Journal

We’ve been back in Perth for almost 4 weeks! If you were able to follow our projected timeline, you realize that’s three and a half weeks longer than we’d planned. Days before we left India, God clarified to us that we were to stay here in Perth, to “settle” a bit more as a family and do local outreach through the base from a more normal and family setting than a totally cross-cultural setting. This was also a grace for my pregnancy, as the region of the Kimberley had been running 125-130 degree F days when the rest of BAS headed up there, and I was already struggling to stay hydrated or eat or rest much in India!

 

As soon as we arrived, the kids excitedly re-joined the homeschol co-op group, so happy to see their friends and get plugged into routine again. Habiba is back volunteering in the Cafe 9 (coffee house) ministry here on base, building good friendships and enjoying being part of the hospitality team.

 

As a family we’ve begun serving with the ARMS team, Australia Relief & Mercy Services. Only one third of Perth’s population of around 2 Million is originally from Perth. The rest are transplants either from another part of Australia, or from overseas. As “the most remote city in the world”, that leaves a lot of people without a strong support structure. When crisis strikes (an acute illness or hospitalization, the loss of a family member, a temporary disability, the birth of twins to a family whose father is away in the mines most of the time, or even an elderly disabled person) and there is no family or support, people are left to an over-stretched social work system, or left alone. ARMS receives referrals from hospitals, social services, and other charity organizations here in Perth to “bridge the gap” and support/serve families or individuals that need urgent help. Most cases are temporary (up to a few months of usually-weekly visits), depending on the need. We are known to be a frankly Christian service, and clients are always offered prayer. One woman who was cared for by ARMS asked the members to continue visiting weekly to do a Bible study with her. From a background dense with wide-variety spirituality and syncretism, last week she told ARMS workers that she wanted to have a relationship with Jesus!

Bob’s first ARMS case was to visit an older gentleman who lives alone and suffers from diabetes with renal failure and on dialysis, has history of multiple strokes, and is currently battling lymphoma. He has distant and uninvolved family, and relies on systematic support from the hospital and from ARMS. Bob’s role during the team’s time there was to sit and visit with the man. Surrounded by stacks of DVDs, Bob struck up conversation by asking what his favorite movie was. “Jeremiah Johnson”, answered the lonely Aussie. His favorite part? The line where Johnson coaches his new wife to always agree with him: “‘Yes’. That is all you need to know.”

It is always a funny thing to find bits of yourself in the most unexpected places. God allows us to identify personally with the people He sends us to, just as He did (and does). The truth is revealed of how really we are all the same kind of needy-for-grace, and our compassion is fueled by humility and identification. But Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Recognizing our own helplessness leads us to salvation, and remembering our utter dependence on grace opens the way for the Kingdom to come to many more.

I think of the old phrase, “there but for the grace of God, go I” and how true it is. “There” could be any of us, had we be born in a different time or place or family, been raised on different values or belief systems and wordviews. But we can’t miss the fact that God’s grace is there for them, too. Our circumstances aren’t the clearest evidence of God’s grace; His Presence is. In the loneliest places, in those we did and didn’t choose for ourselves, or receive as the consequence of indirect choices, God’s grace is available. In the labor wards for the slum-moms in India. In the dust of the outback where mentally handicapped children sit and wait for …something, or someone. In the over-cluttered apartment reeking of filth and only-companion dogs. Jesus is there. Grace is there. Many times, though, we humans don’t see it until it wears a face and speaks in a voice or brings a touch of compassion. Enter Immanuel.

Be the open door for grace today. Be grace-needy and grace-abundant at the same time, and let the good news of God With Us be heard by one whom God loves just as passionately as He loves you and me. Let Him lead you to one that needs to see/hear/feel grace, and be ready. And let Heaven invade earth more and more.

 

 

Our team and part of our hearts are in the Kimberley. Here are some snapshots BAS has sent us. They are the faces there on site. We’re thankful to be involved from a place of prayer support, but also miss being “part of the action”. And just look at that scenery!

Sports are a big point of connection with the Aboriginal youth. This month BAS is doing pioneering work in a new community, so they are building relationships in a variety of ways.

The rainy season has just arrived in the north. God is refreshing the ground.

 

God is moving in the Kimberley region, and is opening doors for YWAM Perth to reach out and serve. Our Healthcare ministry and BAS are working on community health education to connect the Aboriginal people to their (quite good) government-supplied healthcare. There is a (historically valid) mistrust of whites, and a vast cultural disconnect between the way Western health services are offered and how Aboriginal communities will actually utilize them. Our team has been going out into more remote communities as well as building relationships within the town of Derby itself, aiming to build a consistent and trustworthy presence in the region.

I am in conversation to help in the development the new Aboriginal-focused health education resources (YWAM’s “Simple Healthcare Seminars”, as they are called, are already being run worldwide, but they want to develop a specifically Aboriginal-focused track). These will in the future be taken into communities to build trust of our healthcare teams and other medical professionals, build relationship as we grow in love for each other, and introduce the ways of God to them as we simultaneously fight the growing problems of diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia, as well as the current scourges of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and loads of mental health and family breakdown issues.

Pray for the Kimberley region, and for forward progress in our avenues of service up there.

 

One morning during lecture phase back in Perth, I was reading Psalm 104 in quiet time. God highlighted v. 30-31 in a special way,

“When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created,
and You renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in His works.”

He spoke to me of His distinct intentionality in every new creation, the renewal and refreshing purpose He has when He breathes a new life into being. How this fresh life is always a reflection of His glory that will continue its expression on earth… And that He should be able to rejoice in His works. We can join Him in rejoicing in each of these works.

I knew this was to be a key verse, and an anchor verse for me to maintain strict alignment with. Sometimes, in the face of witnessing great injustice and suffering in the lives of infants and children, I’ve been subtly but shamefully deceived into wondering if it was “worth it”. It certainly challenges our perceptions and belief system to reconcile the kindness and goodness and sovereignty and righteousness of God with such earthly pain. But I believe we generally have big missing pieces in our near-sightedness. Life is always opportunity for hope and for purpose, always a gift of renewal.

This principle most certainly applies in the tragedies in the labour room, in the losses and the complications and the defects and the unexpected. It applies to the young mothers, child brides, with too-small pelvises and obstructed labours. It applies to the anencephalic little angel our team was able to observe and love and pray over during his miraculous three days of life outside the womb. There is always more hope than we see, always more purpose than we can conceive, always more promise than we could imagine. Let the glory of the LORD endure forever.

And then, in India, God re-gifted this verse to me in another very unexpected way.

I’m pregnant.

I’d been feeling poorly, but attributed it mostly to the setting and the change in food. I loved being in the hospital and the labour room, but was struggling to get through the shifts that were far shorter than I’m accustomed to. As symptoms progressed and I started to honestly ask God about it…. I knew. The next day two pregnancy tests lit right up, and we were blind-sided by life. (We thought we were already living the impossible and upside down by God’s gift of the crazy-hard-miraculous-good.) While the news shocked us and feels a bit ludicrous for our current setting, it is just a surprise gift planned in advance by God, His glorious offer to renew the face of the Fichtinger family.

I’ve always been a pretty sick pregnant woman (and this time around, remarkably emotionally affected). Just receiving the news and increasing in all the first-trimester experiences was a bit like being struck by a massive wave: a wave of the generosity of God, but in such an overwhelming way it’s taken a couple of weeks to find my bearings and try to re-adjust to the new-again normal. I’ve spent the last three weeks pretty much exclusively at home (smells, mobility, heat, dehydration, and emotional stress are a bit incapacitating right now, and the last thing the Labour Room needs is the midwife vomiting or passing out during a delivery). I’m resting as much as I can (between homeschool, housework, and our ongoing academic requirements), and Bob and the BAS girls hunt down the blandest food and coldest sodas they can find for me. (Besides being on outreach, what better setting than to be surrounded by sweet midwives who love me?)

This has given Bob and the kids (in turn) much more opportunity to get out and engage, which has been very consistent with God’s directing for our whole family to be here together, to be experiencing India and ministering in various capacities. I love the hospital and love the labour ward, so it’s been a challenging reassignment for me, but I’m at rest with this place.

 

(God’s extravagant gift to Fetya, who’s been asking for a baby sibling on every wish list for at least two years… We found out the day before her birthday, and so announced it in her little card.)

 

(God’s extravagant gift to me: a nausea-free day to go out with the family/group to the Hard Rock Cafe, and the capacity to eat -some- BEEF BURGER and ONION RINGS. I didn’t dream about food for days after that!)

Our littlest one is only 10 weeks gestation now: the size of a grape, with miniature organs all at work, eyes and ears, and a lot of growing yet to do. My due date is 11 June, 2017. We are still waiting for God to give us more specific direction in all our continuing plans. We are scheduled to return to Perth on 12 November, and leave 2 days later on a 3-day road trip to north Western Australia, to the Kimberley region. After 5 weeks we return to Perth for Christmas. BAS then heads out to Zambia and Malawi for 5 months (traveling back to Perth right at full-term for me)

We are okay with not knowing today what the plan for us is next year. We know God is working in and through our family, and that He is (again) not at all surprised by what surprises us. We want the fullness of His plan, so we are happy to wait on Him in this situation as well. We’ll keep you all posted for sure!
PRAISE GOD WITH US….
-that the God of LIFE is unhindered, and is always bringing hope and renewal.
-that except for minor illnesses we’ve all been so healthy
-for nearly 100 healthy deliveries, a dozen or more infant resuscitations, many interventions, healings, salvations, education, encouragement, sharing the Gospel, etc. Women are so open to hearing about a God who sees and loves them, and is able to hear and respond to their needs. At least 9 Muslim or Hindu women have put their trust in Jesus alone just this week!
-for peace that passes understanding, for grace to help us in our time of need, for wisdom when we ask.
-for the faithfulness of God, and that who He is doesn’t change. He’s our Rock.
-for God’s work in our family. He’s given specific things for us to pray for over each of our kids for this outreach time, and we are seeing Him work.

PRAY WITH US….
-for ongoing blessing over BAS and the work we’re doing here
-for specific opportunities for Bob and the kids, to really make the most of their time here
-for the salvation of more Muslim women (specifically on my heart)
-for clarity and direction for our family’s plans in the upcoming year.
-for ever deepening relationship with Jesus for each of our children (and ourselves, of course). He meets us in all our places.

There have been some blogs on the BAS and our hospital work at www.invitation633.com. Check them out if you haven’t seen them yet!

Here are some snapshots of our more general outreach time:

 

Exploring the neighborhood on arrival; discovered the local mosque, church, schools, etc.

 

Prayer walking: orange flags are (anti-Christian) Hindu political party in power. The building with steeples on the front right is the local mosque.

Bob preaches our first Sunday.

Bob and the boys on the way to the hospital to visit postnatal ward, and give out chai and biscuits to the new mums (and balloons to siblings staying with mum in the hospital).

Boys make friends at church

Bob & girls head out to do a community clinic with medical DTS.

Distributing books and school supplies to the poor neighborhood children at the church.

Fetya finds babies at one clinic.

Nireekshana HIV/leprosy clinic

 

And…. More from the labour room….

 

 

 

We’re only here for seven weeks, but here are snippets of life in Hyderabad, and what we’re all up to outside of ministry time!

The boys help Mom sari shop.

 

The drive home from the hospital.

Eli loves transportation around here. No seat belts. No doors. Just parents’ very strong grip around the waist. Traffic is chaos here, but moves pretty slowly overall in the city. These guys are strong in defensive driving skills!

Of course we love the extra houesmates that come out in the evening!

There are chai stands everywhere. The one on our block is enjoying a lot of extra business this month! We have had an in-home lesson on preparing Indian chai… But we still like the professionals.

On the roof with Carly. There is a small wall around the edges, but Mom and Dad don’t complain that the stairway access is always locked except when the building manager is up there tinkering around and invites the kids to play for a little while.

Fetya got some free henna painting on a home visit. Such a lovely beauty tradition.

Found American-ish food! (Abe was enjoying it too much to pause for a picture, that’s all.)

 

Wild relay races for Fetya’s birthday

Nehru Zoological Park. Unanimous highlights: reptile house and witnessing a live croc fight. (And the playground, of course.)

Fetya’s lunch of choice: four samosas, a veg ball, and Sprite. Yes, this did get some concerned looks from the staff. (“So full afterwards,” she conceded.)

Went to GVK1 (Western Mall) for a day out, and visited “Fun Zone”. Boys had a BLAST on bumper cars, the mirror maze, air hockey, and whack-a-pig. It’s also home to Hard Rock Cafe Hyderabad: nachos, hot dogs, burgers, and apple crisp (not to mention Heinz ketchup and yellow mustard!!)