Perfect Timing

Dear Supporters and Prayer Warriors of Birth With Dignity,

Thank you for praying us to Uganda.  We arrived in the wee hours of this morning, safely and with all 450 pounds of supplies and luggage meeting us at the airport and now piled high in our rooms.  

The significance of this trip has us resting in God’s timing and not relying on our own agenda. This is how we have seen Him working thus far:

1. We always go to Uganda the first week of January.  We delayed this year, knowing the Ugandan election would take place mid-January with internet being turned off here and everyone counseling us to wait.  That “waiting” allowed Sue to fully heal from being very sick in December and early January.  No fluke, no coincidence.
   
2. We arrived to the MSP airport with all our supplies 30 minutes after the completion of a significant protest there. The result was us flying through ticketing and security faster than ever before.
   
3. We left one day prior to the country-wide winter storm that has canceled thousands of flights.  

There are many more stories that we will add to these as we begin our conferences, meetings, and workshops in the days to come. We are resting in His timing and His goodness.  

Below are our prayer requests for these next weeks.  

• Meeting this week with the Commissioner for Reproductive Maternal and Child Health at the Ugandan Ministry of Health.  He is the highest official here in maternity care.  We have had multiple emails with him and are hoping we can meet with him face to face in the next two days.  We need some of our content to get in the national healthcare curriculum.  He is key.

• 4 conferences with midwives, district leaders and physicians in the West.  We pray for receptive ears, engaged learners, and change as a result of the teaching and training.

• We will do a leadership workshop with our 4 Ugandan Birth With Dignity Midwife Leaders in two weeks. This workshop with lay the foundation of conferences in the smaller districts for the next year.  These leaders will be our teachers and trainers, and the sustaining of Birth With Dignity in years to come. 

Thank you for the ways you have supported us.  Trust us that Uganda maternity care is different because of you.  Lives have been saved, respectful and dignified care in perinatal loss has drastically changed.  We tell our Ugandan friends how much they are loved through your help. May God bless you in your generosity to us.  

With much gratitude,
Sue and Lynn