"Starting and Fun..."

This last week has been full of many different things happening.  Last Sunday, Mike had an opportunity to preach at one of the local churches here in Lome, the Emmanuel Assembly of God Church.  This church in many way is very similar to the church we were at in Benin.  Except, when the group of 20 of us walked in, we were greeted with a thunderous (in that is a word) round of applause.  We were immediately ushered to the front of the church seated at the front, Mike and I were seated to the right of the pastor. They asked our small group to sing and  danced.  We laughed and felt very welcomed and blessed.  It was all very humbling and overwhelming.

Our group dancing at the front of the church.

Mike with the Pastor of the church after the service.

Two of our crew members playing the drums after church with a group of kids.

Then this Wednesday and Thursday the surgeries started in the hospital.  Everyone is very excited to have the hospital up and running again.  The whole ships seems to come alive with a new sense of focus and purpose.  I went to the wards yesterday and met with the patients.  I prayed with the ones who were waiting for their operation and played with the kids who had casts on their legs to help correct their bow legs.  It is amazing how playdough can entertain and make kids laugh!

For Joshua and Alisia it was a unique day on Friday.  They had "Word Definition" theme day in the Academy.  It was an interesting day to see many different themes played out.

Joshua was "descend"

Alisia was "bowtie"

So, today we will rest after a busy week.  We are going to go to a local pool since the ocean and beaches are not safe to swim and play at.

"Screening..."

Last week our public Relations Department took some pictures of the screenings that were happening throughout Lome.  The pictures give a taste of the desperation and hopelessness people feel.  But also one of the pictures gives a taste of the joy people feel when they are accepted for surgery.  We also offered prayer for the people who we had to turn away...letting them know their condition is not a curse or an evil spirit but that God truly loves them.

"Open Hospital pt. 2..."

One of our crew members Murray, from South Africa, took some wonderful pictures of the open hosptial on Friday night.  I just had to share them with you.

This is our CT Scan.

Our x-ray machine.

Where they do cataract surgery.

Danae and Christina (two of our teachers) doing surgery. ;-)

One of the wards.

"Open Hospital..."

On Friday night the hospital staff did an "Open Hospital" for the crew.  They set up the operating theatres, wards, x-ray and lab area with games, videos, and pretend operations to show the crew what happens in each area of the hospital.  The kids and adults had a blast going for area to area.

Pictured above is Joshua and Ethan being instructed how to do CPR.  They did an awesome job!

"Screenings..."

This last week I had the opportunity to participate in patient screenings.  Two of the days I was at the pray station and the third day I was assisting one of the nurses with pre-screenings for operations.  At the request of the local government and due to upcoming elections, Mercy Ships has decided to do 30 smaller screenings instead of one or two large screenings.  Over the last three days, we probably had over a couple thousand people come to the screenings. 

Many of the people were there for eye and dental care and there were those who came because they saw us as their last hope.  They are a few we were able to help...but unfortunately many we had to turn away. 

While I was at the prayer station one day, I had three parents bring their children for pray...the desperate cry of a parent's heart for the healing of their child.  Unfortunately their was nothing we could do to help them...one had epilepsy, another was severly handicapped, and the third had had meningitis.  I prayed for them as parents and prayed for the children...prayed that somehow God would touch their lives.

Their were other people that we were able to help...and to see the relief, the hope, the joy in their eyes was overwhelming.

Dr. Gary Parker was the the first screening and with the aid of the translator (in the orange hat) he gave this man hope of surgery.

All in all the screenings went very well and many people will be helped.

"Sunday..."

On Sunday we had the premier performance of the Africa Mercy Choir.  They did an absolutely amazing job under the direction of Marty.  My favorite song was a Zulu rendition of "We Are Marching"  The words in Zulu are: "Siyahamb' ekukhanyeni kwenkhos'" meaning "We are marching in the light of God."  It was wonderful to hear the rythmn and the choir having fun sing in another language about "Marching in the light of God."

"Blackout Day..."

Our first weekend in Lome, Togo, the Africa Mercy had to have a blackout.  Which means no power/services/facilites for the day.  The blackout was necessary to clean the cooling system of the ship.  This forced everyone, except those doing the work, to get off the ship and explore our new home.

First impressions of Lome, the port area is extremely tidy and very well guarded.  The port authorities gave the Africa Mercy their very own compound created by shipping containers.  There is only one enterance into our area...it has been such a wonderful blessing!

We then went over to the Mercy Teams house.  This is an off site place where some of the crew are being housed.  Also, when church teams (Mercy Teams) come in for a short term mission trip, they will be housed at this house. 

Barry and Cheryl Wells (who were part of our Gateway group last June) joined the ship 2 weeks ago and will be in charge of the Hospitality Center.  So, Barry took us over to the Hospitailty Center for a tour.

In the Hospitality Center, there will be the Eye Team, and patients that will be waiting for surgery or need to remain close to the ship for post operative care.  The above picture is the entry way to the Eyel Clinic area.  This building the Togo government is letting us use.  It is supposed to be a maternity clinic, but they have not start the clinic yeat, so they are letting us use the building...it is wonderful!

The above picture is where patients will be housed.  There are 3 rooms on both sides, and 3-4 rooms at either end as well and bathrooms.  Each room will hold 3-4 patients.  We are so thankful for this incredible facility we are able to use!

After the tour of the Hospitality Center we returned to the team house and had lunch with Barry and Cheryl.  It was so good to sit and talk with them again!

We then drove a bit through Lome.  The streets are busy, but (today) it didn't seem as busy as Benin.  The people are very friendly and waving whenever we drive by.

This week we will have three screening days for patients.  It is going to be a busy week with training programs and the screening days.  Please keep all these in prayer.  We are excited and ready to serve the people of Togo.

"Home Sweet Africa..."

Just as we pulled into Togo, Joshua turned to me and exclaimed:  "I'm glad to be back in our home, Africa..."  I was very touch by that statement.  Yes, in many ways Africa has become our home and it feels like home...at least for this season of our lives.  We pulled into Lome, Togo today around 10:30 am.  It was an awesome sight to see the dock full of people welcoming us...many faces we did not know-but part of the Africa Mercy family the Advanced-Team (The A-Team) was there to welcome us.

If you look really hard, you can just get a glimpse of Togo on the horizon....our first sign of land in 10 days!

The school kids made Togolese flags to wave as we entered the harbour.

The pilot coming aboard the AFM to guide us safely into the port area and our dock.

The crew got all dressed up for our arrival.  Pictured here is Bowie from Denmark and Jean-Claude from Congo.

As we entered into the berth, one of  the Assembly of God churches had their band playing to greet us. Further up the dock there were people dancing and singing to more African music.  On the pier, was our A-Team and many other people waving and cheering.

Clementine, one of our crew from Togo, presented the the Togolese flag to the waiting dignitaries.

This is Mercy Ships fourth visit to Togo, but the first one for the Africa Mercy.

We are thrilled to be here and are very excited to meet the people of Togo.

"Amazing..."

This amazing picture was taken by one of the crew on the Africa Mercy...I jsut had to share it with you!

"Almost there..."

Well sometime within the next day or so we will be arriving in Togo.  For the most part it has been a very uneventful sail...which is a good thing!  The crew has been busy getting ready to start the programs in Togo and are waiting in anticipation for the first surgery to happen at the end of the month.  What will we be doing between now and then you may ask?
*set up the hospital-if you remember we have had the hospital stowed for the sail...now will be time to unpack and set up
*do training-there will be around 200 day volunteers from Togo that will need to be trained
*screenings-we will be setting up times for the screening of people for surgery
*continued building and refining of programs
Needless to say we will all be very busy, but we are excited for what will be happening over the next six months.

"Sailing ...Sailing..."

What do 312 people sailing from Tenerife, Spain to Lome, Togo do for 10 days on a ship?
Well...here are some ideas:
*try not to get seasick for the first few days by staring out the window at the horizon
*look out the window for sealife...whales, sharks, flying fish, dolphins, turtles, manata rays
*go to the bow and look for above mentioned sealife...
*go to deck 8 and look for previously mentioned sealife...
*stare out your window for afore mentioned sealife...
*play any number of card games...change rules as needed
*have a kareoke party
*play sock golf
*play any games possible...even made up ones
*plan an all crew scavenger hunt
*work on programs for the new outreach
*go to a leadership seminar
*have coffee
*stare at the stars
*have muster station drills
*kids go to school
*secure and resecure your cabin
*have breakfast...
*have lunch...
*have dinner...then
*sleep
*sleep and more sleep

All in all the sail has been going well.  It is a great way to get to know people better and bond as a crew!
These verses from  Psalms have become very comforting to all of us ...and even giving us a laugh.

Ps 107:23-30

"Others went out on the sea in ships;  they were merchants on the mighty waters.  They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.  For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.  They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;  in their peril their courage melted away.  They reeled and staggered like drunken men;  they were at their wits' end.  Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.  He stilled the storm to a whisper;  the waves of the sea were hushed.  They were glad when it grew calm..."NIV

"On Our Way..."

On Saturday we had our "lasts".  Our last our last walk on land (for at least 10 days) our last McDonalds, and our last gelato (for at least 6 months).

 

To see us off, the coronet player Theodoro, was there to send us off with some wonderful hymns.  A few days before we left Tenerife, he was invited to come aboard the Africa Mercy to give us his testimony. 

We waved good-bye and headed out to sea...

 When we left Tenerife on Sunday, we were told that we would be entering into a low pressure system and that we would experience a "rough" ride.  We have been at sea now for almost 3 days and today is actually the first day I feel comfortable to work on the computer.  We were warned to secure our work areas and cabins and be prepared.  The "rough ride" was really wild last night.  You know exactly what was and what was not secured.  I laid in bed last night listening to crashes, bangs, and thumps for several hours.  I jumped up several times only to realize the random noises were not coming from our cabin.  One time I did try to get up only to find I chose the wrong timing and was rolled back into bed with my feet over my head.  Then as I opened the door Alisia yelled..."Our fridge moved!"  So Mike got up, put it back into place and secured it even better.

At our 8:00am Tuesday meeting, we learned that some of the crashing, banging, and thumping came from the galley.  They woke this morning to spilled milk, flour, eggs etc. all over the deck.  Througout the ship, we saw tipped over file cabinets and chairs.

Joshua's class this morning spent part of the morning cleaning up.

(Thanks Ms. Nichols for the pictures)

I guess you know you go to school on a ship when you have to clean up from a "rocky" night.

All in all, everyone is safe and we are now in calm waters!