Message from Remi

Tonight, Salem is working night shift at the clinic.  When she has night shift, I seem to stay up late and try to get a lot of things done.  While doing so, I thought I would post a quick testimonial from Remi - who visited us this last month over the Christmas Break.  Thank you, Remi, for allowing us to post this on our blog!  (For more info. on Remi's trip, please read the blog post from January 8th.)  I also had to include a couple of extra pics of Remi...

Remi's message:
"Encountering all the decisions a student’s senior year throws at them, I needed God to give me some perspective. I escaped the snow storms of the Panhandle and embarked on a Christmas break adventure to the warm weather of the Philippines, hoping time spent with Nolan and Salem would send me home with a distinct direction for my plans after high school. Very familiar with the medical field and with aspirations of pursuing a medical career, I was surprised on my first day shadowing Salem at the birth center. Five beds separated by thin sheets lined the walls of a room only slightly bigger than my living room. The lack of privacy or what I thought was lack of privacy seemed crazy compared to the births I am familiar with in the United States. Until, I took a visit to the local hospital to visit a friend of Nolan and Salem who couldn’t have her baby at Mercy because she carried Hepatitis B. The hospital room was probably triple the size of Mercy, but with 15 times as many people. Beds took up every inch of the room with each patient and their newborn sharing a twin size bed with another patient. I then understood the need Mercy Maternity Center is fulfilling and the blessing it is to these women who are able to have the care and love of an amazing midwife. I took full advantage of my time with Nolan and Salem and the girls living at the dorms, asking them question after question. Each of these women volunteer at Mercy, but their stories of how they ended up there are so unique. I didn’t return home with direct plans for my future, but instead, God showed me how different His plans and timing are for each person; it doesn’t look the same for everyone. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to be the first visitor, to try out all the crazy food, to watch Salem catch a baby, to be able to hold sweet babies, and to spend my Christmas holiday with an amazing family who is adjusting and trusting in God during this new season of their life."

 Remi doing a popular Filipino dance...notice the bamboo she is hopping between.

 Remi posing with Jacqueline and new baby during a baby check after Remi got to be part of this birth.