This is Andy, named so because he was born on Tala-Andig day here in Lapoc.
(Andy, short for Andig)
He is the first grandson of Ronnie and Aling who are on the church leadership team here in Lapoc.
Four and a half years ago they lost their youngest son (who was 14 years old) during a severe asthma attack and
Andy has come into their lives at a time when they really needed this precious little one!
On the day of his birth though, they had many weary hours of waiting through his
very difficult delivery.
From 3 am the previous morning until 7 am the following morning, two ladies trained in attending
births (one of them our lovely co-worker Elsa) had stayed with Malyn, the young first-time Mum,
attending her and coaching her. Finally at 7 am the very top of the baby’s head could be seen and they
thought the toil of labour was almost over.
Five hours later the baby still had not arrived and the attendants were almost at their wits end.
Ronnie and Aling and many other family members were agonizing in the next room, praying and wondering
if this baby was going to make it and if he was indeed still alive.
I joined the birth attendant team at this point and 1 ½ hours later had the wonderful privilege of
co-delivering a live baby boy!!!!!
Hearing Andy’s first little newborn wails had an electric effect on the family waiting outside and the atmosphere
immediately changed from heavy and agonizing to one of celebration and praise!!!!
 |
| This picture is of the happy new parents - Ronnie and Aling’s second son, Tonton, and his wife Malyn – taken about a week after the ordeal of little Andy’s birth. Every baby is a gift, but to their family, this baby is a VERY SPECIAL gift in more ways than one!! And now Andy’s first Christmas is nearly here and he is about to start learning all about what happens in Lapoc at Christmas time, which we want to share with you as well but for now we’ll say goodbye, leave you with some prayer points and save the Lapoc Christmas story for our next update! Prayer Points · For the next stage of translating the book of Romans from Ch 7-16. · For our team here as we move into a very busy time of the year with a lot of church fellowship meetings. · For Ben and Leonie as they go through the many preparations to join the team next month! · For us as a family that we will keep close to the our Lord. · For the church at Cauyunan as they are going through a time of sifting and weakness due to election related turmoil. Lots of Love, Paul, Deb and Jubab |
