June 2010 e-News

Life is in the Blood Glory Reborn embarked on an exciting journey in May. We had our very first blood drive at our clinic. We partnered with the Philippine National Red Cross to help collect life saving blood. After many weeks of preparing we had four local churches represented at the blood drive and many relatives of patients enrolled in the Glory Reborn pregnancy program. Together we were able to collect 36 bags of healthy blood. We should note that more than 60 donors came to the event however many of us women were turned down due to anemia…but we tried! This event was particularly important as each month Glory Reborn has patients in need of cesarean section deliveries. Prior to undergoing surgery a minimum of one bag of blood must be secured and at the hospital ready to be used if the need arises. By partnering with Red Cross, Glory Reborn is stocking blood that can be used for patients who would need a cesarean delivery. We look forward to continuing to partner with the local Red Cross in the future and are happy that our first blood drive at Glory Reborn was a success!

We were able to secure the first bag of blood for a first time mother who was in labor this week. Johna came to the clinic in early labor on a Friday morning. During an initial check of she and the baby it was discovered that the baby's heart beat had some episodes of decelerations below the normal range. As we tried to manage and continued to monitor there was not significant enough improvement of the baby's heart beat so we took her to the hospital where Glory Reborn's OB-GYN met us and ordered a cesarean section. Upon delivery it was noted that the baby boy, Kyle, had his umbilical cord pinched up against the mother's womb and an abnormality with his lungs proved to be quite serious. Currently baby Kyle is on a ventilator and being cared for by Glory Reborn's Pediatrician. We are believing that Kyle can continue to grow stronger and overcome the congenital defect. Glory Reborn would like to continue to keep Kyle under the care of our pediatrician at a private facility but would like to ask for your continued prayers. We are so thankful for having found doctors that are willing to help us save the lives of babies and mommies that otherwise would have to deliver their infants at home, perhaps in a dumpsite or in a graveyard. We are thankful for each and every little life and for the opportunity that we have, together, to bring a hope and future to them. For some it's through extended medical care for others its holding their hand through loss and being a shoulder to cry on, and for the moments that we share in the joy of a long awaited little miracle. We can't say thank you enough to each of you for being the support system to thousands of Filipino families, mommies and babies like Johna and Kyle who have found hope and help in a time of trouble. Just as Jesus has found us and brought us an eternal hope what a wonderful thing to share in a small way a practical hope to oh so many precious lives.

See a video highlight of the Life is in the Blood Event:

May is Expansion Month We are so thankful to expand our services this month and help screen for anomalies like Kyle's on a routine basis at Glory Reborn. Due to your faithful donations Glory Reborn was able to purchase an additional probe for our ultrasound machine. This will allow us to more accurately assess the expected due dates and scan for anomalies for each and every one of our mommies.

May was also an exciting month for me as I was able to help a dear friend deliver her fourth baby. Having been apart of her last two deliveries I was happy to have made it back to Cebu just a few hours before she delivered another precious baby boy! It's always wonderful when we have patients come back and deliver with us multiple times. I can't believe that the babies I helped deliver for her are already 9, 6, and one month old. My how time flies. I am so thankful to be able to be a part of such a very special moment in so many precious family's lives. Fundraising As you know we had a recent fundraising trip to the US, and it was extremely successful. We were able to raise $19,261.65 through all of your generosity! This allowed us to purchase some much needed equipment as well as raise a good portion of our annual budget. This combined with the donations we have received up to May 1, 2010 totals to over $50,000! We are on track to meet our annual budget. We cannot express how appreciative we are for this support and we are excited about the opportunities that 2010 will bring.

As we mentioned in our past newsletters as well as our presentation, one of the key areas is growth into a new facility. We will be sharing more on this as well as creating a separate campaign for it. Many of you mentioned this topic while we were in the US, and we are so excited about the interest. We are looking for not only funding, but for individuals or groups that would partner with us in planning, designing, and overseeing the project. If you or someone you know would want more information on how to be apart of this campaign, please email us and we will keep you updated. We will also continue to update you on this campaign via our regular newsletter.

Glory Reborn Online Many of you know about our website and maybe even some of you know that you can receive your newsletter via email, but did you know that you could also partner with Glory Reborn online via Twitter and Facebook?

While Facebook has some security issues that they are working on, it has been an amazing success for Glory Reborn. Through the Causes application, we have not only raised awareness about our Cause, but we have also raised over $10,000 in 2009! We are developing and working on updates to include on Facebook and Twitter and encourage you to partner with us on these platforms and share Glory Reborn with your friends!

Facebook: http://facebook.com/gloryreborn

Twitter: @gloryreborn