Bonjour Benin!

We are in Benin!! This is so exciting.  Do you remember back in 2014 when we were supposed to come here and we had to be re-routed to Madagascar due to Ebola in nearby Nigeria? Well, it was a wonderful 2 years of re-routing but we are glad to be back in West Africa. We had a fabulous low-key summer in Durban and now we are ready to start a new field service in Benin.

Adalynn and her friend Emma waving the Benin flag as we pull into our dock.

However, as many of you know, it was not an easy last few weeks.  During our sail from Cape Town, South Africa to Benin Cora got very sick.  She was diagnosed while we sailed with a condition called Henoch-Schonlein Purpura.  No one really knows why kids get it but it is thought to be a reaction to an infection with the common cold.  It is a vasculitis-meaning it causes severe inflammation of blood vessels.  Her symptoms included severe pain in her legs that then spread to pain in pretty much every joint. She also had a terrible rash all over her legs and arms.  Most kids recover completely after a few months but in rare cases kids can go on to develop serious kidney issues.  Because of this and because we didn't have the proper labs on the sail to confirm our diagnosis we (Cora and Tracey) were medically evacuated to London to receive treatment less than 24 hours after the ship arrived.  Cora was in the hospital for 3 days and then treated as an outpatient after that. We ended up being in London for 2 weeks.

A happy moment on the sail before Cora got sick.

It was a really hard couple weeks leading up to London and a tough time of separation for our family while we were in London.  It was so difficult to see Cora looking so terrible, especially while we were sailing.  It was not how we wanted to start this field service.

However, despite all those hard things I have to say that some really beautiful things came out of this terrible time.  First and foremost is the fact that Cora is doing great! She is running and laughing and playing and it is beautiful to see! We are so thankful for the prayers of so many and for God's gracious healing of her body. We are not out of the woods yet, but she is doing so great and feels fine. We just have to monitor her kidneys for any long-term damage.

Secondly, we got to see our amazing ship community in action. The way they rallied around us in this time was incredible. I had a stream of people coming into my cabin before we left offering me luggage, iphones, tablets, scarves, games, train cards, coloring books. . .all to help ease our travel and time in London. While we were there the community prayed for us constantly. There were people doing John's laundry, watching Adalynn and Jack, cleaning the cabin and sending me messages. We were able to stay in a really nice apartment thanks to a Mercy Ship friend connection.  It was so beautiful. When we returned Cora and I were given the most amazing welcome. It was so touching to see how many people really did pray and follow what was going on with us.

The third way this situation blessed us was the time that Cora and I had together to explore London once she was feeling better.  Like my mom said, "a middle child's dream!".  It was really a special time for us.  John also had some good time with Adalynn and Jack.  Adalynn got to sleep in Daddy's bed every night and Jack and Daddy had an hour of time together each morning after Adalynn went to school.  Of course we'd rather all be together but we can see how God brought little blessings through this trial.

So now we are ready to really dive into ship life and get this hospital up and running again. Our first surgery will be next Monday.  We are so excited to be here and finishing out our time with Mercy Ships back in West Africa.  For those of you who don't know, we are returning to the States after what will be a 4 1/2 year stint with Mercy Ships. The plan is to come back to Denver in December before Christmas. We will live in the Denver area at least from December-June 2017.  We don't have specific plans beyond that time. We are just now starting the "job hunting" process.  It will be difficult to say goodbye to this amazing community but we are so excited about the family and community we get to reunite with in Colorado and the States.

A line of people waiting for screening in hopes of a surgery date.

Veloma Madagascar

We closed a beautiful chapter of our lives on Tuesday.  We sailed away from Madagascar, a country we have called home for 2 years. I realized this week that really over half our time on the ship was spent in Madagascar.  What a beautiful place full of beautiful people. It's hard leaving friends behind and not knowing if we will ever return, though I really hope to someday!!  What a gift it was to be a part of the amazing things God did through the work of this ship in this country.  We saw many physical deformities changed and corrected, but we also saw hearts soften, joy created, sorrow lifted, hope believed, despair demolished and people loved. We give God the glory for these things and just feel amazed that we have been given the chance to be a tiny part of it all.  I feel so sad to leave this country, and yet,  this ship is a funny place where you are always aware of a tide moving you forward to a new adventure.  So we leave with a heavy heart today, but also with anticipation of the adventure to come!!

Here are some fun pictures of our last days enjoying Madagascar:

A trip down the Pangalanes canal with 4 other families. It rained a lot but didn't stop the kids from enjoying it!

Our last day with our friend Dannie. She is one of our Malagasy Crew that joined us last year but she will be staying in Madagascar. We will miss her!

Our last trip to Pastor Marc's church in a village not far from Tamatave. He and his family are doing amazing work for God's Kingdom here in Madagascar. We are so thankful to have been a small part of his ministry.

My last lunch with an amazing small group of spectacular women from Australia, Netherlands, Texas and Colorado! 3 of them are not coming back, so it was a tearful celebration of a wonderful group!

Our final farewell to our amazing day crew. We hired around 230 crew this year. Below are 4 of the 5 daycrew that I worked with in the Admissions tent, plus 3 nurses from 3 different countries. The 5th of our daycrew got a job and wasn't able to come but these 4 still do not have jobs, please pray for them to find good work!

Our last family trip to the market and ice cream shop! A new pet giraffe (named Amy :)) And one last gawk at the chickens for sale!

And, finally, one last trip to the Palm Tree Forest for a picnic with some of the other moms and kids.

We are now in the middle of the Indian Ocean and will have a 6 day sail and arrive in Durban, South Africa on Monday June 13.  The ship will be in the shipyard from 13 June until early August. We do not have to move off the ship this year as they are not taking the ship out of the water. We will stay with the ship through the entire shipyard period and then we will sail in early August to Benin. After a busy year, we are really looking forward to a bit of a slower and more relaxed pace of life (at least for the kids and myself). John's job will still be busy at times, but hopefully a bit more low-key. We are looking forward to good family time and a chance to play and enjoy each other. Please pray with us for these things. Thank you for all your continued prayers and support. We are so thankful for you!

Cyclone Fantala

When I was a kid I got to be in a play at our church that was about Jehoshaphat. I played Josephus, the historian and was essentially the narrator of the story. It was a fun experience even if my mom still cringes with the thought about me sticking my tongue out to the whole church while pretending to write in my "history" book. Little did I know the role that story would play in my adult life as well.

About two weeks ago a storm formed in the Indian Ocean. Here they are called cyclones, in the states we would call them a hurricane. The storm's name was Fantala and it strengthened and became a major storm reaching category 5 status. At one point was the strongest storm on record in the Indian Ocean. That storm was a major threat to what we are doing in Tamatave. The storm threat was such that we had to start packing the ship to prepare to sail. Sailing out of here would have required us to cancel as much as two weeks of surgeries or more.

As the storm was heading west towards Madagascar, it took a veer to the northwest and continue to strengthen. After a few days of heading northwest it was forecast to turn and possibly head toward the east coast of Madagascar (where we are). We were getting updates twice a day and I was reading up on the storm much like I did when I lived in Florida. We really didn’t want to leave. We didn’t want to have to cancel all those surgeries. We didn’t want to see the storm do any damage to this country.

 I got up one morning and read the "Our Daily Bread" for that day. It talked about the same story of Jehoshaphat leading the people of Judah and an impending battle they were about to have (2 Chronicles 20). The people he led were worried because the armies coming were great and there didn’t seem to be any way to win the battle. He acknowledged God’s supremacy and admitted his own fear and confusion. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (v. 12). Then he prayed and then had the singers go to the front and lead the army. When they arrived it turns out that the other armies had turned on each other and by the time the army of Judah got there there was no one left to fight. All they had to do was collect the plunder.

About the same time as I read this story, the storm started to weaken. Turns out when a hurricane turns around and heads back over its own path it weakens itself because it used up the hot water at the surface and now the water is cold (bad news for a hurricane). In all my years of following storms while living in Florida, I never learned this, most likely because that never happened to a storm I was watching. It was fascinating for me to read the story of Jehoshaphat and learn this new to me fact about hurricanes. I shared this story and my new knowledge with my team a couple days later as the storm was weakening. There was still the possibility of the storm heading towards Madagascar but the strength was reduced. A few days later the storm made another turn and instead of heading towards Madagascar, it did a full turn and went back over itself again. Shortly after that second run over its original path the storm dissipated and died out. ( I included a couple maps to try and show the path the storm followed.)

I couldn’t help but tie to the two stories together. Armies killing off themselves and this storm essentially killing off itself. Both the armies Judah was facing and this storm were forces far beyond what could be handled. And at the end of the day all that was left was to turn to God and trust. So Judah did that and we did that. In the end those unbeatable forces killed off themselves.

It was a cool thing to experience reading that story at the time of this storm. I am not always one who does very well in the faith department, but that "coincidence" at least for me was certainly strength building. I haven't been at my best lately and have really struggled with my faith. So while I would not wish for something like a storm to come along, but what I got to experience as a result will be remembered for quite a while.

Be His Hands

How is it March already?? Sometimes life just continues on without many speed bumps or big news and suddenly 2 months have lapsed since we last updated our blog.  I sat down to think about writing a blog several times but sometimes we are just living our life here. This life has become so normal to us that we don't even realize what amazing things we experience on a daily basis that can be/should be shared.  Or sometimes I feel that we've shared the stories before. Each patient that we encounter is an individual and is unique but many of the stories are similar.  I want to be better about sharing our life with you who are so far away. I will work on that.

A couple weeks ago I had some pretty amazing patient-encounters that I wanted to share.  They both happened on the same day, actually.  The majority of the patients we see have very rarely, if ever, seen a health care provider.  They are not used to the experience.  Add on top of that that we are foreigners living in a very strange ship and they don't usually open up during their initial medical interview about their lives. ..apart from answering the questions asked of them.  They are all respectful and courteous but it is a rare day that I get a patient to be more personable and engaging. It's just not the culture to do this with a stranger in this strange setting.

But this week I had 2 patients open up with me and the result was an eye-opening and very touching experience.  The first was a 30 year old man who has a huge tumor growing off the back of his head.  It is most likely a simple cyst but it has been growing for about 20 years and it is now about the size of a grapefruit.  He shared with me about how nervous he was to come to the ship and how he had been having heart palpitations and anxiety, mostly because of the "rumors he had heard". I asked him if he would mind sharing what the rumors were and what gave him the courage to actually make the trip and come.  He told me that the rumors he had heard were that we were harvesting organs. . .not actually doing surgeries.  This is a common rumor we hear in the different countries we enter.  This is actually a real risk to them in their own country and they don't understand that we are different.

Can you imagine having the fear that you may enter a hospital and never return home again because you were used for your organs that were then going to be sold on the black market? How terrifying.  So what changed this man's mind? He said first off was that at the screening site the "foreigners" (AKA: our staff) were so kind and that they touched him and cared for him.  He said, "foreigners are not usually like that to us." A human touch is powerful.  Our smiles and kindness are so powerful.  This, I feel, is a beautiful picture of how we can be Jesus to people.  Jesus touched the untouchable. He associated himself with the lowly.  We can do that for others wherever we are. We can change peoples' minds about who Jesus is. We can so easily love others with very simple gestures. This was so powerful to me.

The second was that he was seeing people return to villages near him healed. Our chief surgeon, Gary Parker, often says; "for hope to be credible for  the future it must be tangible in the present". He saw the possibility of hope and could cling to that to ease his anxiety.

The second man was about 60. He had a huge tumor growing off his L cheek. It had been there for many years. Most of the people we see with large tumors don't have good jobs and are a bit downcast. They are cast out of society a bit and it shows when they arrive. But this man was different. He was smiling and so joyful the entire visit.  He said, "God has led me to this place and I am so grateful to have this tumor removed."  After his exam he told me that he was just so happy and thankful for all Mercy Ships was doing in this country. He said that he felt that 60% of people's healing happened before they even entered the ship. Patients have to go through screening and, in his case, he had been living at the HOPE center (a place where we house patients waiting for surgery or coming back for rehab).  He could feel the love from the staff and he said he knew people's hearts were being cared for and that was more important than their physical healing. 

These are the things we talk about WANTING to do as an organization, but here are patients who are actually  SEEING the fruit of this themselves.  These patients came to these conclusions before ever seeing me so I take zero credit . I am so thankful that we are surrounded by people in every aspect of this ministry that are loving people and it is not going unnoticed.  So keep up the good work!! It was such a good reminder of the impact we can have (no matter where we live) just by loving those in front of us.  Who is God bringing into your life today? How can you love them? How can you show them Jesus?

Christmas is all in the heart

First of all, Merry Christmas!! We are so thankful you are in our lives! 

In a season full of great blessings, my heart has had some moments of extreme heaviness from what I see here in Madagascar. It is a land full of great beauty and amazing people but there are stories that I continue to hear that make me hurt for the poor. Not just those here in Madagascar but all over the world. I have had a lot of moments of questioning throughout the last few months. Trying to make sense of all the suffering and why I was so "lucky" to be born in America. To be born "with" when many here were born "without".

Recently I met a 9 year old boy with bowed legs from Rickets. He was not able to nurse and was fed mostly rice as an infant and small child an so his bones started to bow as soon as he started walking due to the lack of strength. He was a cheerful, happy boy and it was so great to be able to offer him hope of straight legs.  But up until now he has not been able to go to school.  The school he would attend is a 2 HOUR walk each way and he was not able to keep up and, therefore, did not go.  How is this possible? A condition and situation we would be completely immune to in the western world and yet it completely changed this boy's life.

Or a 17 year old girl I met who was here with a vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) from a prolonged labor 2 years ago.  At age 15 she went into labor and went immediately to the local hospital. In many parts of Madagascar you are assigned a nurse to care for your prenatal and delivery needs at the beginning of the pregnancy and they follow you all the way through. Unfortunately for this young girl, the nurse assigned to her was not working when she arrived in labor at the hospital and the others were tending to their own patients so she labored for 5 days without care and eventually when help came the baby had died and her body had suffered the effects of the prolonged labor leaving her with a constant leak of urine.

Or take the 15 year old girl with complete "lock jaw" for 10 years  likely from an infection as a small child. For 10 years she had fed herself through a tiny hole between 2 of her teeth. Her mother would blend all of her food for her and she would force it through this small hole about the size of a tic-tac. It is a miracle that she even survived.

Such sad stories. In the end, however, there was hope as we were able to help each of these patients get better and go on to live more normal lives and while doing so, show them the hope of Jesus. We praise God for the technology we have to help people here.

But what about those we cannot help? I have been out several times now with our palliative care team. It is a team of 2 nurses and a translator and they help by bringing comfort to those with terminal illnesses for which we cannot help. They are amazing women and I am so thankful for them and the work they do for so many in this community.

There is a 30 year old woman here with a large cancerous tumor on her face that we saw several weeks ago. The tumor is slowly suffocating her. There is nothing we can do to help besides prayer and comfort. She cries silent tears while we are there, already mourning leaving her daughters without a mother and yet the first thing she does when the team visits her is pray for them and praise God for his goodness. She has a faith that is rich and deep.

We also saw a 20 year old boy with an abdomen as large as a 9 month pregnant belly due to an extremely enlarged spleen for an unknown reason, likely a combination of chronic malaria and worm infections. He needs a splenectomy but it is way too risky for us to do and he would not have proper management afterwards. And yet he finds joy in his daily life and greets the team with a smile when they visit. The family is hopeful and trusts Jesus with his life.

A few days ago I went with the team to see a 32 year old man with a squamous cell cancer on his nose that has completely eaten through the skin leaving a gaping hole and sore where his upper lip and lower nose used to be. It will only get worse. We cannot provide the treatment he needs. We can only try to control his pain.

It was that day, as I sat with this man and his family at a loss for words, that I felt Jesus remind me that the small glimpses of hope we have in this life are only minuscule compared to the true HOPE we have in heaven.  This man with cancer believes this truth. We asked his wife and 2 year old boy if they were excited for Christmas. They said "we don't have money to buy anything or prepare a big meal, but Christmas is so special to us and we will celebrate in our hearts and with each other".  So. . . is this a family that has or has not? The more I thought about it the more I wondered if sometimes we see things completely backwards. We think we have it so much better in the "Western world", but do we truly understand what it means to celebrate Christmas in our hearts? Do we truly understand what it means to long for the hope of heaven? Can we truly grasp our dire need for a savior when we have so many comforts and conveniences to distract us? When I got home I read this verse:

 Luke 1:53-- "He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty."

I can't make sense of all the suffering. I don't know why there is a huge discrepancy in how different parts of the world live, but I do know that Jesus came for ALL OF US and to understand that at it's very core makes us richer than any material things.  Maybe, just maybe, all our riches are leaving us empty. Maybe if we put aside some of our riches we would see the hope of Jesus a little clearer. We will never understand the "whys" of suffering or illness. These people could potentially have their lives extended for 30, 40, or 50 more years with proper medical care, but 50 years in light of eternity is nothing.  Having a faith and hope in Jesus is everything. 

In addition to praying for the suffering to ease and Jesus to heal these people, my prayer is that these hungry people would be filled with good things in this Christmas season and that I would be filled with Jesus instead of riches. 

Routine

So often our lives become one of routine. Monday is this, Thursday is this etc. In this place, it is no different. Many of you know that some of our most special times here on the Africa Mercy have been when we take the kids down to the hospital after dinner and let them run amuck with the patients. We have formed special bonds with patients and especially love spending time with the VVF women who so  adore being around our little ones. For most of the time, it has been a nearly weekly routine for us as a family since we first arrived on the ship back in Guinea.

Early in this field service, we got out of that routine. There was a really nasty stomach bug that went around the ship at the beginning of the field service. We live in a petri dish here so things like colds and stomach bugs do spread pretty quickly. This one though was something else. At one point, it was reported that about 25% of our crew were down with this bug. It was bad enough that a decision was made to ask crew not to go the hospital unless they were working.

We were fortunate that none of our family came down with this bug. But for a couple weeks we also weren't able to go to the hospital. We filled that time with other things, including time on the dock with the girls learning to ride their bikes, hanging out with their friends or time playing on Deck 7 and 8. After the stomach bug ended, going to the hospital was not routine.

We went over a month without going before we realized that it had been a while since we had been down. So we went back down. The kids orthopedic surgeries were going on so there were lots of kids down on the ward happy to play with our kids. Jack has become quite comfortable down there giving out stickers. The girls play Jenga or color or just hand out their stickers. We have talked about it before, but it is a blast to watch our kids make connections with kids and adults alike despite the language barrier.

While watching our kids play down there, I came to a realization that I guess may have always been in the back of my head but I had never really fully grasped it. Previously, I saw these hospital visits as great experiences for my kids. I loved what they were being introduced to, people they were meeting and memories we would share with them some day. What I never fully grasped was the impact they were having all on their own.

I stood there and thought, this hospital needs my children. The patients are impacted by my children. This place needs my kids as much as it needs Tracey and me, maybe more. The other day, the kids were just playing tag in a room where some other crew members were playing some music. I overheard one of the music players, say "I just can't imagine this place without children."

Overhearing that just reinforced what has been on my brain since I watched my kids in the hospital the last few weeks. Our families have missed out on seeing our kids grow up to this point and that is quite a sacrifice for them. But this place, this ship, this community, this hospital are better off because Adalynn, Cora and Jack live here. The people they meet are better off for meeting them. The dining room would not be the same if Jack wasn’t passing out fist bumps as he walks through. We are thankful our families make this sacrifice, which makes the lives of our crew members, and most importantly our patients, so much better than before they met them. Painting nails, coloring with adult patients, inviting kids to play with them or something as simple as Jack passing out fist bumps as he walks around the ship. These things make this place what it is. Tracey and I just need to release them to be who they are and this place is better because of who they are.

This realization makes me a much prouder dad and one who is glad that we are back in the routine. 

Chopped

Living on a ship is a bit crazy.  We realize this. What we do is not normal and it can be quite hard at times,  but we are surrounded by an amazing community of people and sometimes we just step back and realize how cool this place is! 

When we were living in the States I had a (not so) secret obsession with the show Chopped. It's a show where 4 chefs are given a "mystery basket" of ingredients and the asked to make something fabulous in a ridiculous amount of time. Well, just like the ship ran our own "Amazing Race" event in April, we also just had our own Chopped competition last weekend. I participated last year but was (rightly so) eliminated in the first round. My friend Heather and I decided we needed redemption and entered again this year. Unlike the actual show, we cooked in teams and only made an entree and dessert. There were 5 teams in the entree round and then 2 were eliminated so 3 went on to dessert. 

The first round we were given a whole duck (eek), potato leaves and dried mushrooms. 

That's one of the judges watching us work. 

Heather graciously butchered the duck. We made flat bread topped with sautéed potato greens, balsamic mushrooms, pear and a balsamic reduction. Here it is:

It wasn't gluten free so I didn't try it all assembled but Heather liked it and I thought the gluten free parts tasted good on their own. 

We were very pleased to make it through to the dessert round! There we were given Jack fruit (a huge sticky and stinky fruit), Malagasy chocolate, and Bon Bon Anglais (a super sweet soda popular here). We planned on making French toast sticks with dipping sauces but by the time the jack fruit was cut we had very little time left so we made bananas with Jack fruit sautéed in Bon Bon Anglais and topped with strawberries and a chocolate sauce. 

I wish we would have had time to have actually tried it :)

Turns out these dishes were good enough for the WIN! Sweet redemption!

What a great community we have on this ship! Makes this crazy life we live a bit more exciting!