A Season for Everthing

 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 

 Ecclesiastes 3:1

Our season for serving with Mercy Ships in Guinea has now ended.
In Guinea, there are three seasons:  Wet (rainy),  Dry (not rainy) and Mango (the best part of the dry season when mangos are available).

We began our journey to the US on Sunday with an overnight flight to Brussels.    It was our turn to say goodbye to our crewmates.  These are people we came to share a season of life with.  We hope that it will be more "until we meet again/" than a final goodby, but we know we will not see others again.

 When we got to Brussels, we saw evidence of rain.  We hadn't seen any rain in a few months.   When we finally arrived in the US, we experienced real rain.  On our final flight home the plane  landed on a snow covered runway.  My first day home, I shoveled snow, chopped wood and built a fire.

Here are a couple views from our front door on our first morning back home.  We are glad we didn't miss the whole winter.

We also discovered that cleaning a house takes a lot longer than a Mercy Ship cabin, and there is no one to cook our meals for us.  We still need to process a lot of what we learned.

A song from Paul Simon starts out " Gee but its great to be back home!  Home is where I want to be.."

Then this morning I was reminded of Psalm 136. 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good.
His love endures forever.
 ^{Give thanks to the God of gods.}His love endures forever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords:His love endures forever.

The psalm goes through some of Israel's history, always reminding the reader that in all our experiences, God's love endures forever.

We have been humbled to discover people have actually read our blog and followed us on this journey to live in a community committed to bringing hope and healing to the worlds forgotten poor.  We are deeply grateful.

Chuck





Guinea smiles

The dental program off-ship has seen over 6,000 patients as of the end of February.

That's a lot of teeth!

Every weekday the dental team travels a short distance to the Mercy Ships dental clinic.  It's not far, but my friend Roses has gotten very good at steering the Land Rover around all the people waiting in line.

Mercy Ships has a generator for the dental clinic, because the power often cuts out.  They use the generator for the sterilizers and other equipment, so it's pretty hot when the power goes out and they can't use the fans

While people wait, they are taught dental hygiene.  It seems like a lot of sugar is consumed here.  Children come to the clinic with all of their teeth rotted.

We've had a good number of dentists and hygienists during this outreach. We have a friend who was visiting the dental clinic today. He said that today they saw over 80 patients, filled about 80 cavities, and pulled over 200 teeth. People here can't afford dentures, so when their teeth are gone, they're gone!

 Before we left home, we made dental appointments.  I'm so thankful for my dental care.  I think I need to bring my dentist a plate of cookies!


Debbie

Quest for Adventure

We had a German cruise ship docked behind us for a day.  It was advertised as the Quest for Adventure Cruise.  They flew from Frankfurt to Ghana and take two weeks to sail up the coast of West Africa to the Canary Islands.

We saw German tourists in town and we watched buses coming to take them for a tour.

The picture I took of the Germans taking pictures of us!

I guess we were part of the tour as well- you don't often see a hospital ship in port.  And we don't often see a cruise ship in port.  There was a physician who asked to take a tour of the Africa Mercy, and their crew physician gave us some donated medication.  Then they were off to their next destination.

Conakry- tourist destination

Debbie

Tied Up With String

I had a day off from the lab and I got to go to the Hope center. When I went in the fall, there were a lot of kids recovering from orthopedic surgeries.  Now there are a lot of adults who have had facial tumors removed.  There are some kids as well.

Victoria with the patients

We had the usual program of a Bible story, translated into Susu and French, a song and a craft.  The adults like doing the crafts.  We had about 35 people making friendship bracelets with embroidery floss.

 

Sometimes it's still a surreal experience being here.  What would I have said a few years ago if someone told me that I would be teaching an African man how to make a friendship bracelet?  "Turn, un, deux, trois, move string, turn.  Tres  bon !"  If you understood that, your French is better than mine!  And the African speaks Susu anyway!

If one of the women needed help, they would call, "Fode, Fode!" (white person)

Here I am, trying really hard to get that string in the right place!

How strange it must be for our patients to go to a  hospital ship with a different culture and a different language.  I was in the recovery room this week as a nurse was cradling a baby in her arms, softly speaking to him in Dutch as he was waking up from the anesthetic.  I think he knew he was loved, even if he couldn't understand the language.

Debbie

No longer hiding

This is the story of Sory, a 17 year old from a rural part of Guinea.  A couple of years ago, Sory had a bump on his face that started to grow.  As the tumor grew, the people in his village thought he was cursed, and started to mock him.  They even threw stones at him. His mom, Saran, hid him to protect him.

 His tumor got so large that it took over most of his face, from his right eye downward.  He could only eat a small amount of broth, and he grew very thin.
The tumor started to affect his breathing.  His mother knew that he wouldn't live much longer.

Sory's uncle heard that the Africa Mercy was in the port in Conakry, so Sory and Saran came to the ship in November.  Sory was so ashamed of his tumor that he hid under a large scarf.

Sory with his scarf

Sory and his mom coming on the ship

Sory had successful surgery for his tumor in November.  He is one of many whose lives are changed by the surgery that they receive on the ship.

Saran, Sory and Patrick(one of the nurses)

The above picture was taken about a month after his surgery, while Sory was recovering at the Hope Center.  With large facial tumors, the skin stretches around the tumor.  With the tumor removed, it takes a while for the skin to shrink back.  Sory no longer has to hide behind a scarf, and he has been given new life.


Debbie

Signs of the Times

Signs are all around us.  They communicate information -some useful, some less than useful.
I thought I would share some of the signs around the Africa Mercy.

Temporary signs like this one are common everywhere.  Everyone enjoys birthdays and balloons!

 














The  sign below changes daily.  It communicates  security information and provides updates about what might be happening in Guinea.  We get our updates from Captain Tim whenever there is a situation happening in the country or city and what areas to avoid.  There are always good reminders to keep us safe.

One of my favorite signs is in the reception area.  It explains the model for Mercy Ships.

It's a reminder of why we are here.

  Living on a ship has its own unique signs. If there is every an evacuation when the ship is at sea, these signs lead to the assembly areas and to the lifeboats. They show how to get to the stairs leading to the top deck and the assembly areas.  I find these useful to know what direction to turn to find the next set of stairs up to the top deck.

Then there are the signs that tell you where you are, or how to get where you want to go.
The kids who live on ship go to school at the Academy.  They leave their cabin with their backpack full of books to walk down the hall to school.

The world map sign above shows the home countries of the students from the Academy.  Some of the children have parents from different countries and are officially  from two countries.  Some are from countries they have never lived in!









Historical signs are also found on this ship that was originally a train ferry in Scandinavia.

Open and Closed signs are found everywhere in the world. Somehow this sign was funny to me.  Something is just not right about the hospitality office being closed!  They even seem to be smiling and happy about the closed office!

In different places you will see scripture verses on the walls. I found this one in an outpatient treatment room.  It's a good reminder for every day.

Chuck