December 1, 2008

Dear Friends and Family,

As I write on this Thanksgiving weekend, I am overwhelmed with things I am grateful for. Great friends,  including the Maine contingent of my buddies from my days in Wayland House while I was in medical school close to twenty years ago. When I was in Maine in September, the Colby-George family traveled two hours each way to share a meal and arranged for Kevin Heiniger and his wife, pregnant with twins with about the same distance to travel, to surprise me for dessert. Great family, which I am very much aware of as I sit in the warmth of my sister Bonnie's home, whose family surrounds me with love as I make their house my base each time I am back. Great church congregations who partner with the Embangweni community and participate in the work being done at Embangweni hospital, including the “Pink” church in Florida, which I visited for my second time last week, the first being four years ago. We talked of insights shared the last time, and they presented a check for an ambulance they had been working to raise money for these last four years. Good health confirmed by my physician, and well functioning teeth thanks to my long-term dentist. Grateful most that God is with us.

Mmidwife Paul Ngulube weighing a healthy newborn.

I return to Malawi in January, having come back at the end of August for to do mission interpretation. This time I’ve been to 14 states (and counting) to tell the story of Embangweni and the work being done in Malawi. I’ve spoken to churches, medical professional gatherings, and individuals. This has been intertwined with reconnecting with family and friends and resting from time to time. Transitioning to the United States was especially tough the first week. There was a 36-hour stretch in which I lost my sister Veronica's house keys and car keys, the cord to her neighbor's computer and my credit card; I also accidentally locked the cell phone when I tried to silence it and totally missed the change basket at the toll booth on the way to the medical conference where I was presenting near Denver. There have also been the challenges of traveling so much while adjusting to a gastrointestinal tract with explosive lactose intolerance and a hyperactive bladder muscle. A big thanks goes out to many strangers who have let me bypass them at public bathrooms and assisted me as I tried to use the faucets and towel dispensers where one is supposed to wave one's hand, and when I was waving my hands in front of faucets and towel dispensers which had handles. Those who have shared patience and laughter have made the journeys fun.

We now enter Advent, when we sing “O Come O Come Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means “God is with us.” As we await Christmas, my thoughts turn to the very pregnant Mary destined to deliver Jesus without proper shelter and without a midwife. My thoughts then go to our pregnant women in Malawi: one mother dies per every 100 births. One mother dies per every 50 c-sections. One mother mourns for a dead newborn per every 25 births. Next, my thoughts go to Embangweni, where the tragic statistics are about one-sixth the national average—thanks to your support and the supplies your donations buy. Because of our success, the numbers of mothers coming to deliver has doubled in the last ten years, leading to almost inhumane overcrowding during the busy months. The high risk prenatal mothers who have come to await labor are packed into the waiting room. At night, these mothers lie so close to each other on mats on the floor that a mother has to nudge the mother next to her, who nudges the mother next to her, who nudges the mother next to her to coordinate turning while trying to sleep. During that time, staff often have to step over some patients to get to the sicker ones on the beds. Everyone at Embangweni is very grateful for the donations designated to expand our maternity ward and the construction underway, as we anticipate its completion. Emmanuel, God is with us, as we serve Jesus by working together to serve these mothers and babies.

There are always things to pray for. The first is tragic. Kistone Mhango, who has served as the head of Ekwendini’s community health department, was in a vehicle accident, and has paralysis from the waist down. Please pray for him, his family, and the community.

Embangweni has a new head of station, the Rev. John Gondwe. Rev. Gondwe previously served Kalikumbi, the station of one of our health centres. He is a good friend and has served as my personal pastor the last three years. Many of you know him from when he and his wife Florence visited the United States in 2005. They have two daughters. The oldest is 4-year-old Waliko. “Waliko” is the equivalent of "Emmanuel" in Chitumbuka. Please pray for them during this transition time.

Merry Christmas!

Martha

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 23