lets go saiiiiling!

Preparing to leave...Stowaway search..... no one in hereeee!

Liberia ahoy, 2am Monday morning! Got up in our P.J.s to see the ship start its final voyage. It was a little rocky & my stomach not so happy so I thought I'd pop a Anti~Drowsy Dramanine tablet before heading back to bed, MD orders. Little did I know "anti~drowsy" means "less drowsy" and if any of you have ever been around me when I've taken Benadryl... this is like that x 10!! very entertaining when I manage to come out of being comatose! I don't think my neurons were firing in my head for a full 24hrs... my head was completely numb & I slept 18/24hrs... every couple of hours my roommates shaking me awake to make sure I was still with em'. Same reaction to about 1/4 of the ship, everyone sprawled out, drooling, running into walls.. what a mess!

This is the bunker ship that met us off the shore of Ghana the 1st day, where we stopped to get some gas! They had a dog onboard :) I don't know if it was the meds...but I was really weirded out that my "home" was floating!!... in the middle of nowhere!!..getting gas!!..

Luckily the next day the med finally left my system & I managed to grow my sealegs!!! horray!

....Stepped outside & hardly left since! Its absolutely gorgeous out here, nothing in sight but the most beautiful blue i've ever seen... its definetly not in the crayola box! Spent the 2nd day on the bow, dolphin watching...

reading, hanging out, and praise & worship at sunset...

(looking down at the front of the ship cutting through the water)

Had a sleepover outside on the bow with the girls and got up to watch the sunrise the next morning... woke up many times during the night..each time the sky more beautiful than the last.. staring at the gorgeous stars & waves, the questions on my heart lately seemed to become peaceful with the sights of our beautiful creator... if he can create such splendor.. surely he can be trusted with the details of my life...

Day 3: Captain Steph Day! Up to the bridge where Sailor Josh showed us the way....

... good thing I'm not on my meds today ;) Just off the coast of Cote Ivoire,

Ahoy...FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!!!!!!

how'd I do??.... right on course..straight ahead...see for yourself!

Ended the day with a Root Beer Float party on the back of the ship, & as the rainy
storm kicked in...headed in for some sWaYing crew Irish linedancin' lessons.

(crazy Ben getting ready for his dance off)

As you can see.. it has not been boring here, I would LOVE another week of sailing! But... tomorrow we should head into Monrovia, Liberia in the late morning, singing our horribly out of key randition of "Hail Liberia" National Anthem to the welcoming party. For now, i'll will enjoy the fresh ocean breeze and the gentle swaying that lalls me to sleep :) Good night *

Sailing Day?

This was taken at 1pm after our last life boat drill!! Lift off time was scheduled @ 4pm.... all lined up...waving... no engine function...hmmm..(tested 2 weeks ago and worked)

Hint * The Anastasis is the last boat still standing made in the 1950's....

....what was i supposed to pack in that survival bag again???!!!!

maybe tomorrow?

President's Visit

This week has been a big one for us ~ getting ready to sail and then... Thursday the President of Ghana and the Minister of Health made a visit to our ship! With two days notice and no idea of how many entourage we would have to entertain, we all scurried around the ship scrubing, cooking, and looking up old patient files to get some of our old patients to come back to show our work up close & personal :) The morning of, us nurses were buffing the ward floor when the secret service showed up early and we rapidly took to sliding around like Pipi longstocking on towels to dry the floor! 11am sharp turned into 4pm ish as he got stuck in a meeting. We all warmly greeted and waved to him from up on the Promenade deck as he arrived with 3 flashing, white motorcycles, blaring sirens, 4 black cars and a long line of others. Open car doors lead to a flood of military men in berets & long guns before seeing the President.

He stepped out at our gangway to meet our Captain & Executive Director who escorted him on a tour and into our International Lounge for a presentation of M.S. and press conference. I got real lucky and slipped into one of the last 3 seats! What was about to happen none of us could have ever anticipated..and would NEVER happen in the U.S: After, Dr. Gary- our max/fax surgeon of 20 years onboard, talked about what we do, what we are about & showed a slideshow of our projects, surgical patients and time in Ghana, the President got up and was left almost speechless.. He told us about how he had come not expecting to see much more than some medical people doing some good work to the unfortunate and to get some good press coverage, but instead he found an amazing spiritual climate on the ship that he was deeply touched by in a way he never expected. He opened up right there in front of everyone about how he was a "Sunday Christian", but seeing all the work completed through our time here at M.S. makes him desire to emulate Christ in his own life everyday. THEN...the Minister of Health, who is the one that hunted down the President to make sure he came here b/c he himself was left speechless with his and the Vice President's visit last week...stands up and gives a small sermon directly TO the President in front of the cameras about how he DOES have the power to do miracles in the lives of HIS people everyday through Christ in HIS heart :) I think we were all sitting there with our jaws dropped! I couldn't believe I was witnessing this, ha. We had been praying that he would see more than just our ship when he came!

Both men had a great sense of humor as well...joked that they were going to close the port so we couldn't leave and invited us to a Cocktail Thank You party in the city on Friday nigh! Got ready not knowing what on earth to expect, but soo excited for an excuse to put on a nice dress...(hurtin' for some heels, miss them!!) Walking down the gangway to get on the buses with our own flashing motorcade escort seemed like we were all going to the African Oscars~ somehow everyone managed to get all the dirt & grease layers off....we clean up nice! The Minister of Health was our M.C. for the night and even played a number on the drums for us, joined in on the dancing! He was determined that we eat, drink, and be merry! This man has really gained my respect, he was incredibly encouraging and supportive., even asked to be a crew memeber ;) He send us home with 200 boxes of plantain/yam chips his wife made through her own company. I felt a little bit better about leaving Ghana after meeting these men, Ghana seems to be in good good hands!

Maternity Ward Dedication

In November to.... Opening on Feb 16th!

*The Chief of Tema giving opening speech and handing responsiblity over to the nurses who will be staffing it!

Packing up

Packing up!!! Set sail in 10 days.....

my "Little Women"

The ward full of healing VVF woman quickly became my "Little Women" as i called them. These women are precious beyond words. They have traveled a long road of shame, loneliness, and great loss before coming here, but their strong, graceous spirits are some of the most attractive i've ever met. If i could have you experience ONE thing in Africa so far, it would be to spend an afternoon in a room full of my little VVF women:

Almost all not knowing how to read or write, but all speaking at least 3 different dialects ~ each one showed me their unique personalities. We spent some of the quieter afternoons tossing a beachball around bed to bed, exercise marches/dances around the ward, braiding bracelets, chatting~ laughing as we tried to understand each other and they tried to teach me how to tie their fancy head pieces! One of my favorite afternoons I taught them all how to blow kisses!!.. that was a hit and each time i left for my shift as i went to say goodnight to my little women.. many blew me kisses and made sure i "caught" each one ;) This is one of my most cherished memories I will take with me.

Bilbata is a 24 year old woman that especially touched me in a deep way. She was married, and has had two pregancies. Her first child died at the age of 3, her second was a stillborn after 3 days of labor. The long pregnancy left her with a fistula causing her to constantly leak urine and feces for several years. Her husband deserted her, but luckily her father took her in. When she heard the rumour about Mercy Ships being in Ghana, her family helped her to get here. The doctors examined her and told her they were sorry but there was too much scar tissue, and a surgery would not restore her. Laying in our hospital bed surrounded by other woman that had finally found hope of VVF repair, she became suicidal. I did not know her at this point, but heard of her. Clementine, our amazing Ghanaian Discipler on the on the ward, prayed with her and and presented the Gospel to her, asked her to think about it... A few days later Bilbata turned from Islam to Jesus... A few days later the Doctors rediscussed her case and decided although they did not believe it would be successful, they would attempt to repair her hole. Over the course of the next few weeks after surgery, I was assigned to dear Bilbata. Being my age and speaking small small English we had a great time talking and joking around. Her spirit did a complete transformation. Although day after day post surgery she continued to leak while surrounded by others that were dry, she became the main encourager of the entire ward! She sang, she laughed, she hugged, she danced each day. It was not a false happiness, you could tell it was real, it was welling up from deep inside her. Not only did it encourage the other patients, but she was a huge uplifter to the nursing staff as well. I looked forward each day to being around her, she taught me more than i can put in words. When we held VVF ceremonies for our other successful cases, and those woman got up to dance in their bright, crisp new outfits..she never ceased to be right among their dancing and celebrating with them, hugging and kissing them to say how glad she was for them. It was a deep genuiness. She continues to praise God each day for life, despite not receiving her healing. When I think of the immensity that means in her life..returning to her village unhealed, a life of isolation.... i am ashamed to think of what i consider "problems" in my own life, and my attitude towards them. She has a child-like faith that God has her right where he wants her. Story to be continued...the doctors are referring her to a specialty MD up north this month to see if anything else can be done.

Georgette, was a little 7 year old who was BORN with a fistula (congenital), very rare. Her father gave up his prized University education to pay to go from doctor to doctor to find a cure for his little girl. After years of no such luck and one failed operation, they found their way to Mercy Ships. She was a little spark of joy to our ward, she insisted in joining in with the other VVF woman, all marching around the ward together for their daily exercise, each one with their foley catheter tails in hand, Georgette first among the "little women". During her VVF ceremoney celebration, her dad shared the joy he had when she raced to him to say with a big smile that she had a urge to go "pepe". It was the first time in her life that b/c she wasn't leaking, she had that sensation to empty a full bladder. Dad and I croweded in the bathroom together as she made her first pepe, and worked on exercises to strengthen those muscles! The excitement was universal..even the 60 year old woman where bear hugging me with delight when I took out their foley catheters and they made their first toilet run in years! simple joys :)

I'm sad to say the rest of my time here, there are no more VVF surgeries scheduled. This was an experience of a lifetime I hope to be a part of again one day. As these woman left this week I already feel the void of their amazing presence. Please remember them in your prayers over the next few weeks they will try to reintegrate with their previous communities and hopefully, start a new life of acceptance!

Goodbyes <3

This week 23 patients were discharged, countless goodbyes, our ward closed and our Ghana Outreach complete. I can't believe my time is halfway through...sad to say goodbye to the beautiful people i have met here, but excited for the sail in 2 weeks and to experience a whole new culture in Liberia. As things begin to slow down here for a season, we are finding lots of random things to do... one being this week my friend Kristen & i bumped into the gross meat section of the market; as we walked down the narrow isles of smoked goat heads & piles of cow intestines...a genius lightbulb went off & we decided to buy a HUGE cow heart to dissect! Bought a knife, kitchen tray, & heart all for only $6...cheap entertainment! Secretly wrapped it up and hide it in the common frig until a group of giddy nurses gathered around it at night on the bow to explore & review the heart anatomy! :) At the end had fun bombing it into the ocean, waiting to see if any sharks would come :) ...

As we followed the heart vessels, sliced open into the chambers i was amazed once again at the visiual simplicity around such a complex functioning, vital organ. Interesting how the bible assigns the same word, "heart <3" to represent the deepest, most mysterious, precious part of us, our soul.

1 Samuel 16:7 For the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart"

Jeremiah 29:13 When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord."

Just like the heart dissection..our spiritual anatomy is hidden.. its complex to figure out all its dimensions on the inside and make it function effectively, the way we want it to. Have to dissect it to see whats going on inside. The heart looks sturdy, but it is a fragile thing, literally & figuratively. Takes exercise, constant attention to make it strong, filter through the old & used --> to the refreshed, renewed.

Each day the Lord, through my time at Mercy Ships, is molding and renewing my heart. Exercising it to have a greater faith in his hand, to give more unselfishly, to carry out my daily actions with all my heart. mind, and strength; he is renewing me with joy when i use my full potential, the passions and skills he has given me.. then i can deeply glorify him & be a part of strengthening his kingdom. It doesn't stop pumping until your "done", its a life process.

So this Valentines day..i challenge you to look at your heart and see where a vessel might need to be strengthened to make it function to your full potential.