First off I just want you all to know that we are back on
the ship after spending 5 1/2 weeks in a hotel while repairs were done on the
ship. It was a good time away but we are
SO thankful to be back home. We are in a
larger cabin and Jack is SO happy to have his own room (and so are Mommy and
Daddy). The girls started school this
week and from the inside all looks "normal" again. It is a sweet place to be.
However, in the midst of all that normal stuff we are being
confronted daily with the terrible Ebola outbreak. Physically we are safe, as we are a good
distance from all that is going on. But
the devastation of the illness and the effects it is having people of the countries in which we have
served is so hard to watch. We hurt for our fellow crew members with family
there (and there are many). There is so much to say about all of this and this
is my second attempt at a blog about the Ebola issue. The first attempt included the facts and
figures about Ebola and the grim picture that is West Africa right now. After rereading through the blog, I realized
that the focus was all wrong. By now, you probably know about Ebola and (at
least) vaguely what is going on. If not
you can read this.
What is going on with Ebola is real and it is devastating. .
.but it is NOT the entire picture. As I
have been praying through all of this I was looking up verses on fear in the Bible. As I was doing this I
realized that the word fear is used far more to speak of fearing God than of
fearing other things. It got me thinking that our focus needs to not
be on the fear and devastation of this horrific illness but rather on the Great
Physician, the Father of these people, the God of the Universe. What I DON'T
know is the answers to WHY this is happening. But what we DO know is that God
loves these people and is grieving all that is going on. I think he wants our
hearts to break over it as well but I do not think he wants us to feel hopeless
or overwhelmed by it all. He wants us to
be falling on our knees before him in response instead of dwelling on the
horrors. These are words I desperately need to hear and remember as we deal
with the ramifications of this outbreak on the work we are doing.
Many of you have expressed concern about our safety. I'd be
lying if I didn't admit that we have also felt fear and concern over our
safety. We already changed course once. We were supposed to be sailing to
Guinea in two days but we decided to go to Benin instead due to Ebola in Guinea
back in April. Now we are two days away
from our initial sail date to Benin and we are having to reassess again. While
Benin does not currently have any documented cases of Ebola, Contonou, Benin is
very close to Lagos, Nigeria where there are, indeed, cases. Because of this,
the organization has made the decision to stay in the Canary Islands (where we
are right now) for an additional 2 weeks.
Our sail date is now August 29th.
However, we are not yet sure where we will sail. Maybe Benin will be considered "safe
enough". But maybe not. If not
Benin, then where? The leadership of this organization has some HUGE decisions
to make. This is unchartered territory. No one knows what the right decision
is. How far away from Ebola is "far enough"?
This is the point where I start to feel overwhelmed and
worried. And, thankfully, this is also
the point where God has been reassuring me.
He is not limited to loving people of only a certain nation or
continent. He is not limited in how he can use the amazing people on this
vessel or the resources we have. He is not limited in working only in ways that
we have worked in the past. He is not
limited by this outbreak. He still loves
EVERY PERSON on this planet and I know that He is not going to let a ship full
of willing people do NOTHING while there is MUCH to be done.
So, the plan is this:
To wait in the Canary Islands for 2 more weeks while many prayers are
prayed and strategic planning is done.
Then to sail to wherever GOD decides he wants us to be for whatever
amount of time he chooses. Is this comforting?
Well, I happen to be someone that is super fond of plans and control and
so I am still daily having to give this up but the more I pray and read, the
more peace I have that God is going to surprise us all with all he has in store
for us this year. I am confident that it
won't look at all like what any of us thought and I’m beginning to realize that
maybe that's exactly how we want it to be. Maybe not having a perfect plan, a
perfect schedule, not having things look just like they have in the past or
just like we want and hope them to look is exactly what we all need. We need to
be in a place where we can trust more fully and let God be the center of what
we are doing. When I look at it like that I feel excitement and anticipation
about what this year will hold. So I can't give you details of the where but we can say that the WHAT is going to be a picture of our
Great God doing Great things in a Great Nation.
Thank you for continuing to pray for us, but please also be
on your knees for the people of West Africa who have been ravaged by this
disease. And please pray, also, for the
leadership of this organization as they have some VERY difficult decisions to
make. We appreciate you and are thankful that you have chosen to walk this
journey with us.
We feel confident in how Mercy Ships continues to deal with these unexpected situations in a prayerful and professional manner so we also wanted to include these statements from Mercy Ships:
"As its hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, prepares to leave for its ten-month mission to perform life-changing surgeries and train local healthcare professionals in Benin, West Africa, Mercy Ships continues to be acutely aware of the Ebola situation in the region. The organization is taking appropriate steps to protect its volunteers and staff. In April, Mercy Ships redirected its upcoming mission from Guinea to Benin out of caution for the safety of its crew. Benin has no reported cases of Ebola.
The Africa Mercy is the world's largest civilian hospital ship, designed to operate as a surgical specialty hospital. It is not configured to provide the type of treatment required by Ebola patients. In addition to having changed its itinerary, Mercy Ships has also implemented strict travel restrictions to the affected areas and will continue to monitor the situation closely, making programmatic adjustments as needed.Founder Don Stephens commented, “The well-being of our patients and dedicated crew is our greatest priority. It is fundamental to our continued service to the forgotten poor in Africa. Our prayers go out for the countries impacted by Ebola. These are places and people we know well because we have served them in multiple visits over more than two decades.”
Peter Schulze
Managing Director
Mercy Ships
