Sunday, September 8, 2013

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

This week the rubber met the road, we started surgeries. I could never explain the wonderful things that happen on Deck 3 of this ship. In the simplest form, lives are changed. My function on this ship to so serve the crew so that they can serve better. As I have said before I feel like a missionary to the missionaries. Today I want to share a little bit about some of those missionaries.

 Krissy, I met her two years ago when I was on the ship in Sierra Leone. She was working in the dinning room. Krissy's first exposure to Mercy Ships was when she was working with the Peace Corps in Benin and heard about all that we were doing in West Africa. Upon joining the Africa Mercy she worked in the dinning room, it must have been the easiest thing in the world for her to do after living in a rural village for two years, but I think it got her hooked. After serving for some time she went home, did some fundraising and attended Gateway, just as I did.She returned during Guinea and served in the HR Department scheduling the many crew that come during a field service. At the end of Guinea she accepted the challenge of being the Hospital Projects Manager. That's no easy task. Check out her blog to see more about what all the Hospital Projects Manager position is like. 


Davi, well I don't know her much yet. She just arrived on the ship in July before the ship left Tenerife. This is Davi's first time on the ship, but has already proved to be a great lady. Her job on the ship is the Hospital Informatics Manager. I've always wondered what all that job entails, and I hope to find out more about her and her job this year while we serve together. You can read her blog about what all it takes to have a successful surgery and a bit about what it means to improve the medical infrastructure of a country. 


Jasmin, or Jazz as I call her, she's an amazing woman from Australia. She first came to the ship In Guinea and planned on serving just six months. Jazz's plan was to return home and do some more schooling and then who knows what. Upon returning home I think God showed her that His plan was different. In one of her blogs she explains why she feels like the ship is the right place for her to be. Jazz is an great ward nurse and is currently taking on the challenge of being on the plastics team and changing the bandages of many of our patients. It's great to see her face light up when she's talking about work. It shows how much she loves the patients and how big her heart is for God. Read her blog to find out more about one of our first patients this week and how she is Serving Christ here in Congo.


This morning a group of us had a wonderful brunch. With a little coordination 15-20 people worked together to make quite the spread. It was a wonderful time and I'm already looking forward to the next brunch.