clinic_for_His_glory's Xanga

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:47:39 GMT

This is Karina (my niece)on her way home from kindergarten. I went to the school to bike home with her one day.
Mary usually bikes with her to and from school. She likes school

Josh with a baby armadillo they found.

Sadie Schmucker´s 15th birthday party on Sunday afternoon. Was just about like a wedding!They tried to have it on Sat. eve, but it rained so hard. Some of us were there already and got wet.Things would have gotten wet if we would´ve moved it to the church. So they put the food in the fridge and reheated it the next day.

My first birth on mon. morning. i JUST MADE IT. She was crowning when I got there. A 7 lb. 12 oz. girl.
She said she started labor at 5:30am and baby was born at 6:45am. This is her 2nd baby.
They had another one at 11:45 but I didn´t get to deliver that one. I was at the Health center Doing prenatal check'ups. One of the Drs. isn´t there this whole week so they gave me his place. So I am going in the forenoons for prenatal check'ups.
The 1st. week I was here they didn´t call me so I went visiting, cooked,baked and washed for Mary.
Time is going way too fast! I´ve been here two weeks today, Only have 12 more days.
I suppose most of you heard about the earth quake the first night I was here. It woke me up, my bed was shaking
pretty good but I thot it was Karina bumping my bed and would probably have promptly gone back to sleep, but Mary came and told me, Its an earthquake,Dorcas. She was ready to go outside.
The next day we had a tremor. We´ve had two more since then. The one was just this past Sunday eve at 11:13 I felt this one but it wasn´t as bad as the 1st one. My friend Phyllis said, Dorcas, you better leave. I guess she thot I brought them with me. :)
I´m enjoying rainy season. It didn´t rain for the the week and a half I was here.
It sure has been warm!
Hasta la vista. Que Dios les bendiga.
Dorcas

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sun, 17 May 2009 22:27:40 GMT

Hi to you this quiet Sunday afternoon. iT IS DREARY and rainy,which i love for a sunday.

A real welcome after a dramatic week !!!! We could have had some funerals this week.

But the verse in Psalms" He gives His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways, They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone, has new meaning, after this week.

On Sunday my two married sisters, and families and us here at home had a picnic at the park.

On Mon and Tues. I was at the Ronald Mcdonald house taking care of some of Paul Millers children. Paul Miller is my bro.-in-law Johnny's bro.

Paul's daughter Ashley got hit by a line drive in softball. She was third baseman. It hit her on the side of her face. Broke her gum bone and nose. She had severe nose bleeds& ended up being in the hospital for at least a week. Their 2 yr. old has type 1 diabetes, so has to have insulin shots at least 5 times a day. So I went to help with him and also the others because none of them are 18 yet, and you have to be 18 to be in charge at the Ronald McDonald house.

On Wed. Two of their little girls were staying at my sis. Miriam's place, and were on the four wheeler with my 8 yr.old niece ,who was getting ready to drive,her knee hit the throttle& the four wheeler turned over. They were hurt but no broken bones. My sis Miriam saw it happen. Thankfully the oldest girl grabbed her sister and they jumped out of the way.

Then on Thurs. eve. Benjamin ,Sis Miriam's youngest got bit by a copperhead. He was in the hospital overnight.

but thankfully he didn't have enough venom to be fatal. He can't walk ,His whole leg hurts,his foot is swollen and blue. And there is a blister on the toe that got bit. We learned that a copperhead bite actually isn't fataL.

On thurs. afternoon Dad went over to the neighbors and fell down he was knocked unconsious for a little, He has a colorful eye right now.

God is good all the time!!!!

Next Tues. I'm planning to go to Honduras for a month, to deliver babies at a clinic in guaimaca.

Dorcas

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:03:21 GMT

buying noodles at noodle factory Nathan and Effi Groff( a wonderful couple) eating breakfast out on the street Effi loved it a taxi i took from the hospital to the university making dumplings, a favorite food in china taking a bike ride on her due date, to get roasted chestnuts Effi making stir fry in her little kitchen

Home Again

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:05:11 GMT

I have been home from China for over a week now.

It takes adjusting to get back in the swing of things. Yes, like cleaning houses etc.

Thanks so much for all of you that left encouraging comments. That meant so much to me.

I could not read them till I got home, Cause I could not get on xanga there. I know It would have been such an encouragement to read them there, but, I got blessed reading them at home.

I had a very good tour of Beijing,the great wall, etc. It started with a 5hour train ride. Someone from Nathan and Effie's fellowship, took me to the station, an hour from their town. He put me on the train, then when I got off , My tour guide for the afternoon was there.

I know I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if I would been traveling with someone. But I still had a good time. I did so much walking, my left leg was sooo sore when I got home. They have so many steps in China. Which I am sure is good exercise .

Well, more later.

Dorcas

Last China Post

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 02:56:29 GMT

Hello,

This will probably be my last post in China.

Well baby boy" Daniel Douglas" 8lbs. 7oz. was born last eve by c-section.

He died "in utero" before we transported.

It has been a hard time. Questioning myself, doubts etc. But This morning I was ministered to again.

Effi has to be in the hospital for a week. So I'll be going soon to see her. She has been such a trooper. She is an amazing, sweet, woman.

I am so glad they have such a good support group here. A lot of people were at the hospital last night, waiting.

I bathed the baby this morning, and Nathan dressed him.

They had him at the hospital last night.

I cleaned the apartment today, we left everything in a mess when we left on the run.

Sun morning= I stayed with Effi at the hospital last night and came home this morning to shower.

LW i will be leaving for Beijing on Wed on the bullet train to be able to see more country side,it takes around 5 hours, then I want to go see the great wall of China.

Then fly home Thurs. eve Arrive in Richmond Va around 10 pm. fri. eve.

Dorcas

China Diary

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:20:46 GMT

Sat. Nov. 15th = Today is the day they turn on the heat all thru the country. There is no way for the people to adjust it. Nate told me it has been so warm they have had to turn on the airconditioner.

Right now we have to use electric heaters.

Mon. Nov 17th = I went visiting two classes at the university today. It was very interesting. They were oral English classes. The teachers made it interesting,like taking different foods to the class and getting them to say what it tastes like.

Yesterday we went to a typical restaurant, (it's a favorite one here). They cook like they did longer ago. Mushrooms with tofu, bean sprouts with leeks, sweet potatoes, two different kinds of salads, pork etc. I didn't like that as well as the food around here.

Nov. 18th= I did my wash over at Peter Hall. It is a challenge sometimes to get some washers and dryers for your clothes. You can imagine with 100 foreign teachers plus some visitors. I then biked downtown with Effi and Winnie to get chestuts. They are very tasty, they fry them in oil.

Yes, can you imagine yesterday was Effi's due date and she went biking with us.

Last night we had another girl's meeting. Sweet girls.

Yes, we definitely can tell the heat has been turned on, it gets just pretty warm inside. I open my window some.

Nov 19th = Watched a basketball game last night. Foreign teachers against chinese students. The foreign teachers won.

NOV 18th= went with Charlene Naayers to make Dumplings with some of her students.Two other foreign teachers were there. We had a fun time. It is almost like Paraguay empanadas except they are smaller and they boil them in water. They were also making other kinds of foods.

Effi made a good lunch here today. She has decided not to go over to the dining hall, so people can't ask her, you still haven't had your baby!"

We have had several nice clear days, Tues & Wed. there is so much smog here they often can't see the mountain close to here. It is often very hazy, because of all the factories . There is also this distinct smell, I smelled it when I got off the plane in Beijing. When you wake up at night it is very strong!

Nov. 22 = I did the weekly cleaning for Effi today. Felt good to do some manual labor.

Love, Dorcas

China!!!

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 02:58:00 GMT

Hello from China!

What an experience! While i'm writing this most of you are fast asleep.

I'm having a real hard time getting on xanga here. They block some websites they don't like ,so you need a special something called G ladder to break thru that. So I'm having to send this to someone in the US to paste on xanga, see if that works.

Well any way, I arrived here on Sat. eve at 10pm. Started off Fri. morn from Va at 4 am so as you can imagine that was a little more than 44 hours without seeing a bed. On the last jog after Beijing I could really feel it in my legs. But the jet lag amazingly hasn't been that bad.

I found it very interesting watching our route on the map on the flight from Chicago to Beijing. We went over Canada,& Russia. I took a picture of the map when we were going over the international date line. I looked down when we were going over Siberia and saw snow on the mountains.

It never got dark on our flight.

I am staying on the 5^th floor with Nate and Effi. She (Effie)9 months pregnant). since I am here goes up those flights of stairs everyday, 81 stairs to be exact. And they have no elevator either.

They live across from the University, in the teacher's apartments.

It is a university of around 18,000 students. It is very big. We come over and eat at the dining hall sometimes. Nate is over the foreign teachers,which there are about 100 of them.

On Mon. We rented bikes and biked downtown & changed money$B!#(B

The people that I have met,( Nate & Effi's friends) are very friendly. They are really making me feel welcome.

Last night was my first lecture on a woman's anatomy,pregnancy and birth to a total of 5 girls & 3 married ladies.

I was nervous!

It is chilly here, has been since I'm here, in the 40's. We are using heaters in the apartment.

I brought my clothes over to wash & am using Winni(Effi's friend's) computer. She is also married to an American, A very sweet girl! If these girls could not talk English I would be up a creek without an oar !!!

They go out to eat a lot here. It is so cheap. Today Effi , Winni & I went out for lunch. It was $2 a piece. So i have really been eating typical food . And trying to learn to eat with chopsticks is an art. Hopefully I will have learned by the time I leave.

Two mornings we ate typical breakfasts out on the street (street food they call it).

A sad thing indeed was I left my camera on the flight from Chicago to Beijing.

But one of the foreign teachers was nice and let me borrow one of hers.

$BB?2C(B duojia ( My name in Chinese written first in characters )

PS: Will try & post pics here -not sure if I can. :)

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 15:31:47 GMT

Hello,
I am sitting here at Pollo Campero in Tegus. We had a good typical breakfast !!! Yummmm
Our Taca flight is canceled for today because of weather. Seems to me since the crash they are more careful. So Ryan and I are planning to take the bus to San Pedro and fly out of San pedro tomorrow.
Well, the clinic is all cleaned out. We had a big yardsale on Sat. It was a very good sale.
We gave the clinic stuff to the mayor of Guaimaca. He is putting new health centers in villages in the mountain. He is also a Dr.
It was hard sometimes to know what to save and store here or pitch and what to take along to the USA !
I just have to tell you what a blessing I received while going thru all my cards and letters i received thru out my years here. I found a total of $140!!!! in two $20 dollar bills and a $100 dollar bill.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:03:05 GMT

It is sad for me that lisa n i will be parting ways, but such is life.

Do you think God allows changes and upheavels in our life to keep us from getting too comfortable here on earth, and to keep reminding us that this is not our home? What are your thots on that? I have thot that since my coming back from honduras.

Yes, Lw I will be going to China to deliver Nate and Effie Groff's baby. He is a Canadian and she is Chinese.

She is a first time Mom, due Nov. 18th. They are wanting to have their baby at home because all Drs. in China perform abortions. And they didn't want a dr. that takes part in that. So a friend of theirs living in China(originally from Colombus, Ohio) called her midwife ,then she called me. Does that make sense?

They live in the Henan province, the address is Xengzhing,I think I'll be flying to Beijing. it is a 14 hour flight. They live on an International University campus, where he (Nate) teaches. He asked me if I would be willing to teach the young girls there about birth. I said I would be glad ,too. So I have to get some teaching materials ready.

I'll probably be staying around 3 weeks.

Anybody out there want to go along? I would love to have a travelling companion.

I have talked to Nate and their friend from Colombus. I have to be careful of the words I use when calling and even e-mailing. No using missionary or God etc.

I will be flying to Honduras on the 14th of Oct. with Lisa and Ryan(my nephew)then coming back and leaving about right away for China.

Pray for me as God puts me on your hearts. Its exciting yet scary. But I know God will never lead me where His grace and presence won't go with me.

The church has plans to go camping today. it is chilly and rainy. Rained an inch yesterday. Bernice and I aren't going till tomorrow. We better have a lot of dry wood for some big camp fires!!!!! Brrr

Dorcas

Here is a prayer I found at work here , It has blessed me :

Today, Lord I am going to do my best, with your help, and for your glory. I realize that there are many different people in the world with a variety of opinions and expectations. I probably will not please all of them all of the time. I will concentrate on being a God- pleaser and not a self pleaser. the rest I leave in Your hands, Lord. Grant me favor with you and with men,

and continue transforming me into the image of Your dear Son.

Thank You, Lord

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:04:40 GMT

Hello, everyone! wow, it's hard to believe that this summers already over! it was a good one, i loved it! i did the produce stand in idaho again. Leo and ruca came up from honduras and drove out with me and ruca helped me at the stand. that was lots of fun! the only bad thing about the summer was that Ilene now lives in virginia and LoRita lives in chile, so i didn't get to be with them...'twas sad! idaho just didn't seem the same without them. but, all in all, it was a great summer. right now i'm in ohio for a week or so, then virginia to see ilene and then go down to randys wedding in florida with dorcas and her family, and THEN....it's honduras bound!!! dorcas, ryan and i are flying down on the 14th, but she's only going to be able to stay for about 2 1/2 wks, then she's headed for china, you know dorcas, the international midwife! but i'll let her tell you all about that. anyway, so i decided that since i'm not gonna be in the clinic anymore, maybe i should get a new xanga site, which i did. it's www.xanga.com/life_in_guaimaca . so, see ya there!