Soccer On The Dock

Soccer, or what most countries call football is considered the beautiful game.  This year Mercy Ships crew have six teams which compete against each other.  They play five against five on the dock with smaller goals than normal.  Since the surface is hard brick, the action is faced pace.

This week I watched one of my day crew in supply play for the Stewards team as they competed with the Hope Center Team.
We watched from deck seven providing a good perspective on the action.
This is no normal competition.  There is even a live announcer giving play by play commentary which is broadcast over speakers set up on the dock.  It is pretty much non-stop commentary in the excited African accented English.

Since the dock is also a road entrance to the ship, traffic may enter at any time. At one point a truck came to drop off a dumpster used for scrap metal.  There was a delay of game so the truck could come in, the goal moved out of the way, and people moved out of the way. Be assured that there was on the scene commentary of what the truck was doing every step of dropping off the dumpster to leaving the gate. "The truck is backing up...The driver is getting out of the truck...The driver is unhitching the dumpster...The driver is getting back in the truck......"

After that the game could resume!  Here's some of the fast paced action.

The game ended around sunset.  There was a direct kick penalty shot resulting in a goal by the Stewards which tied the game 1 to 1.

Chuck

Friends at the Hope Center

Sue, my friend in the galley, leaves this week.  It's hard to say goodbye to friends, but I've been so blessed to have worked with Sue.  We were able to visit the Hope Center together this week.
She is Mama Sue, and I'm Mama Debbie, due to our advanced age.

There are three men who lead the visiting program at the Hope Center.  Lere (pronounced Leeray) is a very talented musician and is like a cheerleader for the program.  We are visiting the patients as they heal.  God loves them, and so do we!

There's always a lot of singing and dancing.

Here we are singing a song, with the required clapping.  I still don't know the words to this song (it's in French)

Debbie

Dental screening

One dentist, two translators, a security guard, a nurse and me.  The nurse and I were volunteers.  Or, I  guess, volunteers from jobs other than dental screening.  And three lines of potential patients, well over 400 people.  We're in an empty lot, not too far from Mercy Ship's dental clinic. This is done every Monday morning to make appointments for people who want free dental care this week.


It looks simple, but is done with great skill. We each work with a translator, and Dr David works between the two translators, looking with a light into each patient's mouth.  He assesses very quickly if they can be helped at the clinic, then hands me a  wristband  which I put on as  Yassine explains what will happen at the clinic.  Meanwhile, David is already looking at the next person in line.  A couple of hours later, about 360 appointments have been made, starting with today.


Most patients will get teeth pulled.  A few get fillings.  All the children are seen, most of them today.   After we drop David and the translators off at the clinic, we get a tour.  It's a beautiful clinic  that Mercy Ships has renovated.  As Roses shows us the clinic, David is already working between two chairs.  One gets numb, and he's on to the next, probably an extraction.

We see the waiting room filled with people that we just saw in line!  The children hear a story while they wait and get a dental hygiene lesson.  Everyone leaves with a toothbrush and toothpaste.

There are usually three dentists, along with dental assistants, hygientists, dental sterilizers, translators... it's a busy place!  A good way to spend a Monday morning.

Debbie

Going Batty

In early evening, just prior to sunset, we often stroll along the upper decks.  We always see lots of winged creatures flying.  Filling a lot of the sky with the Northern migration.  What I originally thought were birds, were in fact bats!

 I'll say at the start that I'm not a fan of bats.  I remember too well working in a building where bats would sometimes get in and fly down the hall or worse yet, fly into an office.  We then would call the bat patrol who would show up but rarely captured the bat.  These were small little mammals that could be caught in a trash basket and then taken up to the roof where they were released.  I much prefer bats outside well away from my head.

There are over 1300 species of bats.  Here in Douala we can watch hundreds perhaps thousands of fruit bats flying from the south in a north westerly direction over the Wouri river where the Africa Mercy is currently docked.  I was told that the wing span is about two feet.   I did find a picture on line and this is what they look like.

Fruit bats are valuable creatures.  In some places they are considered a culinary delicacy. They are sold as Bush meat, and there is growing concern about a declining bat population.  Farmers don't like them because they eat the fruit. From my perspective, there is no shortage, and I never want to sample a bat-kabob.  I guess I prefer not to experience these bats up close and personal.

Chuck

Crashing the Kingdom

Clementine spoke at the supply team devotional this past week. She has been part of the hospital chaplaincy for a number of years. She estimates that 90-95% of the patients that are treated here have been rejected by their families and friends because of their illness.  They are seen as being rejected by God.

I met a local Cameroon day worker who normally serves in the admission tent.  He had a day off and volunteered to work an extra day, so he ended up working in Supply in the back of the cargo hold for a special project we needed done.  He introduced himself with his African name, but on the ship he is called John.  John shared that he talks with people who come to the ship without hope.  They expect that they will be asked for money, but instead they meet a surgeon who might be able to help them for free!  When they are given an appointment for surgery they are surprised.  They have never been treated with such compassion before.

When Mercy Ships says that we bring hope and healing, it is spiritual healing as well as physical care.  People experience a tangible healing.  They get better.  They become people who experience real hope for the future.

Scott, another hospital chaplain, prayed at our community meeting last night.  He prayed that God's Kingdom would come crashing into Cameroon.   What does it look like to bring God's kingdom to the nation's of the world?

It looks a lot like Jesus.  How living for him can bring healing to our broken world.  It looks like people who take to heart the exhortation "Whatever you do or say, let in be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks though him to God the Father."  Colossians 3:17


Debbie and Chuck

Hope Center

This was my first visit to the Hope Center.  Mercy Ships has renovated a place for patients and caregivers  to stay before and after surgery.  We have the opportunity to visit with the patients for an organized program on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Every visit includes music, dancing, a Bible story and a craft.  This visit's story was how God led Israel out of Egypt.

This is "Moses and Aaron" before Pharaoh.  I think Dan makes a great Pharaoh.  It must be the shades.

God led Israel night and day, so the craft was the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud.  The adults do the craft right along with the kids.

Here's the finished product.  The other side is a cotton ball for the cloud.  God takes care of us all the time, and these patients have experienced his care.

Debbie