Prepare to Cast Away . . .

2013!

Bad pun, better pictures!

Enjoy!

Hee! Hee!

This must be the week for 

"pictures that bring a smile".

Check this out:

From Congo to you - 

a portable patient toilet on the dock!

Sorry!  It just made me laugh . . . 

Maybe the cold is affecting my brain.

OIA

. . . stands for "only in Africa"

and only in Africa (Liberia specifically) would you see this:

May it bring a smile to your face before we freeze tomorrow! 

A Twist on Christmas . . .

This morning as I was reading the Global Prayer Digest, I received a different twist on Christmas.  As Sam and I were talking about it, he reminded me of something one of our former pastors had said - that peace is addressing what is truly wrong so forgiveness and healing can happen.  May you have peace this Christmas.

Ahmadiyyas in the Middle East Dec 25, 2013 12:00 am Today's Devotional Revelation 12:4 "The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour it the moment it was born." The book of Revelation gives us a dramatic look at the Christmas story. Though we often think of the birth of Christ in peaceful, joyful terms, there is another side to the story. The birth of Christ was an invasion of earth by the kingdom of God. It was the inauguration of the last battle over the kingdom of darkness that eternal history will ever know. Clearly Satan understood that with the coming of Christ into this world, his days were numbered. For as the gospel of the Kingdom advances throughout the whole world, the closer the Day of Judgment approaches.

A-DOOR-A-BLE!

Check out some of the decorated doors on the good ship Mercy!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . ."

Once upon a time (2009), we lived in this cabin!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

A Sneak Peek . . .

This is a "photo" of the soon-to-be newest ship in the fleet of Mercy Ships:

 

Mercy Ships Christmas . . .

Enjoy these snaps from my friend on board the ship, nurse Deb Louden!

 

All I want for Christmas is . . .

A New Ship!
Mercy Ships has contracted to build the world’s largest civilian hospital ship! An agreement has been reached with Asian and European shipbuilding firms to purpose-build a new 36,600-GRT hospital ship. Contracts were signed between Mr. Dong Qiang, VP of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Donald K. Stephens, President/ Founder of Mercy Ships, together with Jim Paterson, Senior VP of Mercy Ships Marine Operations.

What I read is this ship is expected to be completed in 2017 - just three years from now!  What I wonder is - will this be like the Africa Mercy which was to be completed in 2004 and didn't arrive until 2005?

A Little Boy Named Lucrech

His physical problem was a seemingly uncrossable dividing line, separating him from other children.
You see, three years ago, while reaching for his brother’s toy, Lucrech tripped, plunging his arm into a pot of boiling beans over an open fire.

Without a skin graft to prevent the raw wound from forming inflexible scar tissue, the skin across Lucrech’s palm tightened until each finger was pulled into a permanently bent position. This is called a burn contracture.

 Mercy Ships volunteer surgeon, Dr. Tertius Venter, explains, “To treat an acute burn wound in the First World, we would quickly do a skin graft before a contracture forms. We’d treat it with physical therapy and occupational therapy, and then splint it. But, in many parts of Africa this is just not available. The only way that the body can heal itself and prevent infection is by pulling everything together to close the wound up.”

 

 It often takes more than surgery to heal a contracture. Physical therapy is a crucial part of the recovery. These daily exercises with Nick ensure the dexterity and function of Lucrech’s right hand once the bandages are removed.

 Let the games begin! Lucrech, for the first time, holds a ball with his right hand.

In a few months’ time, Lucrech is going to start school again. The first day can’t come quickly enough! He’s eager to play games with his schoolmates and to finally learn how to write!


(Edited) Story by Grace Antonini, staff writer.

Undercover Agents

Bless my Bible study

who under the guise of 

VOLUNTEER

are

filtering into my husband's classroom and 

PRAYING

for his students!

Who said you couldn't pray in public school?  

The Dental Clinic and HOPE Center

 

Many people in developing countries lack proper or even any dental care. Mercy Ship's dental clinic gives dental care and teaches oral hygiene to the patients. Over the course of the outreach the clinic will provide over 22,000 dental procedures and other medical services. The clinic is about a 20 minute drive from the ship.

 

 

It is in the same compound as the HOPE center, where patients can stay while recovering from surgeries and for the night before their surgery if they are from out of town.

 

 

The HOPE center uses both floors for the patients and their caregivers.

 

 

The patient rooms with mosquito nets over each bed.

For Steve and Jolene . . .

Check out what was served for Thanksgiving dinner in Addis Abbi, Ethiopia 

to our good friends the Farrells!

The Secret Santa Secret . . .

Shhh . . . promise not to tell?  Okay, read on!  

Last year while I was recuperating from my ankle surgery, I convinced Sam I needed something fun to do and he needed to sign up for Secret Santa in his building.  For the first time ever in all the years he's taught there, he did it!  And with the luck of the draw, he got CAROL!  Could you possible draw a better name at Christmas?  We loved Carol, we knew her well, Sam had had her son Matt in his class and we had a blast!

Fast forward to this year and we decided to do Secret Santa again.  After all, last year was SO MUCH FUN!  When Sam came home with his name this year, though, he was not excited.  He said, "There is one teacher in this building I really don't care for - and I got her!  My class doesn't even like her!"  I told him no problem - I didn't know her, I would take care of it.

So Secret Santa started on Wednesday and he put a poster and a gift that went with the poster in her room.  And he put a gift that went with the poster in her room on Thursday.  And when he went to put a gift that went with the poster in her room on Friday - he found out that the poster was now across the hall in a different room!  His Secret Santa was NOT who he thought she was - he had the WRONG teacher!

Don't you just love it?  And he does like his "new" Secret Santa very well!  Hee!  Hee!

900th Mile!

I swam my 900th mile at the Y this morning!  It took a little over five years with some time off for Benin, Sierra Leone and Togo, not to mention ankle surgery and all I can say is . . . celebrate with me - send chocolate! (:

Tomorrow Night Down Under

Tomorrow night those lucky Australians will have the opportunity to watch "THE SURGERY SHIP", a documentary starring a lot of our Australian friends!  While I doubt we'll be able to watch it here, if you cut and paste this address - you CAN catch the trailer!  Enjoy it - I did!

http://mediastockade.com/#projects-0

Today's Truth . . .

Yesterday I posted a blog entitled "The Truth!?!" sharing the difference between a friend's e-mail and the StarTribune.  In today's paper, the nation+world headlines read, "They're slaughtering us like chickens" and the sub-heading said, "Mostly Muslim fighters were going door to door in the Central African Republic.  The death toll increased to 280."  Wasn't that the truth I posted yesterday?  Please continue to pray for the believers in the Central African Republic.

Some Ship Love . . .

THE TRUTH?!?

While reading the StarTribune this evening, I came across the headlines, "Clashes sweep Central Africa Republic" with the subheading "Dozens killed after Christian fighters attacked capital."  And I said to Sam, "No, that's not right!  That is so not right!"   We had received an e-mail just this morning from our friend of almost thirty years sharing an e-mail from a friend we have known now for almost a year who is currently IN the Central Africa Republic and everything that e-mail said is absolutely OPPOSITE of what the paper said.  It is the Muslims who are killing the Christians.  It is the Christians who are going in to hiding.  It is the Christian's homes and churches that are being pillaged and destroyed.  It is the Christians who are missing, who fear for their lives.  Feel free to stop right now and pray for the believers in Central Africa Republic - that our Mighty God would be their protection and that the truth would be known!    

LOVE IS . . .

This is the latest from the Mercy Ships Communications Team - enjoy!

Two worlds . . .

This post is taken from a letter our friend Curt Rhodes sent to us.  It's not from Africa, nor about Africa - but it sure could have been.  He is working with Questscope in Jordan and as always, his insight is amazing.     Two worlds. A line forms outside of a Big Box Store early on Thanksgiving morning. Doors open. People rush in, capturing good deals and pushing their way through crowds to grab boxes of stuff. Low prices entice. In the sharp early morning chill, why line up so early? “You have to be first,” says a smiling customer. “If you’re not first, you’re last.” I saw this on TV. People gather inside the biggest refugee camp in Jordan a day before the Thursday that is Thanksgiving in the US. There’s an early morning chill, but no rushing around. No boxes of stuff to grab here. In place of good deals, there are good conversations. “We are here to put the last, first,” says a smiling Syrian mentor – a professional engineer in that other life that no longer exists. “That means we put ourselves last.” I saw this in the faces of my friends. Two worlds. I know which one I would choose. What if I were a “last?” What if my child, or my grandchild, were a “last?” A no-brainer: I would want to live in a world that goes against the flow – goes against the idea that being first makes others last: somehow okay in that world.  The refugee world is terrible. But they are not. The refugee world is hopeless. But they are not. We figure out with them how to live when they have none of the stuff to live with. And often – too often – without some of those they love the most. That is the most terrible part of all. Things will get worse over the next weeks. Winter winds and rain will come. Death and devastation in the civil war in Syria will rage on. Needs will pile up. But as these things get worse over the next weeks, some things will get better. Capacity will grow as we put the last, first.  We have an additional 400 youth to mentor in that biggest refugee camp, Zaatari, starting in December – growing real strength out of apparent weakness. Two worlds. Which one would you choose? A first world, or the other world where the last can be first? I think the only one with potential for people to thrive is the second one. I think you do too. That’s why we are in this together. Curt

It just so happens . . .

That every day I teach at the Y, I have a set of twins - all girls - and one of those twins is either named Kaylee or Keighlee.  My Friday set is the most absolutely identical (until they get in the water!) so Mom keeps a barrette in Kaylee's hair so I'll know which one she is.  This past Friday, my co-worker Tiffany and I started to laugh.  What would happen if we moved the barrette to Kaylee's twin?  Would Mom know?  

Correct answer:  Yes!