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.............

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...........

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

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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!

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!!!

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.

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 :)

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!!