Welcome!

Well, after last time's epic announcement, I ran out of time to update this blog! But I think you'll excuse me.

Theresa Porche Jael Duinkerke came into the world and into our family on 12.11.10 at 8.05 pm. It was an eventful day, the day that she was born. I had rung her birth mother in the morning to find out how she was doing and she said, the baby will come today, but I'll ring you back later to pick me up. She didn't want to wait in the hospital all day. Well, when she finally rang, at 6pm (her waters broke around 10am), we went down the bumpy and slippery road to the area she lives. Now, Solomon Island women don't make a lot of noise when they give birth. The only sign that she was having a contraction was that she would rub her back and close her eyes! And that was happening fairly regularly on the way to the hospital. Jair didn't know whether to drive faster, and get there quicker, or drive slower, because of the bumps, the baby might just pop out!

We got to the hospital maybe just before 7pm and she waited in the corridor of the labour ward before a nurse was free to check her out. She was ushered straight into the delivery area. When Theresa first came out, the umbilical cord was around her neck so she was blue and wasn't

breathing. I was praying and praying, "Lord please give her breath." And then I heard her cry and it was the most beautiful sound.

I looked at my watch and it was 8:05. Eventually I snuck out to tell Jair and then he came in as well, to see his daughter. After he went out to buy some food and milo for the birth mother (the hospital doesn't provide anything), we went home for the night.

Saturday we spent going in and out, hoping we could take her home, getting food for the birth mother, getting hot water (yes, they didn't even have water to bath the babies there), and eventually going back home to spend the final restful night in a long

while.

Sunday we arrived at the hospital just before 10am and they had already recieved permission to go. I paid for her little baby record book. Inside was the birth certificate, with all the details filled in except her name. Yay. We first went to the birth mother's house to drop her off, let the whanau have cuddles with Theresa and chat about having a custom ceremony to officially culturally hand her over.

The birth mother left her clothes on the washing line at the hospital so Jair went back with her and her sisters to get the clothes. I waited at the house with Theresa. So after quite some time we were able to get into our car, travel back over that awfully bumpy road to our house. When we got here, all the locals at the base ran over to see the new baby, and our journey as parents began!

the great big crash and the great big news

Work has finally begun on pruning the trees here at SWIM! Jair's been up the trees, with Andrew down the bottom belaying him. Then they send up the chainsaw with a rope and he cuts away, ending up with many big crashes as the branches come down. As you see, this tree, the first to be finished with its haircut, looks a little naked, but then won't fall when the flood sodden ground softens!

But there are still many trees left to prune. We covet your prayers for safety!

But we have other news that needs prayer - and thanksgiving too! We're going to adopt a baby! Just over three weeks ago we were contacted by a pastor's wife who has a woman in her church who is pregnant but feels she can't look after her baby. Well, the question for us was, would we

be willing to adopt this baby? of course, we were more than willing. We're over the moon!

After this, the father of the birth mother wanted to check the entire extended family to ensure no one else wanted it, and to get their blessing. And they are all more than happy for us to adopt this baby. I then took the birth mother for an ultra sound and they estimated that the baby is due to come on the 14th of November. So since we heard the news, it's been a busy rush for us to get things prepared. We are so excited, so happy that God has chosen to answer our prayers this way, and so eagerly waiting in anticipation! I took the birth mother to the clinic this afternoon. The baby is certainly growing and is right in position ready to come out - hopefully soon! :)

A Hot November with More Guests

Hi all... Really I don't know why I haven't blogged earlier. Now that our last overseas mission team has come for the year, things have quietened down a lot for me in the Transit House. It's nice having some time to sort out jobs that have been on the back burner (or rather the paper conglomerating on my desk). And Hellen, the woman who cleans in the Transit House, has been blessed with so much more time to give everything a good clean.

Recently we had two members the Solomon Island Workgroup of SWIM come over for a week. It was great to spend some time with them, talking about our work here and struggles and joys on the mission field, as well as letting them be a part of our work for a week. I think they went home blessed and we were certainly blessed by their visit.

Well, I thought the Solomon Islands was hot. Until I met November. Now it's really hot. Indescribably hot. Or actually, the temperature is probably much the same, but we have this relentlessly high humidity level. So we're all feeling a bit weak and fatigued as the heat drains our energy. Apparently, the next few months should bring a lot of rain - so we've started the pre-flood preparations like clearing the "drain" area for the water to flow, building up around the side of the fence that fell over with the last flood, and Lord Willing, this week Jair plans to do a bit of tree lopping. You might remember from earlier on in the year, a tree fell down after

a flood. The ground becomes sodden with water and the flimsy roots with the weight of the tree result in a great big crash. So, the trees all need a drastic hair cut. But thankfully, it's been dry lately, so the weather is ok for doing all this work.

Well, in other news here at SWIM, some people next door at the sawmill recently caught a croc. Yip that's Jair with his new friend. We've heard there are a few around and I think they're better dead than alive so we wish all the best to the locals who catch and kill them.

Also, we have some interesting night time security!! They hang out on the fences (we're told the big ones are on the fence by our house... )

And finally, after many months of waiting - we now have a parrot. We've called it Gehazi (it was given to us by Elisha, seriously). Gehazi is still a baby. He can't talk yet and his feathers are still changing from grey fluffy baby ones to colourful red, orange and green, and his beak still needs to grow. But he's cute, although he does squawk alot.

Laki is extremely jealous of Gehazi and now whines a lot and begs for a lot of attention. Oh well.