Fear of . . .

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.”

 

"Due to recent reports from the region of West Africa on the threat of Ebola, Mercy Ships has decided to delay the departure of the Africa Mercy hospital ship from the shipyard  in the Canary Islands to Cotonou, Benin until 29th August 2014.  This will allow Mercy Ships to monitor the situation in the region and assess the feasibility of a safe field service in Benin.  Don Stephens, Mercy Ships President and Founder, has reiterated that “the safety of our crew is the most important element in this decision.  Mercy Ships remains committed to our continued service to the forgotten poor in Africa."

Peter Schulze
Managing Director
Mercy Ships