New Baby!

It’s a good thing that Greg has made a lot of trips to the hospital over the past several weeks with students or adults that needed medical attention. Those were his practice runs! 

On Tuesday night, just after we finished evening devotions and prayer with the boarding kids, Justin rushed over and said “It’s time!” It took a few seconds to register with us; we shouted “It’s time? Yvonne is ready to deliver?” Justin nodded like crazy and we said “Okay, let’s go!”

By the time we got out the door and locked it, Yvonne was standing at the vehicle. Justin had run back to the house to get her suitcase. We got Yvonne into the front seat and waited and waited . . . where was Justin? Yvonne, who knows just a little English, quietly said “My water.” I (Kathy) repeated “Your water? Your water broke?” Yvonne nodded. I asked “when did your water break?”  I thought maybe this had happened before she’d gotten out of the house. “Right now!” was her answer. 

With that, Greg was pulling out of the yard. He’d decided that if Justin wasn’t coming to us, we would pull around the building and pick him up at his door. 

It’s one thing to make daytime trips to the hospital in Macha from the outskirts of the village. You see, there are no street signs, no visible markers other than dirt roads and trees. All the turns look the same, and they all turn to the right. Because Greg had made this trip several times each week, he didn’t get flustered. He made the bumpy trip in extremely good time!

We arrived at Macha Mission Hospital at approximately 8:30pm, and by 10:30 we had a call from Justin telling us that they were parents of a big baby girl, they named Jody or Judy. With the strong accent we still aren’t sure of the exact name.

The next morning at 5:30, our phone had rung, and 30 seconds later Justin was tapping at our bedroom window. Could we please take him back to the hospital? He brought with him, a pail of hot water for bathing, and a meal for Yvonne.

Hospital care in Zambia is nothing like the States. In fact, the hospital itself reminds us of movie scenes from the ‘40s, or like Greg would say “it looks like the set from the TV series ‘MASH’.” The labor and maternity wards are open with about 40 beds. Patients supply their own linens, and family members bring in meals. But being a mission hospital, the health care is free.

Baby Judy . . . or Jody, just 12 hours old!

Justin, Yvonne and Baby Milandu

Later that same morning, Greg & Justin made one more trip to the hospital. This time to bring Momma Yvonne and Baby Judy  . . . or Jody home!So that’s what it’s like to have a baby living in the bush!

Praise God for this new baby. Delivery went smoothly for mom and baby; she is a healthy 3.6kg or 7.9 lbs. 

Praise God for last night’s thunder and lightning storm that brought a good downpour that lasted until morning. We loved the fireworks but the Zambians all told us that they were scared!  

We also had a great teachers meeting today. We have been teaching the five principles of believing God, and today we talked about #3 I am who God says I am. We shared with them that they each have a God-created identity (GCI). In all eternity God has purposed them to walk in their GCI in this time and in this place. They each shared from their own personal stories. It was very touching, and we felt as though each one had given us a gift from their hearts. AND as they each shared, they selected a watch from the collection that many of you helped us collect. They were thrilled!

Teachers, proudly showing off their watches!

Our weekly meeting went twice as long as usual but they didn’t care! And usually they are pretty quiet, but this time all shared deeply from their hearts. We feel like we have many new friends!