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Stories & Blog
A Not-So-Silent Night
CENTRAL ASIA — In the cold, drafty hospital, Crossworld worker Vicky paused to brace herself. This is nothing like I expected.
When her friend Habeekah had asked, “Will you come with me when my baby is born?” Vicky was honored to support her. However, Vicky soon experienced what it was like to seek medical care as a poor woman from the least influential tribe in the country.
No one at the hospital would look at Habeekah or even acknowledge her. Though she was past her due date and the baby had stopped kicking in the womb, she and Vicky waited for hours before anyone would even make eye contact with them. Someone finally acknowledged Habeekah, only to give this response: “It’s not worth our time to check on your baby. Go home and wait for labor to begin.”
Vicky then did something she hates to do — use her foreign face to influence change. Once Vicky began to speak the local language, she was able to convince the hospital staff to listen for the baby’s heartbeat. Sure enough, Habeekah’s fluid levels were low and the baby was in danger. Still, the staff was in no hurry to help.
For 17 hours, Habeekah and Vicky sat in an unmonitored, unstaffed and unheated ward with 20 other women, half of whom were in labor. All of the women crowded onto four beds, sitting side by side. Blood, dirt, grime and bodily fluids covered the floors, walls and beds. Women coughed and sneezed in the cold, damp room. The single sink in the room had no running water, and Vicky couldn’t find soap anywhere.
As Vicky and Habeekah waited, they saw multiple births, one tragic stillbirth and a woman being beaten with a wooden broomstick by the hospital staff. But Vicky also had the opportunity to serve these women — to pray for and with them, offer lactation support and massage their backs.
Struck by the deep similarities between these women’s birth experiences and that of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Vicky began to share that miraculous story to the roomful of listening women. “May I tell you a story about someone else who had humble beginnings but grew up to change the world?” The women immediately identified with Mary, who was ignored as she sought help and a safe place to have her baby. They understood the reality of our Savior’s humble beginnings — perhaps better than Vicky could have hoped. This real-life picture of Christ’s birth was the perfect opportunity for Vicky to tell these women about Jesus.
Finally, late in the night, Habeekah began labor. Hours of medicine-free labor later, she delivered an 11-pound baby boy. Habeekah said to Vicky, “Please name the baby!”
Honored, Vicky thought for a moment. “His name is Daud, after King David,” Vicky said. “King David was the youngest of a large family, and no one believed he would amount to much. But God raised him up for great things, and from his line the Prince of Peace was born. It’s my prayer that Daud, your sixth child, will do great things, too.”
Habeekah’s story didn’t end at the hospital. Read about a miraculous encounter in Part 2 of this story, “Stranger in the Night.”
When her friend Habeekah had asked, “Will you come with me when my baby is born?” Vicky was honored to support her. However, Vicky soon experienced what it was like to seek medical care as a poor woman from the least influential tribe in the country.
No one at the hospital would look at Habeekah or even acknowledge her. Though she was past her due date and the baby had stopped kicking in the womb, she and Vicky waited for hours before anyone would even make eye contact with them. Someone finally acknowledged Habeekah, only to give this response: “It’s not worth our time to check on your baby. Go home and wait for labor to begin.”
Vicky then did something she hates to do — use her foreign face to influence change. Once Vicky began to speak the local language, she was able to convince the hospital staff to listen for the baby’s heartbeat. Sure enough, Habeekah’s fluid levels were low and the baby was in danger. Still, the staff was in no hurry to help.
For 17 hours, Habeekah and Vicky sat in an unmonitored, unstaffed and unheated ward with 20 other women, half of whom were in labor. All of the women crowded onto four beds, sitting side by side. Blood, dirt, grime and bodily fluids covered the floors, walls and beds. Women coughed and sneezed in the cold, damp room. The single sink in the room had no running water, and Vicky couldn’t find soap anywhere.
As Vicky and Habeekah waited, they saw multiple births, one tragic stillbirth and a woman being beaten with a wooden broomstick by the hospital staff. But Vicky also had the opportunity to serve these women — to pray for and with them, offer lactation support and massage their backs.
Struck by the deep similarities between these women’s birth experiences and that of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Vicky began to share that miraculous story to the roomful of listening women. “May I tell you a story about someone else who had humble beginnings but grew up to change the world?” The women immediately identified with Mary, who was ignored as she sought help and a safe place to have her baby. They understood the reality of our Savior’s humble beginnings — perhaps better than Vicky could have hoped. This real-life picture of Christ’s birth was the perfect opportunity for Vicky to tell these women about Jesus.
Finally, late in the night, Habeekah began labor. Hours of medicine-free labor later, she delivered an 11-pound baby boy. Habeekah said to Vicky, “Please name the baby!”
Honored, Vicky thought for a moment. “His name is Daud, after King David,” Vicky said. “King David was the youngest of a large family, and no one believed he would amount to much. But God raised him up for great things, and from his line the Prince of Peace was born. It’s my prayer that Daud, your sixth child, will do great things, too.”
Habeekah’s story didn’t end at the hospital. Read about a miraculous encounter in Part 2 of this story, “Stranger in the Night.”
Your part in this story...
Vicky asks you to pray for these requests.
- Please pray for Habeekah, her husband, and their children — that they would know the love of Jesus and would choose to follow Him alone!
- Ask God for justice in Central Asia. The rich oppress and abuse the poor. Judges are unjust, and warlords can do what they please. Powerful men can take child brides or keep a harem of young boys for their pleasure. Corruption is rife, and the ones that suffer are the weak and the poor.
- About 70 percent of the foreign workers here have left our country in the last two years. Ask God to bring more workers while also empowering and emboldening local believers to reach their own people.
- For my husband and I, please ask for the safe arrival of our own second child. He or she will arrive in the late spring.
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