Shield and Friend

Sometimes in our lives people come into it and serve a purpose for a relatively short time and have a impact on you that would not have seen coming otherwise.

This position that I have on the ship is much different and honestly way harder than I expected coming in. Based on my experiences in the non-profit accounting world, I naively thought I had it all figured out before I ever got here. I had no idea though really what would happen the first six months I was here. Learning to be a finance director serving alongside people with all kinds of different viewpoints, ideas culture and background in a country that is an ocean away from its support bases and operating in a developing nation with limited services is hard work. Work I honestly probably wasn’t prepared to take on fully, both professionally and emotionally. Throw in life and family adjustments while living in a long white tube on the coast of Guinea… well you get the picture. Here in comes Andrew and his support and encouragement to me and those that I work with in the finance group.

Just as we arrived to Texas, I met Andrew who was going to serve as the senior accountant.  Andrew works at Ernst and Young (E&Y) working with large financial firms and overseeing staffs of 10-20 people. He was taking a leave of absence so he could volunteer on the ship for six months. He then was going to head back to E&Y to start what we in the audit world call busy season (60 hour work weeks for about three to four months). I also worked at E&Y in the days gone by and that gave us a connection of sorts as we started.

Andrew took on roles here that many people with his experience and knowledge would be bored with and have a hard time staying motivated. Exactly the opposite happened with him. He brought motivation to us by doing as much as three and four jobs at once. We were short staffed through much of his time here and he performed every role in the finance department during his time here. He did lots of magic with our processes and spreadsheets (oh how we love spreadsheets) while covering these roles leaving us all in a good place as we carry forward the work of the finance group.

At one point we were short three people in a staff of six. Past finance directors were responsible for covering roles while people were away, and while I covered a little, he did most of the work. I don’t know if I could have handled all of that with everything else I was dealing with in my roles as finance director and husband and father. I don’t know if I could have balanced it all. Andrew was my shield against all the things coming up against me as I learned how to do this thing we call Mercy Ships.

As we got closer to full staffing, he actually also helped out in the pharmacy, did early morning security at screenings ran the fire panel at the front overnight, visited orphanages and spent time with patients. We swear that he never slept and had no idea where all of his energy and enthusiasm came from. As I look back, here is what I think. He drew his energy from his service. He relished in the opportunity to serve and the more he served the more energy he drew from that allowing him to poor it back into serving us more and the people of Guinea more.

He was also one of Adalynn and Cora’s favorite people on the ship. He would cover Adalynn’s eyes and say “Guess Who” and she knew it was Andrew. He stole Cora from us in the dining room many times, so Tracey and I could enjoy our dinner together. The last few weeks he was here, we sat in the same office to be sure all the roles were covered and this turned into a really fun time for me. It was like old days being in the audit room with your buddies, chatting about work and not about work, bouncing ideas off each other and getting to know each other even better. So besides being my shield for my first six months, he became my first real Mercy Ships friend. Shortly thereafter I experienced the painful part of friendship here on the ship when Andrew left to return home. I am so thankful (along with Tracey and the finance staff and while I am at it, pretty much the whole ship) for Andrew and his willingness and enthusiasm to serve and the energy he brought to everything he laid his hands on. My experiences to this point would be much different had he not been here to support me. He was here for this time, for such a time as this (Esther 4:14). Among other things, God ordained for him to be here to be my shield and to be my friend.

Sometimes in our lives people come into it and serve a purpose for a relatively short time and have an impact on you that would not have seen coming otherwise.

 

Walk Wednesdays

Many of you often wonder what it is I do all day long on the ship.  Mostly my life doesn’t look a whole lot different than it would at home in the States.  Lots of diaper changing, feeding, playing and reading.  However, living on a ship on the coast of Africa does present some differences as well.  Life here is fairly scheduled and each day brings a variety of different activities.  Monday we have business meeting in the morning. Tuesday is Treat Tuesday and Dance Class (a favorite day for Adalynn). Thursday is Bible Study. Friday is another school day.  I enjoy having routine and each day has it’s perks but one of my favorite days on the ship is Wednesday.  Not because it’s laundry day (though it is) but because it’s Walk Wednesday!

Adalynn goes to school at 9am and then Cora and I go home to get ready for our adventures in town.  I give her one last feed and tuck her away in her (new) Boba wrap (She got too big for the Moby) and we meet some of the other moms for Walk Wednesday (usually Gretchen and Ali).   The goal is to have Cora take her morning nap while we are out strolling.  Somehow the heat, smells and noises lull her right to sleep.  Sometimes we have an agenda on our walks: the grocery store, the market, etc. and sometimes we just walk.  It’s a chance to get off the ship and breathe fresh air (it’s not so fresh) take in the city.  We scan out of the ship (they keep track of all our comings and goings for security reasons) and walk out of the port.  And when I say “walk out of the port” what I really mean is make our way through the maze of semis with drivers sleeping in hammocks underneath waiting for the next shipment, people arguing with security to get into the port even though their papers are not valid, security guards kissing our babies (on the cheek usually), stray dogs wandering about and trash covering the street.

The new Boba!

 

We exit the port into the hustle and bustle of Conakry life.  Just outside the port is a round-a-bout that is always jammed with cars, semis and taxis vying for position and honking for no real reason, it seems.  No pedestrian right of way here.  We hold our hand out to signal that we will cross and they slow down just enough to let us hurry to the other side.  After passing through the bus stop/road side market area on the corner we are finally to the road that will take us to the grocery store, market or wherever we might decide to go for the day.  We pass through stands with people selling anything from oranges to shoes to VHS cassettes.  Every 100 yards or so Ali and I are asked if our babies are twins (funny as they are 4 months apart in age, Zoe is half Indian and, frankly,  they look nothing alike).  It never fails, though.  We can’t wait until we go walking with Becca and her baby Haliey who is half African.  We decided we will just tell people they are triplets so we can see their reactionJ. 

With Ali and Zoe a couple months ago

We make our way through the broken streets avoiding the uncovered manholes, sewage and trash and breathing in the smoggy, pungent air.  It has become our home and we find ourselves in normal conversation as we navigate our now familiar streets.  It feels strange that it doesn’t feel strange anymore.  Often we make it to the local market.  This is an experience that words can hardly do justice to.  There are hundreds of outdoor stalls in a couple city block area of space selling everything and anything you would ever want (including things like dried fish heads, if you are interested).  They now know that Mersay Sheeps is close by and so there are men who stand at the perimeter of the market ready to help you find whatever you need.  Nice, yes, however it is quite annoying to have them follow you and try to get you to buy a baby walker or power cord, when you just want a mango and you know right where they are.  This week Ali wanted a trashcan and before we knew it she was surrounded by 11 men all carrying varying styles and colors of trashcans for her to purchase.  I stood back and laughed as I watched her bargain and walk away in victory with what she wanted for only 20,000 Guinea Francs (just under $3).  Really wish I had a picture of that!

We often talk about wishing we had a hidden camera on our heads so we could capture moments like this or of the man with the down hood on (without a coat) in the middle of 90 degree Conakry.  But not only these funny moments but also to capture the women who always sits at the entrance to the grocery store nursing her albino baby looking for hand outs or the beggar on the street in front of the internet store that has shriveled legs and cannot walk.  I can’t capture these moments on film but I have captured them in my heart and they remind me why we are here.  They cause a tension in my heart that pulls it nearly to breaking about how we can love and help these that are so broken.  I want answers. I want to be able to help them all and make them well.  Sometimes it leaves me feeling helpless and hopeless but then I remember that Jesus is help and Jesus is hope and my job is to be Jesus to them.  So I look forward to Wednesdays when I can see these people.  I can’t fix all their problems and it breaks my heart.   But each week I can greet them, smile at them and pray for them and trust that Jesus will meet them through those things.

I look forward to these walks as a chance to remember the community in which we serve and also to hang out with my mommy friends. I am thankful for the beautiful people we see and for the abundant blessings I have been given.  I am thankful that Cora still likes riding in her wrap so that I can get out.  I am thankful too for my new friends who share their life with me. The ups and the downs of ship life and mommy life.  I thank the Lord for meeting the need He created me to have for fellowship and camaraderie.  I am thankful for Conakry and it’s colorful diversity and hilarious moments.  I am thankful for this chance to live here and for our children to experience life in Africa.  I am thankful for Wednesdays.

A Guinean Christmas

Sometimes it’s much easier to recognize what we don’t have in life rather than being thankful for what we do have.  A truth no matter where you live.  A couple days before Christmas we found ourselves focusing on all the things we didn’t have here in Guinea: snow, family, skiing, sleeping babies, behaving 2 year olds, 1^st world comforts, health food stores with stocks of gluten free food, close friends, our Christmas container. . .you get the idea.  Needless to say, this made us a bit grumpy and sad.  We realized that to get ungrumpy (a word we are submitting to Webster) we really needed to focus on what we DO have.  Yes, it was hard being away from family and friends for Christmas, BUT we were able to do, see and experience some wonderful things here that we never could have experienced at home.  So, this blog is tribute to the top 10 things (in no particular order) that the Lord blessed us with this Christmas season as a result of being in Guinea. 

10. No Malls! We didn’t have to set food in a single mall or drive near a mall.  With the lack of shopping options we didn’t feel any pressure to buy much.  It was fun to try to be creative with gifts for each other since we couldn’t just go get whatever we wanted.

9. No Ads! No Christmas TV commercials trying to make you feel like you need all the latest gadgets.  I never once felt like I really needed something this Christmas.  I knew that even if I did I wouldn’t be able to get it and it was a nice feeling to know that we are just fine with everything we have (And have I mentioned that we live in a 400 sq ft apartment? Not a lot of room for much else).

8. Islands.  A couple days before Christmas we took another wonderful trip to the island with great friends.  This time, our friend Chelle and I took a walk to the local fishing village on the island.  Living in the large city of Conakry, it is hard to feel very connected with the Guinean people but visiting the village allowed me to feel a little closer to them and reminded me of my times in Mali and Kenya.  The kids sang and danced for us and everyone wanted to hold Cora.  We loved it!



 

7.  Carols by Candlelight.  As you may or may not (as is the case for me) realize, it is summer in Australia during Christmas time.  I mean, it makes geographical sense, I had just never thought of it before.  Therefore, one of their traditions is to sing carols by candlelight and have a big barbeque around Christmastime.  This year we had our own Carols by Candlelight on the dock.  John even sang in a 7 man quartet (hmmm. . .don’t tell the accountant the math is off) It was a beautiful evening and wonderful grilled chicken! 

John's group singing



Even Santa came












6. Vacation!! (even though we are volunteers??) John got 5 days off of work!!  Monday through Wednesday of Christmas week and Monday and Tuesday of New Years.  It was so fun to have the time together as a family.  We even got to go on our first walk around town without kids! It was a really great time of relaxation and enjoying family time.

5. Hand and Foot. No, not the disease. John and I got to play in a ship-wide hand and foot tournament (a card game we love to play).  John’s team won an award for “Most games won” and my team won “Most games lost”.  But neither of us was the overall winner.  It was a good night to hang out with new people and was also the first time we have let someone else put Adalynn to bed.  It all went great so we will have to utilize our plethora of willing babysitters more often J.

4. Multi-cultural Christmas Eve.  Our Christmas Eve service was really special.  John’s “quartet” sang again and the service ended with the singing of Silent Night in 7 languages.  Different people sang the different verses in their native tongue.  It was an amazing representation of the diversity we have on this ship and a beautiful prelude to what I think it may be like to worship in Heaven.  It was one of the best ways I’ve ever celebrated Jesus’ birth.  He came for us all! What a gift it is to serve Jesus alongside these great people from all around the world!

 

3. Presents in Shoes! It is a ship tradition to leave shoes outside your door on Christmas Eve in hopes that ship elves will fill them with lots of goodies!  We were pleasantly surprised to see that we were visited by many little elves.  Adalynn thought it was the best and especially loved her balloons!

Shoes anticipating gifts

Our shoes on Christmas morning!!

Hallway of gift-filled shoes

Bundles of toffee and cookies for our friends' shoes

 

2. No container.  Even though the fact that the Christmas container didn’t get here was initially cause for much sadness and distress, in the end we were (in a way) glad that it didn’t come.  It forced us to really NOT focus on gifts and really focus on Jesus and being together as a family.  We appreciate the gifts that were sent and we can’t wait to open our boxes when they finally arrive, but the container’s delayed arrival gave us a chance to be thankful for what we do have and to let Christmas not get overwhelmed by material things.

1. Wonderfully quiet and low-key Christmas Day.  Christmas day is one of my most favorite days of the year.  I love getting together with my family.  I love the food, the chaos (well, some of it), the kids running around and the anticipation of gifts.  That is what all of my childhood memories of Christmas include.  I would have loved to be a part of all of that this year, but at the end of Christmas day on the ship I realized how thankful I also was for a really quiet, low-key Christmas.  We woke up and spent some time having coffee and pastries in the Café.  Adalynn and Cora opened a couple gifts and then we had the most amazing brunch in the dining room.  The food was amazing and it was really fun to be with our “ship family”.  John and I watched A Christmas Story while the girls napped. Overall it was a really wonderful day.  We went to bed so thankful that the Lord had given us new memories and traditions this year and that our grumpiness was gone and we felt truly thankful for the amazing blessings that we have.

 

Suckers!

Gift tags!

Table of fresh fruit and cheese!  Amazing!



A few of our wonderful galley crew
that worked so hard for us all to have
a great meal.

 

 

 

 

 







 

We hope you all had a blessed Holiday season. We miss you all!