Oh, I Hear It's Christmas!

Time, as the saying goes, has flown...too long by far since our last update. I'm not really offering an excuse, but it's been SO busy here. But now, it's changed. Today we had a thankyou meal and reception for all the 100+ local day (and night) workers who have worked so hard in so many ways. Today the last three patients were discharged from the hospital, and about an hour later their beds etc had joined all the others and had been packed up and strapped down in readiness for our leaving Liberia in the next couple of weeks. The wards, the corridors...they are too quiet; no small children being towed up and down outside the Paeds ward in a 'Mercedes' cardboard box, no mamas laughing, no translators singing just because they are glad to be alive, no one walking or seeing or eating for the first time in years...or ever.

Of course life goes on, things to organise for Tenerife equipment wise, plans to check for after we arrive in Benin..plenty to do. Bu the echoes are too strong, it seems it is possible to be sad and happy at the same time. Happy memories of friends made, lives changed, places visited; and sadness, that these are now just memories. We actually have a very busy weekend coming up 'offship', but it's the beginning of the end. Yet we are in awe of what God has done, the times He has intervened and touched people in ways only He can do, and the times He has used people who love Him to do His work in His name. We feel so honoured to have a part of it all, even when it hurt, even now when we are so tired.

Soon we will be back to Europe, where the highways are usually maintained, where the cars never fall apart in the middle of the road, where cities have piped water and sewage and electricity cables. Where more than 74% of children will still be alive on their 5th birthday. Where it is rare for people to hide away, ostracised, because of some little bump that has now become a festering, oozing mass the size of a melon. Where most people have no time for Jesus Christ, have never had to chose whether to forgive and love the man, women or child-soldier who murdered their family and tried to ruin thir lives. Oh, and where the taxis do not all come from Holland (apart from IN Holland I suppose)!!!

This Christmas day, for most Liberians it will, of necessity, be like any other day; and yet many will choose to honour the Lord their God with all their heart and soul and mind. How much more should we, who have been blessed in so many ways?!

Thats enough for now, thank you to everyone who has encouraged, helped and supported us in so many ways this year...2009..bring it on!

This Week

Well, here goes for the 'little and often' approach to blogging! Firstly, it's official..Patricia is indeed Liberian! She has been 'mistaken' as a local many times during our time here, but earlier today she visited the orphanage and had a very friendly 'argument' with a couple of the older boys on this subject. They were adamant about this, even down to which tribe she was from, and what African name she should have! It's funny, because when we were in the Dominican Republic last year, people were sure she was Haitian! We know that she has an interesting recent ancestry, but it would be very interesting to try and trace it back a bit further.
What else? Some excitement at the start of the week...a flood and a birth! Totally unrelated by the way. One of the patients, being under 15, came in with his Mum. Usually, the patient will sleep on a bed in the ward, and the carer on a thin mattress under the bed! This Mum was 8 months pregnant, so she was sharing the bed itself. About 1am, she complained of pain, and was given a paracetamol and a hot towel, after all she had 4 weeks to go! At 4pm, she was most definitely in labour, and the ward doctor and an off-duty nurse who is actually a midwife were awoken. Forty minutes later...

Nancy, 4Lbs something, mother and baby fine-o. Last I saw, baby was asleep by her Mama's bed curled up in a blanket in a washing basket..no cots here, there's no maternity ward as this is mainly a surgical hospital.

The flood; well every week all the Operating Theatre areas get wiped down with disinfectant. The sterilising room (where all the surgical instruments etc are cleaned for re-use) was getting clean walls and ceiling when someone got too close to a fire sprinkler. Next, 80 gallons a minute of dirty water rushing out! Your shower will treat you to around 3 gallons per minute for comparision, so people came running fast with whatever they could to stop the water getting into other rooms. It was turned off before the ship sank, but only after the on-board tank ran out and the system started pumping dirty seawater instead. Well the cleaning is all done, but I've got a lot of repairing of equipment to do, as salty water and electronics DO NOT mix!!!!

Final comment. We went to Cheesemanburg again today to worship & fellowship. There were about 88 adults, and 118 children!!!! Children's church is lively to say the least, and they really don't have anything in the way of resources (paper, workbooks, colouring stuff). Even if they did have, they can't just photocopy worksheets or print them off. We are looking into getting some fuzzy felt things etc etc that could be re-used, and don't rely on expensive technology. They are such welcoming people, who have so little and yet have so much to give. And God is working in and through them!

The Rain in Liberia Falls Mainly.......Everywhere!

Yes, I know , tooooo long again! All I can say is 'sorry'!

Well, I'll put some pics in, they paint a thousand words so that'll save you some reading!

It's been raining a lot here (serious rain)! Less things happen 'off ship' in the rainy season, but here are some:

First up .............................

A nice pic of my beautiful wife don't you think? She isn't actually wearing the dress, but it is being held over her while she is being presented with it, as is the lady on her right. This is the last day of a mental health seminar on 'healing the wounds of (mental) trauma'. It provides biblically centred tools to help Pastors & their wives to council and pray for some of the many, many people affected by the last 14 or so years of civil war. It teaches on forgiveness, reconciliation, healing etc; were not talking handling someone being hurt because another has been given a job that they feel that they deserve or something like that. No, it was an incredibly evil and bloody civil war, and too many people saw, experienced or were forced to carry out atrocities that left deep wounds, physical, emotional and spiritual. If our son were Liberian and living here during the war, he would quite likely have been abducted by one faction or another, and pschologically or chemically (drugs) forced to carry and use an AK47!!!!!! If that sort of think happened, then I'll leave you to consider what else went on. I think many Christians who lived through it all are wondering if they could've done more to bring peace, even though many gave their lives to do that where they were. Clearly there is need for healing there.

OK, time to lighten up! A birthday party for Korpo, one of the 'dayworkers'. We are blessed to have around 50 local folks working with us on-board, at clinics etc. This lady lives about 10 minutes drive from the ship, and we were delighted to be invited. She looks lovely, but just think, she has no electricity, so how did her party clothes get washed and ironed? The answer involves a charcoal fire, just the same as is used for cooking everywhere. (This is why there are many children in the hospital on-ship with contractures; bad burns that have healed in such a way that limbs can't really move anymore). It was a delightful afternoon, and it was humbling to know that she had saved up for a long time to be able to pay for the food ingredients and drinks.

OK, last section. Children in an orphanage Patricia has started to visit.

Say Ahhh!
It's yellow, it's a car, so in Liberia that's a taxi! They are pretty much the only transport for most Liberians...about 8 passengers plus 'luggage' in each one!

And finally, school onboard. These students are learning about...well there IS a clue in the picture! This is actually Patricia's 'Health Studies' class, and she invited a guest to teach about the skeleton and muscles and movemnts (the lady is actually a physiotherapist and a Mum onboard). As you see, the teacher to pupil ratio is very good!

Well, enough for now. More soon!!!

Yes we are still here!

My goodness, it's the second week of August already. So here I am apologising for the long wait before our next blog entry again! I think we will try little and (more) often in future, and see how that works!

Well, it's rainy season for sure now. Actually it isn't as seriously rainy as we'd expected..after all, it can rain for a fortnight without stopping at home, and the longest we've had here is three days and nights so far. Still, some of our US friends in particular think that this is serious rain, and that they should confine themselves to the dryness of the ship! Truthfully though, it must be quite horrendous having to live in a shack with a leaky roof etc in the rains. No sewers inside or out, no piped water, no public electricity or other fuel, roads mainly made of mud and stone. Amazingly, most people manage to look perfectly clean and tidy, in fact, the ladies clothes in particular are bright and colourful. Oh, and if any of you reading this have recently spent mega- bucks for a pram or pushchair (buggy/stroller), well all you need is a 'lappa'. This is a long length of fabric which you use to swaddle/tie your baby or child to your back. They stay there while you get on with whatever, perfectly comfortable, asleep when tired, leaving you hands free. I see Mothercare profits slumping any minute now!

Of course this comes in useful when crossing rivers when carrying stuff...as you see. Mercy Ships has an agriculture training project running in a rural village about 1hr from here (or more, depends on the size of the potholes/ whether any rivers have burst their banks etc). During the school holidays, there was a summer 'playscheme' thing run, and it included a trip to the village.

On the right there is..well, just look at the sign. It was a rainy day when a party of us went to see this rubber plantation, about two hours from here. With the price of oil being so high, this natural rubber source (as opposed to oil synthesised from oil) is probably worth more than ever. Liberia has rubber, high grade iron ore, and diamonds of course.. in fact many natural resources. I hope that her citizens get to benefit from them more than they historically have done. With the Godly President that Liberia now has, I think that they might very well do so.

I'll add a few more pictures of this huge place:

The accomodation at the bottom is new, and is shared by many people. Sadly, much of it is like the other picture.

Elliot is back in school this week..it's an early return compared to the UK. He has a new class teacher, who I think will be kind but firm...which is just right for a class of more boys than girls I think. Two age groups are together, which in total is an enormous six children!!! So far, so good, he seems to be enjoying it.

Weekend off-ship stuff is church in Cheesmanburg on Sunday, where we now help out with Children's Church. There's about 80 kids, with almost zero resources, but they are wonderful! On alternate Saturdays Patricia is going to an orphanage near here with some other folks from the ship. There are many, many orphans here in Liberia due to the war and disease. They are amazing though, and, like oftentimes in this crazy, topsy-turvy place, we give a little and they give back so much more!! I'll post some pics next time.

On the left is a can of Vimto..as you've never seen it before! It was my treat a while ago, and I thought I'd share it with you.

OK, my brain is seizing up, so until next time soon, thanks for your love, prayers and support.

Rainy Season Approaches

Time really seems to be flying by at the moment, I really didn't think it had been so long since our last blog entry! We've all been really busy lately, even Elliot!

Patricia has been involved with training with the Mental Health people, which has been off and on-ship. They have basically been teaching Biblical trauma counselling to local Pastors & their wives. There was also a Pastors Conference on board which she helped out in. Then there's writing patient stories and 'Mercy Minutes' for the Communications Dept, and also the Stationery department, making sure that all departments have enough printer paper and not too many pens and pencils etc; a big job in itself. Being responsible for any and everything to do with 'office supplies' is not Patricia's favourite job in the whole world, but she is making great improvements, believe me.

Thought you might like to see a couple of photos of Andrew, now an 'ex' patient. He came back to visit recently, it was great to see him again. Just to give you an idea of how most people have to live here, I've included a pic of his home by the sea. Sadly, after one of the staff who was involved in his medical care during his stay on board visited him at his home, he, and his home were robbed of most of the very little he had. The robbery was apparently precipitated 'as the Americans must have given him things'. Welcome to the daily challanges of living in Liberia, for the locals, and us.

Also included, a pic of Alfred, who has been here for quite a while. He had been discharged, but had infection problems with his foot. He's quite a character, and, like many 14 year olds anywhere in the world in his current environment, seems to rather enjoy trying to chat up the female nurses!

Patricia saw a club foot operation recently, and no she didn't faint. All staff can request to watch almost any operation, but there are, rightly, rules about what photos can be taken. This one is actually just before, some of you may be pleased to know that I didn't add any 'during' ones!

She has also been to a baby shower; some nationalities have them before the birth, some after! Apparently the 'diaper cake' is quite traditional; useful rather than tasty.

Elliot has been part of the junior school running club every Wednesday, where they run up & down the dock, have energenic games and healthy snacks. The certificates were given out last week, and he received a medal for totalling over 26 miles altogether! He as also been learning piano, although at the moment he seems to be doing better with the recorder.

We did make time to go and visit a local(ish) wildlife park...well, Liberia's only one I think. A few land-rover's worth of us went, and it was quite fun. We ended up having a meal, and I had a can of Coka Cola made in Algiers!

The rusty crane is a constant companion on our starboard side; every weekend a few locals come and try to remove a few more bits to sell for scrap, often at considerable risk, as pieces come crashing down. People will do almost anything to make some money, usually they're not being greedy, just trying to survive.

The only pic I haven't yet mentioned is one of Paticia with Blessing. This brave, fiesty lady (well both of them are actually!) is gradually having her lower face reconstructed after 'Noma', a particularly nasty disease that makes your flesh drop off. It's fairly common here, but then lots of bad things are fairly common here. Some examples; 25% of children will die before their 4th birthday, from water-bourne diseases or daily hazards. Most people cook on open charcoal fires, many children get burnt from falling in them. Infected burns can kill you here. The 7 year old daughter of one of the hospital translators didn't come home from school a few weeks ago; her mother eventually found her at the side of the road on her route home. She was dead, knocked down by a passing car. Nobody knew anything. There are no ambulances here, and not a lot of A&E departments. No one saw anything, I think because until recently, during the civil war, to know anything and speak it out would probably bring a painful death to you and you loved ones. Old habits die hard. It is a hard, cruel palce here often, and yet under people's tough protection mechanisms they are amazingly kind and loving. The sister of a friend of Patricia's who is a translator here was doing Patricia's hair. She clearly wasn't well, and apparently had been diagnosed with typhoid. Around 35% of adults who get it will die of it if untreated. The treatment was unaffordable to her; $10 US for one simple course of tablets...back home Patricia would've paid at least ten times that for her hairdo, so it was an easy decision to give her the money for the prescription. Once these stories & statistics were about 'other people', now they are about friends, children of friends, people we meet in the street. These folks are really just the same as us, they really, really are. They just happen to live here. We say that when people see us, we want them to see Jesus. What Would Jesus Do....we can wear it on a wristband, or live it out in our lives in the power of His Spirit!

I think that's it for now..hopefully not so long until next time. Please pray for health and strength, it 'takes it out of you' here, and we're all a bit run down at the moment. I've just been reminded that 'our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against principalities & powers...', I need to remember that. Wouldn't be anywhere else though, even though, as the title says, the rain is geting more frequent!

Your Delay is not Your Denial!

Well, update due so here goes (and if you want an explaination of the title, read on)! It's been a busy month here, especially for Patricia, who has been offered four 'jobs'! She has spent a while trying to find one, and now, like buses, lots arrived at the same time. She had been helping out in Pharmacy doing stock checking stuff, and did such a good job of that that she is now stock checking stationary part time. The job that she is most excited about though is working as part of the mental health team. This means that she
will be doing a mixture of admin, and going out into communities meeting people. This is what she really has a heart to do, to come alongside people and be a vehicle of God's love and power! For the past few weeks she has been visiting patients on the wards and befriending them, which she has also enjoyed, as those of you who know Patricia will understand. She also met one lady who was coming to visit, but had been operated on previously on the Anastasis for a VVF. This basically means that she had an obstructed labour, a stillborn baby, and damage to her that resulted in her constantly leaking urine. The operation was successful, and she later conceived and gave birth to a lovely boy. Patricia found this out, and asked if the lady could tell her story to the ladies currently awaiting VVF surgery, as an encouragement to them. They were indeed encouraged, and she was then asked by the Communications Department to write up (with permission) the story for possible publication! After her story was submitted, she was asked if she would join the department as a writer...job number four!!!

Elliot has been busy; he has had some of his schoolwork on display at a school concert. He has also been learning the recorder, and, thanks to some help from Mum, learnt all the songs for the concert, so was in it, doing two duets n'all! He seemed to pick it up quite quickly, and now he can play a reasonable nmber of notes, enjoys trying out new tunes sometimes, just because he enjoys it!

Last Sunday we went to a church about 4 minutes drive away with some others from the ship. We left the noise and dirt and bustle of town and arrived in Cheesemanburg, a place in the countryside. It was so beautiful; green trees, birds, and people with warm hearts toward us and firey ones for Jesus! Even here though, the war had left its cruel reminders; derelict buildings with bullet and shell holes, families without a parent, and many orphans. We were unable to go there again today (read on for the reason), but we are sure we will be back there soon.

This morning was a time that I am finding hard to find the words about, but I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for it. We went to worship with many of the patients, and quite a few staff, in one of the wards on the hospital deck. The high praises, the prayers, the testimonies of God's faithfulness and power and love were incredible. I felt so privileged to worship our God with these people. I was over 4,000 miles from home with people from totally different backgrounds to me, yet I felt totally at home; it was a tiny glimpse of heaven! We especially went to be a support to a great man called Andrew, one of the patients that we have got to know. He was preaching, and he shared part of his testimony, some of which we already knew. I will tell some of his story another time, but I will say that he has suffered such unbelievable
afflictions, and yet his confidence was in God; as he said "my confession to myself was, my delay (in healing and restoration) is not my denial." Jesus is restoring him day by day, and it's a joy to see. He also is probably the most skilful bongo player I have ever heard! Quite a morning, and I'm not ashamed to say I wept in that meeting, because Jesus was there in a way I have never experienced. The afternoon had a treat in store too, as I found that we could see the FA semi
-final match of Barnsley v Cardiff live on a TV (yes here, in West Africa); and Cardiff won! Hopefully we'll be able to see the final next month.

Well, enough for now, I'm off to enjoy some great home-made yoghurt; a big thank you to Anne-Marie for giving that to us!!

Liberia Ahoy!

Well, OK, we have been in Liberia for over three weeks now, but the title seemed appropriate! It's been a busy time, with preparations of one sort or another in readiness for the first patients arriving on board on the 20th, after the main screening day on Monday 18th. That was a long day, with most people involved setting off from the ship at 6am in a convoy of Land Rovers to travel about 45 minutes to the sports stadium which was the screening location. We arrived as dawn was breaking, to find hundreds of people already there waiting for us, many having walked throughout the night (basically no streetlights here) or 'camped' there in the hope of being seen earlier on in the day. Well, more people kept coming, and the last person who was accepted for hospital admission was seen at 10pm!!! For the majority of them, it was probably the only opportunity they would have to be seen by a doctor in their lives. People who had burns whose skin had basically stuck together, causing restrictive movement of limbs, others with huge tumours on their faces or necks, those with cleft lips or palates (often adults), club feet, ladies who had had obstructed labour and who were now completely incontinent...the list goes on. Many of these folks would have been objects of ridicule and shame, where the physical affliction was only part of the story; for each person there was a story to tell.

Patricia has been getting to know some of the patients, and yesterday took Elliot with her to one of the wards to do some cardmaking with some of them, which everyone really enjoyed. I was working at the time, sorting out some autoclave problems, and doing my best to conserve water while testing them, which isn't easy as they use quite a lot. It's very strange walking up any of the hospital deck corridors as it feels like I'm in the UK; British power sockets, same sort of equipment as you could see at home, but look out of a window or talk to a passing day-worker and you are quickly back in Africa again!

We were also honoured to be visited by Her Excellency the President of Liberia, who came to thank us all for being here. She seems to be a lady who is genuinely trying to do the best for her country, not long after so many years of horrific civil war. Just take a look at the rather smart looking bodyguards (there were more not so easily seen) and you are reminded of this. Still, things must be improving, because for her last visit they didn't even bother being discrete with their weaponry!

To close, a photo of Gary Parker & Don Stevens, Chief Surgeon and Founder of Mercy Ships respectively. Both have, frequently, met with various presidents and other leaders of nations; when George Bush was in Liberia last week as a guest of the Liberian President he personally called Don up to the dais to talk. Yet they both have their feet very firmly on the ground, and their hearts in heaven, if you can understand that. They do what they do with a Christ-given passion for the 'unimportant' people; they treat both presidents and paupers with the same love, respect and care-I've seen it, and they are pouring out their lives daily doing that for His glory. I commend them to you and your prayers!

Our Adventure: The Second Phase.

Hi all,

Thought it was time to bring you up to speed with where we're at and what we're doing. Well, after an absolutely great seven weeks spent at home, enjoying Christmas with family and friends in Cardiff, Preston, Leeds and Harrogate, we left on 15th January to board the 'Africa Mercy' which was docked in the port of Santa Cruz, Tenerife.

Upon our arrival, we were registered as 'new crew' and shown to our 4-berth cabin which is situated on deck five. I was immediately very pleased with as it has a good sized lounge with a small kitchen area and 2 bedrooms leading off from it. It also has windows in every room (except the loo, which doesn't really count!) which means it is quite light and airy. I spent the first few days just thanking God for His goodness and faithfulness because it was what I'd prayed for.

We have met and been introduced to literally hundreds of people so much so that remembering names and who's who is becoming quite tricky! So far we, along with other new crew members have been given a grand tour of the ship so that we know where everything necessary is located and have had a 'ship safety briefing' involving a 'test' requiring us to show we know of two escape routes off the ship in case of emergency!!!! Let's hope and pray it never comes to that!

Tomorrow we have our first 'at sea fire and lifeboat drill' where we practise evacuating the ship in the event of a fire, of course.

Tony did not even have the benefit of an adjustment period as he was asked if he could possibly be ready to start work the very next day ater we'd arrived, therefore he has been kept very busy. Elliot made friends with the children of another British family within minutes of us entering the dining hall on the day we arrived and promptly asked if he could go to school the next day!!! He has got on so well and has adjusted to ship life like a duck to water (you might say)!

On Wednesday 30th January we finally set sail for Liberia; we will probably be at sea for approximately six days. As we left, the sea was a little choppy but it became calmer as the journey progressed. We've also had dolphins swimming along side the ship - they are absolutely amazing to see!! To be in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight just makes one think of the awesome-ness of God.

Most people on board ship (including Tony) are now busy preparing for screening and arrival of new patients coming aboard for various treatments; lots of prayer meetings and also lots of talks regarding safety issues about when in Liberia are going on presently. There is definitely an air of excitement and anticipation for the approaching outreach.

We ask that you continue to keep us in prayer, praying specifically for the following things:

that we acclimatise very quickly to the weather in Liberia,

I (Patricia) am employed in the right area where I can be most useful and effective,

for God to meet the needs of people ( on and off the ship)

miraculous healing for those who are unable to be treated by the medical staff on the Africa Mercy

for the progress of the people of Liberia.

Thanks and be blessed


Tony, Patricia and Elliot