As you have read on my last entry, we are in the middle of a week long 24/7 prayer time here on the Africa Mercy. Well today, when I was done praying I decided to go to the ward to see how everyone was doing. I know sooner stepped into view when my friend comes up to me and says "You want to hear some extraordinary news!!!!!" I was like of course. Our little boy Kollie who had the encephalocele went for surgery today so they could place a shunt to help drain off the cerebral spinal fluid that was leaking and THEY FOUND THE LEAK!!!! Now, what's really cool is that he had been back to surgery several times to try to find the leak and they never could!!!!! Our God is so awesome!!! Prayer works!!!!! So now he will get to go back to his country with his family. I am so excited I could SCREAM!!!!!
Sedeke, the guy with the infection that nearly killed him, is also doing well and will go home tomorrow and Jacob, the boy with the skin graft, is going to be well enough to transfer to another hospital closer to his home!!!!! God is healing our patients right before our eyes. How I love the promises of God's Word.
Thank you for all of your prayers!!!! God is good all the time!
Monday, December 1, 2008
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The end is coming....
Well as the saying goes "all good things have to come to an end." It is absolutely crazy for me to think that in a week from now I will be flying to Paris. My time on the Africa Mercy has been wonderful and I have seen God do so many amazing things.
Friday was our last day of surgery for this outreach. We all are rejoicing for a successful 2008 outreach. The wards are getting so empty :( Friday of this up coming week the ward will close as well and then the following saturday the ship sets sail for the canary islands.
There are a few patients who desperatly need a touch from the Lord as there wounds are either slowly healing or not healing at all. SO we have set-up a prayer room in D ward. It has been beautifully set-up with African decor, scripture on the walls, prayer cards hanging from the ceiling with the names of the patients and their needs. We had the opening time yesterday at 1400h and will continue till Friday of next week. Please agree with us for the patients who need a miracle.
Here are the names and prayer requests:
Kollie: He had an encephalocele removed and is still leaking Cerebral spinal fluid
Jacob: Skin graft wound that needs to heal
Louisa: Skin graft wound that needs to heal
Sedeke: Very large infection, that is much better, but still needs to finish healing and also for salvation
Eddie: Wounds to heal
Thanks for agreeing with us in prayer!!!! Prayer changes natural circumstances into supernatural miracles!!!
Friday was our last day of surgery for this outreach. We all are rejoicing for a successful 2008 outreach. The wards are getting so empty :( Friday of this up coming week the ward will close as well and then the following saturday the ship sets sail for the canary islands.
There are a few patients who desperatly need a touch from the Lord as there wounds are either slowly healing or not healing at all. SO we have set-up a prayer room in D ward. It has been beautifully set-up with African decor, scripture on the walls, prayer cards hanging from the ceiling with the names of the patients and their needs. We had the opening time yesterday at 1400h and will continue till Friday of next week. Please agree with us for the patients who need a miracle.
Here are the names and prayer requests:
Kollie: He had an encephalocele removed and is still leaking Cerebral spinal fluid
Jacob: Skin graft wound that needs to heal
Louisa: Skin graft wound that needs to heal
Sedeke: Very large infection, that is much better, but still needs to finish healing and also for salvation
Eddie: Wounds to heal
Thanks for agreeing with us in prayer!!!! Prayer changes natural circumstances into supernatural miracles!!!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Why.....
Do you ever have those times in your life when you desperately cry out to God WHY? There are at times one area of my life where I find it hard to control. It's a very intricate part of the human soul; it's my emotions. In these moments, my dilemma is that my heart will not agree with what my mind is telling me I need to do. It's in this moment that I cry out to God "WHY can't what I am feeling just agree with what I know I need to do/be/have." I haven't found the answer to this phenomenon or even what it's called; however, the past few weeks I have been battling it so much that I have many times asked WHY not only of God but also close friends. Here's where I found out I am not the only one that doesn't understand why these two parts of the human soul won't agree with each other. Let me explain.
I recall in one of my earlier entries sharing that I was struggling with fully being here. I kept struggling inside with not wanting to be here but at the same moment enjoying everything about it. After many prayers and words from the Lord, I felt much better. However, deep down it was still there but not as bad. Then 2 weeks ago the weirdest thing happened. It's like that feeling of not wanting to be here just rose up in me stronger then ever before and everyday was so difficult I found myself just sleeping, and working that's it. I was asking God WHY. My whole life I have wanted to do things just like I am doing now. I went to nursing school for this very reason. I have spent many hours dreaming of coming back to the Mercy Ships and working as a nurse. Why, now that I was here, was I feeling this way? I kept telling myself I shouldn't have these feelings but no matter what I kept doing and praying the feelings persisted onward.
One night I called a close girlfriend and just shared my heart with her. I so wanted answers to the reason why my heart was feeling one thing when I so desperately wanted to feel something else. As I was reading the Word I found a quote that someone had shared when I first came to the ship
"You are a success in God's Kingdom when you are faithful where He has placed you." I realized that God had brought me here to the ship and I have 5 weeks left and I am not going to let the enemy rob me of what I was brought here to accomplish. I had to kick myself in the butt and just realize that I was feeling this way BUT my feelings were not going to control my actions and destroy the work of the Lord. I shared this with my girlfriend and she told me "Lanita, I can't give you an answer as to why you are feeling this way, but you may consider that this is spiritual warefare and you have to fight through it." I meditated on her words and got a sense that yes indeed this is what it was. So I prayed that my mind would be the mind of Christ and that I subject my feelings and attitudes to the will of the Lord. I wish I could say that "boom" just like that the feelings left but that isn't the case, they are still here even now as I write this journal entry BUT they are not controling my life. In fact amazing things are happening inside of me, healing is happening, and areas of my life that were not in-line with the Word of God are beginning to line-up. I am realizing so much about myself and all the junk that I have allowed to take over my mind and heart.
The next time I worked, after having this conversation with my friend, it was the coolest thing, we were watching down in the ward the service from upstairs and it was native Africans singing and sharing their testimonies. Some of the patients were dancing in the ward and I joined in. My heart was flooded with joy. This is what it's all about, praising the Lord in the midst of our trials!!! "Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name." No matter what our feelings may be, we have to take control over them and tell our soul to bless the Lord!
My challenge: We need to take control of our hearts and not allow our feelings to interfere with the work the Lord has for us. We need to take control of our feelings and thoughts!!!
I recall in one of my earlier entries sharing that I was struggling with fully being here. I kept struggling inside with not wanting to be here but at the same moment enjoying everything about it. After many prayers and words from the Lord, I felt much better. However, deep down it was still there but not as bad. Then 2 weeks ago the weirdest thing happened. It's like that feeling of not wanting to be here just rose up in me stronger then ever before and everyday was so difficult I found myself just sleeping, and working that's it. I was asking God WHY. My whole life I have wanted to do things just like I am doing now. I went to nursing school for this very reason. I have spent many hours dreaming of coming back to the Mercy Ships and working as a nurse. Why, now that I was here, was I feeling this way? I kept telling myself I shouldn't have these feelings but no matter what I kept doing and praying the feelings persisted onward.
One night I called a close girlfriend and just shared my heart with her. I so wanted answers to the reason why my heart was feeling one thing when I so desperately wanted to feel something else. As I was reading the Word I found a quote that someone had shared when I first came to the ship
"You are a success in God's Kingdom when you are faithful where He has placed you." I realized that God had brought me here to the ship and I have 5 weeks left and I am not going to let the enemy rob me of what I was brought here to accomplish. I had to kick myself in the butt and just realize that I was feeling this way BUT my feelings were not going to control my actions and destroy the work of the Lord. I shared this with my girlfriend and she told me "Lanita, I can't give you an answer as to why you are feeling this way, but you may consider that this is spiritual warefare and you have to fight through it." I meditated on her words and got a sense that yes indeed this is what it was. So I prayed that my mind would be the mind of Christ and that I subject my feelings and attitudes to the will of the Lord. I wish I could say that "boom" just like that the feelings left but that isn't the case, they are still here even now as I write this journal entry BUT they are not controling my life. In fact amazing things are happening inside of me, healing is happening, and areas of my life that were not in-line with the Word of God are beginning to line-up. I am realizing so much about myself and all the junk that I have allowed to take over my mind and heart.
The next time I worked, after having this conversation with my friend, it was the coolest thing, we were watching down in the ward the service from upstairs and it was native Africans singing and sharing their testimonies. Some of the patients were dancing in the ward and I joined in. My heart was flooded with joy. This is what it's all about, praising the Lord in the midst of our trials!!! "Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name." No matter what our feelings may be, we have to take control over them and tell our soul to bless the Lord!
My challenge: We need to take control of our hearts and not allow our feelings to interfere with the work the Lord has for us. We need to take control of our feelings and thoughts!!!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Does our life reflect what we say?
"Trust the Lord." Wow that is a powerful sentence and one that I have said many times in my life. My challenge of late from the Lord has been "Do I really live my life like I am trusting the Lord." My personality is such that I always have to be involved in making things happen, solving problems etc. But when we are trusting the Lord with situations in our lives, it means that our hands our tied behind our backs, our mouths are duct taped shut and we are completely letting the Lord work on our behalf. NOT EASY TO DO, for the record, or at least not for me. However, it is amazing how much peace comes into your life when you do this. How burdens are lifted off of your shoulders and how much time is saved because you are not trying to figure out how you are going to handle a situation. I am learning my job is to pray, bring my request before the throne room of God and leave it there. Even this is easy to do but the true test of trusting the Lord is after leaving it with him to not go back and "pick" it up again. When we ask the Lord to help us in a situation we have to believe that he will do it and it will be with our best interest in mind. Remember, the outcome may not be what we wanted but nonetheless it is the best for us.
Life on the ship continues on. It's weird because people that I am close to are starting to leave and that is one of the "not so fun things" about ship life. You meet great friends and then they leave and you are left behind:(
Last w/e a group of us left the ship for 3 days and headed to the beach!!! It was a beautiful w/e with lots of sun and fun. We stayed in a town called Robert's Port at "Nana's Lodge." This place was so cute. There are about 12 tents up on stilts and they have double-wide beds in them. This is the lodging. The resturant/bar is a small bamboo structure on the beach. The food was great as well. We spent the day in the water, reading, laying on the beach and scortching ourselves. I told myself I was not going to get burned so I applied 35-50 SPF 3X's and yep you guessed it I still burnt. I wasn't very happy.
Life on the ship continues on. It's weird because people that I am close to are starting to leave and that is one of the "not so fun things" about ship life. You meet great friends and then they leave and you are left behind:(
Last w/e a group of us left the ship for 3 days and headed to the beach!!! It was a beautiful w/e with lots of sun and fun. We stayed in a town called Robert's Port at "Nana's Lodge." This place was so cute. There are about 12 tents up on stilts and they have double-wide beds in them. This is the lodging. The resturant/bar is a small bamboo structure on the beach. The food was great as well. We spent the day in the water, reading, laying on the beach and scortching ourselves. I told myself I was not going to get burned so I applied 35-50 SPF 3X's and yep you guessed it I still burnt. I wasn't very happy.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
O how time flies........
It is hard to believe that it has been 6 weeks already since I came to the Africa Mercy. It's weird cause in some aspects it seems like it's been forever and then others it's like "Wow where did the time go." The experiences have been great and I am so thankful to the Lord for this opportunity to serve Him in this way. The people that I have got to meet, the conversations that I have had, the times with the Lord; have made these 6 wks a great journey. As I reflect at the half way mark, I can only stare ahead into the future with much anticipation for what the Lord has instore for me in the last half of my time here in Africa.
Last Saturday, the Africa Mercy celebrated 30yrs of Mercy Ships being a ministry to the sick and poor of the world and celebrate we did!!! It was a wonderful day. It started with 20 teams lining up on the dock to here about the games that we would all be participating in. From water sports, to running, to memory games we did it all and had so much fun. My team consisted of myself, 1 New Zealander, and 4 Aussies :) We called ourselves the ANZAC'S + 1! You can look up in your history books the meaning behind our name. Needless to say, we all just had a great time and messed around a ton. At the end our team took 1st place. We couldn't believe it 5 girls and 1 guy!!!! Then we had a grill-out on the dock with bbq chicken and hamburgers. The day ended with praise, worship, and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done through this ministry over the years. They had speakers share a little bit about all of the ships that have at one time or another been a part of the Mercy Ships fleet. It was really neat. I will try to post some pics of the day.
The ward has been EXTREMELY busy this week. I have to say it's been really good for me personally. I am definitely being stretched way out of my comfort zone when it comes to nursing skill. The other night I think my oldest pt was 2 yrs old and I am not a pediatric nurse:) But God is so good and gives us the strength to do what we are incapable of doing on our own. It's been great to see the nurses all pull together. There have been some really sick patients lately as well and I praise the Lord for his healing power in their lives.
This weekend a group of us are going to Robert's Port. It's a place on the beach with tents on stilts. It's suppose to be a really nice place, so after a busy week, I am looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the ocean and beautiful sunsets, and great times with the Lord.
Hope all of you are blessed and encouraged in the Lord today!!!
Last Saturday, the Africa Mercy celebrated 30yrs of Mercy Ships being a ministry to the sick and poor of the world and celebrate we did!!! It was a wonderful day. It started with 20 teams lining up on the dock to here about the games that we would all be participating in. From water sports, to running, to memory games we did it all and had so much fun. My team consisted of myself, 1 New Zealander, and 4 Aussies :) We called ourselves the ANZAC'S + 1! You can look up in your history books the meaning behind our name. Needless to say, we all just had a great time and messed around a ton. At the end our team took 1st place. We couldn't believe it 5 girls and 1 guy!!!! Then we had a grill-out on the dock with bbq chicken and hamburgers. The day ended with praise, worship, and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done through this ministry over the years. They had speakers share a little bit about all of the ships that have at one time or another been a part of the Mercy Ships fleet. It was really neat. I will try to post some pics of the day.
The ward has been EXTREMELY busy this week. I have to say it's been really good for me personally. I am definitely being stretched way out of my comfort zone when it comes to nursing skill. The other night I think my oldest pt was 2 yrs old and I am not a pediatric nurse:) But God is so good and gives us the strength to do what we are incapable of doing on our own. It's been great to see the nurses all pull together. There have been some really sick patients lately as well and I praise the Lord for his healing power in their lives.
This weekend a group of us are going to Robert's Port. It's a place on the beach with tents on stilts. It's suppose to be a really nice place, so after a busy week, I am looking forward to relaxing and enjoying the ocean and beautiful sunsets, and great times with the Lord.
Hope all of you are blessed and encouraged in the Lord today!!!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A "jump off the page" moment
I had one of those "jump off the page" moments today while reading the Word. I like these moments most of the time cause it gives me a reality check; however, sometimes they are quit convicting as well. It's so easy for us as individuals to be so wrapped up in our own "issues" that we don't see the needs of others. Also, we have this "right" that we think we have to take time for ourselves when we are going through a difficult situation to sort things out to "lick our wounds" whatever. Sorry if I am being a bit hard and/or cynical but this is how it all came to me:)
So I am reading in Mt. 14 when Jesus receives the news that his dear friend, forerunner, John the Baptist has been beheaded. All He wants to do is get some solitude so he can process, reminisce, grieve etc. So he decides to get into a boat and go to a solitude place. However, the crowds heard about this and had gathered on the other side. So when Jesus got to the shore a crowd of people had already gathered. He didn't *sigh* and say "get out of here I just need a few minutes to myself." He didn't just saunter off and ignore the people. He didn't start sharing his problems with them. The scriptures say "...He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Ugh knife in the gut. Jesus put His own needs aside because He saw the needs of others as more important then His own. How many times are we so caught up in our own situations that we miss the hurts and needs of others. OR we see them but say to ourselves "I am going through my own issues I have to deal with right now I don't have time for theirs."
"Lord Jesus may you help our eyes to be opened to the needs of others no matter what we going through in our lives. Help us to follow your example and put others needs first."
Well tonight is my third night shift in a row and now I am off for 4 :) It's different here though, I don't even care about my days off or look forward to them like I do back home. I actually get sad thinking I am going to miss what is happening in the lives of the patients while I am gone. But that's what's nice about living on the same hall as your patients:) I can walk through a door and visit them anytime. :)
Three of my five boys have left now. It was a sad day for me but a good one for them. Maybe I have not mentioned their stories here on the blog. We had 5 guys who all came in with ulcers on their legs that were not healing. So they got skin grafts (the dr.'s take a skin graft from the upper thigh and put it on the wound) to the ulcerative site. This is a wait, watch and see what happens process cause you don't know whether the graft will take. But praise the Lord 4 of the 5 grafts have taken. The fifth one (John) actually had to get his leg amputated because the infection had gone into the bone and would have killed him if they didn't. It was very hard for him to adjust and he was very depressed for a long time. However, it was cool cause when Nick was here (see earlier blog for explanation) he was able to really minister to this patient and bring encouragement to him. Lord willing John will be able to get a prosthetic eventually.
God really allowed me to bond with these 5 guys and we have shared many conversations together over the past month. To listen to their stories is heart wrenching. Two of them lost their wives, fortunes, friends everything because of their ulcers. The mindset is if you are sick with an "uncurable" disease you are finished, done for, left to die basically and will never be able to do anything. So the women both left for other men. It breaks my heart. We had many talks about forgiveness and restoration. I heard that one night at 3 am, after one of our talks, the one guy phoned his wife to tell her that he has forgiven her. We have laughed together and played many games of "Connect 4." They are really neat guys and I am sad to see them leave but excited for them to go back to society and share the blessing they have received. I challenged them all that God has blessed them and given them a new life and now they have to go back out to their people and share that blessing with others. They said they would :) O man there is so much more to be said but if I don't stop now this blog entry will be pages :)
It truly is a blessing to bond with the patients here and be able to share the love of Jesus with them in many ways. I am humbled and honored that the Lord would choose me to be His servant here on the Africa Mercy at this time.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support!! God bless.
So I am reading in Mt. 14 when Jesus receives the news that his dear friend, forerunner, John the Baptist has been beheaded. All He wants to do is get some solitude so he can process, reminisce, grieve etc. So he decides to get into a boat and go to a solitude place. However, the crowds heard about this and had gathered on the other side. So when Jesus got to the shore a crowd of people had already gathered. He didn't *sigh* and say "get out of here I just need a few minutes to myself." He didn't just saunter off and ignore the people. He didn't start sharing his problems with them. The scriptures say "...He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Ugh knife in the gut. Jesus put His own needs aside because He saw the needs of others as more important then His own. How many times are we so caught up in our own situations that we miss the hurts and needs of others. OR we see them but say to ourselves "I am going through my own issues I have to deal with right now I don't have time for theirs."
"Lord Jesus may you help our eyes to be opened to the needs of others no matter what we going through in our lives. Help us to follow your example and put others needs first."
Well tonight is my third night shift in a row and now I am off for 4 :) It's different here though, I don't even care about my days off or look forward to them like I do back home. I actually get sad thinking I am going to miss what is happening in the lives of the patients while I am gone. But that's what's nice about living on the same hall as your patients:) I can walk through a door and visit them anytime. :)
Three of my five boys have left now. It was a sad day for me but a good one for them. Maybe I have not mentioned their stories here on the blog. We had 5 guys who all came in with ulcers on their legs that were not healing. So they got skin grafts (the dr.'s take a skin graft from the upper thigh and put it on the wound) to the ulcerative site. This is a wait, watch and see what happens process cause you don't know whether the graft will take. But praise the Lord 4 of the 5 grafts have taken. The fifth one (John) actually had to get his leg amputated because the infection had gone into the bone and would have killed him if they didn't. It was very hard for him to adjust and he was very depressed for a long time. However, it was cool cause when Nick was here (see earlier blog for explanation) he was able to really minister to this patient and bring encouragement to him. Lord willing John will be able to get a prosthetic eventually.
God really allowed me to bond with these 5 guys and we have shared many conversations together over the past month. To listen to their stories is heart wrenching. Two of them lost their wives, fortunes, friends everything because of their ulcers. The mindset is if you are sick with an "uncurable" disease you are finished, done for, left to die basically and will never be able to do anything. So the women both left for other men. It breaks my heart. We had many talks about forgiveness and restoration. I heard that one night at 3 am, after one of our talks, the one guy phoned his wife to tell her that he has forgiven her. We have laughed together and played many games of "Connect 4." They are really neat guys and I am sad to see them leave but excited for them to go back to society and share the blessing they have received. I challenged them all that God has blessed them and given them a new life and now they have to go back out to their people and share that blessing with others. They said they would :) O man there is so much more to be said but if I don't stop now this blog entry will be pages :)
It truly is a blessing to bond with the patients here and be able to share the love of Jesus with them in many ways. I am humbled and honored that the Lord would choose me to be His servant here on the Africa Mercy at this time.
Thank you for all of your prayers and support!! God bless.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Something to ponder......
I was reading in Mt. 10 the other morning when Jesus sent out the 12. I had read the verse many times where he says to them take nothing with you, no money, no bag, no extra clothes etc. Wow, He sent them out to do the work of the Lord without anything but the clothes on their back and the power to heal the sick etc. Why did He do this??? I really don't know but my thoughts were this: I want to teach you total dependency on Me!! Later in the same passage he refers to the sparrow falling to the ground and how the Father knows all of this, that every hair on our head is numbered, don't be afraid "....You are worth more than many sparrows." Jesus is sending His disciples out to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, set the demon possessed free with nothing and in His closing statements He leaves them the message when a sparrow falls to the ground I know this; HOW MUCH more do I care about you!!!! It blessed me as I started meditating on it. When the Lord takes us through difficult times or asks us to do something for Him, He knows our needs and loves us so much and has only our good in store. He wants us to learn that all we need in life is HIM!! He has given us the power to do everything through His Spirit and all we need his that. Help me Lord to fully grasp my desperation for needing only you in this life and how much you really do care about me.
I realize it has been a while since I have written, ugh. Life on the ship can get pretty monotonous and I forget that it may be exciting to all of you to know what a day is like so I shall try to tell you. For start, I don't usually get up until around noon ;) I work the evening or night shifts here on the ship. That was such a blessing cause I don't lik mornings:) So when I get up I eat lunch and then it's time to go to work if I work the evening shift (2pm-10pm). The patients are always glad to see us, those that have been here for a while :) The first half of the shift is usually just hanging out and building relationships with the patients. During the week we will have our post -op patients to take care of when they come back from the OR. So they are busy at times. Then in the middle of the shift, I actually have to do some work :) Every patient gets their vitals checked and some of them need dressing changes or whatever. Then the last half is playing games with patients or whatever. Usually everything goes pretty well. Night shift is from 9:30pm-7am. Everything is the same except the patients sleep more :) I really enjoy the work here. The main focus is building relationship with the patients and sharing Jesus with them it's great. All the nurses pray before each shift and have devo's together. It's so wonderful. I think I I should carry it back to America with me :)
After work my friends and I usually go for a run and then to the gym. On our days off we do fun things off the ship. Today was an ADVENTURE I will never forget. 9 of us headed to the "Bong Mines." This happens on a train :) We load the land rover onto a flat-bed train box and have a 2 hr ride. You can get out of cars and walk from box to box. This is quit dangerous and adventuresome in and of itself. I highly recommend not looking down while crossing from box to box :) We even got to sit on the engine. It was a lot of fun :) At the Bong Mines, before the war, they use to have a processing plant for ore-German ran. It was huge but during the war they all had to walk away from it and now it's just buildings that have been stripped of most of the steel as people walk away with it to sell. So we climbed around there for a while. That was scary at places as all the steps were gone on the stairways so it was like walking up the siderails only. :) That was just preparation for what was to come. Then we got in the land rover and drove and drove and drove and drove through the thickets, literally:) We went off roading. :) We came to the top of this ravine and then it was time to hike down!! The view from the top was amazing and you coul hear the rushing water at the bottom. The ravine was all thicket through the jungle with machetes!!! That was a great experience. Once at the bottom we followed the river bed and came to a goregous little falls. We swam in the water hole and slide down the rocks into the water hole ;) Our way out of the ravine was to climb up the waterfalls ;) It wasn't as bad as it sounds in most places :) Some places were a little difficult. Praise the Lord we all made it back to the land rover. Then we had a 3.5 hr ride back to the ship, with lots of bumps and mud holes :) We stopped along the way, once we hit the paved road, for a car wash in a river or something. All the little boys washed the land rover for us it was quit cute :) Needless to say we came back to the ship very tired, hungy and dirty : But it was one of the greatest adventures I have ever taken!!!!
And people say being a christian is boring??? Does this sound boring to you :):):)
I realize it has been a while since I have written, ugh. Life on the ship can get pretty monotonous and I forget that it may be exciting to all of you to know what a day is like so I shall try to tell you. For start, I don't usually get up until around noon ;) I work the evening or night shifts here on the ship. That was such a blessing cause I don't lik mornings:) So when I get up I eat lunch and then it's time to go to work if I work the evening shift (2pm-10pm). The patients are always glad to see us, those that have been here for a while :) The first half of the shift is usually just hanging out and building relationships with the patients. During the week we will have our post -op patients to take care of when they come back from the OR. So they are busy at times. Then in the middle of the shift, I actually have to do some work :) Every patient gets their vitals checked and some of them need dressing changes or whatever. Then the last half is playing games with patients or whatever. Usually everything goes pretty well. Night shift is from 9:30pm-7am. Everything is the same except the patients sleep more :) I really enjoy the work here. The main focus is building relationship with the patients and sharing Jesus with them it's great. All the nurses pray before each shift and have devo's together. It's so wonderful. I think I I should carry it back to America with me :)
After work my friends and I usually go for a run and then to the gym. On our days off we do fun things off the ship. Today was an ADVENTURE I will never forget. 9 of us headed to the "Bong Mines." This happens on a train :) We load the land rover onto a flat-bed train box and have a 2 hr ride. You can get out of cars and walk from box to box. This is quit dangerous and adventuresome in and of itself. I highly recommend not looking down while crossing from box to box :) We even got to sit on the engine. It was a lot of fun :) At the Bong Mines, before the war, they use to have a processing plant for ore-German ran. It was huge but during the war they all had to walk away from it and now it's just buildings that have been stripped of most of the steel as people walk away with it to sell. So we climbed around there for a while. That was scary at places as all the steps were gone on the stairways so it was like walking up the siderails only. :) That was just preparation for what was to come. Then we got in the land rover and drove and drove and drove and drove through the thickets, literally:) We went off roading. :) We came to the top of this ravine and then it was time to hike down!! The view from the top was amazing and you coul hear the rushing water at the bottom. The ravine was all thicket through the jungle with machetes!!! That was a great experience. Once at the bottom we followed the river bed and came to a goregous little falls. We swam in the water hole and slide down the rocks into the water hole ;) Our way out of the ravine was to climb up the waterfalls ;) It wasn't as bad as it sounds in most places :) Some places were a little difficult. Praise the Lord we all made it back to the land rover. Then we had a 3.5 hr ride back to the ship, with lots of bumps and mud holes :) We stopped along the way, once we hit the paved road, for a car wash in a river or something. All the little boys washed the land rover for us it was quit cute :) Needless to say we came back to the ship very tired, hungy and dirty : But it was one of the greatest adventures I have ever taken!!!!
And people say being a christian is boring??? Does this sound boring to you :):):)
Saturday, October 4, 2008
A wild time
Bodies flying over chairs, people running all over, spoons flying threw the air, people bleeding.....sound like fun yet:) O but it was!!!!! Saturday nights on the ships are usually really fun with lots of fun games going on around the ship. Tonight was especially fun. It all started when our group that was playing Settlers looked over and saw a group playing Dutch Blitz with actual Dutch Blitz cards. You see here on the ship we made due with what we have. So we had been playing with playing cards which is ok but when you are not use to it it's way more difficult. We knew someone had to have a set and of course the Dutch people did, imagine that. So we kindly asked if when they were done we could have their cards:) They said yes so we played a few rounds of that.
Then the real fun began............ "Let's play Spoons." of course everyone agreed. By this time it was pass quiet hours as it was 11 pm so here we are trying to play a quiet game of spoons-not happening. We got in trouble so we had to move. Where could we move where there wasn't people trying to sleep??? The International Lounge became the place-this is where the church services are held. We had so much fun and many bodily injuries as well. I got a hard knee to the back and am sure I will be in pain for a while from that. But a few cuts and scrapes makes it all the more fun. I almost won, I made it down to the finale two but then lost :(
It is my w/e to work so I was scheduled for Thursday-Sunday night. Well I got tonight (Saturday) off because it's the end of the outreach and the census is low. So it's been nice to hang out, play games, and catch up on some emails :)
I hope all is well with you guys that are reading this. God bless
Then the real fun began............ "Let's play Spoons." of course everyone agreed. By this time it was pass quiet hours as it was 11 pm so here we are trying to play a quiet game of spoons-not happening. We got in trouble so we had to move. Where could we move where there wasn't people trying to sleep??? The International Lounge became the place-this is where the church services are held. We had so much fun and many bodily injuries as well. I got a hard knee to the back and am sure I will be in pain for a while from that. But a few cuts and scrapes makes it all the more fun. I almost won, I made it down to the finale two but then lost :(
It is my w/e to work so I was scheduled for Thursday-Sunday night. Well I got tonight (Saturday) off because it's the end of the outreach and the census is low. So it's been nice to hang out, play games, and catch up on some emails :)
I hope all is well with you guys that are reading this. God bless
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A weight room experience
Our God is an amazing God and will use any experience to get a hold of our lives. I hope to explain the title of my blog in this entry. It all stared when news arrived on the ship that we were hosting a celebrity............not from Hollywood but from the Kngdom of God. His name is Nick Vujicic. Nick was born with no arms or legs. The doctor's have no idea why. You should google him and read about his story, it is amazing. Anyways, his DVD somehow started circling here in Liberia and so the pastors in Monrovia came together and decided to rent the huge stadium here and bring Nick to Liberia. Mercy Ships is where he is staying. He is such a celebrity had he stayed anywhere else he would have been mobbed with people. Even tonight after the service was over the vehicle he left in was encircled by a huge crowd of people and the police were trying to get the way clear. The pastor on the podium was pleading with the people to "act human and behave." There were probably at least 10,000 people there. Even some of the political figures of the nation of Liberia were there.
I sat and listened to Nick speak on how God will take what seems to be impossible and make it possible and how our life has value. It wasn't until the very end that what he said really hit me. And the whole picure wouldn't come into full view till hours later. Nick was talking about surrendering our whole heart to the Lord, nothing we haven't heard before right. How the Lord wants to be Lord of everything in our lives, no hidden places. I sat there thinking about my life over the past few years and how I felt so far away from the Lord compared to where I had in times past. Nothing more really came of it at that moment.
Several hours later my friend and I were out running on the dock (we have it figured out exactly how many times is a mile 3 laps :) ) and I was talking to her about what happened at the stadium. As I was talking the Lord brought a great revelation to me on what was my "secret" part of my heart. It was my calling on my life and my dreams. From the time I was a small child I have known what I wanted to do and have worked hard for it. However, in the past 3 years I have taken it into my own hands. Even though something is from God, we can so easily take control over it and this is what I had started to do. So I was sharing with my friend all this stuff and still struggling some with wanting to be at home back at my job. I told her that I love being here and I love what I am doing but if someone offered me a ticket to go back home tomorrow I would do it.
We finished our run and decided to head to the weight room to do some weights before calling it quits. Here is where it all came together for me. We had finished our work-out and my friend started sharing her life story with me. For an hour she told about the difficult things she has had to endure in the past few years. My heart broke as I listened to my friend share about the faithfulness of the Lord to her and her family through some of the most difficult times in her life. I didn't even realize what was happening but as she was speaking her words were bringing healing to my spirit. There in the midst of rubber mats, benches, bikes, and weights the Holy Spirit ministered to my heart and brought a healing that I so desperately needed. We prayed together and I felt the Victory of the Lord, I felt a weight was gone (ha ha no pun intended), I felt a "secret" place was opened to the presence of the Lord. Now my calling is back in God's hands and I will go and do what He says and not just make up my own dreams and pursuits the way I think they should be. I looked at my friend and said "Now I would say 'no' to that ticket home" and mean it with all my heart!!!!!
Our God is faithful and my word of encouragement is no matter what you are going through in your life, it matters to God and He will use any situation and place to speak to you if you are willing to let Him. I thank my Jesus for the victory!!!!!
I sat and listened to Nick speak on how God will take what seems to be impossible and make it possible and how our life has value. It wasn't until the very end that what he said really hit me. And the whole picure wouldn't come into full view till hours later. Nick was talking about surrendering our whole heart to the Lord, nothing we haven't heard before right. How the Lord wants to be Lord of everything in our lives, no hidden places. I sat there thinking about my life over the past few years and how I felt so far away from the Lord compared to where I had in times past. Nothing more really came of it at that moment.
Several hours later my friend and I were out running on the dock (we have it figured out exactly how many times is a mile 3 laps :) ) and I was talking to her about what happened at the stadium. As I was talking the Lord brought a great revelation to me on what was my "secret" part of my heart. It was my calling on my life and my dreams. From the time I was a small child I have known what I wanted to do and have worked hard for it. However, in the past 3 years I have taken it into my own hands. Even though something is from God, we can so easily take control over it and this is what I had started to do. So I was sharing with my friend all this stuff and still struggling some with wanting to be at home back at my job. I told her that I love being here and I love what I am doing but if someone offered me a ticket to go back home tomorrow I would do it.
We finished our run and decided to head to the weight room to do some weights before calling it quits. Here is where it all came together for me. We had finished our work-out and my friend started sharing her life story with me. For an hour she told about the difficult things she has had to endure in the past few years. My heart broke as I listened to my friend share about the faithfulness of the Lord to her and her family through some of the most difficult times in her life. I didn't even realize what was happening but as she was speaking her words were bringing healing to my spirit. There in the midst of rubber mats, benches, bikes, and weights the Holy Spirit ministered to my heart and brought a healing that I so desperately needed. We prayed together and I felt the Victory of the Lord, I felt a weight was gone (ha ha no pun intended), I felt a "secret" place was opened to the presence of the Lord. Now my calling is back in God's hands and I will go and do what He says and not just make up my own dreams and pursuits the way I think they should be. I looked at my friend and said "Now I would say 'no' to that ticket home" and mean it with all my heart!!!!!
Our God is faithful and my word of encouragement is no matter what you are going through in your life, it matters to God and He will use any situation and place to speak to you if you are willing to let Him. I thank my Jesus for the victory!!!!!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fun times on the ship
Wow I guess it has been awhile since I have posted and I have to say there is lots to tell. Life on the ship is so exciting. I was just telling my roommate what a wonderful job they do with keeping "fun" on the ship. Let me share some of the fun times we have had the last few nights.
Thursday evening was my friend Jenna's birthday. So Katelyn and I (the 3 of us flew into Liberia on the same flight so we have been very close since then) decided to plan a surprise bday party for her. Now those of you who know me, know I love to plan parties and make them big, the more people the better!!! So when you invite 30 people in America you may get 15-17. Well on the Mercy ship when you invite 10 you get 19:) Everyone hears about going "off ship" and they want to come too. Which is no problem EXCEPT there is limited space cause you have to reserve a driver and vehicle and the reservation at the resturant. So the day before Katelyn made 3o cupcakes and we frosted them all different kinds of things-skittles, marshmellows, chocolate chips, raspberrries....We had 27 on our final list but some couldn't make it so we ended up with 19. We had a great time. However a little lesson from Africa: when you go out to eat do not be in a rush we waited 2 hrs for our meal :):) Lots of great "Getting to know you time."
We wanted to make it back for Community service AND we did:) It was the best one yet:) Then there was a live band with some of the African people on the ship and we danced and danced it was so much fun.
Then tonight (Saturday) we had the "Valletta Film Festival" People made movies and we all dressed up in suit n ties and nice dresses. Then we had the "Red Carpet" where they spoke with the producers and actors/actresses and gave out the "Valletta Awards." These were hand-carved by our very own carpenter aboard the ship. It was a great evening and everyone looked so nice. I will eventually post pictures of everything but now I must run.
Till next time.............
Thursday evening was my friend Jenna's birthday. So Katelyn and I (the 3 of us flew into Liberia on the same flight so we have been very close since then) decided to plan a surprise bday party for her. Now those of you who know me, know I love to plan parties and make them big, the more people the better!!! So when you invite 30 people in America you may get 15-17. Well on the Mercy ship when you invite 10 you get 19:) Everyone hears about going "off ship" and they want to come too. Which is no problem EXCEPT there is limited space cause you have to reserve a driver and vehicle and the reservation at the resturant. So the day before Katelyn made 3o cupcakes and we frosted them all different kinds of things-skittles, marshmellows, chocolate chips, raspberrries....We had 27 on our final list but some couldn't make it so we ended up with 19. We had a great time. However a little lesson from Africa: when you go out to eat do not be in a rush we waited 2 hrs for our meal :):) Lots of great "Getting to know you time."
We wanted to make it back for Community service AND we did:) It was the best one yet:) Then there was a live band with some of the African people on the ship and we danced and danced it was so much fun.
Then tonight (Saturday) we had the "Valletta Film Festival" People made movies and we all dressed up in suit n ties and nice dresses. Then we had the "Red Carpet" where they spoke with the producers and actors/actresses and gave out the "Valletta Awards." These were hand-carved by our very own carpenter aboard the ship. It was a great evening and everyone looked so nice. I will eventually post pictures of everything but now I must run.
Till next time.............
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
No more suffering....
Tonight at 8 pm Alieu went to be with Jesus. Although there are many tears here on the ward, we know that he is in the arms of Jesus. He was a fighter but because he was so small he just did not have enough reserve to make it. I know that our Lord is a healer and that He can heal but I also know that He is sovereign and that His ways are far above ours. Please keep praying for the parents. The mom is not taking it well at all and the dad is so amazing he says "The Lord give and the the Lord takes away." He has such a good attitude. Also keep praying for the staff it is very hard on us as they have seen several children die on this outreach.
Thank you to all who have prayed. I know that Alieu came to the ship for a reason and I may never know specifically why but I know He did. Maybe to teach us a lesson...........
Thank you to all who have prayed. I know that Alieu came to the ship for a reason and I may never know specifically why but I know He did. Maybe to teach us a lesson...........
Update on Alieu
Well they were not able to operate on Alieu today because this morning he took a turn for the worse and had to be intubated. He really needs this surgery as the incarcerated hernia is life threatening. What it means is that some of his bowels are twisted around the inguinal hernia so the bowel is slowly dieing as the blood supply is cut off from the twisting. Mufasa seems to be doing ok and at this point they will not operate on him. Please keep praying for Alieu's miracle and pass it on to your friends and family members as well. We serve a miracle working God. Please keep their parents in your prayers as well and also the staff as they care for him. It's easy to get attached to these little ones and it's hard emotionally to watch them suffer.
God bless
God bless
Monday, September 22, 2008
Prayer request
There are many happy stories that happen aboard the Africa Mercy. However, today there was a not so happy one but in faith I am believing it will end happier then any other. It started about a week ago. One evening I was taking care of a patient and he had a visitor. The visitor started asking the patient what kind of surgeries the people had done that were in the ward. SO the patient started telling him. The visitor went on to say that his 5 week old twin sons have "Hydroceles" (Fluid filled sacs on the testicle). So they called me over. When he started talking I knew that the surgeries on the ship only happen by appointment and that the screening happened months ago but I thought it was worth a try. The answer was as I expected the slots were full. But I am persistent and so kept trying. I talked with my supervisor and she said the same thing. THen a couple of days ago my supervisor told me that they were able to get the twins an appointment. Praise the Lord the twins are coming to the ship !!!!
Well today(Monday) they arrived. Extremely sick. Especially the one Alieu. The doctors aren't sure if he will make it. His blood counts were sooooo low. They gave him some blood and that helped perk him up some. Tomorrow morning (Tues) at 8 am the dr.s are meeting to discuss if they will proceed with the operation. Even if they do proceed, they aren't sure whether he will make it . BUT I am believing that he will make it. I believe God brought Alieu and Mufasa to the ship to LIVE and not die. Mufasa also needs surgery but they aren't sure if they will operate on him and he is not as sick as his brother.
Please join me in praying for these two little boys. I will keep you all posted on what happens.
Well today(Monday) they arrived. Extremely sick. Especially the one Alieu. The doctors aren't sure if he will make it. His blood counts were sooooo low. They gave him some blood and that helped perk him up some. Tomorrow morning (Tues) at 8 am the dr.s are meeting to discuss if they will proceed with the operation. Even if they do proceed, they aren't sure whether he will make it . BUT I am believing that he will make it. I believe God brought Alieu and Mufasa to the ship to LIVE and not die. Mufasa also needs surgery but they aren't sure if they will operate on him and he is not as sick as his brother.
Please join me in praying for these two little boys. I will keep you all posted on what happens.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Pillar of Fire
Today was my first sunday to go to church off the ship. So I decided to go with my friend who is involved in a church in Caldwall, suburb of Monrovia. As usual it was a lovely drive along a washboard road. We pulled up to a bamboo made building with a tin roof. The name on the banner at the front of the church read: Pillar of Fire.
Sunday school was just finishing as we quietly took our seats. The "White" people standing out in the small crowd. The worship time was so wonderful and the presence of the Lord could be felt. Some of the songs are simple repeat lines so you can catch on quickly, that is if you can understand the English:) It is amazing that two people can speak the same language and not understand what each other is saying. But the Lord understood it all, praise His name :)
The message was taken from Ps 40:1-2 "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. " The pastor spoke on the "The Rewards of Waiting." Naturally as people we hate to wait, especially us westerners. When we are going through difficult times we just want them to end but we must wait on the Lord. As we wait, our rewards will come. There are two rewards for waiting that David experienced and that we too can experience IF we choose to wait. They are deliverance and Elevation.
As I sat there listening to the message I couldn't help but think of how many difficult things these people go through compared to myself. How do they even have hope that if they wait they will indeed receive their reward because it seems like just one hardship after another. Yet I could tell by the cries of "Amen" that they were blessed and encouraged with the message.
Afterwards, I played with all the little kids, there were a lot as there are several orphanages around the area. I started teaching hand clapping games which was fun. Then I saw these two boys giggling and whispering as they looked at me. So I started going over to them and they took off running. But they were no match for me, I soon caught up to them:) Then there became this game of hide and chase. So I would sneak around the church and try to keep out of site and jump out at them and they would laugh and take off running and me after them :) So much fun.
Sunday school was just finishing as we quietly took our seats. The "White" people standing out in the small crowd. The worship time was so wonderful and the presence of the Lord could be felt. Some of the songs are simple repeat lines so you can catch on quickly, that is if you can understand the English:) It is amazing that two people can speak the same language and not understand what each other is saying. But the Lord understood it all, praise His name :)
The message was taken from Ps 40:1-2 "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. " The pastor spoke on the "The Rewards of Waiting." Naturally as people we hate to wait, especially us westerners. When we are going through difficult times we just want them to end but we must wait on the Lord. As we wait, our rewards will come. There are two rewards for waiting that David experienced and that we too can experience IF we choose to wait. They are deliverance and Elevation.
As I sat there listening to the message I couldn't help but think of how many difficult things these people go through compared to myself. How do they even have hope that if they wait they will indeed receive their reward because it seems like just one hardship after another. Yet I could tell by the cries of "Amen" that they were blessed and encouraged with the message.
Afterwards, I played with all the little kids, there were a lot as there are several orphanages around the area. I started teaching hand clapping games which was fun. Then I saw these two boys giggling and whispering as they looked at me. So I started going over to them and they took off running. But they were no match for me, I soon caught up to them:) Then there became this game of hide and chase. So I would sneak around the church and try to keep out of site and jump out at them and they would laugh and take off running and me after them :) So much fun.
Friday, September 19, 2008
I have called you...
I have shared with some of you some of the struggles that I have been going through since I got here to Africa. Praise the Lord I feel over the past few days I have received some breakthrough. I want to say thank you SO much for those who have prayed. I know that it is through these prayers that my breakthrough as come.
Let me share some thoughts.....since I was a small child I have known what the calling was on my life: to be a missionary nurse. Of course, I didn't know every little detail of that and my life as taken turns that I never would have expected. Therefore, when I am blessed of the Lord to go on journeys, like the one I am on now, I am extremely excited and very fulfilled when I am doing it.
This journey however, has started much different. From the beginning, I have struggled with truly "being" here in Liberia. I am here in body but not in mind and heart. I want to be back home. I want to be working at my job. I want my friends and family. I feel like the past 2 weeks have been two months. The other morning I realized all of this and so began to pray through it. Telling the Lord that I want to surrender my whole being to Him to be used by Him. That I didn't want to miss one thing that He had for me on this trip.
I also have this thing about me that I love adventure and travel. So for me to get to go to Liberia was like another adventure for me; another stamp in the passport!! I realized that my heart wasn't in the right place completely. Yes, these opportunities are adventures; However, they are so much more than that. It's about the people and reaching them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only helping them physically but also spiritually. So as I was thinking of all of this I felt the Lord tell me: "It's about individuals and being sensitive to my spirit." A light bulb went on!!!! Of course!!! That is why I am in Liberia, not for another adventure, but to reach people one heart at a time for the Lord. My heart broke in this moment as I thought of how selfish I had been with my motives. I began thinking of the patients that I have been taking care of for the past 2 weeks and how I could minister to them. Instantly I thought of Baba.
Baba is a 34 year old mother of 4. Her youngest child Praise (6-7 months) lays by her side and brings many smiles to staff and patients. She has been on the Africa Mercy for over 3 weeks now. She hasn't seen her children and very little of her husband. I have watched her demenor change and she looks so sad and depressed. I would be too in her circumstances. When I came on shift last night she told me she had a hard day cause she missed her children.
So I asked the Lord to help me to be sensitive to the needs of Baba and all my patients. To be able to minister to them right where they need it. I have a few ideas on how I can do that for Baba and I believe as I turn my focus towards the people that He will give me more of these ways.
When I opened the Word where I was reading in Romans this is what I read "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. " Rm. 15:1-2. SMACK right in the forehead. I love when God's Word does this.
So needless to say, I think my eyes and heart have been opened and I believe that from now on my time in Liberia will be better!! Again thank you to all who have prayed with me during this time.
Here is my prayer for each of you "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of he Holy Spirit. Rm 15:13.
Let me share some thoughts.....since I was a small child I have known what the calling was on my life: to be a missionary nurse. Of course, I didn't know every little detail of that and my life as taken turns that I never would have expected. Therefore, when I am blessed of the Lord to go on journeys, like the one I am on now, I am extremely excited and very fulfilled when I am doing it.
This journey however, has started much different. From the beginning, I have struggled with truly "being" here in Liberia. I am here in body but not in mind and heart. I want to be back home. I want to be working at my job. I want my friends and family. I feel like the past 2 weeks have been two months. The other morning I realized all of this and so began to pray through it. Telling the Lord that I want to surrender my whole being to Him to be used by Him. That I didn't want to miss one thing that He had for me on this trip.
I also have this thing about me that I love adventure and travel. So for me to get to go to Liberia was like another adventure for me; another stamp in the passport!! I realized that my heart wasn't in the right place completely. Yes, these opportunities are adventures; However, they are so much more than that. It's about the people and reaching them with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not only helping them physically but also spiritually. So as I was thinking of all of this I felt the Lord tell me: "It's about individuals and being sensitive to my spirit." A light bulb went on!!!! Of course!!! That is why I am in Liberia, not for another adventure, but to reach people one heart at a time for the Lord. My heart broke in this moment as I thought of how selfish I had been with my motives. I began thinking of the patients that I have been taking care of for the past 2 weeks and how I could minister to them. Instantly I thought of Baba.
Baba is a 34 year old mother of 4. Her youngest child Praise (6-7 months) lays by her side and brings many smiles to staff and patients. She has been on the Africa Mercy for over 3 weeks now. She hasn't seen her children and very little of her husband. I have watched her demenor change and she looks so sad and depressed. I would be too in her circumstances. When I came on shift last night she told me she had a hard day cause she missed her children.
So I asked the Lord to help me to be sensitive to the needs of Baba and all my patients. To be able to minister to them right where they need it. I have a few ideas on how I can do that for Baba and I believe as I turn my focus towards the people that He will give me more of these ways.
When I opened the Word where I was reading in Romans this is what I read "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. " Rm. 15:1-2. SMACK right in the forehead. I love when God's Word does this.
So needless to say, I think my eyes and heart have been opened and I believe that from now on my time in Liberia will be better!! Again thank you to all who have prayed with me during this time.
Here is my prayer for each of you "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of he Holy Spirit. Rm 15:13.
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Orphanage
So in America we pay pretty good money to go through a mountainous, bumpy trail in a jeep. Well in Africa you can do it FREE!!!! The only bad thing is you have to go on the ride whether you want to or not to get to certain places. So was my ride Saturday morning to the "Center of the Aged and Abandoned" orphanage. A sweet Liberian couple started taking in children during the war and now there orphanage has grown to 62 children. They are building a new building which they desperately need as the one they currently have is so small I have no idea how they fit all those children in there. We played games, sang songs, and had a bibles story and craft. Then we sat around and played with the children some of the older girls braided our hair which was fun and beautiful.
Today we had some more orientation meetings. They were really good and informative. I didn't realize how much merchy ships does besides the hospital. It is really involved with rebuilding the infrastructer here in Liberia since the 14 yr civil war. It's amazing what they do and how they do it.
Today was really cool. The ward is broken into 4 different sections Wards A-D. I had been taking care of this pt on B ward and todays she wasn't there so I thought maybe she had gone home. Well I went into A ward and there she was so we started talking and I asked her how her hand was doing (she had surgery to release a contracture from a burn) and she moved it completely NORMAL. Praise the Lord!!! I almost started to cry. It is so wonderful to see what the Lord is doing through this ministry.
Keep praying for our pt's many of them have serious infections which are keeping their wounds from healing. The outreach is coming to an end and we need them to heal before we leave if possible for the best outcome for the pt's. I know our God can heal and bring restoration to their lives. Prayer works!!!
Today we had some more orientation meetings. They were really good and informative. I didn't realize how much merchy ships does besides the hospital. It is really involved with rebuilding the infrastructer here in Liberia since the 14 yr civil war. It's amazing what they do and how they do it.
Today was really cool. The ward is broken into 4 different sections Wards A-D. I had been taking care of this pt on B ward and todays she wasn't there so I thought maybe she had gone home. Well I went into A ward and there she was so we started talking and I asked her how her hand was doing (she had surgery to release a contracture from a burn) and she moved it completely NORMAL. Praise the Lord!!! I almost started to cry. It is so wonderful to see what the Lord is doing through this ministry.
Keep praying for our pt's many of them have serious infections which are keeping their wounds from healing. The outreach is coming to an end and we need them to heal before we leave if possible for the best outcome for the pt's. I know our God can heal and bring restoration to their lives. Prayer works!!!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Have you ever had one of those adrenaline rushing moments when you over slept......Well I had one yesterday morning except I was awaken by my roommate telling me that I was suppose to be at work. Oops. I thought I was suppose to work an evening shift and it turns out I was suppose to work a day shift. One nice thing about ship life is that I have to just walk down the hall and I am at work :) I did feel bad cause it was only my 3rd shift. That was only the second time in my nursing career (8yrs) that I have done that. But it ended a great day.
I got to watch an operation. You may look at the pictures below. This patient was injured in the 14yr civil war here in Liberia during a bomb blast. Basically his fingers are all contracted in different directions. So the dr released the thumb so that he at lieast can have a pinch motion. It's done by breaking the bone and resetting it with wires. Then they take a skin graft from the thigh to fill in the gap. It's crazy how they do things like that.
Last night was our big community meetings. They have them on Thurs. instead of Sun. so that people can go to churches in Monrovia on Sunday mornings. Which is really nice. The speaker spoke on our calling and what exactly that is. He said that everyone of us on earth's calling is for salvation first. Then from that comes our individual callings. He shared a quote from his friend who is a missioinary in New Guinea that I thought was so good. "You are a success in God's kindom when you are faithful where He has put you." I thought that was so good. No matter what we are doing we are all ministers of the Gospel and we need to always remember that.
Tonight is going to be my first night off the ship!!!! A group of us are going out for dinner so that should be fun.
Thanks for staying in touch with my life here in Africa. Keep praying for all of us onboard but especially the patients for quick healing. There has been some major spiritual warfare on the ward with pt's putting curses on other pt's etc. We know that greater is He that's in us then he that is in the world. Pray that the demonic strong holds will be torn down and that the enemy will not get the victory.
Be blessed!
I got to watch an operation. You may look at the pictures below. This patient was injured in the 14yr civil war here in Liberia during a bomb blast. Basically his fingers are all contracted in different directions. So the dr released the thumb so that he at lieast can have a pinch motion. It's done by breaking the bone and resetting it with wires. Then they take a skin graft from the thigh to fill in the gap. It's crazy how they do things like that.
Last night was our big community meetings. They have them on Thurs. instead of Sun. so that people can go to churches in Monrovia on Sunday mornings. Which is really nice. The speaker spoke on our calling and what exactly that is. He said that everyone of us on earth's calling is for salvation first. Then from that comes our individual callings. He shared a quote from his friend who is a missioinary in New Guinea that I thought was so good. "You are a success in God's kindom when you are faithful where He has put you." I thought that was so good. No matter what we are doing we are all ministers of the Gospel and we need to always remember that.
Tonight is going to be my first night off the ship!!!! A group of us are going out for dinner so that should be fun.
Thanks for staying in touch with my life here in Africa. Keep praying for all of us onboard but especially the patients for quick healing. There has been some major spiritual warfare on the ward with pt's putting curses on other pt's etc. We know that greater is He that's in us then he that is in the world. Pray that the demonic strong holds will be torn down and that the enemy will not get the victory.
Be blessed!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
First Day on the Ward
This is a hard blog entry to write cause I don't have words that seem creative or good enough to write to explain my day. It started with the alarm going off at 0600. Then it's off to breakfast. A little nervous about the first day. But everything turns out great. We have morning devos with the nurses. Then the ward has devos that the patients participate in as well. So in America as a nurse our focus is getting our work done and if there is time build relationships. Here it's all one. You are doing a dressing change while comforting needs. The highlight of my day came at the end of the shift. We take the pt's outside for some fresh air. Well it started raining so we ran back in and decided to go to Deck 7 well once up there we realized they were working on the deck so then we sat in the hall. One of the pt's said "I will read you a story from the bible." "Let's pray" so we prayed, "Let's sing", so we sang. Then he read us the story of Abraham it was so beautiful. Then we sang "Father Abraham" we found out turning pt's onboard a moving vessel is not smart. One pt nearly fell, thanks to some quick reflexes on my part he didn't. It was such a wonderful day with lots of very cute babies to love on :)
Definitely eveything is focused on the Lord and showing the patients the love of Jesus!!!
Definitely eveything is focused on the Lord and showing the patients the love of Jesus!!!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Ship Life
I am officially on my 2nd full day aboard the Africa Mercy. It has been such a wonderful experience so far. To be honest I feel I am experiencing a bit of heaven on earth. Let me explain....it hit me last night as we were all worshipping together that we had so many different nationalities all singing to the Lord and that is what heaven is going to be like. There are so many different cultures here on the ship and it's a great experience.
Today I had my ward(the official name for the hospital) orientation. I think it will be a bit overwhelming at first but I am told after 2 wks I will get the hang of things and it will seem routine again. So I pray :)
We have a starbucks on board the ship :):) Which for me as a non-coffee drinker isn't a big deal, however they do have really good coffee-free frappacino's :). The ship shop, which is like a mini, mini, mini wal-mart (little bit of odds-n-ends) was open today. So I got to get my laundry soap, chocolates and other personal items.
It is Liberia's rainy season right now so it has rained everyday so far that we have been here but I am sure it is much needed.
Last night we had a visiting pastor from Liberia speak at community meeting (CM). His message was Missions: It's a risk. It was excellent!! Taken from Luke 8 where Jesus told his disciples to get in the boat and cross to the other side (there was a mission that Jesus was to accomplish on that side of the water). Then the storm happened and the disciples were afraid (sometimes there are risks we have to take to get our mission accomplished). There are risks that we take being here on the Africa Mercy but we know that God has called us all to this mission and by His grace and strength we will accompish it.
Today I had my ward(the official name for the hospital) orientation. I think it will be a bit overwhelming at first but I am told after 2 wks I will get the hang of things and it will seem routine again. So I pray :)
We have a starbucks on board the ship :):) Which for me as a non-coffee drinker isn't a big deal, however they do have really good coffee-free frappacino's :). The ship shop, which is like a mini, mini, mini wal-mart (little bit of odds-n-ends) was open today. So I got to get my laundry soap, chocolates and other personal items.
It is Liberia's rainy season right now so it has rained everyday so far that we have been here but I am sure it is much needed.
Last night we had a visiting pastor from Liberia speak at community meeting (CM). His message was Missions: It's a risk. It was excellent!! Taken from Luke 8 where Jesus told his disciples to get in the boat and cross to the other side (there was a mission that Jesus was to accomplish on that side of the water). Then the storm happened and the disciples were afraid (sometimes there are risks we have to take to get our mission accomplished). There are risks that we take being here on the Africa Mercy but we know that God has called us all to this mission and by His grace and strength we will accompish it.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Liberia :)
after 48 hrs of traveling and airports I have arrived. However, my luggage didn't :( But praise the Lord I packed a carry-on bag with some basic necessities. They say it should arrive on Monday. I was already made aware that I am no longer in America. When I realized that my bag wasn't here, I asked the guy where to go and he said over there. So I went "over there" and waited and waited and waited and waited. Now in the time that I did all that waiting about 7 people stepped behind that desk and not one of them asked "may I help you." So you just smile and remember now I am in Africa :) So several times I had a person come in asking for me telling me my ride was waiting:) Finally I got my luggage registered and was off. I was greeted by 2 other Rn's heading for new experiences aboard the Africa Mercy.
It was about 1.5 hr drive to where the ship was. The ship is big, a lot bigger than the Anastasis and a lot more modern too. I share a room with 4 other nurses:) I think I am going to be in nursing heaven :) I can't wait to here all the gory stories about nursing life :) I have met 3 of them so far they seem nice. One is from Aussie , 2 from Canada, and one from Tx.
One of my roommates has already invited me to go watch a movie so I will get to meet some more people :)
I found out that we have a phone in our room the number and extension are :954-538-6110 ext 3418. Just remember I am 5 hrs ahead of Central time zone people :)
It was about 1.5 hr drive to where the ship was. The ship is big, a lot bigger than the Anastasis and a lot more modern too. I share a room with 4 other nurses:) I think I am going to be in nursing heaven :) I can't wait to here all the gory stories about nursing life :) I have met 3 of them so far they seem nice. One is from Aussie , 2 from Canada, and one from Tx.
One of my roommates has already invited me to go watch a movie so I will get to meet some more people :)
I found out that we have a phone in our room the number and extension are :954-538-6110 ext 3418. Just remember I am 5 hrs ahead of Central time zone people :)
Friday, September 5, 2008
London
Praise the Lord I have arrived in London!!! I have a 12 hr layover so I called my friend in London and asked if she would come pick me up for the day so we can hang out. It's great having friends all over the world:) I figure seeing some sites in London is better then sitting in an airport, which I will be doing enough of in the next 24-36 hrs anyways:) The transatlantic flight was good. The time actually went quit fast, praise the Lord.
I started reading the book of Romans while I was flying. It's one of my favorite books in the bible. My verse of encouragement was 1:16 "For I am NOT ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. " My prayer is that as I go into Liberia that I will remember that the gospel truly is the "power of God for salvation."
So many thought and feelings have gone through my mind in the last few days.... excitement, uncertainty, joy, sadness.... My prayer has been that the transition will be smooth and that I will adjust quickly to life and service aboard the Africa Mercy. I would appreciate your agreement with this prayer as well.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!!
I started reading the book of Romans while I was flying. It's one of my favorite books in the bible. My verse of encouragement was 1:16 "For I am NOT ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. " My prayer is that as I go into Liberia that I will remember that the gospel truly is the "power of God for salvation."
So many thought and feelings have gone through my mind in the last few days.... excitement, uncertainty, joy, sadness.... My prayer has been that the transition will be smooth and that I will adjust quickly to life and service aboard the Africa Mercy. I would appreciate your agreement with this prayer as well.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all!!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
San Diego
Praise the Lord I finally did make it to San Diego-the land of sun and fun:) It is great to be back here with friends. It made me realize how much I miss it but also that the Lord is moving me forward to new things. Yesterday, was a great day I think it was about 12 hours of being in the water and sun. We woke up at 0530 to head to the lake. For all you WI people they have to pay to use the lakes around here!!!! That is so crazy to me:) Anyway we went waterskiing and wakeboarding. I absolutely love wakeboarding:):) Then I met my friend and we went surfing:) It was great to get out there and be on the waves again. I was surprised that I picked up right where I left off!!! Now this morning I am extremely SORE!!!! and sunburnt:) I will try to post some video and pictures of that if I can figure out how to on this site :)
I have been so encouraged by visiting with both of my old roommates here in San Diego. One of the mornings as we were in the Word the Lord encouraged me with a verse from the book of Colossians: "To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy,which so powerfully works in me." 1:29. That is the verse I am carrying with me for the next 3 months. I know that this is not going to be easy work. In fact, I was reading through the online orientation at the airport the other morning and I was like "wow, good thing Iam at the airport or I may change my mind." It's going to be a lot of work and intense. BUT I know that it is the Lord's energy working through me and allowing me to accomplish the work that needs to be done.
I would ask that you all pray for me that the Lord will give me strength and that I will realize that I am a servant of the Lord to the people of Liberia.
I have been so encouraged by visiting with both of my old roommates here in San Diego. One of the mornings as we were in the Word the Lord encouraged me with a verse from the book of Colossians: "To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy,which so powerfully works in me." 1:29. That is the verse I am carrying with me for the next 3 months. I know that this is not going to be easy work. In fact, I was reading through the online orientation at the airport the other morning and I was like "wow, good thing Iam at the airport or I may change my mind." It's going to be a lot of work and intense. BUT I know that it is the Lord's energy working through me and allowing me to accomplish the work that needs to be done.
I would ask that you all pray for me that the Lord will give me strength and that I will realize that I am a servant of the Lord to the people of Liberia.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
At the airport.....
Well the first lag of the journey has begun. My parents and little brother and I woke up at midnight and drove the 3 hrs to Minneapolis international airport. We got here at 0315. I am flying standby to San Diego so when I called to get on the standby list I found out the ticket was never paid for by the employee so now the wait begins........Hopefully once the ticket counter opens they will let me pay for it there.......Not a good way to start this journey. :) It's great to be here and know that I am this much closer to the beloved continent of Africa.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Who says leaving is easy.....
ok so I thought things were all done for my paperwork on the Mercy Ships. But just to make sure I decided to reread all the info they sent me months ago. While doing so, I realized that I never got my Hep. B titer and if I didn't have proof of this I would not be allowed to work on the ship. Wow, can you imagine getting all the way to Africa, spending all that money on tickets, and then having them say "sorry you can't work cause you don't have a titer." So I frantically began calling to find out where I could get this titer done. When I called the clinic they said I needed a dr's order. Great that would mean making an appointment to see a Dr. which would cost more money. Well I have friends who are Dr.'s at this clinic so they saved me on this one:):) So the titer is done and I am ready for Africa.
Today was a little harder of a day as I realized that my time with friends and family is quickly coming to an end. I have a pile on my bed started of what I need to bring and will add to it over the next few days. I hope everything fits!!!!!
2 weeks from today I will be leaving for Liberia.....
Today was a little harder of a day as I realized that my time with friends and family is quickly coming to an end. I have a pile on my bed started of what I need to bring and will add to it over the next few days. I hope everything fits!!!!!
2 weeks from today I will be leaving for Liberia.....
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Saying good-bye....
such a bitter-sweet thing to say good-bye in moments like this. Your emotions are being pulled both directions....being excited about what lies ahead and yet realizing that friends and family are out of sight for 4 months. Thank God that we have the modern technological equipment we do to stay in contact with those back home. For instance, I recently have been spending time on Skype, o by the way my skype address is Lanita.Kauffman, so now I figured it out enough to talk with people. This will be great while in Africa.
This morning my congregation prayed over me. I am so thankful that I belong to a local church body that believes in missions. My pastors prayed over me and commissioned me to the work of the Lord in Africa. During the hard times ahead I will remember those praying for me back home.
I am back in Hayward for my final week. Trying to "fit" everyone in my "good-bye" list. So needless to say lots of coffee times, lunches, and dinners in the next few days:)
I unpacked everything last night and now will focus on repacking it all back up again. I am trying to get everything into a small sized Kelty backpack for 4 months. Because after Africa my friends and I are touring Europe for a month so I have to be able to carry everything on my back. Will see how light I can pack :)
Until next time.......
This morning my congregation prayed over me. I am so thankful that I belong to a local church body that believes in missions. My pastors prayed over me and commissioned me to the work of the Lord in Africa. During the hard times ahead I will remember those praying for me back home.
I am back in Hayward for my final week. Trying to "fit" everyone in my "good-bye" list. So needless to say lots of coffee times, lunches, and dinners in the next few days:)
I unpacked everything last night and now will focus on repacking it all back up again. I am trying to get everything into a small sized Kelty backpack for 4 months. Because after Africa my friends and I are touring Europe for a month so I have to be able to carry everything on my back. Will see how light I can pack :)
Until next time.......
Saturday, August 9, 2008
The preparation
applications.....immunizations.....passports....tickets....paperwork.....paperwork... and more paperwork....emails.... saying goodbye to friends and family. So many things in preparing to leave the country for 4 months to embark on a trip of a lifetime. The dream began eight years ago when I spent 5 months on the Anastasis Mercy Ship completing my Discipleship Training School (DTS). I knew that someday I wanted to come back and work as a nurse on the ship. Well the time has arrived. In 2007 the Anastasis retired and the African Mercy has replaced her. With more space and more opportunities to help the people in Western Africa.
It's hard to believe that in a month I will be in Africa doing what I dreamed of so many years ago. Not exactly sure what all awaits me but I am excited for what the Lord is going to do. The prayer of my heart has been "use me Lord to touch the lives of the people there." I believe there are specific people that God has foreordained for me to influence and vice versa. I look forward to the opportunities that await me.
It's hard to believe that in a month I will be in Africa doing what I dreamed of so many years ago. Not exactly sure what all awaits me but I am excited for what the Lord is going to do. The prayer of my heart has been "use me Lord to touch the lives of the people there." I believe there are specific people that God has foreordained for me to influence and vice versa. I look forward to the opportunities that await me.
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