We have now been visiting with Mothers in the Hospital every Thursday for the past 6 months! We have seen on average 30 new mothers each month – some staying for as short as one night and others for as long as 3 months! Every Thursday we bring a flask of Milo and eats to share with the mothers while we lead a devotion and pray with the mothers. We have had the joy of celebrating with mothers whose babies were born below 1kg – watching them grow until they were discharged, and we’ve also had the sorrow of crying when a precious baby has died.
Through generous donations we have been able to bless these mothers with much needed hygiene kits, stationery, blankets, baby clothes, washing powder, snacks, wool and most importantly Bibles!
For many of the mothers receiving a bible brings great joy to them! One lady exclaimed: “I am so happy, we don’t have a bible in our house! This is the first bible I have owned.” We now see the ladies reading their bibles and they are often out on their beds or on their side tables when we come to visit. Just this past week we received a donation of 2 audio bibles for the Mama Care Ministry. When we gave them to the ladies in the ward, they were so excited – just that morning they had been talking about starting a daily group devotion time, and by giving them the audio bible we made it easier for them to listen to God’s word together and enjoy the devotionals and songs on the audio bible too!
A few weeks ago we gave wool to the mothers so that they can make Bilums (wool bags). Many of the ladies said that they did not know how to make a bilum. This week when we arrived 3 ladies who previously did not know how to make a bilum were sitting making one – one of the ladies in the ward had been teaching them! I just love to see how they are able to teach and encourage one another to build their relationships with one another!
We have also started a little library box in the ward. I found stories about missionaries like Jim Elliot, Corrie ten Boom and others in the Christian Book Shop and written in Tok Pisin! I bought as many as I could and left them in the ward for the mothers to read. We have challenged them to fill their minds with good things: “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” Phil 4:8.
It has been great to involve our children in this ministry as well. During the holidays our girls have accompanied us to visit the mothers. They bring games like Jenga and pick-up sticks along to play with the ladies. There is much laughter and fun. The girls also love to cuddle whichever babies are around.
In April we had the privilege of helping to look after a baby that had been abandoned in the Special Care Baby Ward. Three of us ladies took turns coming to the hospital every day during lunch to hold her and feed her and just love her. During this time I was able to reach out to people in the adoption group
that I am part of in PNG and she is now united with her “forever family” who is working on her official adoption!
Thank you again so much for your support and prayers in this ministry. We pray that as we reach and teach these mothers, that they will take God’s love and word back to their homes and families.
Blessings,
Michelle Venter for the Mama Care Team.
Michelle is currently raising funds to purchase more Bibles for the mothers. If you would like to donate to MAMA CARE please EFT using the reference “MAMA CARE + your name”. Thank you.
