A few weeks ago the Africa Mercy crew hosted a "Thank You" Event for
all the partners that stood with them in Guinea over the past ten months
(government officials, port authorities, missionaries, local healthcare
workers, etc). An orthopedic patient and her father came to share a
testimony showing the extent of healing that she received. The
daughter's legs had been straightened and she was able to walk normally,
which is great. The amazing thing, though, was when the father got up
to share. Staying on the ship as the caregiver of his daughter, he did
not have any expectations of his life being changed -
maybe just the inconvenience of being away from the rest of their family
or potentially his work. But he shared specifically about the
spiritual healing that he received during his time onboard. He experienced people loving on him and
his daughter without questions. It didn't matter what tribe he was
from, whether he was employed or not, how many wives he had at home, or
what his background was. He was treated with love and respect in a way
that seems like common sense to us, but to him was REVOLUTIONARY. He
didn't come expecting "help" himself, but he left a changed man because
of the love of Christ that he experienced. That love doesn't get
isolated just to the patients: it's contagious and spreads into every
living cell in the room.
Jonathan was a dayworker who was hired to work with Mercy Ships as a hospital housekeeper (sweeping, mopping, cleaning toilets,
beds, and cleaning up yucky, yucky messes). He accepted this position
for the equivalent of $6.50 a day - a wage we would consider scandalous, unless you consider that the average daily wage in Guinea is $2.25. Jonathan shared at the last crew get together
that he was at a place of giving up hope and walking away from
Christianity when he applied for the position. Through his daily
interactions with crew members, the devotions and the true love he
experienced, he was rescued from a place of depression and lifted to a
place of excitement and passion for serving the Lord and ministering to
others around him.
Lamin came to the ship in 2011 with a neurofibroma growing behind his eye.
After multiple surgeries to debulk this tumor, it was determined that
in order to get it all, they would have to remove his left eye. Despite
the pain of these surgeries and recoveries, the struggle of traveling
back and forth between Guinea and Sierra Leone, and the reality of
losing his eye, Lamin was never far from a giant grin.
Lamin in the fall, after his first surgeries with us in 2011
And Lamin this spring after his last surgery
Ousman was a patient who became a fixture resident at the
Hope Center. He had plastic surgery in the fall and asked if he could
remain at the Hope Center until this spring because of the shame that he
faced in his home village where they had cast him aside as worthless
due to his facial deformity.
Ousman, when he came to us in the fall
He lived the high life there as his weight continued to grow on
such a highly nutritious diet! He was a delight to have around and
started helping the day workers with chores around the place: assisting
in cleaning, maintenance, and laundry. This May after he had healed from
his second set of plastic surgeries, it was finally time for Ousman to
return home. Commonly the patients do not have the money necessary to
pay for transport back to their villages (anywhere from $2 to $30 by
local bus/taxi). When Ousman was asked if he needed transport money to
go home, he clammed up. The nurse had known Ousman for months now and
did not think he had this money, but yet he kept saying he could not
take any money for transport. When asked why, he explained his thought
process: "I can not possibly take any money for transport." He pulled
out a piece of paper from his pocket where he had made some
calculations. "You see, you have housed me and fed me for over 250
days. I have received at least two meals a day for that time. Even if
you spent only a dollar (7000 guinea francs) on me each day, that is
$250 (1.75 million francs) that you have invested into me. I could not
possibly ask for the $20 that it will require to get me home to my
village."
Ousman in February, awaiting his next plastic surgery
Ousman took notice of
the cost that went into loving on him. Mercy Ships say that they provide "free"
surgeries, but in reality, these sort of services aren't truly free.
Yes, they are free to the patients. But it is through gifts (often
made from a place of sacrifice) from people around the world that they
have been able to pay the daily wages for Jonathan. These gifts provide
the fuel necessary to run the power so the hospital can be open and
surgeries performed. They have helped feed Ousman and provided a roof
over his head and a place where he felt safe, loved and embraced for who he is these past several months.
Ousman in February at the Hope Center with his (and our) friend, Keith
Stories like these remind me of aspects of God's character that don't
just hold true in Africa, but all around the world. The same God that
cares intimately for Ousman and his every meal, cares for my
single-parent neighbor across the way, and my next door neighbor from
India (and me!). The same God that kept joy in Lamin's heart is ruling
supreme over each and every circumstance that you and I face. The same
God that intervened in that orthopedic patient father's world and
brought spiritual healing when he wasn't expecting it wants to reach
down and give us more than we ever could ask or imagine.
Taken from my friend Tiffany Bergman's newsletter.
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