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!!!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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!!!!!
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