Over the years, a handful of my ministry mentors have encouraged me to think of doing ministry by becoming a midwife. A very good friend of mine started the course of study to be a midwife recently. I’ve had the privilege of learning from her things about this practice of midwifery, which has been around longer than modern means of assisting childbirth.
As a midwife, you are not the one doing all the work, but rather, you get to play a supporting role in new life that is forming. You get to journey alongside a growing family, support them in the months leading up to delivery, and assist in the delivery of new life into the world. After birth, you get to support new parents. Thinking of our ministries through the lens of midwifery allows us to see the truth: God is already at work everywhere; we are merely bringing God’s work into focus.
Sometimes at DuBois Center, this metaphor is blatant. For example, in August, we welcomed two new barn cats from a local shelter. While we were under the assumption that both had been spayed, it turned out that one of them was pregnant. She gave birth to three kittens at some point in the last two weeks. At first, she did not want to let any of us near her or the kittens. With patience and armed with treats, we have been able to help our new cat mom care for new kittens. In this way, we have become evident midwives to new life. In many ways, this is a metaphor for the work that God is already doing at DuBois Center – I have been surprised by the joy and new life at every corner.
While we gear up for what is next in the form of our capital campaign, DuBois 6.0, and chipping away at tasks for our spring and summer seasons, I hope you will join our ministry to bring God’s ongoing work into focus at DuBois Center. On our website, you can learn more about DuBois 6.0 and the projects we are completing. You can contact either me at director@duboiscenter.org or our program director, Rylee at program@duboiscenter.org for more information on what we are up to and how to be involved on the ground here.
May we all become midwives to the work of God among us.
Blessings, Hayley Elliott, Acting Director of Outdoor Ministry