My fourth week in South Texas was the first week this summer we didn’t have a team to support, and I expected that to mean I’d have a week of rest, more time to relax and maybe a moment to nap. Though numerous 3 a.m. bedtimes have resulted in sleeping in way past I’m comfortable sharing, these past few days have shown me a different kind of long and emotional days.

Because the team and I weren’t on “team mode,” there was more time and brain space to invest in the community. I’m still in the process of developing relationships with families and friends in the church and in the community, but I can specifically see how this week God guided myself and the team into opportunities where vulnerability and trust in each other were necessary.

On Tuesday, one of the church members got surgery to remove a benign tumor in her abdomen. Though she only spent a night in the hospital, the surgery left her weak and in pain, and the team and I, along with the church’s pastor, drove to her sister’s house (where she was staying) to check up on her.

We opened the door of their house to chaos. As the woman lay on the couch, she notified Pastor Eunice that her other sister who lived in a nearby neighborhood had begun hemorrhaging 10 minutes prior to our arrival. She was seven months pregnant. An ambulance had been called, but because of the rural location of the neighborhoods, it likely wouldn’t arrive for another 10-15 minutes — and they were worried. It was an urgent situation, and the woman was losing blood fast. Her life — and her baby’s life — were at risk, and her sister, with the condition she was in, felt helpless.

So, we took on roles. Pastor Eunice rushed over to be with the mother, and the team and I prayed with her sister. One of the team members and I started heating up some food for the owners of the house — the third sister and her husband — who were on their way to get ready for a night waiting in the hospital. The owners have four kids between the ages of 12 years and 10 months who hadn’t had dinner, and the kitchen could use some cleaning. With preparing food, cleaning, getting the kids ready for bed and assisting the healing sister, we weren’t leaving their house until past midnight (with the 10-month-old, who’d be spending the night with us, in the car seat).

This story isn’t meant to put our actions on display or exude pride in the way we stepped in. Rather, I want to highlight the trust this family shared with other church members and myself. I want to highlight the strength of this church community and its willingness to rely on each other during moments of intense need.

One month ago, I stepped into a community I had never known. The rest of the team has known this community much longer than I have, and they have chosen to invest in — and be invested in by — each other. It was so special and humbling to me to be invited into those relationships and to invest some of myself into people I’m growing especially fond of.

That night, we learned that the doctors performed an emergency C-section on the mother. Her baby boy was born after midnight and both the mother and the baby were under observation for hours. The mother had lost three liters of blood — almost half of the amount of blood in a human body. She was in critical condition until the early hours of the morning, but is scheduled to leave the hospital today. Her son is doing well.

In what could’ve been a tragedy, God provided. And he put on display the strength of faith, the power of prayer and the closeness of this beautiful community — one that I’m blessed to be welcomed into.

Much love,

Katia

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Katia is serving in South Texas from June 19th – July 29th, 2022 as part of our Leadership-Development Program. Her ministry involvement consists of photojournalism work, serving alongside local organizations in South Texas, and supporting our mobilization summer program.