Remember how I was going to be doing a class at our church for women in the community called "Taking care of the health of your kids at home"?  (Read about it here) Well, I want to post an update.

The second week had me extremely discouraged.  We passed out around 50 fliers, bought some beans to give them, and no one showed up!  I was wondering where the women from the week before were!  They all seemed like they enjoyed it.

The second week had me worried.  I passed out another 50 fliers and had a worry in the pit of my stomach.  I went to have a Bible study with a girlfriend of mine the morning of the meeting when I got a call from the physician who was supposed to teach.  She wasn't going to be able to come.  She didn't have time to give me the material that she had prepared, so I was going to have to teach it.  No problem, I thought.  I can do that, although I had serious doubts that the women would trust me because I am not a doctor.  Oh well.  Brandon was not free to help because he was going to be teaching an English discussion group at a local private school   Brynne (the intern)  was committed to work at a skate park (a ministry of a dear friend of ours) and was not going to be able to come, but Gladys (our house helper) had said she could come and she was going to have to watch our 3 kiddos.  Well...when I got home from the Bible study, Gladys informed me that she wasn't going to be able to come.  She had something that she needed to do with her family.

Alright.  Now I was really worried.  I was supposed to have a training class that provided child care, and I had no doctor, no one to watch the kiddos (including my 3 that I had to take with me), and I was totally unprepared to give the class myself if anyone even came!  I was really stressing.  I had to go get Brynne after lunch from the orphanage and so had about 40 minutes in the car alone.  I started listening to a sermon on the radio.  What he spoke ministered directly to my circumstance.  He spoke about obedience in faith.  He mentioned that with faith there is no room for fear.  He quoted that without faith it is impossible to please God.  He spoke about belief in what God has promised.  (he said quite a few other things that were garbage like if you believe, it will happen, it will happen because our faith always works!  Bologna.)

But the good stuff corrected some very bad thinking.

I was freaked out because I was going to have to do something that I didn't think I could do.  How big is God, again?  He does promise to equip us to do the work He has planned for us.  Obviously He had this for me to do.  I was going to have to teach about what to do with cuts, scrapes, puncture wounds and amputations. If God can give the disciples the words they need in front of all kinds of rulers and judges and kings, then God can certainly equip me to teach a little first aid.

I was worried that no one was going to come.  Who was I trying to please?  The women, supporters, who?  God?  If I was trying to please Him with my efforts to help these women, then I must have faith.  Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please Him!  Did I have a promise from Him that people were going to come?  No way.  But that isn't really the point, is it?  My faith was not in that people would come, but that God is faithful to do what He wants to do in the lives of these women.  And my job is to be dependent in faith and be available, whether or not people come.

I was worried that people would come and there would be no one to take care of the kids.  
If God was going to do this, and it was becoming very obvious that He was going to, then I can trust Him to take care of things.  Fear was a lack of faith, and if I really want to please God with the work I am doing here, then I have to have faith.  Real trust that if it is God's will that certain women receive this training, that He would accomplish it and would bring those He wanted.

So, I submitted my fear, my will, my desires, my worries.  All to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than  all we ask or imagine,  According to HIS power that is at work with in us.  To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Wow...talk about a peace that passes all understanding.  Do you want to hear how it turned out?
My neighbor said that she could come to watch the kids, Gladys ended up being able to come at the last minute to hear the talk, I did a quick bit of research and gave a plenty good talk on cuts, scrapes, punctures and amputations.  And 8 women showed up.  Wow.  Big wow.  Did my faith bring those women?  No. That's silly.  Did God, in whom I have faith bring them and accomplish something?  Big yes.  Was my faith rewarded?  Yes!  God is good and He does good.  All for His glory! I have nothing to offer!!  That is so awesome!

This last week 4 women came and we had a guest doctor speak.  So far we have given out 15lbs of beans.  I won't be able to attend the next 4 meetings or so, even though I am organizing them, so please pray for this ministry.  Another friend of mine gave me some ideas for publicizing the class a little more, so I will be trying those things this week.  Imagine what can be accomplished if we are united in prayer to feed, encourage, love on, and train the women of Xela?

Teaching Women

This last week we started something that has been years in the making. It has been on my heart for quite a while to do some community development type things. I had so many ideas of things I wanted to do, but no idea how to implement those ideas. And I have been so busy homeschooling my children, taking care of a baby, taking care of a home, working with the Sunday school ministry, plus my own endeavors such as trying to learn the guitar, getting some sewing done, and basic hospitality (parties, baby showers, dinners, etc) that I honestly didn’t take the time to really investigate answers to my logistical questions.

So…God was working, even when I was busy. A missionary friend named Tracy passed along to me a book titled “Cuidando la salud de nuestros hijos en casa” (taking care of the health of our kids at home…more or less). This book was a textbook or guide of sorts to a class that was given at a hospital in Atlanta in 2000. In it is all kinds of subjects ranging from cough to burns to bites to fevers and describes in detailed laymen’s terms what they are, how they are prevented, and how you treat them at home. It is a FANTASTIC resource. This little book got the ball rolling.

We used that book as a foundation and we started a class at our church for women in our community (especially those indigenous women that work in the market close by) given by doctors in our community covering a series of topics including those described above. Brynne, the CAM intern that is living with us this summer, made up a flier giving out the information. My friend Stephanie and I spend about 30 minutes one morning passing out around 30 fliers to the women in the market.

For every family represented, we give a portion of food as a thank you for their attendance and to motivate them to come. This week it was a pound of beans and a bag of salt and each week we will give something along those lines: beans, rice, oil, sugar, corn, etc.

We held our first meeting on Thursday at 3:30pm and a member of our church who is a doctor gave the talk and discussed first aid, allergic reactions, and bites. We had 3 women come and they all seemed very interested in the information, taking notes (those that could write) and asking questions. They assured us that they will be inviting more women to come next week. I was just thrilled. There is so much that I desire to do and it seems that the Lord worked this as a first step. I left very encouraged. This could be a fantastic outreach for our church as well as a tremendous help for the women that receive the information. Many of the poor here rely on home remedies (some are fantastic, others…not so much) or they take their children to the public hospital for a cold or an eye infection. Let me just say that that hospital will most assuredly cause more harm than good unless you are in a life or death situation. It was a prescription from that hospital that caused Gladys’s (my house helper) infant grandchild to die. (see here for the story)

Anyway, we are excited. Please pray for this ministry as we are hoping for a greater attendance in the future, as well as an opportunity to show the love of Christ to these women in word and deed.

I’m a dork and didn’t take any pictures this last week, but am going to try SUPER hard to remember my camera for the next one. The only bummer (sort of) is that Brynne won’t be attending because she is going to be teaching an English discussion group to a group of high schoolers at a local private school. She can talk about anything she wants to, so pray for that as well!