today i got smacked...by God

Recently I had a conversation with someone who was telling me that when they start to doubt things God smacks them over the head and says"I'm still here!!!".  I had a very similar experience to that today.Before Church i was really struggling with why I'm here.  I was getting really worked up over some trivial things that have thepotential to make life miserable.  Also keep in mind that i've been really worried and anxious about what will happen when i get home.  So all these thoughts and struggles are rolling around in my head as i walk into church.  The first thing we did was watch a video from the screening.  Seeing all of the truly hurting and broken people made tears come to my eyes and I realized this is why i'm here.  It's something i continually have to remind myself of.  That I am here to serve others, no matter what the cost to myself.   Then Ans (one of the chaplines) read Psalm 118 (you should read the whole thing but i'll only quote a small part)

Psalm 118:5-9

⁵ From my distress I called upon the LORD; 
The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. 
⁶ The LORD is for me; I will not fear; 
What can man do to me? 
⁷ The LORD is for me among those who help me; 
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me. 
⁸ It is better to take refuge in the LORD 
Than to trust in man. 
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the LORD 
Than to trust in princes.

This verse really spoke to me...in "my distress i called upon the Lord...I will not fear" I was distressed and God came for me and promised me that the "Lord is FOR me...take refuge in the Lord" I was very encouraged.  I really feel like God was promising me He will take care of me.  It was comforting.

We went to the market the other day (again).  There was a man doing a batik painting of MercyShips.  It was pretty sweet!

Pretty sweet huh?

The jewelry maker, he had some amazing work.  

The blue picture says MercyShips - bringing hope and healing.  

A guy was playing at the market and i thought it was awesome

On the way home from the market we stopped at this fast food shwarma and burger joint.  I had a chicken schwarma.  An African shwarma is some kind of meat, french fries, garlic mayonnaise and cole slaw wrapped up in a tortilla or pita bread.  I love them!

Please pray for Ken, he has been very sick for the past week and it's starting to worry me.  Please pray for health for him and for others on the ship to not get sick.  Thanks!

Long time no write....sorry...

Hello all! so sorry I haven't written in a while...i have no excuse.
On Wednesday we had our HUGE screening.  We saw over 2,000 potential patients.  I honestly had mixed feelings about the screening.  Of course I'm glad it happened, it's why MercyShips is here.  To help people who are hurting and have been forgotten by most of the world.  BUT, i was one of about 100 crew who had to stay on the ship to work.  And I was really bummed about that.  When all the pictures of the screening were released...I realized the opportunity I had missed and how much i had wanted to be a part of the screening.  I was on the ship making lasagna for everyone.  A very important job :)  In a weird way i totally feel like I've got two angels on my shoulder.  One telling me i was slighted, that i deserved to be at that screening because i work very hard.  The other is telling me that I'm here to serve God...and if that means scrubbing the galley floor then that's OK because that is where God called me to be.  It's definitely the first time in my life I've felt and RECOGNIZED these two 'angels'.  The bible talks about taking every thought captive.  And this is what I think he's talking about.  recognizing and choosing the path that God wants for you.
So the screening went really well (Thanks all for your prayers!).  here are some pictures:

This is why we (MercyShips) are here...because God has a profound love for people who are hurting.  Someone once asked how could there be a God if there is so much hurt in the world? And a very wise woman (played by Mandy Moore in 'A Walk To Remember') said that 'without hurt there could be no compassion'.  God's love was made full through the pain of Jesus' suffering...through hurt, true love, fuller then we could ever imagine, was born.  Today, find a way to show God's love to someone.  Buying coffee for the cold man standing on the corner, writing a note to a hurting friend, or just asking someone to tell you their story.  Jesus said that whatever we do for the LEAST of these, we do for Him.  Love you all!
  

Beauty...sigh

Lately I've been rereading Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge.  (ladies if you haven't read it you really should! and if you have read it...read it again!)  It's made me think about our God being a God of beauty.  If beauty wasn't important to God...imagine what our world would look like.  No flowers or sunsets.  No dew dripping off leaves in the early morning.  No dances or peices of art that catch your eye and leave you speechless.  No peices of poetry or songs that make you weep for joy.  If beauty was no more, beautiful women (so that means all women!) would cease to exist and in their places would be creatures of misery.  If beauty was no more you would look at a baby and just see...a baby...not a precious lovely being.  Our God is a God who values and desires to show us beauty.  That's my thought for the day :)
 In other news: Today was quite eventful...i will let it speak for itself :)

The beautiful Bronte making delicious crepe's on crepe day (monday!)

Break time on the Africa Mercy

 we went to the market today with Tom (our day worker) and had a fantastic time!!! I got some really adorable adorable fabric.   Then we went to the tailor and 'ordered' some pieces of clothing.  I'm getting two shirts and a skirt (pictures to follow...when i get the clothes).  The tailor only spoke french, so it's good that Tom was there.  After the tailor Tom took us to his house and showed us where he lived.

Getting measured for my shirt

Ben, putting up with all the girly clothes shopping etc

Tom (in pink) Elise and the tailors

Ben, deciding he did want something made by the tailor

 Tonight the hospital had an open house.  There were games, races, sutcher stitching lessons, IV finding exercises...lotsa fun!

This is empty the urine bag race.  You had to put on a hat, gloves, goggles, gown, and mask then run over to the urine bag and empty out 100 ml dump it out in the sink and then take off all the accessories.  It was lots of fun! Tori and I beat Ken and Bronte in a relay race at it!

Ken!

Another game: Nurse for a shift.  Jenny force fed (LITERALLY!) her  'patient' the meds.  It was awesome!

Jenny and Noel! congrats for winning Jenny

And finally sutcher lessons...sorry it's difficult to see.  btw...harder then it looks.

It was a fantastic day! I had such a good time.  I know i've said this before but thank you to everyone who supported me (and is still supporting me).  Thank you all!

Perspective

Life is all about your perspective.  Sometimes life seems to overwhelm us. And sometimes we can handle life no problem.  What's the difference? Yes, you have different stresses at different times in your life.  But the big difference is your perspective on life.  Are your eyes on the road directly at your feet? Only seeing your problems? Or are you looking around? Seeing other people's problems?  If we can take the focus off of ourselves and look at the people around us...our problems start to seem smaller instead of fogging up our vision and completely overwhelming us.
Perspective is something that God has been teaching me.  Living in Spokane i didn't realize how big the world is.  How many people are living in tattered clothes, going to sleep each night in a dirty bed (or on the dirt floor), living on scraps of food, walking on streets filled with feces and garbage.  I can specifically look at times in my life when all i could do was focus on living out one more day.  I was so overwhelmed with the problems of that day i couldn't think about anyone else.  I was drowning in my own problems.  If I had simply looked at the poor of the world, seen the hurt of the people even in Spokane, I wouldn't have felt like i was drowning anymore.  I would have seen what true hurt and true 'drowning' is. Getting out of Spokane, seeing a different side of the world, and learning perspective is yet another reason I am so thankful to everyone who helped send me here.  thank you thank you thank you!

The last two weeks has been extremely chaotic on the ship.  The eye team had their first screening on Monday.  This means that potential patients came, were selected for a second screening and came to the ship today.  Today they were told that yes we could help them and scheduled for surgery.  Or no, we won't have a doctor for their specific ailment and were prayed over.  On Wednesday we have the main screening for general surgeries.  It's going to be a HUGE event.  Please pray for us as there are many many details to work out and coordinate with the government, transportation, food, security etc. Specifically pray that God would bring the people that He wants there to the screening, and keep away the people that He doesn't want there.  This prayer (as Doctor Gary explained) will ensure that every single person who is there is meant to be there. That by being at that screening they will be touched somehow.  Even if it's only to be prayed over and given a drink of water.  I will keep you updated on how that goes

The other day i went into town with some awesome girls! Bronte, Rebeka, Julie, Fatmata, Sarah and Tori

Togo market place...one of them

A man trying to sell Bronte a shirt for her dad

getting a coconut from a lady...notice the machete they cut them with

Tom, a day worker friend, eating his coconut :)

Sorry that I haven't posted in a couple days.  and I will keep you updated about the screenings.  Thanks for the prayers :)

Bread lessons!

I know that I haven't updated in a couple days and i'm sorry :( I get busy with work and knitting.  Since Ellen Peller sent me some lovely yarn i've been knitting a whole bunch! I went into town and found some yarn and am making little bunnies for the patients.  Ellen you have renewed my passion.  Today i was asked to come on to the ward after the hospital opens and teach the patients to knit.  That could be pretty fun...and quite interesting.

Today is sort of picture day...i don't feel like i have very many good stories so i will just tell the ones that go with the pictures.

On my last day off i spent the day in midships knitting away!

Some of the beautiful batik fabrics sold in the market place

This is what a pretty large vendor looks like....lots of necklaces and beaded things

Today the day workers asked me to teach them something.  Since i was already making bread, i included them in the learning process.  They learned how to shape the dough into balls, how to roll it into loafs, egg wash and slice the top.  Overall, it was a very interesting experience.  I think that they all learned something but mostly we just laughed and had a good time.  

for some reason this apron does not flatter me...but i liked the rest of the picture.  

The boys egg washing the bread! 

Tori 

We have two pairs of welding goggles in the galley.  The welder says that there are tons of goggles on the ship so he doesn't need the ones that were left in the kitchen...so we take awesome pictures with them instead of using them for their intended purpose!!!

The Dining room just got hats that say 'dining room' on the back

Ken...doing what he does best :)

Something cool i learned about MercyShips today: We are a ministry with a long term vision.  For example, the eye team is not focused on doing as many surgeries as possible.  They are focused on training a local surgeon to do operations/procedures effectively and efficiently.  We teach him how to we do things so that he can stay behind in the country after we leave.  Part of the deal of us training him though is that he has to train someone else.  So eventually, there could possibly be enough doctors to effectively care for the visual needs of Togo.  Remember a while back i went to an eye screening and was in charge of escorting the 'no we can't help you line' to the gate? Well...with the mindset that we are focusing on long term care by training surgeons...it's a lot easier to be the 'no' person.
lastly i have a huge prayer request.  One of my fellow crew (and a friend) had a fairly serious concussion a couple days ago.  She was kicked in the head in a rather violent card game.  Please pray for her miraculous healing.

Walking through town

Sometimes it takes me a while to post something because i don't have any pictures...and i feel like blog posts are boring without pictures.  That's why it's taken me a while to blog.  However, i've had more then one person (looks pointedly at mom and Drew) ask me to blog so...here i go!
Went for a 2 hour walk in town with Josh Dodge, Matt, Julie and Florian.  We got a little bit lost at one point and ended up walking through some people's back yards.  We saw a lot of little gardens/nursery's. Some of them were really really pretty.  One guy was watering his garden and all i could think was...OMG he's watering all this by hand probably two or three times a day!!!
On the way back to the port, we were stopped by someone wanting to know when he could come to the ship and see a doctor.  Unfortunately he didn't speak enough English and we didn't speak enough French to be able to tell him the screening dates.  We ended up stopping different people on the street until we found someone who spoke enough of both languages to translate.  I've got to learn more French.
We are starting on week two with our day workers.  Last week went pretty darn well! They all speak enough English that we are able to make jokes and have a good time with them.  For this field service each galley team has day workers that work on the days they work.  So on my team we have Tom (Pittoh), Yao (who worked on the Africa Mercy a couple years ago), Ohini (I remember his name because it sounds like tahini) and Fatmata (the only girl).  Tom is very much meant to be a teacher.  He is faithfully teaching me and Tori (a new crew member in the galley) French.  I can introduce myself, ask your name, ask how you slept and ask if you work on the weekend.  He's a good teacher because he's teaching us how to conjugate verbs and such instead of just making us memorize phrases.
Lots of crew are starting to come on board! it seems like every day we have new people.  I'm getting a new roommate on Tuesday, so please be praying for her travel and pre arrival jitters.
I'm starting to feel just about as nervous to go home as i felt before i came to Africa.  I was going to an unknown place with unknown people.  And i'm returning home not knowing where i'll live or where i'll work.  One thing i've learned in Africa though is that God is faithful.  End of story.  I'm confident that he will take care of me.  I'm learning how to let go and just put everything in God's hands.
Anyway...a new day is soon upon us in Togo.  Pray for God to bless this land!

Excitement!

Yesterday on the Africa Mercy a mooring line broke and we started drifitng off to sea! just kidding...it wasn't that exciting.  The line broke (i believe the deckies called it 'parting') and all the deck hands went to the bow and we watched them throw out a new line.  There was no way we would have started drifting.  But it was fun to watch all the deckies in a rush!

exciting!

 During the sail we had to take down some of our decorations.  Today the boys and Susan Parker put them back up! yay!

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately.  Here's a picture of some fingerless gloves i just finished.

Well folks...i don't have much to report today :)