November 11, 2005

Wednesday night in the village, missionaries Jim and Joy Elliott were awakened by a loud cry announcing the birth of a baby. Then there was a knock at their door.

A young man and a girl wanted Joy to come right away to check on the new mother who seemed to be passing out a lot.

"So I being in my night gown," wrote Joy, "slipped a sweatshirt on and some jeans, lit a lantern and followed them up to their hut."

There sat the 13- or 14-year-old mother totally exhausted, after 36 hours of labor.

"I took her blood pressure and temperature and heart rate," wrote Joy. "She was fine. So I told them, 'You need to let her lay down and rest, she is not passing out at all she is just exhausted.'"

The man and girl spoke quietly then called through their walls to the next hut to ask an elderly lady her thoughts on the matter. A voice called back saying the mother could not sleep.

"So they told me that was not their way and that the mother could not sleep until she was 'well', and they proceeded to rub burning nettles on her ears, feet and hands every time she would fall over in sleep. They called on their spirits and told the bad ones to leave and then prayed in the best way they could since that is what the outside world does."

The new baby boy lay in a dark corner in a pile of wet rags. Joy asked to see him and they agreed. "I asked if he could nurse," Joy wrote, "as this would help the mother and baby, and they said 'no.'"

According to the Morop culture, a baby cannot nurse till the mother is feeling well and then only in the daytime.

"I felt so helpless," wrote Joy. "I sat there with my hands on the newborn hoping to keep it warm enough to last through the night. I was at a complete loss as to what to do now. The baby could not be left so cold and had he not been a healthy boy probably would have already died."

She asked if she could wrap him in her sweatshirt and was told she could. "Much to my embarrassment there I was sitting in my night gown and jeans feeling very exposed," Joy wrote. "But I felt better about the baby being warm. Now that I was freezing I excused myself and went home and prayed."

Today the baby and mother are doing well.

"I think because we were raised in a society that was founded on God, love is something that is more natural for us because love only comes from God; God is love."

The missionaries see a people who are only out for themselves and wish so badly to be able to reach out and do more. But they are outsiders and do not want to trample upon the people's beliefs.

"We do not yet know enough to explain a love that is willing to die to save others," wrote Joy. "This is very hard for us. Keep praying for us as we press on to reach these people with a love that will change their lives for eternity."