There's a storm a brewing..

This has been posted on many a Mercy Ships blog before and even made it into my newsletter but wanted to share it one last time..

The following poem was written by Prince Eddie Daniels from Ghana, a patient aboard having skin grafts on his hands. I is a descriptive of how he see’s Mercy Ship’s work here.

Angels Amongst the Sons of Men

The day the Big White Whale landed on the black shores of Africa was a blessed day to the Sons of Men.
It came with Angels to walk amongst the Sons of Men.
Why do I call them Angels? Let me tell you of my time with them.

I came on board the White Whale with rooms filled with
the lame
the maimed
the formed
the deformed
the wrong
and the rough.
And deep into the darkest part of the night, I saw men and brethren,
maidens and ladies, though flesh as us, yet with hearts as Angels.

Sleeplessly and tirelessly they toiled through the night,
through the pains and aches of men;
they with hands to heal and mend,
bringing from above the Father's love to the Sons of Men.

Some they cut. Some they tie.
Some they seal, and yet others
they fix with tools untold.

Like messengers of the Most High they came.
Not thinking of their own, they risked their lives
and sailed the seas to lands beyond the endless world,
to shores of Men afflicted and in pain.
Their hearts and lives they came to share,
as Angels walking amongst the Sons of Men.
Some in this life are born to pass,
and some are born in life to live,
yet these Angels are born to preserve humanity.

Though some may see lives as waste,
yet with speed they move to save.
With words of love and touch of peace,
they endlessly toil to make right the wrong.

You were born as Men to your lands,
and yet as Angels you served the earth.
Gold is digged from earth beneath.
Treasures are hunted on high seas.
But love so pure and true
can only in hearts like yours be found.
Your labor in the Lord shall not be in vain.
For every life you touch and every soul you save,
For every bone you mend and every face you straight,
The Lord of Life and Light will light your path and guide your life.

For you are truly Angels amongst the Sons of Men.

The power of a smile.

(The thoughts of a simple PE teacher..)

This week has been a long and strenuous week. Many a night was spent sitting behind a desk as grades had to be prepared, rapport written, conferences held with parents and meetings participated in. By the time Friday came around I had little more to give.

Saturday being a day off and I walked out to have lunch with a friend. And the end of the dock was a military guard with a Kalashnikov, not a strange occurrence at all and nothing to cause worry. But the fact that he was holding a submachine gun is always a little shock to a simple European.

Later that evening I was down on the ward wearing stupid oversized glasses made from cardboard (why is a story in its own right). A mother called me over to see her baby girl. She had just had surgery on a hydro seal. This is a collection of fluids on the brain that caused a growth on her cranium. The pressure of the build up of fluid had left her with brain damage. She rolled his eyes and stared vacantly up at her mother.


These 3 things bring me to my question: where do we see ‘power’?
Tiredness weighs us down, it pushes us to physical and emotional limits, constricts us in our actions and edges our responses.
Firearms have a too apart a power, too often have these inventions been a tool of suffering and pain.
And what of physical ailments? An innocent girl with an affliction from birth that will burden her through life, leaving her scarred physically and mentally.These are the things that are powerful. These are the things that attack us on every facet of our being. If you were keeping score it truely is fairly simple: we lose.



Then she smiled..

A baby of not 6 months old, coming out of major surgery and still with great struggle ahead; she smiled and shook her head at this stupid man wearing (badly made) oversized cardboard glasses.

I was pondering the question: where do we see ‘power’? There . That is where you see true power; power in hope. Every burden, every pain, every struggle I had felt or had seen in the week before was lifted, cancelled out and put to shame by the smile of a baby and the eternal hope it symbolized.


Do you want to know who God is? God is good .

We all live in a yellow submarine..

(Actually typed this last week but forgot to post.. oops :), read all the 'today''s as 'then''s )

No slow start this time, I'm straight in there: everybody in the Netherlands: I've been praying for you all! (or all y'all depending on your region of heritage).

Its starting to dawn on me (if it hadn't already) that this is not just a ship of people working in Africa but, as we always call it, ' a community' in the most real sense of the word. Life here is intense, everything is as it would be in the real world except from the fact that it happens in a box 200 x 50 x 50 m. Think of sharing your garage with 10 people and that would probably translate scale wise (any mathematicians feel free to correct me).

You spend a lot of time with everybody and it is never quiet. This may sound negative but that is not the intent at all! Communityliving is as amazing as it is exhausting!! I love the way friendships are made and built quickly and with commitment. A little r&r would be nice sometimes though :P

I managed to get away with some friends this weekend and spent the night at a resort just up the coast. The batteries have not felt this recharged in a while. It was just what the doctor/nurse/pharmacist ordered, feeling relaxed!

As a side note, the realisation I had today is that I miss my motorbike :P

I borrowed the Vespa of a friend on the ship for the day and it was wonderful!

The main transportation vehicle in West Africa is the Zemi Jaine (which means: 'get me there fast'), these are small motorbikes that also function as taxi's. Everything and anyone (or amount of people) can be transported on a Zemi jaine.

I decided after riding today I need to start saving to buy one. It will make not only a good hobby in the upkeep and driving but give me cheap transport (not that the land rovers are too expensive to use) and, as I'm sure my Mother is worrying enough about me, another thing to add to her list ;)

Bit of a strange blog now I read it, seems almost 'dear Diary'-ish, even a bit rant'n'rave-ish, but it is what it is and that it shall be.

God bless!

Ben

Few example's from the 'Zemi Jaine hall of fame':

Will you come and follow me..

I have this songtext hanging beside my bed, torn from an order of service from the Scot International Church Rotterdam. It is a great reminder for me why on earth I am half way across (or down) the world.

Ben

Will you come and follow me John Bell

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?
Will you go where you don't know and never be the same?
Will you let My love be shown, will you let My name be known?
Will you let My life be grown in you and you in Me?

Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare, should your life attract or scare?
Will you let Me answer prayer in you and you in Me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen?
And admit to what I mean in you and you in Me?

Will you love the 'you' you hide if I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?
Will you use the faith you found to reshape the world around?
Through My sight and touch and sound in you and you in Me?

Lord, Your summons echoes true when You but call my name.
Let me turn and follow You and never be the same.
In your company I'll go where Your love and footsteps show.
Thus I'll move and live and grow in You and You in me.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling down the river..

Just a little comical interlude.. I do love it here but the contrast is always fun :)

You know your living on the Africa Mercy when:

- Your messages get blue tacked to your door
- Your house moves a couple hundred meters and back again in a weekend
- When you have the same curfew time you had in high school
- You wake up thinking your alarms going off, only to discover it was 3 cabins down.
- You talk about ‘amounts of cabins down’
- You have to choose between: breakfast and lunch or sleep in at weekends
- 2 minutes is considered a normal shower time
- You finish the teaching day with: “see you at dinner”
- You share your living room with 400 people- You are privileged because you are a driver.

- Flashing your knees is exciting
- You don’t answer to Mum or Dad but to the captain and the security officer...
- Your commute lasts less than 30 seconds
- The toilet flushing is a luxury
- The comment ‘hit the deck’ can actually be taken literally...
- You discover The English language is not universal as you thought
- Your phone number consists out of 4 digits
- You meet someone for the first time and start with asking: “how long have you commited for?”
- You live with a chaplain

- Your don’t have a kitchen but a galley
- You can hold a full school assembly in a single classroom

- milk is spelt with a CH

Wonderfully unique..

Patient Story

This is a patient story that was publshed by our communications office. Hopefully gives an idea of the work that is happing here.

Ben

Maomai Dangbenon: Salvation Has Come

Maomai Dangbenon: Salvation Has Come

It was the middle of the night, and Perlagie couldn’t sleep. The image of Maomai, her three-month-old baby girl, flashed through her mind every time she closed her eyes. A huge tumor the size of the baby’s head was jutting out of Maomai’s neck. Perlagie looked over at her daughter, peacefully sleeping in her hospital bed, and began to cry.

For over a week, Perlagie had stayed in the hospital, waiting and praying for a doctor to help Maomai – but no one came. In the morning, they were being sent home. Perlagie didn’t know what to do.

When Perlagie finally fell asleep she had a dream.

“In that dream, I saw a person, who told me I should be quiet and pray – that salvation shall come.”

The next morning, Perlagie felt confident and peaceful. She didn’t know where help would come from, but she knew God was going to take care of her baby.

***

Maomai was born with a teratoma, which means monstrous tumor. It started out as a small, golf-ball sized lump on her neck, but within three months, the tumor had grown to the size of her head.

Everyone in Perlagie’s village was afraid of Maomai. The grotesque tumor was difficult to look at, and the villagers thought they could be contaminated by it. No one would touch or play with the small baby.

“One time I was in the bathroom, and the baby was crying. People were around the baby, but they would not touch her because of the tumor. They left her crying, alone. Even the members of my family,” said Perlagie.

Perlagie was alone. Maomai was a precious, beautiful baby girl, and she could see that, but others simply couldn’t see past the monstrous tumor. In a country where perceived physical differences mark people as outcasts, Maomai was treated like a monster instead of a baby girl.

“I was very, very, sad. I was not able to sleep,” said Perlagie. “Every day, I was crying. Also, I was not eating. I had no appetite because of the condition of my baby.”

Perlagie and her husband wanted to get Maomia help. They took her to a local hospital, but there was no surgeon to perform her surgery. Perlagie didn’t become anxious or fearful. She confidently left the hospital, trusting God to bring healing and deliverance from the tumor.



When Perlagie returned to her village, her sister-in-law told her about the Africa Mercy, a hospital ship filled with doctors and nurses, which had come to Cotonou. She had just returned from the ship after being treated for an eye problem and thought they could help Maomai.

Perlagie brought her daughter to the Africa Mercy and was screened by the medical team. It was obvious that she needed immediate surgery. But the tumor had made it difficult for her to feed, and Maomai was very underweight – too underweight for surgery. The Mercy Ships medical team placed her on a feeding program and scheduled her for surgery in one month. Mercy was on its way. The salvation Perlagie had dreamed of was becoming a reality.

A month passed, and it was time for Maomai’s surgery. The morning of surgery, Peralgie worried it would not be successful.

“I started crying. Some nurses and translators told me the operation was possible with God. The doctor will be successful with surgery, the tumor will be removed, and the baby will be healed. They gave me that hope,” said Perlagie.

After six hours of surgery, Maomai’s tumor was removed. It weighed 375 grams, 15% of her body weight. The monstrous tumor was gone, and the beautiful baby girl remained.

Maomai spent over a month recovering in the hospital. Still struggling to maintain her weight, she had to be fed through a surgically placed feeding tube.

The nursing staff encouraged Perlagie to use the feeding tube. At first, she was hesitant. Perlagie distanced herself from Maomai. But as she grew more comfortable in the hospital, things changed. The nursing staff taught Perlagie how to use the feeding tube. As she took ownership of Maomai’s care, their relationship thrived.

“Initially, we were worried about her,” said pediatric nurse Ali Chandra. “But now she’s been here for over a month, and she’s blossomed. Perlagie has completely bonded with Maomai in the time they’ve been here. And it happened as we started teaching her [to use the feeding tube]. She’s doing really well,” says Chandra.

Maomai has continued to grow stronger since her surgery. Not only has she gained weight, she’s gained vibrancy.

“Maomai used to be this kind of listless baby, and now she’s bright. She’s doing more age-appropriate things than before,” says Chandra.

Psalm 13:5 says, “I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation” (NKJV).

Perlagie knows this to be true. She trusted God to take care of her baby, and He brought her salvation. Perlagie is rejoicing in His mercy.

“I thank God, and I thank each of you, for all you have done for me. God is healing and still working. I have seen my salvation in this child,” she concluded.

Written by Megan Petock
Edited by IOC Editing Team
Photography by Debra Bell and Megan Petock

Row, row, row your boat..

It’s been a little bit of a quiet period since my last post. On Sunday I visited Ganvie, a ‘stilt village’ built on the large lake in Benin. Really cool place by the way! The local town had grown into the lake and a whole community lives on the water! No footpaths, just boats. Suddenly living at a marina isnt so posh :P

To get there we had to take a small boat about 45min up the river. This is the first time it truly hit me the conditions that some people live in here, but also a realization I had never had before; I’ll explain. The riverbanks in Cotonou are where all the rubbish, waste etc collects; also it is where the poorest of the city live.. Passing in the boat the poverty hit my like a heavyweight champs right hook. Literally there are people living in lean too shanties on top of rubbish tips adjacent to the river, that by the way is also the largest open sewer you can imagine. Seeing this I realize why we are here, if in some small w

ay we can contribute to the bettering of the quality of life of these people then every minute spent here will have been worthwhile.

Watching the people as we passed I also came to a realization that was maybe personally more shocking to me: the quality of living is far less than we are used to, but the quality of life is not! The people LIVE LIFE here. There is no complaining about the squalor, there is no down heartedness about the lack of facilities. Seeing the people going round their daily life with the energy they do put me to shame. Too often do I catch myself judging the people’s lives here by the place they live, how they live and what facilities they have at their disposal when they have a appreciation of life that is rarely seen. Yet I find myself complaining when the airco stops for 5min on the ship or when there is only decaf coffee left in the morning in the dining hall.. suddenly sounds so trivial.
Sorry if this sounds confusing but it is a hard feeling to describe.

On Sunday we had an international praise evening with different nations showing how they praise the Lord. ‘Joyful singers’ you have set me in good stead! The best quote of the evening was from a Liberian lady who started their section with the statement: ‘’Stand up! Praise the Lord! Shake your body to the glory of the Lord!’’, never was there a truer statement. I love the energy and the totalness of the way the (west) Africans praise. And why just use our voices when we have our whole bodies at our disposal (even when we lack rhythm)!!

God bless,
Ben