Behold, I will do a new thing...

Hello again!

Hope you are all doing well!

I want to start off jubilantly saying that all the finance has come in for my outreach!
Yippee! Sound the trumpets! Clang the cymbal!

The Sausage Sizzle was a hit, and we did indeed sell 500 sausages over the weekend.
Thank you everyone for sponsoring and partnering with me in this. Even small amounts add up and seem to get multiplied.

Just a heads up though:
We got a memo saying that the flights that are being held for us may have just switched to be $400-500 more, each! So please join with us and pray that we will get the original prices, and that they will drop!

Anyway, meanwhile....
In my life,
these past two weeks feel like there has been a “change in the winds”.
Let me explain:

Lately, I’ve been thinking about “the future”. I feel like God's prompting me to think about what to do after BAS. It's kind of an exciting place to be, because I haven't been prompted or released to think about my future for almost a year. But now, little nudges, and I'm exploring with God. Pieces here and there, remnants, dreams, options... I am writing a lot these days.
I am still very much in the process of gathering thoughts, ideas, desires, and holding them in my heart.

I have 9 months to go.
Symbolic?
Prophetic?
The time it takes to birth,
to bring forth a future...

Behold, I will do a new thing;
now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it?
I will even make a way in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

You know the moment when driving a standard car, and you switch gears? I feel like I am in that moment, when it’s taken out of one gear and waiting to be switched into the other.
Let’s call it “transition”.
Or “change”.
Or “straining towards what is ahead”. Philippians 3:13



On top of this,
I have been very homesick.
I have usually been able to fend it off,
but,
It's been 8 months since I last saw my family.
I still have 9 months to go. I don't know how exactly to handle it, what does one do?
Except to ride it out,
yearn for the familiar,
embrace the fullness of emotion,
and know that it will pass soon.

I really love my family!! And my dear friends! You are all so special.
And my dear country! The Canadian landscape!

The rugged mountain slopes,
The wheat fields that go on for days,
the salty brisk ocean air,
the driftwood on west coast beaches,
the vibrant green mosses of the rainforest of Vancouver Island.

I love Canada!

I'm homesick. I miss home.
Yet, I don’t WISH I was home. I do reminisce often though, and smile with a full heart when my thoughts take me to Canada.


hey! If you do desire to send a letter or a small care package, you have the next 2 weeks to do so. (takes an additional 2 weeks to get to me)
You can send it to:

Fia Merkeley
PO Box 8501
Perth Business Centre
Western Australia 6849
Australia

It would be lovely to hold a piece of home, read handwritten words, see photos of the summer!

Here in Perth, everyday is still exciting and beautiful, and I am so thankful for the uniqueness of this time in my life. We go to Tanzania in a month!
And then Beloved India.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nepal.
This is my "Yes!! I love this moment!" face.
I’m on a mountain-top. Wearing my Leaf Punjabi.
It took about an hour to climb to the summit. Kind of forging our own trail, and taking the occasional goat path. I love climbing mountains! The view (and the journey) is always worth it.

Much love to all!



Held by Grace,
Fia

Psalm 131:2
Calm down my soul...



~~~~

Like a Rushing River, Misty Edwards- Unplugged

Like a rushing river am I
Like a raging torrent inside
I find that I’m free-falling again
I'm letting go of the mountain view
Letting go, but what into?

I've been crucified with Christ
Yet not I, but one thing I know
You make all things beautiful
Just in time

So into Your hands
Into Your hands I fall

So calm down, my soul
Calm down and know

His yoke is easy
His burden is light
It simply costs everything
But it's not too mysterious

So calm down, my soul
Just calm down and know

No one who waits on the Lord will ever be ashamed
For wisdom will be justified

Calm down, my soul
Be quiet within me
And put your trust in God
From where your help comes from

From where your help comes from
Just calm down, my soul, and wait
It's just a matter of time

Buds and Roos and Bellies and Babies

It is the beginning of spring: the noonday sun does not have its harsh chill, and the rainy bleakness is coming to an end.
The days have been so full, weeks go by like that (*snap fingers*), and there is lots to process and absorb.

Hmm, I’m wondering now how I should go about doing this blog, because the lectures we have are, you know, about newborns and pregnancies and labour and things like that. Not exactly dinner conversation, but nonetheless interesting and exciting.

Well first of all, before I say anything more,
I want to say thank you to all of you.
Many of you have come alongside me and supported me financially, making generous commitments to partner with me monthly, and not a day goes by that I am aware that I am only here by each one’s contribution.
It is with great, great pleasure that I can say that the money has come in that I need to have for the 8 month outreach to Africa, India, and the Phillipines. And to this, I thank you!

Actually, just thinking about it, almost makes me cry... I am overwhelmed! The humility God has walked me through, and the gratefulness that I have towards everything that I have in my life. Because of your support, whether large or small, it has all come together so that now, I am in Perth, in a classroom, everyday seeing more of this dream shift to become a reality.

Each one of you are investing into something much deeper, much larger than an 11 month midwfiery school. Real mothers and newborns will be watched over, cared for, loved. Women will be taught simple health care, and locals will be equipped with the gift that cannot be taken: education. It is not abstract, it is tangible. Direct to the people. And then of course the ripple effect into families and communities. What a responsibility, what a privilege! wow.

Thank you.

There is however a need for a few details extra to the outreach costs that I always forget about. There are a few immunizations that I still need to get for Africa, and the medical equipment... Blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, fetal pinnard, scrubs, closed-toed shoes.

If you would like to support me in these final details, amounting to roughly $300, we are doing a Sausage Sizzle this weekend, which is a fun way to raise money and stand over a barbeque. Please email me if you are interested in participating!



This week’s lectures have been the real deal: Labour and Delivery.
Delivering Babies 101.

haha! It’s pretty intense.

(This is us watching a video for class; we were just previously being pregnant ladies. It's pretty fun. Anything can happen in the BAS classroom!)

Last week, we learned about changes (and danger signs) during prenancy, and my favorite wonder so far: palpations!!

We got to palpate a pregnant mother’s belly. You just place your hands on her stomach and feel for the top of the uterus and the little baby inside! It’s quite remarkable. Then you find the heartbeat and listen.
This week we learned more about the baby and how it navigates down and out. There are so many mechanisms, it is pretty genious.


On the weekend we drove up the road a ways to a place called Kangaroo Island. It’s kind of like a safe haven for kangaroos that have been hurt or injured in the wild, so they just hang out in this safe, vast area, and hop around among the trees and bushes. We went on a search and sure enough found a couple nice roos. One was so tame and laid back, he let us pat him, and he hung around for quite a while. I named him Kanga.


The relentless pursuit of getting a good picture with Kanga!

We also had a dance party, Black and White themed, and another Canadian and I went as a pair of dice. We had a hoot sewing those boxes onto our belts!



Oh, also, everyday, I have the amazing privilege of sewing costumes for an Islander Dance ministry. They show God through traditional tribal dances from all over, Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Hawaii.
Drumbeats, voices, clapping, sticks, feathers, shells, the whole bit.
All doing for the redemption of cultures, and embracing another venue to show the love of Christ. Since it is also with YWAM, it is non-profit and they make all their costumes.

They just had a performance this week, it was amazing. So powerful and done with excellence and precision. I sewed the white hula skirts and the red tops!The Crew + Fia

Until next time,

Fia "keeping very busy" Merkeley