by JQuisumbing
The Missionary Gazatte is an online platform for stories of God’s people in the mission field. Here, I will bring to you testimonies of those who have chosen to leave the comforts of home to be salt and light in places that they did not grow up in.
Jessabelle was excited for the coming of her fourth child. She had been gingerly moving around her little house with her extended belly for the past nine months constantly chasing after her three other kids, cooking and keeping house while waiting for her husband to return home to give a hand. She can’t wait for the baby to come out. Any time now.
No, Jessabelle is not a missionary, but her story is one of many unusual stories connected to how God is using the dedicated skills of two American families that answered His call to serve in a foreign country that was not of their own. Around the early 1990s, the Gunderson and the Gustafsons families came and settled in the eastern outskirts of the metropolitan city of Manila. They chose to move into a distressed area that had a fast growing population looking for livelihoods within the big city. Like in every poverty-stricken situation, most low-income families lacked adequate health services in their neighborhood.
Seeing a high maternal and infant mortality rate, these intrepid families recognized the need and opened the doors of their own home to child-bearing women. Point of interest: Jeri Gunderson, the matriarch of the family, was a high school history teacher lacking the training in being a midwife, but she didn’t hesitate to roll up her sleeves to do what needed to be done. She, with her 12 year old daughter in tow, started by working alongside an American missionary midwife in those early days. In the latter years, both families were on their own to provide services for about 75 moms. Depending fully on grace, they soon brought on licensed Filipino midwives together, trained and gave them support. It was not long until they soon established the Shiphrah Birthing Home which welcomed about 300 or so little ones a year. Shiphrah, by the way, is the name of one of the Hebrew midwives who refused to obey Pharaoh in killing the baby boys of her people (Exodus 1).
Many many women came and are still coming to the center for their prenatal care. Shiphrah’s services were such that women faithfully came regularly for their scheduled exams and attended regular classes on such things as Nutrition, Childbirth, Breastfeeding, and Family Planning. As their health needs were provided, so too were their spiritual needs. Shiphrah had hosted local pastors to come in and offer these women with Bible Study three days a week. This place, like a lighthouse in the storm, had shone hope to many pregnant women and it had soon attracted Jessabelle, as well.
Jessabelle had the house all to herself that morning. With Christmas just around the corner, she was probably wondering if her fourth child would be a Christmas-day baby. That would be nice. Then at 9am, she felt pressure in her abdomen. Probably the baby was shifting again. She was ever eager to be born. Jessabelle was not worried, after all, this was her fourth time around and the birthing center was only about 7 km away. She knew the day was clear and thought how blessed she was that it was not the rainy season.
You see, Jessabelle and her family lived in a compact community next to the Manggahan Floodway. This is an engineered canal dug to divert Lake Laguna’s annual overflow. Unfortunately for the people who inhabit this area, they still have to contend with floods especially when rainfalls are heavy. So, she was not too worried about that in getting to the birthing house. Well, she was in for a real surprise.
It was probably past noon when she could not deny that she was in labor. Locking the house down, she proceeded to walk out to the street; not so easy for one who was about to give birth. When she got out on the street, she was not happy to see heavy traffic. She tried to flag down a tricycle, a public form of transportation to transport people a short way, perfect for side streets. For some reason, two refused to take her. It may be that they were afraid to take a clearly pregnant woman who was about to give birth or they hated to drive in traffic to the fringes of the Antipolo hills where the birthing center was located. Fortunately, one agreed to take her. She was aware of the heavy traffic and she begged for the driver to go faster but it all seemed a blur as she concentrated on her heavy breathing willing herself not push just yet. She didn’t know how long it took, but it seemed like an eternity. By the time the panicked driver drove up to the center’s gate, Jessabella was in cringing pain, crying out that the baby was coming. She was going to give birth right there and then.
To give you an idea on how tricky it was, you need to know how Philippine tricycles are built. The tricycle is basically a light motorcycle with a sidecar attached to it, but here in the Philippines both the sidecar and the cycle were usually built up with a metallic boxy shaped cover to keep both driver and passengers from the sun and rain. Now, the cab part is built with a bench like seat built for two with minimum cushioning. It was built without comfort in mind. For Jessabelle to give birth within that cramped cab, she had to lay with her shoulders up against the back of the seat, with only half her back resting on the bench. The other half would have been hanging in mid-air with her left knee painfully wedged against the cab’s unupholstered dash, while her other leg was practically hanging outside. Now, add to this that the inside of the cab is so wide open that everything happening within can be easily seen.
Of course, being embarrassed was far from Jessabelle’s mind for, ready or not, that baby was not waiting anymore. Between the driver frantically calling for help and the commotion of other excited voices of a crowd soon attracted the attention of two experienced midwives. They assessed the situation and jumped into action. At 3:15 pm, they welcomed Jaliyah Maddison weighing about 3.9 kg.
Not exactly Christmas day, but it was still a very nice present for Jessabelle and her family. Thanks again Shiphrah.
Author’s Note:
Now you would think that being born in a tricycle was really out there. But my missionary friends from this center had told me that this kind of birth was a lot less unusual. By the way, I just heard that Jessabelle and her husband were back at Shiphrah asking about family planning.
I must confess that for this blog and as a storyteller, I have taken the basic facts of Jessabelle’s story provided by Shiphrah and I embellished it just a little.
As to more stories of the Gustafsons and Gundersons, keep your eyes peeled in this blog.
TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!
Shiphrah Birthing Home is supported by Mission East Asians National Supports [MEANS]
MEANS traces its beginnings to the early 1970’s, when a group of Filipino leaders met in a Chicago church for prayer. Led by Dr. Teofilo Tolentino, pastor of a Filipino congregation in Chicago and his wife, Rebecca, the group prayed for God’s guidance. They brought before the Lord the requests of many Filipino immigrants who wanted to send monetary support to their churches and mission groups in the Philippines.
HELP THE GUSTAFSON FAMILY WITH THEIR HOME
Darren & Deborah Gustafson and their 4 kids
Deborah (at far right) is Jeri Gunderson’s daughter who was 12 years old where she learned everything about birthing.
Johann Quisumbing 