How did you get here?

When I worked in the lab on the ship, I loved hearing the stories of how people came to work on the ship.  I would ask people "How did you get here?," usually while drawing a unit of blood.  There's time for questions when you're laying there with a needle in your arm.  And conversation is a good distraction.  I thought I would really miss that opportunity to talk to people.
We've been here just a few days, and I have already had that conversation a number of times.  It's fascinating how each person has a different story, but how in some ways, the stories are all similar.  Every story seems to involve a prompting of some sort.

So many different stories, each as different as the person.

One young nurse told me how she couldn't sleep one night when she was 16, and how that was very unusual for her.  She turned on the TV and saw a show on hospital ships.  Mercy Ships was one of those mentioned.  She knew then that she had to become a nurse so she could work on this ship.

Another woman recently retired, and has had some wonderful times of traveling and experiencing new places, new cultures.  She felt convicted that she was being self indulgent, so she signed up to work here in Africa.

Another new friend is a cancer survivor.  So she decided to live her life instead of being afraid of it.  And that giving to people here was the perfect way of doing that.

After many years on a job that she loved, one nurse felt a dissatisfaction that was new to her. Nothing had really changed, but God was changing her.  Circumstances "just happened " to point her to working here on the ship, and she's amazed at the way God has opened the world to her in this place.

I am humbled by the way God works in us so individually.  And so blessed to be part of this community.

Lots of crew- lots of stories!

Debbie