we're open!!

The Mercy Ships hospital has been open for a week now and is buzzing with activity!!  Monday marked the first surgery of our ten-month outreach here in Benin!  I am currently working in Admissions for the first two weeks because they were short-staffed.  It has actually been a great place to start.  I get to be familiar with the process and the hospital stay from the very beginning.  I'm hoping this will make my transition to the ward easier.  I have learned a new skill too--drawing blood (we had phlebotomists draw blood at home)!!  And all the ones I have done so far have been children.  Their tearful faces reminded me why I worked mainly with adults back home :) Even so, it feels good to be a nurse again, I feel so at home.

Each patient that walks through our door has a story.  Two especially touched me this week...

The first was a boy about six years old.  His cervical lymph nodes were so swollen that it looked like a tumor growing on the left side of his neck.  He was a very shy and timid boy.  He didn't smile much and so my translator and I joked with him to not smile and so every time we tried to make him laugh we would tell him not to smile, and so all the more he tried not to and the corners of his mouth would creep up.  I can't wait to see his transformation!!

The second was a baby not quite a year old.  His mother brought him here hoping we could repair his two club feet. Club feet is a birth defect that causes one or both feet to grow completely inverted.  If left untreated, the child will grow to walk on his ankles or sides of feet. In my observations of this baby, I was overcome with emotion.  This child will soon never know or remember life with club feet.  He will learn to walk as his body and legs were structurally made to, and without pain or difficulty.  He won't be teased because of club feet or struggle with self-esteem. He will be able to run and play like other children. And his mom!--what overwhelming relief and joy she must feel that he is going to have surgery!! I wonder what she will be feeling and thinking the day he takes his first steps.  I hope that when she tells her son one day about his club feet and his surgery, she will tell him how fearfully and wonderfully he was made.  And that it was God that brought the ship to Benin and how God healed his feet!!  And that one day he will come to know the loving God that intimately created him and his feet.

Pharmacy

Lab

CT scan

X-ray

One of six Operating Rooms

Another OR

PACU (Recovery)

ICU (minus the ventilators)

Ward (one side of 4 total wards)

Dear God, 

May you bless every patient that occupies each one of these beds. Grant them peace and speedy recovery. Guide my tender care, I pray. Overflow me with your love to give.  And fill this place with your ever-biding presence, my Lord. 

Amen

screening day 2

             Yesterday was a different day. I was not sitting behind my desk, shuffling passports around, or taking a trip to the immigration office. I was going to screening day. A couple of days ago my boss asked me if I would like to go to screening day. I told him "sure."  He asked me, "What do you want to do?"  I replied, "Any job that needs to be filled."  So I piled into a vehicle and off to the stadium I went. When I arrived, I was given the task to be an escort. I escorted individuals from the prescreening to three different places. First was the "Exit" (individuals that we could not help or did not meet the criteria for surgery). The second place was for prayer (individuals who we could not help, but wanted prayer for their individual needs). The third was inside the stadium where they were weighed, blood was drawn, personal medical history was recorded, and they were seen by a doctor. I really enjoyed taking individuals inside, but it was always difficult to walk someone to the exit. After walking to the exit many times, each time was just as difficult as the first, knowing we could not help them. I started to get a little frustrated. I walked back and saw one of the pre-screeners call me over. As I walked over I noticed it was a mother and daughter asking for help.  The pre-screener told me to take them inside.  I smiled and motioned for the two of them to follow me. As I was walking (I was about a one and half steps in front of them), I soon felt a little tugging on my hand. I looked down and saw the little girl's crippled hand holding on to mine.  I looked up and she was smiling from ear to ear. I could not help but think she has hope.  At that moment I was not thinking about all the times I walked to the exit, or the sun beating down on me, or the sweat rolling off my face. I was thinking this is why I'm here. During the day, I tried to keep track of this little girl to see if she made it through the process, but with so many people there I quickly lost track of her. I sure hope to see her smile again on the ship someday.

Tim

screening day

Two days...over 2,000 people screened.  

Its difficult to find the words to adequately describe it.  I'm not sure where to begin really...  

I'll never forget driving up and the first thing I see is the LONG line of people (and it was EARLY)! I remember them telling us the day before that people were already beginning to line up.  

They are going to get so tired. Such hope. God, please, may we be able to help them all.

I couldn't help but contrast this to the lines of Black Friday or a movie premiere in the states. How selfish and petty those seem now in comparison.  Two very different worlds. Or how Jesus often couldn't get away from the crowds of people desperate for His healing touch.  

We screened for over eight hours.  People kept coming. Yet, Jesus always had compassion, even when He was weary in body and spirit.

I am still amazed at how long people waited and sat through the different stations. And how cooperative they were. 

We had staff going around giving water and bread to the people.  In a way, I felt like I was witnessing a modern-day feeding of the 5,000.

I was part of the team of nurses that took the patients' vital signs and medical history.  These were people that passed the pre-screening. So, there was much hope and relief when I saw them. Even though I worked with a translator, I found there was so much I wanted to say, to communicate that time wouldn't allow. 

My translator was Timothy (good name :)  By the middle of the day, we had quite the system.  He had most of the questions I asked memorized and so would anticipate them.  We worked well together.  Most had never even seen a doctor before.  There were things in their history that could easily have been treated back home. That was probably one of the most difficult things.  Seeing and hearing about conditions that could easily be treated or taken care of if they had access to medical care and adequate medical care. The occurence of malaria is almost like the common cold back home. We asked when they last had it, rather than if they've had it before. 

I saw a two-year old boy who was sleeping. He looked warm and he slept through the thermometer under his arm. He had a fever over 102. I told mom he needed tylenol. But, I didn't know when, how, or if she could get tylenol. So, I went to one of our pharmacists and asked for children's tylenol. I gave her a whole bottle. It seems so insignificant really, especially when I administer tylenol all the time at home (and how easily we can get it). But, when she got up to leave to the next station, she turned around and gave me the biggest smile and I could read in her eyes thank-you.

In some ways, my perspective was limited.  I didn't see much outside my station.  We worked quickly, trying to get as many through as we could. One after the other.  Many I will see again over the next ten months when they arrive on the ward after their surgery...

It wasn't all happy, I know. The team that was pre-screening had to turn away over 500 people the first day. Not because we didn't have room, but because they didn't qualify for surgery. They either weren't surgeries we could do or they were neurological deficits that surgery couldn't treat. We had a prayer team that prayed with each one that we couldn't help.  God is still at work.

But I felt God's presence in an incredible way.  Its hard to explain it. I saw Him there...in the smile of the lady with a huge goiter...in the eyes of the children...in the little child who was terrified of me (probably the first white person he's ever seen)...in the child with club feet...in the man who had only one eye because the other one was a tumor...in the lady who couldn't walk...there are so many...  It may sound silly, but I imagined Jesus standing in line with the people, walking with them to each station, touching me when I was getting tired or getting warm from the heat. I felt His presence hovering over that stadium. 

 

I am humbled to be a part of what God did that day and what He is going to do.  To give love and dignity to their starving hearts.  I am still processing it...what I saw and experienced...I don't know its full impact, but I know I'm changed. I don't know what to do with it all yet, but I know God is in control.  I know from my own life His power and ability to heal.  

We serve a God who is mighty to save!!  

The next post is a song we sing here on the ship.  In a way it describes the hope I felt in that big stadium, and the hope I feel for the country of Africa. 

(I don't have pics to post as cameras were not allowed to preserve dignity)

Jabulani Africa (Rejoice Africa)

Jesus life and hope
To heal our land
Savior reaching out
With Your mighty hand

Sing for joy O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you
Sing for joy O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you now

Jabulani Jabulani Africa 
Jabulani Jabulani Africa 


Jesus river of life
To our thirsty land
Savior meeting our needs
From Your mighty hand

Sing for joy O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you
Sing for joy O Africa
The Lord your God is
Risen upon you now

Jabulani Jabulani Africa 
Jabulani Jabulani Africa

hello Benin!!

Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, God save Africa, the beloved country.  God save us from the deep depths of our sins.  God save us from the fear that is afraid of justice.  God save us from the fear that is afraid of men.  God save us all...

For this is a prelude. It is only a beginning. Strange things will be woven into it, by men you have never heard of, in places you have never seen. It is life you are going into...Call and dance, call and dance. 

Excerpt from Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Its been a bit of a crazy week since our arrival to Benin four days ago!!  We arrived a day later than scheduled due to some engine trouble.  We actually had to anchor at sea overnight for repairs.  Despite what we believe as the evil one's attempt to keep us from entering the country, with God's hand our incredible engineers repaired the problem and we arrived the next day.  This confirmed to us the hope that God is going to do some amazingly great things here in Benin! Otherwise, the evil one wouldn't be working so hard! 

Tim has been very busy with immigration officials and consulate visits and providing all the necessary information and passports.  I have spent the week scrubbing and stripping the floors of the hospital.  We have cleaned every nook and cranny--literally everything and every surface in all the wards! It is cleaner than the hospitals back home, really.  JACHO would be quite pleased :) 

Our first impressions of Cotonou (limited as we have been out in the town only once since arrival): very, very friendly people; crowded and busy streets; polluted air; fairly modernized (street lights, traffic signs); colorful dress.  We plan to make it out this weekend and explore more!

prayer needed

We arrive with the Africa Mercy to Benin in just 2 days!!  I can't help but look back at the last couple of years and am amazed at how God led us here and His hand in our lives.  Its difficult to express how excited we are to arrive and our eagerness to minister to these people!

These first couple weeks are crucial and will be intense for Mercy Ships as we continue to build our relationship and trust, and establish our ministry with this country that God has called us to serve. We ask that you please join with me and Tim in prayer!!  God is the head of this ministry and we want it to be done according to His will.  Mercy Ships and its crew are inadequate without His work in us, and without the power of all of your prayers!  We enter a ripe harvest and a spiritual battlefield.  Here are some specifics that are on my heart:

~smooth entry with immigration upon arrival (Tim will be directly involved as Assistant Purser)

~ease with set-up of the hospitality warehouse (for family of patients), the dental clinics, the hospital, and preparing for screening day.

~intercession of, and freedom from, the bondage of voodoo in the people.

~trust in the people (many associate a big white ship to slavery, and that boarding the ship is "the point of no return"). 

~God's love will be communicated through us 

~that spiritual healing will come through the physical healing (eternal transformation)

~Christ, alone, will be given all the credit, praise, and glory! 

Important dates--Screenings up North (rural villages and tribes) will be Feb 10th-15th and the inner-city port screenings on Feb 19 & 20th.  The first surgery begins Feb 24th!!  

did you know?

Every 12 seconds someone dies of Malaria!!

Every 30 seconds a CHILD IN AFRICA dies of Malaria!!

It gets even worse...Malaria is PREVENTABLE!  But due to the poverty of most of Africa, they do not have the necessary equipment, medications, and education.

Malaria can be prevented by teaching & education, training of health care workers, necessary equipment such as bed nets and special spray for homes and other places, and preventitive medications.  

There are several operating organizations that work to provide aid and other services towards malaria prevention in Africa: 

Rollback Malaria (rbm.who.int/), the American Red Cross, the United Nations (unfoundation.org), and World Vision (worldvision.org).  Much of the setbacks are due to lack of funds and lack of interest from the Western world because we are not directly affected.  Each one of these organizations accepts donations.  Apathy is the world's greatest disease and number one killer!

30+ things...

Making a list of random things about yourself is going around Facebook. A friend of mine had the great idea of making a list of 25 things she loved about her husband. My sister recently did this as well, so I was further inspired to do the same.  I am reminded of the gift God has given me in my husband!  I am so proud to be Tim's wife.  I encourage everyone to do this...
(This was fun to do again…the first time I did this was when Tim and I were dating, and I was falling-in-love with him for the very first time…I came up with a list of 68 back then ☺ Like before, I had trouble narrowing it down--hence 35 things rather than 25 ☺).

30+ THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY HUSBAND

1. Among the first things that drew me to Tim, was his love for life & his easy-going personality. He always finds the humor in things. His upbeat and positive attitude is contagious!

2. I fell-in-love with his sense of humor. He just makes me laugh. He always has a wise crack to share or his cute giggle. The best part of it is, he always has a way of making me laugh when I’m uptight about something, stressed, or making a ridiculous deal about something (I tend to do that sometimes☺).

3. He pursued me…and still does.

4. He tells me I’m beautiful every day.

5. He is seriously the most selfless person I know!! He would rather give up what he wants, so that I am happy. He finds more joy in giving than receiving, and challenges me to give more.

6. I enjoy watching him serve others because he finds such joy in it.

7. He believes in me and my abilities.

8. He understands me like no one else does and knows just what I need…he seems to know just what I need to hear too, especially in difficult situations.

9. He knows all my weaknesses and flaws…and still loves me.

10. He still whistles at me when I walk by ☺

11. I love how social he is with others, yet if asked, he’d most likely say he’s a homebody.

12. He is my steady rock in so many ways.

13. He likes it when I read to him.

14. I love to listen to him pray.

15. He loves my twin.

16. I love to watch him tell a story. He is so animated and can make anything sound so exciting and interesting.

17. He is so honest in everything he does. He wants to do everything right. I admire his integrity.

18. We share our love for our Lord.

19. He gave up his dream job to follow God’s leading, even though he had no idea what that was--the most difficult decision he’s ever made.

20. Even though he doesn’t fully understand my twin-ship, he knows my need for her and doesn’t hold me back.

21. He rubs my feet when they are sore.

22. I smile just thinking about him being a dad to our children someday.

23. Our thought-patterns are different and we often have differing perspectives. I see things different with him and its refreshing most of the time ☺

24. I love how I’m completely engulfed in him when we hug.

25. I love how intuitive he is and “in-tune” to others.  He has an unusual ability to read most people.

26. When we walk together, he always walks on the outside (nearest the street).

27. He loves to surprise me!

28. I admire his bravery and courage. He so willingly fought in war so that others can know freedom...God bless our troops! I am soooo thankful that he came home to me! 

29. He values my opinion and always asks what I think.

30. He knows so many different things, I am continually amazed at the things he knows.

31.  His recorded voice mail on his cell phone says that he loves me.

32. I appreciate his masculinity and love his tender heart.

33.  We fell in-love over letters..35+

34. He is my first and only kiss!

35. Every day I grow in my respect for him.

greet & eat

Since we were planning on posting a video tour of the ship, but are not permitted to do so due to the high amount of satellite required, we are going to post pics and tidbits of info about different areas of the ship over the next few days.

So, just imagine with me walking up the gangway of steps to the ships entrance.  Upon entering the ship, you will see a long tall counter-like desk and greeted by a friendly face. This is reception.  Welcome aboard the M/V Africa Mercy! Among their many responsibilities, reception answers the direct phone line to the ship and monitors the fire panel in case of an emergency.  This is also the person you call for any questions and updated information, ectetera because the receptionist knows EVERYTHING! (just ask Tim--he worked in reception for 3 weeks :) :)  If you look at the very far left of the picture, you will see a door.  This is the Purser's office where Tim is working from now on.

We take you next to the dining hall because this is the most important place on the ship---the food of course! :)  Also, because it is directly behind reception.  One can enter the dining hall from two entrances--one on each side of reception.  This is the happening place from 6:30-730am for breakfast, 12-1pm for lunch, and 5-6pm for dinner.  It is bustling with activity, conversation, and laughter.  Meals are a time of reconnecting with others in between work, and family time for those of us with families. A cold cereal bar is served at breakfast on weekdays. Sunday mornings are a treat because a hot breakfast is served, such as eggs and bacon or pancakes.  And we bag our own lunch on the weekends.   

There are approximately 300 crew on board at present.  Once we begin our outreach, the galley staff will feed 400-500 people.  This includes the entire crew, the day workers, interpreters, and other support staff that are part of the team.  To feed all of us, the galley staff includes 2 meal teams of 3-5 workers, 4 cooks, 1 baker, and a salad team of 3 workers.  I've been told the meat served is brought in from Europe or the states.  The fruit we eat is local, so the availability is dependent on the season.  Vegetables and salads are also dependent on what is locally grown, so very limited in Africa.  Rice appears to be a staple on the ship, as in Africa :) We are pleased with the food--no room for complaining when we don't have to do any cooking! 

our time in Tenerife (warning: lots of pics)

We are presently surrounded by water!! Our view is the vast ocean. It is breathtakingly beautiful and quite peaceful. We have been sailing for two days now, our total sail time is said to be 9.5 days. We are expected to arrive in Benin on Feb 9th. Thank you all for your prayers! It has been a very smooth sail so far and neither Tim or I have gotten seasick--a huge praise because I get carsick at times, so was pretty worried about the possibility. God is good! However, its only been two days so please continue to pray. Ten days is a long time confined to a ship too :) 

At last we are headed to Africa and can't wait to get there! Tim is training for his role as Assistant Purser and is enjoying the position and learning the ropes. I am spending the week with all the other ward nurses in hospital orientation (policies/procedures, etc). Today I learned how to make friendship bracelets and later this week I will learn how to knit and crochet. Tough orientation, I know :) The idea is that we will be able to do these activities with our patients and its a way to connect with them. Here are just some of our pics of our time in Tenerife over the last few weeks, I wish I could post them all! ~

A group of us hiked to the top of Montana Roja our first weekend there.

Me & Allison out to lunch for tapas

Piled into one of the landrovers

Me & Rachel on the gangway

Tim at the beach

the crazy dining room crew :)

working hard :)

I loved the palm trees!

Tenerife has such beautiful beaches!

Debra, Steph, & Me at a cafe

Steph & Me

black sand beach

I loved this drink! A very Spanish drink--barroquito

Ikea in Tenerife--a big deal for us to get last minute items before 10 months away!

um, I think I'm a vegetarian now :)

Mt. Teido--It reminded us a lot of home... of central Oregon with its trees and sage brush.

Tenerife is a beautiful island! But just so you know, IT IS NOT SPAIN--as my twin sis always says, so this pic is for her! :) I found this on the side of the road---apparently she's not the only one that thinks that...

On a side note: Today, 5 years ago, Tim asked me to be his wife...I said "yes." :) One of the BEST decisions I ever made!!!