May 5-14 I will travel to neighboring
Liberia as part of a team that will assess the possibility of an
Anastasis visit in 2005-6. Like Sierra Leone, civil war tore apart the
nation of Liberia for more than a decade. Mercy Ships is currently
partnering with Equip in Liberia to provide water and sanitation for
rural villages.
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Women with
Fistula
Since December 2001, Mercy Ships surgeons have repaired more than 200
fistulas for women who have suffered with a continuous flow of urine.
The plight of these women is one that I have found touches people like
few other conditions. Everyone seems to want to help these women. This
year our program has expanded beyond the on-board surgeries. We have
worked with a local surgeon at the maternity hospital up the hill to
provide operations we could not fit into our surgery schedule. One
surgeon worked at the hospital with Dr. Lewis for a few days, while Dr.
Lewis performed the operation for other women as we covered the cost
(~$200 at greatly subsidized rates). We provided training for two
national surgeons on board the Anastasis. When the first of those
surgeons returned to his district hospital, our surgeon joined him and
continued the training on location. Dr. Charles also had the privilege
of performing a c-section for one of the women who had a fistula repair
during an earlier Anastasis outreach.
While nothing has been finalized, Mercy Ships is working toward
establishing a fistula center here in Sierra Leone so the care of women
with fistula can continue. Would you pray that this would become a
reality, that the doors would open before the year ends and we would
find appropriate staff to supplement the national staff?
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Triple Trouble
A nurse who saw me pick up the
photo from the printer commented, ‘Oh, that’s Trouble.’ She was partly
right…Helen and Jean, the nurses working in the outpatient unit, tease
the three kids in the photo that they are ‘triple trouble.’
Fatmata, Alimamy, and Alhaji, have
come for wound care several days each week since their January
operations for burn scars. Fatmata has learned to say ‘thank you.’
Alimamy came to the dockside unit on Good Friday quite happy. When asked
what made that Friday ‘good,’ he replied succinctly, ‘Jesus died for me
and so I have eternal life.’ Alhaji decided he wanted to be called
Moses, because he is a Christian not a Muslim.
Would you join me in praying for these pre-teens? Pray
that their wounds would be fully healed before we depart. The fragile
skin breaks down easily. From the trauma of their injuries and hurts
from the war, they also carry internal wounds that need to heal. Alimamy
needs a secure place to stay. He lost his family in the same rebel-set
fire that scarred his body and now lives in an abusive home. Fatmata
claims to be a Christian, but can’t quite describe what that means. Pray
that it will be clear to her.
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Thank you
As I write, my 7th
anniversary with Mercy Ships approaches (May 5). Over the years I’ve
accumulated many fond memories of friends & patients, events & places.
I’d be lying if I denied that there were not difficult days as well. In
fact, these past several months number among the hardest as I struggled
to come to terms with changing plans and shattered dreams. I know
without a doubt that without your support…whether letters, finances,
prayers, phone calls, or chances to chat and share meals, I would not
still be serving here. YOU make it possible. As Don Stephens says in an
old Mercy Ships video, “Thank you for helping us make a difference!”
Would you please pray for me that I would have
a renewed passion for the work that I am doing. Pray too that we will
finish this outreach well.
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Where
Are You?
small church started and continues in the village today. A pastor lives
with them for several days each week. They hold their services under a
tree, coming together with canoes during the rainy season when most of
the village is flooded.