final week

This is the last week of surgery for our outreach here in Benin!

I thought I'd share with you some specifics on my heart that need prayer over the next couple weeks...

- There are three patients with wounds that are still open. Each need a miracle. If their wounds are not healed in the next two weeks when the hospital closes, they will need to go to a local hospital for further care. Given the health care system and conditions here, it is not the best option. Its hard to leave the country when there are patients we operated on who are not fully recovered.

- This week we will be consolidating the wards as we begin to close them, while still accommodating for those post-op. We need insight and collaboration for it all.

-These last few weeks here will be especially busy for Tim as the purser's office will disembark close to 100 crew! Please pray for his sanity :-)

- We say good-bye to all our lovely day volunteers! These are local men and women who have worked alongside so many of us in ministry on and off ship. As a nurse, I simply could not do my job without them! Their gift of language enabled us to fully communicate with our patients, and their hard work kept the wards clean. Many of us will not just be saying good-bye to co-workers, but also friends.

- Three of our crew are in Togo over the next couple months preparing the way for our next outreach, getting the necessary things in place. They need wisdom and insight, cooperation with the officials and contacts they will be dealing with, and provision of all the necessary things to prepare for the ship's service.

I have been reminded recently that God does not need us to heal these people. He can do anything in His great power. He only asks that we are willing. And to seek Him.


Last month we did VVF surgery again--repair of a fistula in the bladder to the vagina caused by obstructive or prolonged labor, leaving a women constantly leaking urine for life. I thought I'd share a few photos of the women celebrating their "new beginning."

Once again hope and dignity have been restored! Our redeemer lives! Isn't God just awesome? :-)