God is good all the time!

Can I just start by saying how amazing our God is! Even when my faith is weak and I'm feeling down, He just amazes me with His provision and power. I have been blown away by how God has shown His faithfulness and love to me this week.
This week has been kind of hard for me. It seems like everything happens at once. My elderly aunt collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital on Thursday leaving my uncle at home alone barely strong enough to take care of himself. So on top of all the stuff going on in my schedule, I was making hospital trips, cooking meals and cleaning for them. Along with the added stress to my schedule, I've also been worrying about some of the stuff that needs to happen in order to be able to go to school. Money's tight, and I have to buy a plane ticket to the Philippines by the end of the month. That one had me pretty scared. It's never cheap to fly out of the country and I definitely have been stretched already this past month. Then there was some of the medical equipment that I needed to buy and I could sure use some money for gas in my car! Well, Saturday I was really starting to feel down. Then I got a phone call from Sarah (a friend of mine who is also going to the same school) and she told me that someone she knows is going to sell us Fetal Doppler's for $75! A new, professional quality Doppler is usually at least $600! You would think that after that I would be convinced that God was in control and not worry any more about the other stuff. But no.. I still fretted. During church yesterday, I was having a hard time concentrating on the message because of everything going on, so I decided that it was time to do some serious prayer. This could not continue in this way. Some thing had to change. I was only making myself miserable. So I started to pray. I asked God why He would allow me to be accepted to school and then let things be so difficult for me (ok, I was whining a little). I told Him that I was feeling weak, and unable to continue. If He didn't intervene, then I didn't know how much longer I would be able to keep this up. I knew that this is God's will for me, and I have peace about it, but I was also getting tired of the spiritual warfare that always accompanies preparing to go to the mission field. I asked God to show me and those around me His power. To prove to us that He could provide when things seemed impossible. To bring glory to His name by keeping His word and helping His child as He promised He would. I afraid I didn't hear too much of the sermon, but God was working in my heart and by the end of the service I had a lot more peace in my heart. Following the service, I had to play a few hymns for a memorial service which I was happy to do for the grieving family. I have often done these sorts of things and feel honored to help. But then the lady who asked me to play handed me an envelope and thanked my for my music. Inside was $35. More than enough for gas in my car! That was a big encouragement. Then I headed out to meet a friend for lunch. She works with Teen Missions and she and I worked together in Malawi for about a year. I was sharing with her my concerns about being able to afford the flight to the Philippines and really just unburdening my heart to her. Then she told me that she was going to pray and talk to her husband about possibly helping me with this expense! Isn't God incredible? Every time I have a need He provides. In just a few hours after giving up my worry and fear to God, He miraculously provided for every need. I am in awe of His power and love and am so excited to see how He works in the future! This is only the beginning!

Dear Friends and Loved Ones

Dear Friends and Loved Ones, 05 April, 2007

God has been blessing me beyond what I could ever imagine and I am excited to tell you all about what He has been doing in my life lately. First of all, I want to thank you for your faithful prayer and support while I was in Malawi, Africa. God taught me and stretched me and grew me up in many ways during the eighteen months I spent there and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to serve Him.
I spent my last month in Malawi living in a village near Mwanza, a small city on the border to Mozambique. I was the only westerner in the area and saw things from a completely different perspective than I had before. Every day I walked to the well for my water and chatted with the women while I waited my turn. I bathed from a bucket and cooked over a fire, just like people living in a village would do. I experienced first hand the hardships and joys of living so simply and gained a much greater appreciation for the culture of the Chewa people. There was such tremendous need among the people there that it broke my heart. These people live everyday not knowing that they can live healthier lives by simply wearing shoes to the outhouse or by eating a varied diet instead of eating okra every day. It was so sad to see these people living in such poor conditions and often because they simply didn’t know better! Many of these people live in spiritual darkness. Some follow indigenous religions like Guli Wangulu, witchcraft and many people are turning to Islam. Some claim to be Christian but have no idea that Christ is a Savior looking to have a personal relationship with them. They may attend church, but that is as far as their religion goes. Or they may believe that because their family claims to be Christian that they are Christians too. The needs in this small country are incredible and I have a heavy burden on my heart to go back to them and spread the light of Jesus Christ.
The people who touched my heart the most were the women. During those weeks in Mwanza I prayed that God would show me what He would have me do to help them. I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving these precious women and not doing anything to help them. During my daily prayer time I wrestled with God about leaving Malawi, coming home, what to do next and if I should return. I longed to see my family again but at the same time I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving these people that I had come to love so dearly. After much prayer and deliberation I decided to pursue midwifery. I believe that as a midwife God can use me to touch the lives of many women in need. I heard stories about some of the terrible practices that many women have to endure during labor and delivery. Some village midwifes beat the women believing that it will help her to endure pain better. One woman told me that while she was in the hospital to have her baby, another woman there had a cesarean section and lost her baby because the doctor was careless and cut the baby while performing the operation. Not only will I have the opportunity to help them have safe and healthy pregnancies and deliveries, but I will have an opportunity to show the love of God to women in need.
I have been accepted to Newlife Int’l School of Midwifery. This school is a Christian midwifery school that is run on the mission field which means that I will be able to earn a degree in midwifery and serve the Lord as a missionary at the same time! The school is based at Mercy Maternity Center in Davao, Philippines and serves impoverished families that cannot afford quality health care. It is a two year program and I plan to leave for the Philippines at the end of August. I can’t even begin to express how excited I am about this. I know it is only because of God that this is possible. God is blessing me and opening doors in ways that I was afraid to hope for. If you are interested in learning more about what I will be doing, the school’s web site is http://www.midwifeschool.org/.
In order for me to be able to go to school I am going to need a lot of prayers. This is a much bigger endeavor than anything that I have done in the past. Please pray that I will have wisdom as I prepare for school. That I will be able to get everything done that needs to be done and that things will go smoothly. Also please pray that God will be preparing my heart for the mission field. Pray that I will be effective and that I will learn as much as I possibly can. I want more than anything to be useful for the Lord. Another thing that I ask you to pray about is the finances needed for me to go to school. The cost of tuition, travel, visas, living expenses and medical equipment comes to about $30,000. Just the thought of trying to raise such a large amount of money can seem like an impossible task, but I know that God has made it possible for me to get this far and He will provide what I need. If you feel God touching your heart, then please help to send me back to the mission field. Without the help of those of you here at home, it will be next to impossible for me to go. A few things that are on my list of things to buy in the very near future are a Fetal Doppler, about $600; a plane ticket to the Philippines costs about $1250; and tuition for the first year comes to $10,000. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I thank God for all of my friends, relatives, supporters and prayer partners that He has brought into my life. It is because of you that I am able to do any of this. Thank you for all that you do.
In Christ,
Holly Findley

Getting Started

Ok Everyone, here it is! My first blog. As most of you know, I'm getting ready to go to a Christian midwifery school in the Philippines. It seems like everything is happening so fast! One day I'm still wondering if I'm going to be accepted and then just a few short weeks later I'm looking at buying plane tickets! It's all still a little scary and very exciting.
It seems like lately God has been teaching me a lot about trust. That seems to be a recuring theme with me these last few years. Before it was trusting God to provide what I needed to go to Malawi. Then just getting on the plane and going! Then trusting God while being the only westerner at the base for three months. Then trusting God when I was going back home and had no idea what I was going to do! Trust seems to be one of those things that you always have to do a little more every day. So now, it's all about trusting God to provide money for school. I have no idea where all the support is going to come from, but I know that He's going to provide it. It's not something that I can do in my own strength. I really have no choice but to give it to God. But I still tend to try and take it back and worry and fret about it. I know that it does absolutely no good to worry about it, but I guess that we humans like to be in control, and maybe releasing control of it and giving it to God is something that I need to work on. So for now, if God brings it to your mind, please pray that I will be able to give this over completely to God. That I will have peace in my heart and mind and that my faith in Him will grow.