This morning, as I do most mornings, I woke up with pictures of Papua New Guinea in my mind. Visions of the villages, the river, the people, different faces, Rhondy, travelling up the river, teaching in the classroom, all the faces peering up at me, images of a hard life, sick children, grieving families because of the loss of a mother… There have been 2 known deaths of women during childbirth this week in the East Sepik Province. This is just the ones that we know about. What about the others that we don’t know about. The ones who have silently slipped away in the jungle, only their immediate family aware because the distances are so great and they are a forgotten people?
Yesterday, I saw a post on facebook which broke my heart. A PNG man was commenting on a PNG site and he posted a photo he had taken of a woman who had just given birth in a remote swampy area of Western Province. The photo struck me because when I looked at the woman, I could see the faces of other women I have met in East Sepik Province. Those in the lower Keram River areas where it is swampy and treacherous. The women have told me stories about what it’s like to give birth in these areas, but it is hard to imagine because I just don’t know how they do it. This photo now gives me a picture of what it’s like for these women. And it is not a nice picture.
There is a loving heavenly Father who has not forgotten these people. He has heard the cries of His people and is nudging people to be involved in providing support and assistance for some of the most vulnerable people on the planet at the moment: women and babies in East Sepik Province. I know for sure that I have been prompted by Him to help. Rhondy is a local PNG midwife who I have connected with in the most amazing way. God has placed a burden on her heart for her people. Her and I are working together through Living Child to provide a sustainable program of education and training, practical help and assistance for villages in some of the remotest places in PNG. Are you feeling prompted to help? With your help we can make a difference…
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