May 3, 2012 10:30 pm

We started the day with a stressed second twin that had just delivered. He was not breathing on his own, but had a good heart rate. We breathed for him the manual way for about 30 minutes. Each of us was praying on our own, and then one of the head physicians here led us to pray as a group as we all laid hands on the baby. Within 5 minutes he was breathing on his own! We were very thankful and knew it wasn't anything that we did with our limited resources here. He has continued to breathe on his own, but developed a high fever and has never really “woken up” which is very concerning. He would be in the NICU at home....there isn't one here...not even close.

The electricity went out for 10 minutes in the middle of a repair of another ruptured uterus. Thankfully she wasn't bleeding because we could not see a thing and just stood there and held pressure until the lights came back on. Later in the day the same thing happened during a D and C. The anesthetist opened his cell phone and held the dim light near the patient so we could finish her surgery.

We went to the CREN today to distribute many of the baby and toddler clothes that were donated. The CREN or Center for Education and Nutrition is a place behind the hospital where mothers and their malnourished children live for a period of time. The children are rehabilitated nutritionally, and the mother's are educated about how to make full proteins and keep their family healthy. The children were so precious. It was uplifting to see their smiles and healing bodies. One of the older sisters was there visiting. She looked about 10 so I gave her a little puzzle as a gift. She had no idea what it was, nor did the 20 mothers observing. They fingered the pieces and looked at me confused! I knelt in the dirt and put the puzzle on an old piece of wood and showed them all how to put it together. There were lots of “ahhhs and ooohs” spoken as some of them began to understand. I also gave her some crayons which she had never seen. She looked at me again as did the other mothers and I quickly whipped some paper out of my fanny pack and they began coloring. It amazed me that the things we learn in preschool are so foreign to even the adults here.

We took the newborn onsies to OB and gave them to each of the mothers. The heart wrenching part about that was all the mothers who gave birth to dead babies were also there. I would have given them a pen (which I was giving to the staff), but they don't use pens and most don't have paper or know how to write.

Most people don't know their age here. They have no official birthday. I think of what a big deal I like to make of birthdays at home- to celebrate one another and to make them feel loved. Life here is so different. I doubt the majority of people here have ever felt special, singled out or really celebrated. They live life in survival mode day.... after day....after day.... in the dust and scorching heat.

Psalm 63 says “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

It is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, but the dry and weary land where there is no water really doesn't fit in Portland! I think David was in Niger when he wrote this!

The other verse that has been on my heart a lot her is James 1:27: “ Religion that god our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

I leave in the morning and travel about 45 hours home which gives me lots of time to process and pray. I am humbled by it all....the life and death decisions that I question I made here....the millions who struggle to survive daily....the missionaries who dedicate their lives to service and true sacrifice...

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. Please continue to pray for Galmi hospital, the missionaries serving here and the people of Niger.

With Gratitude,

Drea