Reminder of Why We're Here!

Some days here it is a challenge to remember why we're here . . . dealing with politics, feeling isolated, missing family and friends, etc. 

Most days are filled with routine duties, for me that is primarily ensuring the safety of our staff at screening sites, for Denise it is teaching her class.

To give you some background, we have off-ship screenings for eye (cataracts) and dental.  Dental is Monday and Thursday at the same site every week for virtually the entire field service.  Last field service, in 10 months, our dental team served over 12,000 patients and performed over 40,000 procedures.  The Eye Team uses several sites as the people they are seeking to serve have a much greater challenge with mobility.  We have screened for eyes every Tuesday and Wednesday since the first week of September.  The multiple sites present issues for me as the security plans change for each site; however, they are pretty much set now.

While what we do is important to the mission of the ship, it can get to be challenging because we usually don't see the "highs" of restoration of health.  Instead, for me, I have to say no to people several times at each screening as they have heard of the hospital ship and think maybe they can help . . . some of them are quite ill and unfortunately not with something we can help.  It can be depressing!!

Today, I was sitting at breakfast wondering what I would do on a Saturday . . . then one of my eye team friends reminded me that they had performed many cataract surgeries yesterday and the bandages were coming off this morning . ..  so I went down on the dock and got to see the miracle of sight restored!!!!  Several of the patients had been totally blind.  To see the looks of wonder and amazement when they realized they could see brought tears to my eyes.  Some just remained stoic, others stood up and grabbed the closest Mercy Shipper, hugged them, and repeated "Merci Beaucoup!!"

So, when the days are depressing, I will try to remember what a miracle happens every time someone has sight restored, has a tumor removed, is able to walk again!!

I've included some pictures from the eye team.

 

This was taken at an eye screening for senior citizens. 

I once was blind . . . .

 

 

But now I see . . . .

The  blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good tidings preached to them.  Matthew 11:5

That is why we are here!!!

Back on the Ship

Well, I'm back on the ship after a wonderful trip through the country of Congo.  We travelled over 1,400 kilometers up country to assess sites for our December screenings and to evaluate juvenile orthopedic patients.

Our team of 5 Mercy Shippers and 1 Government staff did great.  We achieved all of our goals, scheduled 27 kids for orthopedic surgery in the next few weeks, saw amazing things and returned safely.

On one of our first days we travelled a road that allowed us to average under 30 km per hour (18 mph)!  It was filled with holes, was narrow, had a lot of truck traffic and had super fine sand so everytime someone passed you it was like driving in a whiteout.  That led to many discussions and the final decision that we loaded our trucks on a cargo train in Brazzaville and flew back to Pointe Noire.

While we were up country, I had a cool experience.  We stayed with a mission family in a small town named Ollombo.  While I was helping them in their storage shed I spotted a box marked "Samaritan's Purse" (an organization that works to provide Christmas presents to kids in third world countries while sharing the Christmas story). They were presents being stored waiting for distribution this Christmas. This was very cool as friends of ours back in Owatonna oversee this for our church!  I took pictures and sent them back to our friends who were thrilled to see the outcome of the project!

We had a couple days of rain so that made some of the roads quite muddy.  We got to play with 4-wheel drive, both low and high range, and found that the winch mounted on the bumper really will pull you out!!

We continue to do our regular jobs, screening for me is becoming much calmer and more routine, school is now completing the first quarter for Denise. 

Here are some pictures of the upcountry trip . . .Enjoy!!