David

A couple weeks ago, John David came to Mercy Ships as a patient. We did not know at that time that he had been separated from his daughter for 18 years due to the civil war. One evening on the ward there was a flutter of excitement as we noticed something unique about a particular visitor at his bedside...

His daughter had just recently moved back to Monrovia, but this time as a wife and mother of 4. During a conversation with a distant relative, she learned that her father had just been admitted to Mercy Ships for surgery... and to our ship she came!!

That evening was amazing, as father and daughter, separated for most of her life, were reunited.... God is good...

The next morning he was able to meet his grandchildren for the first time.

The pictures below are of his homecoming from Mercy Ships. To God be the glory and all praise...

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. ~ Psalm 68:5

Simple Pleasures

Just thought you all would get a kick out of this picture. These are some of the goofy things we do in our spare time here-- taking pictures of how high we can jump and mimicking the ''Thinking'' statue... :)

Fatima Orphanage

This is Fatima Orphanage. An orphanage started by World Vision, and now the home of over 180 children. Two amazing women, Mama Young (seen below) and Mama Kofa take responsibility for all of the children and assistants. Mama Young has served these young ones for many years and transported these children to safety during the years of civil war. Both of them amaze me- definite prayer warriors and both have a deep love for the Lord from years of walking with Him. As a side note, please keep Mama Young in your prayers as she was admitted to the local hospital this week for health complications.

Below is a picture of the dining hall. The roof was not well built, and blew off in a recent rain storm. A couple of the Mercy Ships crew members have fallen in love with this orphanage and have since raised support to not only employ a crew to finish the roof, but also to add a latrine and boys' dormitory.

I was introduced to a small boy named Jimmy, age 9, that had an umbilical and inguinal hernia. He eventually came to the ship for treatment and was my patient while he was here. Jimmy is an exception though, for many of the orphanage children will go untreated.

It was really neat to already know where he had come from, and to help take him back to the orphanage when he was discharged. While on board, Jimmy was very quiet and didn't say very much. Needless to say, I loved it when he stepped off the gangway, saw that I was waiting to take him home, and he ran to give me a big hug.

Mama Kofa accompanied him during his stay. (She told me many times how nice the break was from having to talk all the time- being in charge of 180+ children... I can only imagine!!)

Below is a picture of one of the boys' rooms currently. Multiple children sleep per bed, and they are without covers for the mattresses or sheets. The roof of this dormitory is in need of much repair.

As the government is trying to revise the orphanages in Liberia- they are forcing many to close and relocating the children elsewhere. The World Food Program supplies the orphanage with a type of porridge for the kids, but even these rations were cut down this week. A bag of rice here costs $24 US- so we are working to supply the orphanage with rice for meals.

The kids here are beautiful. They are starving for attention and just long for a hand to hold. I love the priviledge it is to hold them while I'm there. As we drive into the village, kids surround the Land Rover and chant Bowie's name : BOW-IE-AH-AH-WEE! These are a couple of the friends that Vern has made.

Three of the guys from the Engineering Dept : Bowie, Vern and Marcell, have been working very hard at getting construction and revisions to the orphanage started. On top of their normal job responsibilities they spend extra hours building relationships with the kids, buying and transporting supplies, fixing bunk beds, windows, etc... Three "tough" guys with the hearts of servants. ;)

Next week Vern and I will be making a trip downtown to buy over 100 pairs of sandals... oh my will that be a fun experience!! :) Our backpacks will be stuffed :)

Here are some of the cement blocks that are being used to build the bathrooms.

Fun and games.

Eleni and I had a blast taking the kids down to the creek to swim. From all over there were squeals as kids were simultaneously running and stripping down just to jump in. After almost 30 + kids had jumped in and had their fun, we all continued walking to a neighboring homestead and visited three pigs, a very cocky rooster and two gentlemen relaxing under a mango tree. From there it was time to head back to the orphanage.

Below is the dining hall, now prepared for the building of the new roof.

Bowie brought a scooter for the kids. Honestly, I was a little nervous as the boys piled on top for a ride. I had a funny feeling that my nursing skills would quickly be needed. Boys will be boys... and sure enough within 5 minutes I was bandaging a nasty looking toe. haha- but still, they loved the new toy. Below is Bowie demonstrating the scooter's fun potential...

I know I have shared this verse with you all before, but today it has really been on my mind... what an honor it is to serve our Lord as His ambassador...

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Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:17-20

Easter Blessings

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The week of Easter was a great time of celebration and reflecting on our Lord's death, burial and resurrection... and the new life that He has has provided as a result of His perfect sacrifice. I loved spending this holiday with so many Christian brothers and sisters from around the world.

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(My buddy Theo)

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It opened my eyes to different ways Easter is celebrated globally, and also brought new meaning to portions of Scripture. My favorite part by far was taking time to observe the Passover Sader meal.

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(Just an FYI- this was NOT the Sader meal :) Instead these pictures are from Easter brunch!! The galley team decorated the dining halls beautifully! Many long hours of loving service went into preparing for Sunday.)

It was also fitting to celebrate Easter Sunday on the Anastasis for her last time. "Anastasis" comes from the Greek language and means, "resurrection". The Lord has indeed been faithful to the Mercy Ship family as He has "resurrected" this ship many times to continue her service to struggling nations.

As word had just come that week of the new Africa Mercy passing sea trials, there was a sense of one chapter coming to a close and another one opening...

God indeed is faithful, and deserves all praise and glory...

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This week I made a couple of new friends and wanted to introduce them to you :) This is Chris- crazy boy I love. He was burned by falling into a fire at a very young age. He is undergoing grafts to his hand to release the burn contractures.

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When he first came to the ship, he was very withdrawn... many of these burn patients are. They have undergone years of scorn and shame and exile from friends and family. Most times, these very patients blossom from time here with us just from the love, care and attention that is given from the staff. He has definately blossomed.

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This is another one of my very active patients! This is Daniel... and everyone else pales in comparison when it comes to being spunky!! I did a very bad thing... I taught him how to tickle.... hmmm.... maybe not the best thing. HaHa! Here he is giving a kiss to little Mary, the daughter of another patient of mine.

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Famous Fish Faces

Daniel... after running and jumping on my back. Honestly Daniel :)

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Speaking of little Mary, she is just absolutely beautiful!! She has given the nurses lots of reason to take a baby break and enjoy making her laugh. I'm sure her mom is tired of us always "babysitting"!! :)

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But I think there is another reason why I feel so kin to Mary. She and I have a very similar characteristic... that's our hair...

Precious Mary.

I hope you all have had a great Easter holiday!! Miss you and love you all!!

Bong Mines

Early Saturday a group of over 30 of us headed off for Bong Mines. The owners of the Liberian Railway are friends of one of the crew members here on board. They have been gracious enough to allow us this experience of a lifetime :)

6:30 am: We met in reception and enjoyed some breakfast before heading out. A couple minutes drive brought us to the train station where we loaded and secured the Land Rovers onto the bed of the train.




We strapped everything down and climbed on board. They graciously added a passenger car for us. As if taken out an old western movie, everything about this train had its own character. The rest of us were seated ON TOP of the Land Rovers. No better way to see Africa :)

As with all African outings, there are always memories made, as when the electrical line broke, and they simply lifted it above our heads as we started down the tracks. Hmm.... a safety hazard perhaps??

From there, we were off towards Bong Mines. A beautiful ride of 2.5 hours took us through many small villages- squeals were heard as children would run out to meet the train and wave.

We finally made it to the town of Bong Mines could see that much of this town, that used to operate the power plant for Monrovia and beyond, now sits in ruins.

We unloaded the Land Rovers and set out to the mines. Iron Ore used to be mined in these hills, but since the work has ceased, rain water has filled this area to create a lake. Although clean, the water is filled with minerals and makes it much harder to swim. It was peaceful and quiet as we set out our lunches and prepared to enjoy the afternoon.

One of the best parts of the day was cliff jumping. This provided for many hours of entertainment!

A beautiful afternoon- then time to head for home- to enjoy the rest of the Easter weekend.