Aberdeens woman center

This week I went to Aberdeen (another part of Freetown) to visit an x-crew member, who was on the Africa Mercy in Benin, 2009.  Kate works as a midwife at the Aberdeen Women’s Centre.  The centre offers, Obstetric Fistula repairs, a children’s clinic and maternity care; helping 100 mothers each month give birth. As you can imagine, a lot goes on behind these walls!

Originally Mercy Ships helped to set up this Fistula repair clinic a few years ago, but after a couple of years they decided to just focus on their ship, the Africa Mercy and let someone else take care of the land-based organisations.  Ann Gloag, who is a major sponsor for Mercy Ships, now supports this clinic from her foundation and all services are free of charge.Kate took me on a tour and explained how each of the areas run.  She is especially passionate about the maternity clinic as she was a key leader in setting it up in April 2010.  This was a vital clinic to set up and train midwifes as Sierra Leone’s maternal death rate is one in eight!  Can you imagine?  The reality is for these women that if you fall pregnant, you have a one in eight chance of dying while giving birth!

A few of the staff from the Aberdeen Women’s Centre go frequently to different nearby areas of Sierra Leone and select high risk pregnant mothers to come to the clinic for a history and assessment.  15 mothers come on both Wednesdays and Fridays clinic days, giving them a total of around 100 births per month.  After the mother’s history is taken and the unborn baby assessed, the mother is sent home until she goes into labour.  Then, she will return to the clinic, give birth, hopefully without complications and return home again with her new baby.  If any complications do arise, the midwives are there and ready to intervene.  Over the past 18 months the wonderful midwives have delivered about 100 babies a month and have had, by the grace of God, only two maternal deaths.  This clinic is already changing the statistics of this country!

The fistula clinic is for women that have had internal trauma causing a hole between their bladder and vagina, vagina and rectum or bladder, vagina and rectum.  These women leak urine or faeces or both without any control, making them social outcasts.  Most of these fistulas have happened through obstructed labours but some happen from rape.  This part of the clinic has 44 beds.

The local phone company Airtel has also signed up to help these women by running a free hotline they can call for help.  The ad is broadcast on the local radio station and has helped spread the message far and wide that women can have free help.

The children’s clinic is also open most days of the week, for general consultations and immunisations.

This hive of activity is mostly run by Sierra Leoneans, with the guidance of a few women from other countries all over the world.  After much training over the last few years, the plan is to hand over the whole establishment to the Sierra Leoneans by mid 2012.  I was so impressed with the set up and work that these precious midwives, nurses and others do for the women of Sierra Leone.  They do truly inspirational work!

A Desperate People!

■ Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.

■ Everyday HIV/AIDS kills 6,000 people and another 8,200 people are infected with this deadly virus.

■ Every 30 seconds an African child dies of malaria—more than one million child deaths a year.

■ More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day...300 million are children.

■ Every 3.6 seconds another person dies of starvation and the large majority are children under the age of 5.

These statistics that you just read is something that I have been thinking a lot about in my time here in africa. These facts can be daunting, and hard to take in at times, and sometimes overwhelming. They are facts that we might see on a world vision commercial as we are flipping through the channels or maybe an advertisement on the side of your screen as your browsing the internet. We see them and a lot of time don't pay them a second thought as we go back to what we are doing. 

As I have spent more and more time here in Africa I have seen these statistics become more real to me in a way that is hard to bare at times. I walk the streets and see the babies with the bloated bellies and flies on there faces. I see the people in wheelchairs and crutches begging for pennies because they cant work after they got there limbs cut off in the war. And I see people dying of disease everyday because there are no medical facilities set up where they can go for free and retrieve treatment. 


I walk through the streets and I look around thinking, How many of these children I see right now are starving to death? How many of them have been abandoned by there parents or are left orphaned after there parents were killed in the war? How many of them are going to die before they hit the age of five? 

A ministry here in Africa has the slogan "we stop for the one" as something they live and work by. I look at this statement and feel like it very much follows the example of Jesus where he stopped for the one. Wether they were lowly, broken, and poor, or rich wealthy but spiritually lost jesus always stopped and cared about the person as an individual.

Every year on the the ship I live on, thousands of lives are transformed where it would have never been possible if we didn't come and perform the surgeries we do. We are truly changing  and even saving  so many lives on a regular bases which I am so thankful to be apart of. But when I look at these Statistics it can feel like we are doing so little with the amount that is going wrong here in Africa.

 "For hope to be credible in the future it has to be tangible in the present" 
As I read this statement it makes me think about how we as a body can be practically doing something now to help our brothers and sisters who are dying everyday. I know I cant change the world or fix the worlds poverty issues but what can I do to change individual lives? I feel like this looks differently for everyone. For me I am giving my time and energy, living and serving the people here in Africa. For some this might mean sending money to a missionary or supporting a child through world vision. Maybe it means you are a prayer warrior who is earnestly praying for a miracle in this nation.  Or maybe You support a charity who is helping in different  ways in these countries. 


I feel like whatever it is we need to do something!! If you make minimum wage in the west you are in the top 5% of the richest people in the world. Yes there is work to be done in our own cities but the needs are far greater here and these people desperately need your help!! "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." 1 John 3:17-1


God is challenging me on this and I encourage you as well to follow the example Christ has left for us and find a tangible way to help those in need as best as we can. Sometimes it can seem out of site out of mind but these statistics are true and how can we just sit by and not do anything while most the world is living in extreme poverty. Many times since I have been here in Africa I have had woman try and give me there new born babies, not because they don't want them but because they know the baby could have a better life with a white man or woman. It saddens me to see such a desperate people and know the life I come from in the west of how spoiled we are.


Thankfully we can make a difference but the choice is ours make!

A Decision You Make

CREW
As soon as you join the Africa Mercy and live on board you are considered crew. I feel like there are mixed emotions and feelings that come with being crew on the Africa Mercy. I would say in my time here I have definitely had my ups and downs, felt very enthusiastic about what I am doing and had points where I questioned why I am here. I have felt helpless like the work we are doing wasn't enough and I felt like we we are doing some of the greatest work ever known to man. I've had times where all I wanted was to be back in the west living the American dream, and I have had times where no material possession could make me happier then I was in that moment serving christ. 


Through all the ups and downs of serving with Mercy ships ultimately I love what I do, and I think a lot of people on the ship feel the same. Unfortunately with a lot of people in a small space people talk. There is always some kind of gossip going around, there is always criticism towards the organization. There are always people who just don't like the way things are run. Ultimately there are a lot of NEGATIVE ATTITUDES!! So this Blog is not to focus on the struggles I have with my time here, its to focus on the things I love about serving with Mercy Ships!


I love waking up every morning and knowing that I am here because God called me here.


I love that as I am doing my work everyday peoples lives are being changed two decks below me with transformational surgery.


I love being able to dance with Africans in there culture, feel like a fool, and know it doesn't matter because everyone around you looks the same way!


I love walking through the hallway of the hospital and hearing drums and guitars and God's people singing him praises.


I love the fact that to work and back, round trip is 184 steps (and imagine if your legs are longer then mine...)


I love that both my bunk mate's have been my spiritual accountability parters and hold me accountable to everything I do and say on a regular bases.


I love that in a days time I can potentially be in 6 different group prayers for different things.


I love that I don't have to be afraid to be a believer in my workplace.


I love being in a place where people from over 40 different nations in the world come together with a common goal of serving christ.


I love sitting on deck 8 over looking the ocean and playing worship on my guitar to a God who is so worthy to be praised.


I love the opportunity to meet some of the most inspiring, humbling and generally awesome people have ever met and get to serve along side them for years to come.


I love the feeling of being away for a weekend and coming back to the ship on sunday night and breathing a sigh of relief knowing i'm home.


I love reading all statistics of africa and the poverty levels and knowing that we are here making a difference.


I love when the night arrives when they are finally serving pizza for dinner in the dining room:)


I love seeing a kid with a deformity go into surgery quiet and withdrawn and come out on top of the world knowing that they don't have to hide anymore because they for there first time in there life fit in!


I love walking out of the port and by the time i get to the top of the street being called Lionel Messi (famous soccer player)  50 times because apparently i look like him:)


I love never being able to go a day with out hearing about God at least once.


I love knowing that my hard work everyday effects the lives of the people we are serving.


I love seeing a blind man come on the ship walk out being able to see.


I love how you become more thankful for what you have just by being here in this culture.




There are a lot of things I can choose to be negative about on the ship but I am choosing to be positive. At the end of the day this is where God has called me and to be truthful..... I LOVE IT!!!!!

The choice is yours so take your pick:)

Tribewanted!!!!

This weekend I had the pleasure of going and supporting an NGO's second year open celebration in a village. There name is Tribewanted and there mission is to build sustainable communities in amazing places that benefit locals and visiting members; inspiring positive change within and far beyond the village.  

In October 2010 the first members of the tribe arrived on Sierra Leone’s John Obey Beach, 20 miles south of the capital, Freetown, and began to build a new community alongside the local fishing village. The first season saw the building of cal-earth dome classic and the honeydome, the sea bright solar tower, beach kitchen, first two VIP Shacks on the lagoon, and permaculture gardens. Some of the structures they built are suppose to last for fifty years and hopefully bring sustainability the community for many years to come!

The NGO wasn't a christian ministry but it was still cool to go and see what others are doing in this country to try and help. They are genuinely trying to make a difference in the communities here as well as show the western world that the war in Sierra Leone is over now and you wont be shot or caught up in diamond trade if you come. 

The sea bright solar tower

  End shot of 'the wall

 Team earth on their wall!!!

Honey dome

 I had my self a nice bucket shower

 Pathway in

Awesome attempt at African Recycling  

Playing his drum! 

Singing and dancing to the Tribewanted song!!!

women preparing palm oil in the village

We had a great time at the celebration of dancing and singing, then stayed the night in tents on the beach. Had some good local food, took some nice bucket showers, and ultimately enjoyed Gods creation as the moon lit  up the sky as we sat around the bomb fire enjoying our time in the village and off the ship.  Had a good weekend at Tribewanted and hope to back again someday.

A Tragic Day

For the official mercy ships statement check out this link http://www.mercyships.org/blog/entry/screening-day-update

This morning as I woke up I was quite exited to see what the day would hold as I was going to my first screening day with Mercy Ships. I had heard all these stories about how amazing it was to see patients coming in with the hope that maybe Mercy Ships could help heal them. People said that when patients walked out of screening with the ticket in their hand saying they were booked in for a surgery, the joy in there eyes was just unreal. 

Unfortunately today there were very few who got to experience that joy. Instead, today brought some of the most horrific things I have ever seen in my life. Things that I would only ever see in a movie and would have never wanted to see in person. As we arrived at the screening site this morning at about 4:00am, there were already hundreds of people sleeping outside the Freetown stadium. By about 10:00am there were an estimated 10 to 15 thousand people waiting in line to be seen by our doctors. I started out the day as a driver and I was also in charge of ordering all the food  from our local supplier and making sure there was enough to feed our patients and crew. As the morning went on the crowds broke through the structure of a line and there ended up being a mob of thousands of people, all desperate to get through the gate that was held closed by local police. My job change quickly to crowd control as the need was great but it seemed everything we tried didn't work; the crowd was just so desperate to get through the gate. Every time security would open the main gate to bring in the next set of patients, the crowd would push to try and get as many in as possible. It was hard to watch how desperate these people were just to see one of our doctors. Eventually, around 10:30am, the mob had escalated so much that the force of the crowd pushing broke the gate and a mob of people came rushing in. Within the mob there were many who were sick and injured; these patients couldn’t move properly and they fell and were crushed and trampled by those behind. Before we new what had happened there was a pile of fallen patients at the front gate, all being trampled by the desperate people behind who were trying to get in. As I stood on a wall trying to push people down who were climbing over to get to the screening side, I found myself about 10 feet from this pile where I could see the people at the bottom, unconscious and bleeding, as others were stepping on anyone who got in their way. Security managed to shut the gate within minutes of it bursting open, but people’s bodies were just stuck in this pile, even as others were trying to pull those fallen out. The scene was so disturbing that I had to look away. As I was pushing people off the wall, I just couldn’t watch the men and women, who for all I knew were dead at the bottom, get continually stomped on. Once the gate was completely closed our team was able to go in, without being trampled ourselves, and pull out the unconscious and severely injured bodies and bring them under a tent where we had nurses and doctors start working on them. We didn't have the proper equipment with us to help the severely injured, so we decided to bring them to the local emergency room. I then became an emergency driver and, while driving as fast I could through the chaotic streets of Freetown, found that I had an unconscious man in the back of my land rover along with four nurses who were trying to keep him alive. Praise God that we got to the hospital in time and he survived and is doing well. Unfortunately that was not the case for one of the other land rovers that left for the hospital. That patient was too injured, both from previous illness as well as injuries sustained at the stadium, and he died on his way to the hospital. 

When I got back we immediately evacuated the 300 of our crew members who were at the stadium as it started to become very unsafe for any of us to be there. The whole way back to the ship my car sat in silence, with many tears coming from a group of people who had had such high expectations for the day, but instead saw it end so terribly. We as an organization are regrouping and seeing what went so terribly wrong. We are assessing this situation so that we can continue screening here in Sierra Leone. In over 30 years and five times in Sierra Leone we have never had a screening go like this before. Our management team needs your prayers as they have to try and move forward from this and regroup, but also our crew and myself need your prayers as it was emotionally one of the hardest day I have ever faced. God has a purpose and a way of shining His light through this situation even though my mind is too small to comprehend that. I am just trusting in Him for His guidance.

The Beginning Of My Journey at the IOC

The International operations Center

I am currently staying in Garden Valley, Texas attending the Gateway program witch is a entry program  designed to educate, equip and empower staff and crew for service with Mercy Ships

We have a class of 33 people from a variety of different places in the world. We have people from the UK,  Holland, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Austria, the United States and Germany. We have singles, married couples, an engaged couple, and a family with two kids. So we are Quite the diverse crowd of people!

We have class monday to friday and some evenings and weekends where we go through a lot of the biblical foundations of what it really means to serve like Jesus served. Im not quite used to eight hours of sermons everyday so its been quite a challenge but God has been teaching me so much over the past couple weeks of being here!

On saturday we did a silent retreat where we went out for four hours of silence to spend with God in prayer and reflection. It was awesome to sit in the presence of God and just listen to what he had to say to me rather than me always coming to him with my wants and needs! It was truly a treasured time for me and I would recommend to anyone who wants to here from the lord. Sometimes it takes just getting out into nature, ignoring all off life's distractions and just basking in the glory of who God is!

In my time here so far at the IOC has really helped align myself with Mercy Ships goal of why we do what we do witch is: following the example of Jesus, seeking to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and healing to the world forgotten poor. Before I left to come to the IOC I was trying to see where evangelism really fits in to what Mercy Ships does, because I want to be out there saving peoples hearts with the gospel and bringing as many people to christ as we can. Mercy Ships seeks to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and healing to the poor.  Jesus taught that its not enough to just speak the good news, you have to demonstrate it as well. So Mercy Ships strives to show Gods love through the the gift of a hospital ship in countries where people die everyday from lack of health care. We are truly trying to serve liked Jesus served and I m so exited to have the opportunity to be apart of this!

Im exited to be here and exited to see what the lord is going to teach me through my time of class and my time of service in the field. If you guys could keep the Mercy Ships advance team in sierra Leone in prayer they are preparing the way for the ship to arrive and they have done 2500 screenings of patients so far and have lots left to go. We are hoping to get as many done as we can so when the ship arrives we can start our surgeries right away so we can help as many people as possible in the 10 months we are in Sierra Leone!!!

Blessings???

As I dig deeper and deeper into God's word I am always amazed at what he continues to reveal to me. Lately he has been revealing a different way on how I view blessings.  When Jesus came to earth he was born into a poor family in a manger. As I listened to a sermon last night we all have this idea of how glamorous it was and how everything would have been just perfect when Jesus was born. But the fact of the matter is that the manger was probably some ugly old shack with smelly animals and feces everywhere. No, Jesus didn't come out completely dry with his hair combed back and a smile on his face, He was probably just as ugly and was crying just as much as any other baby being born. As Jesus lived his life he was constantly in situations where you didn't find him with the rich and wealthy, but he was always with the sick, the poor, and the needy. Knowing this about Jesus, it leads me to wonder where our blessing truly lie? In James 2:5 it says "Listen my beloved brothers,has God not chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, witch he has promised to those who love him". Mathew 19:24 says, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God". As I read the text I ponder in the fact that we are always talking about the blessings we have here in north America, and how we are blessed to be in a society where we are in the top five percent of the wealthiest people in the world. But as I read this text that doesn't quite line up with what James 2:5 and Matthew 19:24 says about being rich and poor. It seems to me that if I were to take being blessed from a biblical stand point the ones who are in Africa and that come under that 95% of the worlds poor, are the blessed ones and we are the ones for a lack of a better word "cursed" living here in north America.  Would I rather in worldly terms be blessed with riches and have a harder time receiving Jesus? Or be dirt poor and have a better opportunity for a more meaningful and faith filled relationship with Jesus? I think its time we stop finding our blessing in worldly things but start finding them in the beautiful and amazing God that we have. I think if we can do that, greater we will be for overcoming the trial of living here in North America.