This last blog post is written with surprise and sadness. I cannot believe my time has come to an end serving with Mercy Ships. There is so much to tell. I do apologize for not writing these things sooner. The last month on the ship went by so quickly and my time back home has been very busy. A lot of things happened and I will do my best at explaining most of them here.
The month of May brought with it a big season of general surgeries for A Ward. General surgeries include removal of goiters, lumps and bumps (formally known as lipomas and cysts), and repairs for hernias. The vast majority of the surgeries, however, were hernia repairs. Insert any kind of joke you would like. We looked after a lot of groins in the weeks leading up to the hospital’s closing. The rapid turnover of patients made for a busy season for all of us, but it was definitely welcomed. We were able to help so many people with these simple surgeries. General surgery patients were in and out of the hospital in forty-eight hours time. We barely had enough time to get to know them, but the impact we had on their lives in that time and for the future was satisfaction enough. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone. There were two shifts, in particular, that I remember vividly.
The first was an evening shift where we spent the night educating all of the new admissions, caring for all of the immediate post-ops, and playing games with the few who had been there for longer than the two day average stay. There was a line of gentlemen all having hernia repairs. As I moved from one to the next starting IVs, I got to know them and hear a little about their stories. Some had a lot of children, one had many grandchildren, one was nearly blind, and another was a farmer from upcountry. They each were very appreciative to have surgery. I asked one what would be the first thing he would do when he left the ship. He said, “I will praise God for the work everyone has done for me.” The gentleman did not say go back to work or cease from holding his groin to reduce the pain induced by his infirmity. He said he was going to praise God. After having carried the weight of his illness for who knows how long and having to reduce the amount of work he was once capable of doing, he was going to give God the praise for his healing. This is a great testimony to his faith and our faithfulness to the commitment of healing these people.
My second story comes at the end of the general surgery season. It was the last day for surgery and the ward was barely half full. I was working with one other nurse who happened to also be the charge nurse. The evening was full of celebration from upstairs because it was the last day for most of our Day Crew. The Day Crew were Congolese natives who served along side us in the hospital as translators, as deck hands, engineers, cooks, and valets. We watched the event on the TVs down in the wards. After some time, I felt like we needed to have a fun night with it being the last day of surgeries. So, I decided we were going to ‘go to the movies.’ I grabbed one of my helpful translators and had him tell everyone that we were going to watch a movie, but everyone had to get dressed up before we ‘went out.’ I made the men cool, striped paper ties which I paper clipped to the front of their hospital gowns. Then, I made the women cute, polka dotted bows, fastened them to some gauze with paper clips, and wrapped around their heads. We were all dressed up and ready to go! I, then, had the translator tell them we were going to watch a movie about Moses. They cheered with excitement. We got everyone on one side of the ward, dimmed the lights with shades, and turned on The Prince of Egypt on the computer. The other nurse I was working with gathered some cookies and tea for us to snack on while we enjoyed the film. What a night that was.
The following week the hospital closed and we started to pack everything up to prepare the ship for the sail. We cleared out each ward of all its contents and then scrubbed it clean. We did this with nearly every other room in the hospital. Some days were long and others were short. Two days I was in the laundry room doing laundry and then securing items in there for the sail. Everything worked out perfectly. We finished with the hospital on Tuesday, I spent all day Wednesday packing my things, and then I left the ship on Thursday. I was asked by a lot of people if I was ready to leave. I can confidently say that I was ready to go home. I had finished my work with the hospital and in the Congo. I had plenty of time to go through the proper grieving process which comes with leaving somewhere you have invested into so much. I was also in the transition mindset. My life would be transitioning from missionary work on a hospital ship in the Congo to small suburban life in the United States. When I left, I left with no regrets.
My travels took me from airport to airport, and from train station to train station. Eventually I found my way to Life Church in Bradford, UK. I arrived thoroughly exhausted, but ready to experience something new. There I met some remarkably amazing people who I would be seeing the next two days of my stay. They did an incredible job taking care of me when I walked in through the doors even though many people were tied up with the kid’s conference going on in the sanctuary. I was given a shower and then fed pizza from a popular local restaurant called Raja’s. The next day began bright and early. We walked to the church to meet a coach bus which took us to Leeds where the Cherish women’s conference was being held. Cherish was the conference Life Church was putting on that weekend. There were nearly five thousand women at this conference. I was put on the host team. My job was to hold a sign, stand outside, and greet all of the women who came in of the morning session. In between greeting the women before and after sessions, I ran around behind the scenes and inside the stadium doing host jobs for the conference. I got to meet some really cool people while working the event and I hope to meet up with them again in the future. We concluded the conference and worked extremely fast to tear down (‘set down’ as they say over there) the whole arena. The arena staff were very impressed with us, to say the least. We made a huge impact on them and they are excited to have Life Church back next year. Praise God. After setting down at the arena, we had to rush back to the church in Bradford and set down there. The kids’ conference was done, but we needed to set down that, sort all of the equipment, and set up the whole sanctuary back to its original condition. We finished around eleven at night. Sunday came and I spent the day at the church for both services and had a nice afternoon lunch and nap at a new friend’s house.
I left late Sunday night and ended up in Manchester. It was raining and I needed to find my hotel. I flagged down a taxi and away we went. Long story short, it was one of the most miserable and humiliating rides of my life. I finally settled down in my room at two in the morning and had to be up a few hours later to catch an early flight home. Everything went well on my connecting flights and I arrived home a day earlier than I had expected. I surprised my parents and they surprised me in return with my sister and a friend who had tagged along to pick me up. My first meal was spent at the local Chicago style restaurant Portillo’s. I was so happy to be on American soil.
The rest of my week was spent catching up with a few people and attending many wedding activities for one of my best friends. I was the best man in his wedding and I was honored to stand up there next to him on his big day. Everything went flawlessly. The following week brought more sleep and catching up with others.
The big question I have been asked is what will I do next? Well, I will be taking the summer to travel and then I will be going back to the hospital I used to work at in October. I hope and pray the position I want is open when I start looking.
The next big question I am asked is concerning my girlfriend. Yes, for those of you who did not hear, I now have a girlfriend. Her name is Moriah and I met her while serving with Mercy Ships. She makes me happy. I am really excited to go see her and her family this summer in California. I have never been there so it should be a great time.
Would I ever go back to Mercy Ships? Yes. I enjoyed my time serving and would love to do it again a few years down the road.
Well, I guess this is goodbye until my next big missions adventure. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all of your support and prayers. Each one was heard by God and used in my day to day life on the ship and during my travels home. I serve an amazing God and He has a way of blessing those who bless others. I hope He blesses you abundantly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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