The most exciting adventure of all....

We're getting married!!!

In case people still follow my blog I wanted to update you all to let you know that I am getting married on April 18th! Remember the guy I met on the ship? Well turns out he is the most incredible man I have ever met and God has been good to us in giving us clarity and certainty in spending the rest of our lives together...serving Him.

For details on our story, our plans, gifts, and our wedding ceremony itself please see

http://jeffreyandangela2010.ourweddingday.com/

Lord willing we will be serving in Uganda for six months after getting married so I'm sure I will have plenty of great stories to share during that time! Thank you for your prayers. I would ask for continued prayer during this time of transition and change, as wonderful as it is. :) Thank you!

Safari!

How often do you get to flee from a stampede of wild buffalo on a mountain bike or chase a giraffe through a grassy field or nearly drown in the white water rapids of the Nile river? Once in a lifetime opportunities, if you ask me. :)
After spending months working long hours on the ship I figured I would be ready for a vacation. I decided to join three friends on a two week safari through East Africa. This vacation was anything but relaxing and yet created an unforgettable adventure.

Our safari began in Nairboi, Kenya, where we loaded onto a very large overland truck with about twenty other adventurers.
Long, bumpy, uncomfortable drives seemed to be the name of the game as everyone pitched in to do their assigned chores of food prep, truck clean and pot wash to keep us running smoothly. In order to keep costs low we camped the entire time. Although we got tired of the hard ground, burning out flashlights, and being wet and smelly for days on end, Mel and I became pros at setting up and tearing down our tent in a hurry! We often did this in the dark as we grew accustomed to 5am starts. Not much of a chance to be "girly" on this trip. Toasted bread on the fire, some instant coffee and our day began.

First stop: Masai Mara, Kenya. Here we had our first full day of game driving. I felt like I was in a movie as we drove alongside lions, giraffes, zebras, leopards, and about every other wild African animal you can name. I was in awe at the majesty of them all, watching them in their natural environment.







The Masai people are a people rich in tradition and culture. They are known for wearing bright colors, specifically red as it wards off predators, and for adorning their necks and widely stretched earlobes with beads and jewels. We were invited to tour their village and several men came back to our campsite that night to dance. I was intrigued by what we learned. Masai boys become men at age fifteen when they are tied to a pole in the middle of the village and publicly circumcised. They are not allowed to show any signs of pain. In order to become warriors they are then sent out into the bush for three years with the goal of killing a lion. Eventually they return and are granted wives based on the number of cattle they own or how high they can jump (seriously!). Unfortunately there is a severe drought in Kenya right now and their cows are dying quickly.
Masai women are expected to build a mud/cow dung house for their husbands before they marry. It saddened me to hear that they also continue to practice female circumcision and that women are completely controlled by men. What an interesting culture.





Next stop: Kampala, Uganda. What a beautiful country! The terrain is stunning and the culture on a whole felt more welcoming and safe than Kenya. Mel and I enjoyed running down Ugandan roads for some exercise.
Lake Bunyoni: we made this our "base camp" for several days. Here we bordered both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We were able to take a day trip into Rwanda to visit the Kigali Memorial Center. This center is dedicated to the mass genocide that occurred in Rwanda not even a decade ago. My heart absolutely broke as I read accounts of people watching their family members raped, beaten and killed. How can humans be so evil? It saddened my heart so much. Various other genocides that have occurred worldwide were also highlighted and I became angry at my own ignorance. How can something so awful be happening and we barely hear word of it in our comfortable little worlds? Obviously we cannot save the entire world but I felt like God was showing me how much His heart breaks every minute.
We also visited Hotel Rwanda (from the movie) where many Tootsis were hidden and their lives spared. Quite a humbling day. I was left with the question: are there even resources available now to help deal with the aftermath of such an atrocity?
Not really.




The next day was a bit more fun...an early 4am start to go gorilla trekking! Only eight people can go each day so our group met the guides and set out to find the largest family of gorillas in the world: 34 in total. There are only about 700 gorillas left in the wild so trekking rules are strict in that you are only allowed one hour with them once they are spotted.
This was no easy hike! We scaled straight uphill through thick lush rainforest vegetation- falling and getting attacked by fire ants along the way. :) The guides know the forest like their own backyard and after a couple hours we sighted one. Quietly we approached them and stood amidst the whole family as they ate, climbed trees, beat their chest, and at one point charged straight at us. "Don't be afraid and don't run" the guides said.
What a thrill!

It rained buckets on our hike back but getting muddy and drenched was the least of our worries...driving home on the steep, muddy roads was a different story. We prayed hard for protection as the car slid towards the cliffs edge on several occasions. Praise God we were fine. :)






Some kids from the orphanage came for a visit and danced with us by the fire. So fun!



Doing laundry was often attempted in vain. We were never blessed with quite enough sun on our days off to dry our clothes so all of us smelled quite damp and musty.



I enjoyed spending lots of time with God as we had ample time to ourselves either on the truck or at the campsite. It was hard to have limited internet access and not be able to communicate with people (especially Jeffrey :)) but it taught me to spend my time praying for them instead.
I actually enjoyed studying Revelations this week. I was so encouraged to keep on being obedient and 'endure patiently.'
"I know that you have little strength yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name...since you have kept my command to endure patiently I will also keep you from the hour of trial. I am coming soon. Hold onto what you have!" Rev 3:10-11.
I also prayed that this safari would not be merely about fun but that somehow we would be used as examples of Christ. God honored us with several chances to explain and show what we believe. How humbling to be used as His ambassadors! I love that we can claim this promise:
"they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger, never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" Rev 7:15-17.

Next stop: Jinja, Uganda:
Here some of us opted to go extreme white water rafting down the Nile! I have to admit, I was a bit nervous- this full day of rafting included braving a couple Grade 5 rapids and even demanded that we get out and carry our raft around a Grade 6 (fatal) rapid. Our guide didn't comfort us much when he said that all the rafts had to stick together today due to a hippo sighting in our water recently. Uffda. :) There were moments of panic but in reality we had such a blast! What a rush. Again, another favorite day. :)
We got to celebrate Melanie's 24th birthday on safari! The poor girl had to sit in a truck all day but her day improved with a long country run and a night in an actual bed to escape the rain. We loved feeling like girls again...it's amazing what a bath, bed, and face mask will do! We had some good laughs eating cake with our fingers and trying to open our wine with a coat hanger. We are so unprepared. :)






Kembu, Uganda:
Today a few of us opted to bike through Hell's Gate Natl Park, getting up close and personal with the wildlife. It was so much fun to be active and enjoy the sun, chasing giraffes and warthogs through grassy fields. We then hiked down into Hell's Gate- where Tomb Raider was filmed. :)






Nakuru Natl Park held some unique sights...rhinos, flamingos and vast salt fields!

Dec 5th brought us back to Nairobi. Two weeks of camping together brings you quite close as a group so we celebrated our last day together by going out to Carnivores, a world famous restaurant that serves all-you-can-eat meat. What a great way to end our time!
I spent a couple more days exploring Nairobi, a day in Istanbul and I was on my way home. I am so thankful for the fun experiences I had! Thanks for your prayers. :)

The end of a chapter...

Have you ever read a really good book where each chapter captures your attention? Do you ever get "that" feeling when you finish a chapter...the sad yet excited feeling? Sad because a section of the book that you really enjoyed is coming to a close...sad because the new chapter may mean new characters, new situations, or a different plot yet excited because you are loving this book and you want to know so badly what may happen next. You are excited because you know you can't stay in one chapter forever and that with each character or plot that continues to develop the story only gets better. You are excited for the unknown because you are holding it in light of the joy and delight of the present. That is how I feel today.
Tomorrow I will leave Mercy Ships; I will leave Benin, my home for the majority of this year. I hope you have been able to tell from my pictures and posts that I have absolutely loved my time here. I could say that Africa has stolen my heart or that my heart remains with Mercy Ships...but the truth is that my heart is most fulfilled when I am serving the needy, wherever or however that may be. This year it has been through Mercy Ships and for that I am so grateful. As sad as I am to leave (especially because I am leaving behind such dear friends) I am feeling ready. I believe this is partly because the entire ship is in "transition mode." The hospital is closing down. This week is our final week of surgery! I have been working a lot and have especially loved my little cleft lip and palate babies. :) I got some great cuddles in this week, which made me smile. Being a pediatric nurse is great!
We really need to be praying for the patients who have wounds that are not healing or who we were unable to treat. The ship must sail soon but there are always mixed emotions with this as we are leaving so much need behind. We just cannot help everyone. Please pray that God continues the work He has started here...in this country and in the lives of our patients.
Last night we were honored by the president of Benin by being invited to his "palace" for dinner! There was a lot of waiting, sitting, and speeches involved but was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The president awarded some of our leaders with the highest place of honor in Benin and thanked us for our service. The meal was so formal and beautiful! They truly went all out. They even had native dancers from different parts of Benin as our dinner entertainment! What fun.
It is also a bit sad to come to the end of the Bible study I was a part of called "Breaking Free." God taught me so much through this study and honestly it was quite painful. More than anything, though, I learned that I could trust God, trust in His goodness and love. That in itself was worth the pain! :)
Tomorrow i fly to Kenya to go on a 2 week safari with three girlfriends from the ship. Many people think we are on a vacation here in Africa but the truth is we have worked harder than ever. So, we are taking a couple weeks to see the sights and enjoy Africa...I hope. :) Please pray for safety and health if you think of it! Two weeks of "roughing it" in Kenya, Uganda, DRC and Rwanda could be tough..:)
Thank you again to everyone who supported me in my time here. I honestly feel so humbled to be used by God at all, let alone overseas. I look forward to where God will use me next! I have been praying for you my friends and family who have kept in touch and am so thankful for you. :)

I wanted to share a touching story of one of my recent patients. It was written to share with everyone!

Alba’s Tears
by Megan Petock


Ankosua was outside carefully mixing herbs and water to create a concoction prescribed by a traditional doctor in her village. It was mid-afternoon, and her daughter, eight-year-old Alba, was sitting alone in their home. “She should be at school right now,” she thought. Struggling to hold back tears, she poured boiling water over the crushed herbs and sieved the mixture into a cup.

Two years earlier, an outgoing and vivacious Alba was attending school with her friends. Now, she spent her days hiding in a dark room, too insecure to look people in the eyes.

When the drink had cooled, Ankosua walked inside the home and handed Alba the cup. Taking the cup, Alba tilted her head back, creating a small gap between her cheek and the large tumor that filled her mouth. Slowly, she poured the liquid into the small gap and swallowed in intervals.

While she watched her daughter struggle, Ankosua thought back to the day she first spotted the small bulge on Alba’s gum line. Never could she have imagined the fear and discouragement it would cause her heart.

After Alba had drunk the entire cup, she began crying.

Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into the tear-stained eyes of her daughter. Slowly, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong.

But Ankosua was depressed. Alba had performed this routine hundreds of times, but the tumor hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was growing. At times, it felt like it was shooting out of her mouth, causing her great pain. Ankosua realized the traditional herbs were not working. There were no other options. All she could do was keep trying and pray the herbs would begin to work.

***********

“When the tumor first appeared, my husband and I took Alba to the hospital, but we didn’t have money to pay for it, so they wouldn’t treat her. We had to use traditional medicine,” said Ankosua. Alba was taken out of school so her mother could give her the traditional medicine daily.

When asked how the community treated Alba, Ankosua stared at the floor and remained silent. After a 10-second pause, she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and she painfully replied, “Some people received Alba with good hands. They prayed for her and encouraged me. But others shunned her. They said, ‘Go away, we don’t want to see you.’”

Whenever it was time to eat or drink, Alba hid herself from other people. If she went out in public, she kept the tumor covered with a rag. It served as a disguise and caught the foul-smelling and constant drainage.

After two years of watching her daughter struggle, a woman in her village told Ankosua of a hospital in Benin that was performing free surgery. Finally – a glimmer of hope! They scrounged to get enough money for transportation and traveled to the hospital, which was hours away.

However, Ankosua’s new-found hope quickly morphed into deep disappointment.

“We were there for two days, and nobody attended to us. I asked a woman who worked there why we weren’t being helped. She said, ‘They don’t do surgery for free, you have to deposit money.’ I trembled when she told me that. I had come with nothing,” said Ankosua sadly.

After Ankosua explained that she had no money for treatment, the woman told her about Mercy Ships. “This woman had heard Mercy Ships was in town, helping people and healing people for free. She gave me directions to the Africa Mercy, and I immediately went,” Ankosua added.

****
Still attached to noisy monitors and IV fluids, Alba had been dozing in and out of sleep since returning to the Africa Mercy ward. Finally, a few hours after surgery, she opened her eyes and sat up. Seeing she was awake her nurse came to Alba’s bedside and handed her a small mirror.

Alba looked down, paused in a state of bewilderment, and began touching the empty space on her mouth. The tumor was gone. After 20 seconds of staring, a single tear rolled down her cheek. With great determination, she tried not to cry. But another and then another tear soon followed. Finally, she gave up trying to hold them back and cried freely. Alba’s tears were earned through years of heartache and rejection. They were mature and raw – heavy tears for an eight-year-old to cry.

Ankosua stood next to her bed the entire time, carefully observing her daughter. When Alba began crying, she turned away. Ankosua couldn’t bear looking into her tear-stained eyes. After two hopeless years of discouragement and depression, healing had finally come. The mixture of joy and pain in that moment expressed itself in tears.

When Alba regained her composure, Ankosua returned to the bedside. Carefully, she wrapped her arm around Alba, who then buried her head on Ankosua’s chest. As Alba’s tears collected on her shirt, Ankosua did her best to be strong. But her heart was too overwhelmed with joy. Tears of relief and joy flooded her eyes as well.

They sat and cried together, each tear serving as a testimony to the transforming power of God’s mercy.

You know you're in Africa when...

You know you’re working in Africa when:
You run out of the following supplied and must find alternative substitutes for the next 6 wks:
Gloves
10ml syringes
alcohol swabs
paper towels
20 gauge needles

You’re mixing up different milks you found on the street to make a high calorie nutritional supplement

You’re working 65hours a week without getting paid overtime…without getting paid at all

Your patients are served fish heads for dinner

You go to a trash littered fisherman’s beach on your day off to lay out, relax and enjoy “nature”

You not exactly sure what the name on the medication box is because its either in German or Italian or French or Swedish…

Nursing in Africa is, well…different. ☺

These last few weeks have been life changing. Literally. I recovered from malaria, which was slow and painful, but in the process met a boy that I really like! God’s timing is amazing.
Since fully recovering I have been working a lot of hours. We are nearing the end of the outreach, which means increased pressure on everyone to see as many patients as possible. People are running on empty so prayers for endurance and perseverance are appreciated. Besides running low on morale, we are running short on supplies as well. God is faithful and our prayer is that the patients that really need to be here will come for their surgeries. What do we do with patients who need follow-up care that we will be unable to provide?
I have been learning a lot about allowing God to keep us in His perfect peace if our minds our steadfast as we trust in Him...and truly resting in His authority.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.” Isa 26:3-4
“…we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ” 2 Cor 10:5
How powerful that is, even when you are laying sick in bed, feeling lonely and miserable.

I leave in a couple weeks and am feeling slightly nostalgic. ☺ I have been so blessed by amazing friends here who challenge me in my faith, pray with me, share with me and have fun with me. It’s not often you can find girls with such similar hearts! If I have realized anything it is that we all come from broken pasts and times of rebellion and anger at God. The difference is, however, that although God allowed us to fall into a pit, He was faithful to help us be obedient in climbing out. Obedience sure isn’t easy, but the joy and peace that are rewarded are priceless!

A recent experience

It has been a while since I have had a chance to share what God has been doing here. First of all, thank you for your prayers! Chitra, the guard who got hit, is healing well and all of us with malaria are almost fully recovered. For those that didn’t know, I came down with malaria last week. I actually had a wonderful week at work before I got sick and had written about one experience that I wanted to share with you but never had a chance to actually post it. I have been feeling so blessed to be called to work with thes people. I know I have thanked you before, but I want to thank you again for helping me make this possible. I am truly grateful.

October 7, 2009

Today I was inspired, humbled, ashamed and burdened.

I had the opportunity to join Suzanne, our palliative care nurse, on her morning visits out into the community. As the palliative nurse, Suey spends her days visiting patients of all ages in various locations who are dying. Because we were unable to help these patients with surgery, palliative care offers them pain medications, supplies to dress their wounds, calorie boosting nutrition, and money for food.

The first lady we visited is living with the largest malignant facial tumor I have ever seen. It has completely disfigured her face and has overtaken her mouth so that she is only able to drink. Somehow she is overflowing with the joy of the Lord. We were welcomed into her one-room house and sat with her on the bed as she preached to US of the goodness of God. Her daughter, who takes wonderful care of her mother, cleaning her open sores several times a day, chased her small 2 year old son Glory around the room as we prayed with this patient and gave her more pain medications to control her constant discomfort.

The young boy we visited next was equally inspiring. A lively 15-year-old with a contagious smile, he is dying of rapidly growing lymphomas. He takes care of all his needs himself, telling us what supplies he low on and how the medications are treating his pain. He diligently works through the workbooks Suzanne gave him and loves going to church to pray for 3-4 hours a day! He is praying in faith that God will heal him before Christmas. His mother is a strong, beautiful woman who wanted to sing and worship with us before we left.

Unfortunately the common theme of the day seemed to be the absence of male presence. The father was absent in each home we visited, absent for years, leaving the women responsible for finding ways to provide food as well as care for the entire family, including the sick family member. Not only that, but in two of the three cases, the man of the house had actually cursed the sick family member at some point and the voodoo belief that the curse was the reason for the illness was definitely present. What would entice a father to do that, especially to his teenage son? The devil, no doubt. While the strength, joy and faithful toil of the women inspired me, I came away shocked and ashamed by this much too prevalent reality.

As I said, it was a wonderful chance to be challenged, humbled and inspired. Being welcomed into a dying person’s home was so intimate. Not only that, the conditions in which they must live are amazing. One small, hot room with one bed for the entire family sufficed, filled with the pungent odor of the trash that was covering the dirt ground outside the door. What a reminder that I have been blessed with so much more than enough!

Prayers Please

Sometimes it feels like the world is falling apart.
That is when you have to realize you are not in control and all you can do is pray.
In the past two weeks, health and safety on this ship have seemed to be spinning out of control and that is why I ask for prayer: for the Lord's protection and encouragement.
Two weeks ago, despair hit the hospital walls as one of our translators was hit by a truck and killed; another translator was attacked by thieves who stabbed him and nearly cut his thumb off.
This last weekend two of our crew members grew incredibly sick and were admitted to the ICU for malaria. I had been feeling quite unwell but was sure it was not serious and did not want to make a big deal of it. I decided to pull it together for work as we were short on nurses. Luckily two of my friends convinced me to get tested for malaria, which came back positive. I was immediately summoned to bed and rightfully so. Within hours I was in so much pain I could barely move. My head throbbed and every bone and muscle in my body ached without relief. I joined the other two in ICU and after a few boluses of IV fluids and some good IV pain medications, my headache finally let up. (Not to mention, my parents were praying fervently by this point and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that their prayers were heard in alleviating my pain). I never realized how serious malaria can be: the strain we caught is the only potentially fatal strain which can cause cerebral malaria, pleural edema, anemia, etc. Praise the Lord we are recovering. I am now just feeling incredibly weak as my body tries to recouperate. Prayers for all of us are welcome as it is easy to get discouraged with the slow healing process.
Today Chitra, one of our security guards, got hit on his morning run (the morning run I always do at 6am with them). Luckily he was running alongside medical staff that included a surgeon and several nurses. He was unconscious and bleeding profusely. We rushed him back here to be scanned and examined and are praying against any lasting head injury.
This may come across as depressing. I guess all Im asking for is a bit of prayer as it seems to us that things just keep happening. It is a wonderful chance for us to look for God's grace in all of this and trust His goodness. Thank you.