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Weekly Prayer Cycle Easter 4

A child and his mother in Chiapas, Mexico (1998). Paramilitary troops burned down the village this family lived in. Photo: Suzanne Rumsey

May 11, 2014

By Suzanne Rumsey

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Week of May 11 (Easter 4)

Scripture: Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff– they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

 Editor’s Note: In many Mexican indigenous communities, a woman becomes an adult when she gives birth to her first child. A childless woman, no matter her age, does not enjoy the same standing in her community as a woman with children. Thus, support for traditional midwives both in the form of training and safe, clean clinics and sufficient medication, is vital to ensuring the birth of healthy babies ““ and the journey to healthy motherhood of indigenous women.

PWRDF Story: If You Build It, by Simon Chambers

In 2006, the CAMI opened in Chachihuitan, Mexico, a small mountain community about a two hour drive from San Cristóbal de las Casas [in the southwestern state of Chiapas].  The CAMI is an Indigenous Women’s House (Casa de la Mujer Indígena) supported by PWRDF partner K’inal Antzetik.  CAMIs serve a number of roles in the community, but the primary role is as a place for traditional midwives to meet, learn, and practice their craft: caring for pregnant women and newborn babies in the community.

Before the CAMI opened, about fifty women died in child birth each year in the Chachihuitan area; a shockingly large number for a population of under 15,000 people.  Since the midwives opened shop at the CAMI, not a single mother has been lost in child birth.

Six midwives and four apprentices currently serve at the CAMI, monitoring the health of mothers, diagnosing high risk pregnancies, navigating the medical system when necessary, providing education and advocating with the authorities.  Marta Perez Perez, the newest apprentice at the CAMI, is committed to becoming a midwife despite the difficulties the vocation can bring.  “There is no recognition or support from the authorities, and we need medications for our patients.  There are no financial resources for them.”

Why does she do this work?  “I strongly believe that the CAMI provides a better method of supporting women’s health needs.  Fewer mothers are dying in child birth now; this is important work,” Perez says.    “I want to learn, to participate in any workshops or courses that will let me provide better service to the women of the community.  I’m proud to be part of the team of midwives!”

With dedicated women like Marta staffing the CAMI, the future is looking bright for the women of Chachihuitan.

For Reflection:  The Psalmist describes God’s abiding and unconditional love for us. When have you experienced that kind of love in your life? Was it from your mother or another woman in your life? Did that person and their expression of love help you to catch a glimpse of the Divine? How has that love shaped you in your personal life and in your presence and actions in the wider world?

Concluding Prayer

This week, as we celebrate those in our lives who are mothers, African-American musician Bobby McFerrin invites us to re-imagine God as “mother” in his musical setting of Psalm 23.  As he notes, “we’re shown a glimpse of how God loves us”¦ through our mothers.”  

“The 23rd Psalm is dedicated to my mother. She was the driving force in my religious and spiritual education, and I have so many memories of her singing in church. But I wrote it because I’d been reading the Bible one morning, and I was thinking about God’s unconditional love, about how we crave it but have so much trouble believing we can trust it, and how we can’t fully understand it. And then I left my reading and spent time with my wife and our children. Watching her with them, the way she loved them, I realized one of the ways we’re shown a glimpse of how God loves us is through our mothers. They cherish our spirits, they demand that we become our best selves, and they take care of us.”

The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need,
She makes me lie down in green meadows,
Beside the still waters, She will lead.

She restores my soul, She rights my wrongs,
She leads me in a path of good things,
And fills my heart with songs.

Even though I walk, through a dark & dreary land,
There is nothing that can shake me,
She has said She won’t forsake me,
I’m in her hand.

She sets a table before me, in the presence of my foes,
She anoints my head with oil,
And my cup overflows.

Surely, surely goodness & kindness will follow me,
All the days of my life,
And I will live in her house,
Forever, forever and ever.

Glory be to our Mother, and Daughter,
And to the Holy of Holies,
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be,
World, without end. Amen

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