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.