Back on board, back to school, and back to mission

We are grateful that we had the chance to spend some time in Canada with friends and family this past summer! We attended Rachel’s sisters wedding and did a lot of visiting with our families and friends, but, it also felt like a good period of rest, and we felt ready to return to the Africa Mercy as our time in Canada came to a close. We are thankful to our family who opened their doors to give us a place to sleep, to friends who hosted us for countless dinners, and for the churches and communities that blessed us with prayer, support, and relationships.

After an uneventful flight back, we returned to our current home on board the Africa Mercy in early August. Work continued for the people of Madagascar while we were gone, so we plugged back into our roles to continue supporting the mission here. We were happy that we had some wonderful people to fill in for us while we were away. Dara and Ivan took their next big educational leap by starting grade nine and officially beginning their high school journey in the Academy! They have a larger class this year, six students of grade 9s and 10s together. There is a new English and Math teacher, and they are doing Social Studies and French online (if you are a high school Social Studies teacher, consider applying today!), all of which present new challenges and opportunities for them. They’re up to the challenge, however, and have already stepped into their new season in life. Cal is now in grade 7 and has found his rhythm and doing well also with school and friends on board.

Rachel returned to her role supporting the HOPE Center manager. The manager also left for some much-deserved time off and she had a fill-in manager over the last few weeks. During the temporary managers time, it was clear we now had more patients coming to our Hope Center than we could handle, and discussions ramped up about opening a satellite location. After what felt like a quick two weeks of discussions, site scouting, and team plans, a location was selected in a new but currently unused building at the site of one of our medical partners in town called the Bethany Clinic. It was incredible to see facilities, Hope Center, IT, transportation, and the ship community come together to get the satellite location up and running in just 48 hours.

The Hope Center is full because the ship has opened ophthalmic surgery, or eye surgery, alongside ongoing general, cleft, and orthopedic surgery. Because eye surgeries are typically day surgery, they have the capacity to perform more, and the influx of patients from around Madagascar has filled the Hope Center beyond capacity. The Africa Mercy wrapped up August by crossing the 1,000 surgeries completed milestone, which is a lot of lives changed, but a number that only tells part of the story. Each surgery also impacts caregivers and families back home, people who didn’t know Jesus now have tangible examples of what His love feels like. There are many who cannot receive surgery, or are placed into the care of our palliative care team, who still receive the loving care and word of Jesus from our chaplaincy teams. Many are given the education they need to improve the quality of their lives, and that of their families back home as well.

It’s heartening to hear the ways that Mercy Ships goes beyond surgeries within the country, many of these stories unseen and unreported, and we on ship can even miss them too. Feeling connected to the mission is a challenge, one that I, and the IT team, feel. While they have connected with some local missions in the past, the IT team doesn’t have regular contact with the patients on the ship. I have felt the need to be more intentional about that – for my own benefit as much as anything – so the IT team is taking time once a week to hang out with the patients during their fresh air break on deck seven. IT work on board can feel routine at this stage of the field service, and these opportunities to interact with the patients help remind us why we are here.

As we look to the latter half of our field service in Madagascar, we ask for continued prayer for patients recovering in our wards. We are believing for God’s miraculous healing over some patients. Pray for unity and peace as we battle the complacency of familiarity that comes with a later field service, and returning to the same country. We ask God to continue to reveal and provide for us as we seek His guidance for short-term and long term travel plans. We ask for prayer for continued financial support, so that Mercy Ships Canada can continue to support volunteers from our country. Please continue to pray for protection, strength, and God’s wisdom over our family as we continue to serve Him.