The Academy

As time continues to fly by and we are counting down to just 7 weeks left on board this floating hospital, we have had many moments lately of reflecting on things we will miss.  There are so many blessings in this place. We feel confident of God's leading of our family off this ship but we also know that it will be a difficult goodbye.

One of the blessings we will miss the very most is the Academy. This school has been such an amazing gift to our family and, especially, the kids. They have received such a rich education that is unlike any other.  This year all 3 kids have classmates and teachers from around the world. There are some things that you just can't learn from books. Interacting with the world right in your classroom is a gift we will not soon forget.

I realize this post was possibly better placed at the beginning of the school year but I never got around to it.  So here's a brief glimpse into each of their classes and who they will have to say goodbye to:

Adalynn is in Grade 1 this year. Her teacher Miss Shea is from Texas. She has 2 classmates, Emma from Georgia and Benjamin from Brazil. The three of them get along so well and really enjoy each other. Miss Shea says that in their free time they write encouraging notes to one another.

Adalynn's class on Jabulani day ("spirit day")-theme: Benin

Pictured with Immanuel one of our Biomed technicians that is from Benin but has been on board as crew for many years.

On their field trip to the rehab tent

Grade 1 class pics :)

Cora is in Preschool 2. Her teacher is Miss Jenelle from Washington State. Her classmates are Lukas from Netherlands and Abigail from Brazil. Cora really loves being the oldest in her class and is excited to be starting to learn to read words.

Jabulani day. Lukas didn't want to go up and Abi was a bit shy.

Wet Wednesday with the Nursery class!

Preschool 1 and 2 class pic.

Jack is in the Nursery. His teacher is Mrs. Tatyana from Brazil. His classmates are James from England and Elle from South Africa. James is just 1 month older than Jack and Elle is 19 months old. They are the best of buddies (most of the time :) ). The mommies of these two little ones are dear friends and we spend lots of time together. They will be missed so much.

Jack's class made flags from each of the represented countries.

With Mrs. Taty playing outside.

Jabulani day.

Nursery class pic (plus Joseph who is not yet old enough)

Orphanage

We had the great opportunity to visit an orphanage this weekend. The missionaries living life with these sweet children are an inspiration to us. They live with very little and make a huge difference in the lives of these children. One of their "children" is 23 and will graduate this year and leave the compound. He has been there since he was a small child. What an amazing story for him to be able to now enter the workforce with a good education and a knowledge of Jesus. Hard stories with happy endings!! What a picture of why Jesus came, to make broken things new again!

It was also such a blessing to see much of Benin we hadn't yet seen as we drove 2 hours into the northern part of the country.  Experiences like these will be missed!

On the drive-The colors and prints of fabric on the people here are so beautiful

Jack with a few of the kids

Preparing to sing for us

Lunch!

The kids with our group and the missionaries that work with the kids. Taken after a great game of kickball in the hot African sun. That's why we are all glowing :)

Settling in

We are finally feeling settled in Benin back as a family of 5 (after Cora and my little journey to London).  Here's what our month has looked like:

Lunch and swimming at a local couple's house, Laurent and Ines.  He is French and she is Croatian.  He is the director of the bank that John has been working with. They have lived here in Benin for 3 years. John met them when they came on board for our partner's reception (a fancy party/tour Mercy Ships gives to the companies that help us while we are here).  They are lovely and have invited us over to their oasis whenever we want!! They have an amazing ministry to Catholic missionaries that pass through. They open up their home to many people and are able to bless many with their hospitality.

In addition to the pool, they had fun food and games for the kids and they can't wait to go back. They also sent us away with ice cream :). 

Adalynn got to be a casting guinea pig. The rehab team needed to do some teaching for the day crew on how to cast so the grade 1 class got to spend the afternoon getting casts and trying to walk like the patients.  She had so much fun!! I worry that she is going to set out trying to break her leg now so she can have a cast for real :)

Adalynn's classmates Benjamin and Emma

Trying to trick Grammie that she really broke her leg.

We took a trip to the local market to find fabric.  We are back in West Africa, the land of wild fabric!! It's so fun to look through the thousands (literally) different patterns. The kids did a great job in the heat and overwhelming market and we found some really great prints.  One of our day crew is a tailor and he took our measurements and is going to make us dresses/shirts!  I'm a bit curious how it will turn out.  Pictures to come of the outfits!

My friend Heather and I walking through the market. I didn't bring a camera so no pics of the kids but this gives you a small taste of what the streets are like.

When we got back to our car we had been boxed in.  John is trying to move the tire on the roof as it was keeping us from making the 20 point turn we needed to get out. Thankfully the owner of the vehicle finally showed up.

We were invited to attend a local church this last Sunday.  Our experiences in local West African churches in Guinea and Congo were not very kid-friendly so we had just assumed that we would not be attending local churches here. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the experience and the kids did great! The pastor has worked closely with Mercy ships and the church is wonderful. The pastor has 2 daughters and a son similar to our kids ages so it was good for our kids to play with them. We are looking forward to going back. I just wish I had a video of the conga-line worship session. Worship is definitely not boring.

Tonight was the first night we were able to get down to the hospital as a family in Benin. It was so fun to see the kids jump right back into it all.  Jack played connect 4 with a gentleman, Cora painted nails and Adalynn played Jenga.  We are excited to get back into the routine of visiting the patients. Adalynn is excited to come up with crafts to do with them in the afternoons after school.

We are really trying our best to make the very most out of these last few months. I am excited to experience more of Benin and connect more with the culture and the patients!

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.