Time to pray

(Above: an iPhone picture of my favorite painting on the ship, it always reminds me to pray)

 

Wednesday the 28th is the patient screening day. We will see thousands of people and select many of our surgical candidates for the next 10 months. Even as I write this, there are potential patients out there- people we can help who have heard of the screening day and are desperate for hope. For these people it will take embracing the hope that someone might be able to help them, and also the risk of being disappointed, to gather the courage to come to the screening day. For someone who may have been living as an outcast for years it takes courage to come and stand in that line.

Please pray that those people would come! God knows the name of each person hiding from the world because of a tumor disfiguring their face. He knows every hurt of every woman who went into labor but was left with a lifeless baby and a humiliating physical condition- one that is accompanied by abandonment by her husband and family all too often. God knows every village with a mother cradling her little baby with a cleft palate- even though her family is telling her the child is cursed. These are the people we are here to serve, and it is our honor during these months to know them and have a small role in the story God is writing for each of their lives. The God I serve loves these people unimaginably! Please pray courage and peace over them as we meet them tomorrow.

During the screening day I will be working with the communications team taking pre-op photos for each patient who gets a yellow surgery card. One of the joys of working with mercy ships is the opportunities there are to help out with the gifts each of us has- and I am thrilled that my love of taking photos can be put to use for screening day.

(These signs give screening day information- the government has partnered with us in spreading the word and these posters and some large banners have been put up throughout the area)

 

Please pray for energy, wisdom in making decisions, safety as large crowds form, and good communication between crew members- months of work and planning have gone into making this day happen. And most of all please pray that we would represent Christ's love in a real and tangible way to each other and to the people of Congo.

Thank you friends!

 

week 2 in Congo

(Cool land rover picture borrowed from my friend Jasmin) More exploring of our surroundings on Friday and Saturday, I really like the pointe-noire area. And after several days in a row of not leaving the ship, I was so ready to get out again and remember that I am in central west Africa. Three fellow nurses and I headed to the market after work on Friday, here are a few photos:

Quick funny story: we passed by the main section of the market, it has rows upon rows of wooden tables where people sell almost everything you can think of, especially produce. And dried fish and peanuts and bananas and fabric and shoes and the list is endless. Anyway there were people with their wares spread out all over the place, just like normal. Then all of a sudden someone up the street shouted and everyone moved at once- all the ladies scooped up their vegetables into a bag, grabbed their babies and ran away. My instinct to move when I see a crowd moving toward me kicked in immediately and I got out of the way. Some ladies saw me and started cracking up. Through broken English, French and mime they helped me understand that the market is actually closed on Fridays and Mondays and its illegal to sell things. The watch person saw the police and warned everyone, and they thought it was hilarious that the white girl ran away along with them. Now I know. :)

I was in the middle of buying some bread, and when I turned around this guy was busy taking my picture on his phone. So naturally I told him that I needed to take his picture as well, and this is the pose he did:

And then the people I bought the bread from motioned that they should have thier picture taken as well...so here is the corner where we bought some fresh bread:

Peanuts and sugar cane for sale:

An African proverb we learned in community meeting last week, I think this one was from the Kongo tribe:

Don't try to fry peanuts and bananas at the same time: Peanuts are peanuts and bananas are bananas.

Apparantly peanuts and bananas both take a very long time to cook, and it is a bad idea to try to mix them together to save time. It's a lesson in patience and doing things the right way the first time. Just thought I'd share that bit of wisdom. :)

Borrowed the last two pictures from Nicole and Hope...we finished our day having a picnic dinner. And Saturday we did some hiking in this nearby gorge:

The gorge is about 45 minutes outside of the city- and so beautiful!

Anyway, I love getting to know this area of Congo, and I have so much to learn about the culture. Just thought I'd share a glimpse of life here- hard to believe it was just over two weeks ago that we pulled into port! Screening day is this week- another post on that soon but prayer for that day for both patients and crew members would be very appreciated.

my new favorite tv ad

 

This advertisement was used in a recent community meeting here on the ship- and it put a huge smile on my face. Thought I'd share it here...

I enjoyed this so much, not because coke is the answer to all the world's problems...but because of the way it celebrates Africa.

In under two minutes it highlights the beauty of the warm culture and strong spirit found on this continent. I love celebrating the accomplishments, strengths and potential of this colorful land. It is my honor to partner with the people of West Africa. I hope this puts a smile on your face as well:

 

Also, I wanted to share a few songs with you...

Last week we had the first of 6 briefings on Congolese culture. We learned several greetings in Kituba, the language most commonly spoken in southern Congo. (To say "hi, how are you" in Kituba is "Mbote, wa faso?")

As I listened I realized that several of the words were familiar to me- they were used in some songs I had grown up listening to. Turns out that about 6 African songs I listened to for years are actually hymns in Kituba! Only God knew that I would be living and working in this part of the planet. When our new day crew/translators came on board the first day of work, I sat with one of them at lunch. I sang the words I knew, and he sang along with me- we knew the song exactly the same way. It was such a good reminder that God has been getting me ready to come here for a long time!

(On a side note I hope these YouTube videos are actually what the title says, the Internet here doesn't work well with youtube for me to preview them) :)

Here is the song we sang:

 

And here is one more wonderful song with some Kituba in it:

 

 

"Blessed is the life

Built upon Your word

Those who find their hope

Trusting what they've heard...

...Follow Jesus"

first adventures in Congo

We took two land rovers north of pointe-noire for some exploring yesterday- it has not taken long for us to fall in love with Congo's beautiful land and people- here are a few pictures from yesterday...

 

It's good to be back in West Africa!

 

Unpacking!

It's almost time to open the hospital, but first there is lots of cleaning to do!

Before we left Guinea, I helped pack and tie everything down for the sail, now we are dusting it all off and putting things back where they belong. The wards are starting to look like they are ready for patients!

It feel great to be getting the hospital started up again. I can't wait to see all the ways God will move during our time here in Congo- I know that already He has hand picked the people that we are here to serve. Please keep all our future patients in your prayers! Screening day is coming very soon (the big day where we screen thousands of people to look for surgical candidates)- please pray for our patients and for the ones we will have to say no to.

Thanks for keeping up with my blog- I am doing well and it is good to be serving The Lord here on the ship!

 

Arrival in Pointe-Noire!

Photos of yesterday's arrival in CONGO!