Canary Island Getaway

Hello from Tenerife, Canary Islands. Wow, how do I sum up the last month or more? So much has gone on, we have been so infinitely blessed, not without challenges, but also with many joys. We finished up all the cleaning and packing in the end of November, said all our farewells, and set sail on November 30th. The sail itself was an adventure. Many people hid themselves away in their cabins, trying to lay flat and rest the spinning room away. Some made unfortunate and violent trips to the bathroom where they revisited their recent meals, but most found an incredibly joyful time of rest and relaxation, being encouraged (and rather forced) to enjoy the small things in life like the sunrise, sunset, dolphins off the bow, flying fish emerging from the water, that gentle rocking to sleep at night, and undistracted together time when you never had to wonder if your friend might be "off ship" (although this would cause quite a bit of worry if they indeed were).
We then arrived in the Canary Islands about 6 days later, and were let loose in the lovely city of Las Palmas, Grand Canary. The stark contrast came as a shock, but was also welcome. The Canary Islands are part of Spain, and therefore there is a distinct european feel to the culture and architecture. I might have expected to find myself rather disgusted with the indulgences and exorbitant living of first world, urban life, but instead I found it a refreshing and needed break from all the sorrow and pain that we had been faced with for so many months. Granted, I consider that all those precious people we have been working with do not have this option to arrange a break from life as they have always known it. It it hard to understand where justice is in this world sometimes. Yet God does not turn a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and oppressed. While I do not judge this material world we have entered, I do find myself rather disillusioned by it, coming to understand that joy is not wrapped up in comfort, belongings, etc. but in relationship with God and people. However, certainly joy is wrapped up in a mother being able to provide the most basic of health needs for her children. Anyway, we are here.
We were in dry dock in Grand Canary, where they worked on the ship, painted it, did other repairs, etc. It was quite an amazing and almost inconceivible process lifting something of this great mass up out of the water and stabilizing it, but it was done, as I suppose it is always done. We then sailed to Tenerife, where we celebrated Christmas, and will spend about another month, before returning back to Liberia to begin the 2008 outreach.
Hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas, full of joy and peace, living in the light of a Savior come among us in flesh to serve as the hope of the world.

More pics (I didn't take these either)

Hangin our on the dock with friends!

Here's Dr. Russ, my right hand man (maybe I'm on the
right hand side...) Anyway, he's gone home and I'm
mourning his departure. He's the ophthalmologist I've
worked with all this outreach.

Pictures

This is from our trip to the breakwater. You get an idea of
the mammoth proportions of our home sweet home.

Here's the lovely ship around sunset time. No, I didn't
take these pictures, but a friend did. Enjoy!

New pics

Sorry all! I'm trying to upload pictures, but am having difficulty. I will continue to attempt it in the near future!

A Sailing Hospital?

Hello everyone! I have so much to share, I almost don't know where to begin. If I did this every week, it would be so much easier to remember the things that are happening, etc. I could use a lesson in diligence.
First, I need to describe the opportunity I had to go out and hand out in "the bush", which I have realized just means the woods, or the rural areas of the country. Mercy Ships has an agriculture team who goes out and trains local people in organic farming, teaching about composting, soil enrichment, natural pesticides, realistic irrigation methods, etc. The general idea of the course is restoration to the way God intended the earth to produce food for its' inhabitants. We want to farm the way God made the earth to work, because that way it will flourish. My roommate and I had a chance to go out to a village and sit in on some lectures, and stay in the village for 2 nights. Even the process of getting there was quite an African event. We left about 2 1/2 hours late, stopped for many visits along the way, to pick up everybody and their mother, , loaded all the goods on the top of the vehicle, and then sat all squished into the Land Rover for 3 hours. We used our only spare tire about an hour down the dirt road. On ehad to wonder what we might do if another tire happened to find the stress unbearable. Anyway, we arrived in the village mid-afternoon, where we received a hearty, warm welcome by the class (who was supposed to have class that day). Life is so relaxed and unstructured here. Over the three days away we got to meet some of the local people, hang out by the river, see the garden beds (with organic matter 2 feet below) that the class had prepared, and do some classic rump-bumping down the local river. I think the escapade down the river was probably the most comical. 4 of us Mercy-shippers strapped on our hunter-orange ship life jackets and trapsed through town, quickly gathering a crowd of Liberian children. We hiked up the road for 20 minutes and then jumped in, while the kids ran along the shore watching this craziness, shouting about the alligators and river warnings. We all emerged with limbs intact, feeling a little relieved and thoroughly refreshed. Local women served us lovely African fare of fried plantains, rice and ocra, peppers, beans, etc. We ate like kings, and the days were precious, rich, and restoring.
Life on the ship has been incredibly busy as things have closed down and we have sought to finish out well, saying all our thank-you's and good-byes to the translators and the friends we have met. The ship is quickly emptying as the crew are returning home at the end of this outreach. We had 4 Celebration of Sight days to finish up all the patients we had done Cataract surgery on, then we tore down the dockside (army-style) tents that we use....which I now know how to do, since the job seemed to fall within my job description. I'm a little worried about the re-assembly in a few months, but that's a worry for another day. Too bad I'm mechanically challenged, our team may require a little mechanical assistance. Next we need to make sure that all our equipment in sail-worthy, meaning that it is well padded or bolted down, and will not be flying across the room/falling over upon turbulence (this may not be the proper nautical term). It's a funny concept, really, considering making a hospital sea-worthy, I mean, is there really a standard way this is done???
Anyway, hope things are well at home. Always love hearing from each one of you, and am so glad you enjoy reading the updates. I miss you all at home.

Breaking the Water

Hello family and friends! I'm truly missing you with a deep love, and I long, at times , to be at home with you, sharing your lives, preparing for the coming winter. The days are also getting shorter here, although not so drastically. Instead of the sun setting around 7, it now sets at about 6:27. Will I ever make it to the southern hemisphere? We were commenting on how the sun was setting earlier, and one of the kids said, "yeah, the days are supposed to be getting longer....", but then I realized he was from South Africa, and had not considered the fact that he had crossed over the great divide. Interesting.
Things are going well on the Liberian front. Surgery will be wrapping up soon. We have about two more weeks left, and then we'll be packing up the ship, and heading toward the canary islands for our dry dock and vacation time. Those of us who work in healthcare may receive some other kinds of jobs, like washing dishes, or cleaning....then we'll really learn the meaning of selfless servanthood. Should be good. I actually look forward to the change of pace.
This past weekend we had a cool opportunity to all pile into one of the 50-seater (although 25 felt just about right) lifeboats and take a little trip out to the breakwater. No, we didn't get to climb into it and then be lowered down the side, but we did get to climb through a little pilot entrance in the side of the ship. The day was beautiful, the water refreshing and calm, and waves pounding the rock dramatic, and the company pleasant. The boatride wasn't exactly rafting the dead, but it was great. Being on the water again brought me back home and made me feel like I was at camp on a beautiful summer day. I'll attach some pictures of the day a little later. Well, I have to go put on my African attire for church this morning. Love and miss you all, and always love to hear your comments.

Routine

I would say that life here is coming to be in a routine now. I have been here almost 5 months, which blows my mind, because it means I am almost 1/4 finished my commitment with Mercy Ships. Sometimes it feels like an overwhelmingly long time left to finish, but other times it feels like it will be finished in a flash. Anyway, I am thankful to be here, though there are many struggles. The past few days, I have been thinking about the small sacrifice I am making here compared to the missionaries who come and live in a community, among the poor. Sure, I go out into Africa for a few hours a day, see a little of the pain, begin to feel a big overwhelmed or angry or helpless or enraged or irritated, or just plain sad, but then I make my little journey back to the big, white ship, and climb back onboard, back to the west, back to comfort, back to a place where I can kind of block it all out, or maintain my own certain levels of comfort. I don't know if God will choose to call me to longterm service with a people group, but I certainly realize how difficult it would be, and how really comfortable our service here, onboard the ship, truly is. I know that I don't need to worry about that call right now, but instead just need to live out this calling to the best of my ability, but I just come to gain such a sense of respect for those who live here, in Liberia, day in and day out, among the people, alongside them in their difficulties. I take comfort in the fact that I know that if God calls you to a place like this, He will also provide the grace and strength to endure, but I'm just increasingly aware of the struggle of it all.

On Friday afternoon, I went to the local hospital with one of my co-workers to pick up one of her friends who was getting discharged. He had been quite sick for several weeks, and had been diagnosed with HIV while in the hospital, at which point his wife had been tested, and had also been found to be positive. The hospital was a heavy and oppressed place, full of pain and agony, with little hope, comfort, or joy. This young man cried tears of joy as he finally (after waiting over 24 hours for his discharge, haggling over financial issues) exited the hospital, as he had been convinced that he might not survive his stay there, and might not ever see his children and home again. The whole situation was not an easy one to be aware of, but it was so good to come to understand what it means to become sick here in Liberia, how hopeless it is, how horribly people are treated in the hospital, the conditions of staying there, the difficulty to acquire medications.....I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the health situation here in Liberia is desperate, and sick people are powerless in the system, completely uninformed, and I fear, quite mis-treated. May God have mercy on the sick here, and may we be one vessel of His mercy in this place.
Thanks again for your support and comments. Loving and missing you all so much.

Nimba pics

Mt Nimba

Over last weekend we had a ship's holiday and had a 4-day weekend, over which a group of us decided to head out for a little African adventure....all of which was African style. About 16 of us loaded into an African "cho-cho" which we had chartered and rode for 7 hours to the city of Ganta. Luggage sat under out feet or on our laps. We alternated shoulder positions in order to fit across the tiny bench seats. Half of us breathed in, while the other half breathed out....just kidding, it wasn't quite that bad. While space was low, spirits were high, and we sang and laughed, and took frequent stretch breaks. Once we arrived, we stayed in town in a little guest house for the night, and then headed out for the mountain the next morning. The road had been "cut", so our cho-cho dropped us off on one side of the gap, and taxis picked us upon the other side. We walked across logs laid over the river cutting the road. After about 6 stops by various guards and immigration officers, we arrived at the famous Mt. Nimba (historically mined for iron, but shut down since the war), negotiated our way past the "Mittal Steel" security men, and gained access to the beautiful, secluded mountains. We hiked for a few hours, scrambling up some hillside not really prepared for pedestrian traffic, and summitted, settling in for the night. While on the top, we worshipped the Lord, enjoyed some gourmet Ramen, laughed heartily about everything, watched an impressive lightning show, and appreciated the quiet and fresh air of the West African Mountains. It was a refreshing and delightful trip, with a wonderful group of fun people. Since I always do camping with 12 year olds, I found myself repeatedly impressed and surprised by the group's great attitudes and lack of complaining. I could go on for pages, but instead I will attach some pictures that will say so much more. Enjoy!

Dreads

dreads

This is an old picture with my friend Samuel, a guy who has had dreads for 12 years!! I'll try to get an updated picture soon.

Life in Liberia

Life in Liberia is a life of NGO's (Non-government organizations). Ever since the war has ended, the place has been flooded by different organizations, trying to get the place back on its feet. The roads are all filled with either yellow taxi's or white, SUV's bearing the names of different NGO's. Doctors without borders, SIM, Samaritan's purse, Merlin, and the United Nations are here, just to name a few. "UNMIL" is the United Nations Mission In Liberia, and there's a guy in a little shack that prints up these t-shirts and has this sign up out front. Here in the port, we're set right next to the Bangladeshi and Nepali base camps. It is good to see some of these organizations begin to pull out of the country, because it means that progress is slowly happening, but it can also cause some desperation and fear, because the needs here are still so great, and infastructure is still so weak. When a nation is in such difficult times, they must depend on outisde assistance, but that assistance must pull out in due time to allow the people independence and a chance for development that is sustainable.
So, I stop and realize that I haven't told you that much about life in Liberia. This is a great picture capturing the state of the roads here. As you can see, the vegetation is lush and green, the land is fertile, and the roads are rough. This is a picture from a trip we took out into some of the villages outside of Monrovia. Land Rovers are, to say the least, necessary. Even getting to church requires me shifting the old, friendly beast into 4-wheel drive. Life in the villages seems to be quiet and simple. The people are living off the fruits of the land. After reading Wendell Berry (thanks, Liz), I come to see the beauty of living a life closely tied to the land. Here, you go to the local market (an outdoor, chaotic place) and peruse the merchandise, and it is virtually all locally grown. The staple food is rice, which can be grown here, but it is a lot of work to grow it, and most of the rice is imported from Asia. The other staple is Cassava (sp???), which is a starchy tuber, a bit tougher than potatoes. The other main attractions seem to be potato leaves or Cassava leaves, stewed with a heavy, dark orange oil from the palm tree, and mounds of hot peppers, perhaps with some salt fish added in for protein. This food is, to me, rich and delicious, although very fatty. They also lack the variety that we're accustomed to, as would be typical for anyone living off the local land.
Personally, things are going well. My work is still fulfilling, and I find myself constantly challenged, and stimulated by the things I'm learning. The eye is truly a miraculous body part, so complex and fine-tuned and delicate. What a gift God has given us in sight. Day in and day out I work with blind people, and I begin to see how crucial it is for our lives, for our independence, for our survival. I have decided to continue working with the eye programs into our next outreach in Sierra Leone. This decision has been heavy on my mind, but I have prayed it through carefully, considered it, and decided, with thorough peace, that it is the place for me to continue working. I'm so thankful for this assurance and peace.
Well, I love all you guys, and always love to read your comments. I know you all want to see pics of my dreads, and I'll try to get an updated one soon. They're actually coming along really well, and I even got some compliments on them today. I went to the hairdresser this past week, and she put in a few new ones for me, so I have a few new members to the family, that need some tender loving care. Loving and missing you.

End of Camp Blues

So, I realized that this place was a little bit like camp; fun and games, and lots of people and new friends, and constant stimulation, but camp is only really fun because it ends after two months. So, after two months, I guess I got (what I'm affectionately terming) the end of camp blues, when it feels like it's probably time to go home, but you realize there's no going home. This sounds a little dramatic, but, since, admittedly, I'm a camp addict, this seemed the best analogy for the difficult time I began having here aboard the ship. It's really a great place in many ways, but there is constant stimulation and constant change, and just when you get to know people, they head home again. I think I've come through this phase though, and now am trying to settle into more regular life, enjoying people, and maybe getting into more regular, sustainable patterns of life.
I've had many adventures the last couple months. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings has been the church that we have been attending every week. The church is about a half-an-hour from the ship, out in the country. We go there with Land Rovers every week, and recently have been using 4-wheel drive just to get through the muddy roads. Well, this past week, we had a Land Rover signed out to use, but we went out and the battery was completely dead, so, a few of us decided to head out via taxi toward church. We got dropped off at a crazy, loud intersection by another Mercy Ships vehicle, and then jumped onto taxi motorbikes out to the area of our church. We then got off, after we paid (initially the price was 50 LD - Liberian dollars- but by the time we had gotten there, it inflation had driven the price up to 150), and walked the little dirt road to our church. We were quite late, but not really too late for African Time, and I think it quite surprised the church members, for them to see us arriving the same way that they come every week! Our church is great, though. It's small, and very rural, and ministers to a refugee camp with about 1,000 people from Sierra Leone. Our pastor is truly a visionary, with dreams of starting up a school and a clinic in the area to serve the people. It has been a rich experience to worship regularly with one group of people and begin to form real relationships with them. All the kids love the camera, and the picture above, is one they took when I let them play photographer for a while. Kind of blurry, but kind of fun... There's also a picture of our pastor (on the left) and one of the elders, and a couple of Mercy Shippers.
Well, lots of other stuff going on, but it's my bedtime. Miss you lovely people at home so much, and always love hearing from you in your comments. Please pray for Liberia and its development, life here is very hard for most people. Love you guys.

Rainy Days

Hello friends and family!! Hope you all are well. Things here in Africa are going well, although they are very busy. Life on the Africa Mercy has picked up and operations are in full swing! The rainy season has arrived in full force, and it downpours several days a week. Unlike at home, life sort of slows down when it rains, because it is difficult for people to travel around and get where they need to be. This morning it looked to be a nice day out, so I am excited to try to visit one of the local beaches, since I haven't done that since I've arrived. One must take full advantage of the sun when it decides to show its face!!
This week has been a difficult work week, because we re-started eye surgeries, and have a lot of kinks to work out of the system. However, we were able to do about 20 eye surgeries this week, and hope to increase over the course of the time here. My work is to coordinate our various workers and the patient schedules to keep things moving along smoothly, the surgeons busy, and the patients well-looked after. I still have much to learn about how to do this efficiently, but with God's strength and direction I know things will get better. Yesterday we also had a Celebration of Sight Day, where about 200 previous eye patients came for a party and to receive a laser treatment (if needed), to prevent the recurrence of a cataract. It was a wild day, but overall came out quite well. There was African singing, some testimonies, and a little bit of dancing going on.
Last weekend I had the chance to go to a home for handicapped children to play and provide the simple ministry of presence, touch, and verbal stimulation. There were several children there with varying disabilities. Many of them are unable to talk, walk, see, or hear. For some, all we could do was literally rub their backs and sit with them. Others were able to play with balloons, blow bubbles, have simple conversations, etc. In some ways, it was hard to go there, because their situation is difficult, but at the same time, it was great just to be there, to learn a little about what their lives are like, and to give the staff a break, while providing a sligh change of pace for the kids. Many of the kids are quite joyful, and it seemed like they were being well-cared for, which is so encouraging. I hope to go back again while the ship is still here.
Well, I won't attach any pictures this time, I seem to be having some difficulty with it today. I miss you wonderful people in my life, but am glad to be here serving. God has been so good to allow we to come here, and I think He has many lessons for me to learn along the way. Thanks for your support, prayers, and encouragement!

The First Surgeries

The first surgeries are finally underway and have gone very smoothly! The first patient to receive surgery on the Africa Mercy was one of our eye patients, and she had a cataract removed. It was a very exciting day. To see pictures and some video, visit the Mercy Ships website at www.mercyships.org and click on the American Flag. I'm actually in a couple of the pictures, and I've heard I'm also in the video! The patient that received the surgery was adorable, and so excited that she was dancing for joy after the operation! It was a very special thing to be a part of.
This week I got to go out to one of our mobile eye clinics and see how we screen to find our surgical patients. Sometimes hundreds of people arrive to be seen at these clinics, the need is just overwhelming. During the rest of this outreach, we are hoping to see lots of kids and do surgery for them, giving them a new shot at life. This picture to the right is at the clinic, which was held at a church out in the country, about an hour from Monrovia. The countryside is absolutely beautiful here!
The weekends hold many adventures. This weekend we spent a day with some local people, learning how to make potato greens with hot pepper sauce, and I mean hot! After we had eaten the local meal of turkey, rice, palm oil, pepper, and potato green sauce, we headed out onto the river for a better look at the city of Monrovia! We were in this fishing boat, high above the water. It was a great day for sun, and the water. Sadly, though, you see a very different side of Monrovia, where there is much more trash, and people living in unbelievable poverty, in little shacks along the river's edge. As much as I love swimming, I did not swim, because all the outhouses are built over the water, so that all the waste can just drop into the river. That was possibly the least tempted I've ever been to swim!
Hope you all are well at home, and always enjoy reading your posted comments! Miss you guys. WE had our own little 4th of July party here, where we ate ice cream together as Americans (and let a few foreigners in to our party). The only person who brought an American flag to our party was a German!

Overdue Update

It has been too long since I've written...so much has happened, it's hard to know where to begin. Africa is wonderful, but such a different world. For the first several weeks, I was feeling very isolated from the local culture, because it's very easy to do everything in your life right on the ship and never venture out. However, I've still had some great adventures off the ship.
We had the chance to take the landrovers and load them onto the train and travel a couple hours via train to the mines, which are now big lakes that have filled in over time. A few weeks ago, we went to a place called bong mines. Before the Liberian civil war, this was a place where steel ore was mined and then sent on the railroad to the port, where it could be exported. There was great swimming, and an amazing train ride where you could climb on top of the land rovers and see the country side!! This was a chance to see a little bit of what the more rural life looks like around here. We also got to do some cliff jumping into one of the lakes, which was probably several hundred feet deep.
I've also had several chances to visit local churches, which is a great way to meet more people, to hear their music, and to learn more of their way of life. Their services are jubilant, giving all their praise to the Lord, despite their difficult circumstances, bringing their offerings of adoration and thanksgiving. It's all quite humbling. Some of the churches don't have any power, so they mostly have drums and their voices to make music, you would not believe how sound fills these rooms of worship! I made plans to attend church with an African one morning, first we were leaving at 8:30, then it was 9:30, then it was 10 (at which point I was told that we were not operating on African time). Then we spent several minutes out on the busy street trying to arrange some sort of transport...which turned out to be unreliable at the best, the car turning off every couple minutes, all the way to church. Sometime we'd only go 100 feet before the car would cut out again, and the owner would have to get out, pop up the hood, fiddle with something, and get in and drive off again. When we finally arrived, it was probably a church of at least 300, packed out to the max, with temperatures far exceeding what is comfortable, and I foolishly had left my water bottle at home. I was the only white person in the whole service, and they had us sit in the front row...I was sure I was going to pass out, when we'd had almost 3 hours of service! However, I made it through and got home mid-way through the afternoon, relieved to still be standing upright, needing some recuperation from such an all-day event!
We also went to visit Firestone (which you may recognize from the ads on your tires), which is a rubber plant. Unfortunately, it seems to be quite an example of exploitation, where this company makes great profit on the Liberian land, while paying something like 6 cents an acre per year to rent the land, and this is over a 99 year contract....you may be able to read the words on the sign saying, "celebrating 80 years of partnership with Liberia"...partnership being a very generous term. It's actually quite a beautiful area, though, and the trees are tapped much like we tap for sap to make maple syrup. Rubber is originally a white liquid. In the background you can see the lovely house most likely owned by a an American Firestone employee. The local workers do not exactly live in the same conditions, but it is at least steady work for the people.
Well, many other things have happened as well, and I will try to update this more regularly, and to remember to actually get some pictures of myself at the various places I visit, and pictures that show my new dreadlocks! I've already got one convert to dreads, and he is putting them in right now, it's very exciting!
Please pray for Liberia and our work here as it begins, now that the transition is complete to the Africa Mercy. There are many needs here, and we can only work in God's strength.

Africa at last!

Well, I've arrived here in Monrovia, Liberia and have settled into my new home on the Africa Mercy. As we drove out onto the dock, the sight of the Anastasis (the ship soon to be retired), and the Africa Mercy sitting side by side seemed almost surreal because of their unfathomable size and the fact that I'm actually here to live and serve. I am living in a 6-berth cabin, and thus far we only have 4 girls, but we're sure that we will soon be filled to the max. Here is a picture of my space, which will soon be smaller when I pull the top bunk down. It's tight, but most certainly adequate. My roommates are from the States, Canada, and the Netherlands. The ship is very multi-cultural, which is challenging and fun, although sometimes accents can be a little difficult to understand.
Our work has not yet started, because we are still making the transition from the old to the new ship, but we will begin seeing patients on the 25th of June, so as you can imagine, we are all very excited for that day. However, there is much work to be accomplished in the meantime. We trust that God will give us the strength and perseverence to complete all the work in time!
Please write on this blog or e-mail me whenever you get a chance. I hope to put more pictures on here soon.

Here goes, this is my first blog ever, I'm finally getting things ready for my big trip to Africa with Mercy Ships!! Hopefully there will be much to follow shortly.