Delphine Lemaire 1978 - 2005

Delphine, born to French parents and raised on a boat in Tahiti gave her heart to the Lord in her teenage years. Delphine loved her family dearly and her mother desired for her to follow God. It was through a YWAM team led by the Betts family that went to Tahiti that the call came for missions.

Delphine did her DTS in Dunham, Quebec in 1998 and then came to Perth, Western Australia, to do an Introduction to Primary Health Care School in 2000. She was on staff with YWAM Perth since that time and also completed the Birth Attendant School in 2001. She had such a love for mothers and children that she had served 5 years with this school.

Delphine worked on outreach and assisted mothers and children in East Timor, India, Nigeria, Nepal, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and Durban, South Africa. She was fearless and excellent at adapting to a new culture. Delphine really cared about people. On an outreach in East Timor team members would walk through the village and people would call out to her Sister Fina! and wave. People knew her. She even picked up the language well enough in 11 weeks to be able to preach a simple gospel message.

She was an incredible midwife and trainer, quick to respond to need, always hoping, praying and fighting for the lives of the struggling and pre-term babies. "She was arguably one of our best workers and trainers in the field of mother and child health." Shirley Brownhill.

Here's a recent comment from one of her latest emails. "This week we saved two babies life, they were preterm, one was just born in the car in the parking lot of the hospital and the nurse didn't have hope for her, until Friday the baby was still alive and I hope tomorrow the baby will still be alive. It is good to be back in the battle of life, I haven't found the children ward yet but hope to make friends there."

Delphine was committed the value of women. She worked in situations where women were not treated well, where facilities for mothers and children were limited and poverty was normal. Yet she was never overwhelmed by the situation. She was committed to building relationship and seeing change.

Delphine was most notably an evangelist. Whether she was on the train in the city of Perth, at historical sites in Greece, at home in Tahiti with family or in the hospitals of India, Delphine shared her faith. "She was involved in every salvation that our team saw on the Olympic outreach in Greece." Susanna Spitzli.

Delphine proved her commitment to the call of God on her life and she didn't shy away from tough situations. Throughout her time serving with YWAM Perth Delphine experienced visa difficulties, even once being deported from the country. She never gave up and God always brought her back. She was a committed follower of Jesus, loyal to the call upon her life and faithful to His plans throughout the earth. In her father's words "She taught me to love."