Some of the beautiful people I've seen!

"Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know, know, know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives!!!!" :D

One week left. Just a few pics of patients that I visited yesterday!! 





One of our patients doing well at the Hope Center.....love this girl!

Michelle and two of our long term patients who have now been sent to the hope Center.

The little boy on the right and I have a blowing kisses game! I blow him a kiss and he catches it and puts it in his pocket, then he blows me a kiss, I catch it and put it on my cheek....then he gets really embarrassed and saw awwwww:) So cute!

This is one of the cleft palate babies waiting for surgery.

Komla is the boy I blow kisses to. He has been with us for a long time because he had a burn that had completely contracted his leg into a bent position so that he couldn't walk without a cane to hop with. Today I played soccer with him and he was running after the ball using both legs. He still needs prayer for continued healing but the Lord has brought him so far! I'm going to miss this kid!

This little boy had a hernia that was repaired.

After this picture the little boy dropped his mango in the dirt....rubbed it around, and then picked about to stuff it into his mouth before a few of us swooped him up and stopped him:)

I don't know this girls story but she has a sweet smile!

This boy said he wanted to marry me.....so I gave him the thumbs up ;)

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Home is where the Heart is........

Home…..

I only have three weeks left here in Togo and I’m realizing that I’m going to miss this temporary home of mine. My translators, co-workers, roommates, and some patients have shared some of our highest and lowest points together and have become a small family because of it. When you cry, laugh, and dance with each other (African style of course) it feels like home. There are certainly reasons I’m looking forward to going back to Michigan, but all of these people here whom I love will be missed greatly.

Challenges on board….

Life here in Togo is certainly not always easy, and my body has taken quite a beating with the heat. Even right now I’m lying in bed covered in an itchy heat rash that deprived me of almost all sleep last night. The hospital is still at times confusing and the language barrier with even the translators can be taxing. The other night I had a patient who only spoke a special tribal language, so in order to communicate we had to use three people. I spoke in English to my translator telling him what to say, he then spoke to a family member of another patient who knew the tribal language, and the family member then spoke to my patient in his language….whew. You have to get creative around here at times! A few days ago I had an English speaking patient so I was able to sit and chat with him for a long time….it reminded me of doing nursing at home. All of us nurses joke about possibly forgetting to talk to the patients when we go home and just using crazy gestures instead…J

People here on the ship come and go. I had my first friend leave on Sunday and then my bunk mate left on Monday. You find that you just have to enjoy the time you have with them and pray for them when they’ve gone. We all tell each other….. “we’ll catch up one day, and who knows, maybe that day will be in heaven.”  It’s amazing to see how the Lord is working in each person’s life and how similar or different it is from my own!

Prayer : here are a few things I’d really appreciate prayer for.

     My friend Emanuel left on Sunday to help prepare things in the next country Mercy Ships will sail to. This will be six months of hard travel, translation, and communication with government officials. He was telling me how tired he was last year when he did this and I promised to pray that the Lord would strengthen Him and give him wisdom as he goes! Also, be praying that the next country would see Jesus and the gospel of His love expressed through this team going ahead of the rest of us.

   Also, pray for the patients we have here. There are some who have infections in their wounds that are making it difficult to heal. There are some patients who are here with illnesses that have made them outcasts in their homes and villages. Pray that Jesus who is our healer would work in the lives of each person and that they would come to know this Savior who can heal not only our physical bodies but our hearts and souls as well if we ask Him to! Would they come to know “peace that passes all understand” (Philippians 4:7) which can only be found in Him, regardless of our circumstances!

  I love you all and will see some of you very soon.

Because of Him

Beth

Adorable baby girl I got to hold!

playing with patients in the Hope Center! The Hope Center is a place where patients stay when they still have to have dressings changed on their surgical sites but aren't really needing enough care to stay in the hospital on the ship.

This picture was taken by a two year old who loved the camera!

This girl gave me the biggest hugs....loved it!

The mother of the little girl I'm hugging!

More beautiful faces!

Both of these girls are my roommates! The one on the left was my bunkmate who left Monday...I miss that girl!



This is Emanuel! He was the first person I met on the ship and just left Sunday. Our talks were so encouraging...and he's hilarious too!



nine in a Taxi......TIA(this is Africa)! Gotta love it!

Chris took this pic of us shoved in the taxi.....you get to know each other really well that's for sure ;p



This is right outside of my room where we all congregate to talk about the day and get online!



Another walk today right after it rained....it was muddy for sure!

Some of the locals saw Andrew and I walking down the middle of the road that was wall to wall traffic and super muddy...so they did the african thing and told us to jump in the back of their truck! fun times!

motos behind us in the truck!

Loving the break from mud but had to get out a few mins later because the traffic just wasn't moving...oh well it was fun for a time!

Under the Mango tree....

Some of the things that have happened in the last two weeks……..

ORPHANAGE : Went to the orphanage on Saturday and played with the children. There are 35 children there who were taken off the streets by a woman who saw a need and decided to meet it! They are all so adorable, and I actually kept their attention long enough to complete a whole puzzle before they grabbed my hands and rushed me off to look at the chickens and goats they raise. Even without talking you can communicate so much….we had a blast playing and laughing together!

Claudia my roommate showing off her picture skills!

                ZIMMY JONS: Things in Togo can be quite cheap. For under two dollars you can take a Zimmy Jon, otherwise known as motorcycles, to the market and back. These have become my new love and I ride them as much as I can! The drivers weave in and out of traffic at very high speeds and no we don’t wear helmets, but the feel of the wind in my hair and being close enough to touch the cars we’re passing is such a thrill. Last time I rode one the driver kept telling me that he loved me…oh bother…TIA (this is Africa).

FUFU: is an African dish that is made out of yams which are mashed and made into a big ball of dough. They plop the dough on your plate, cover it in sauce, and you dig in with your hands…..it’s delicious. The last time I had Fufu was at a local pastor’s house. It was all fine and dandy and I actually felt that I was mastering this new dish until I got a mouth full of bones from the fish that were in the sauce. Everyone laughed as I tried to spit out the wad of bones onto my plate.

WALKS + RUNS : Going for walks or runs outside the port we’re docked in has been a favorite for me. You meet so many interesting people and see lifestyles that are so different from what I know. The other day we came across a man named Dodgy crocheting boxers and bikini tops. I have a lot of gifts I want to bring home but not sure these will make the list;)

MANGO TREE CHURCH: Two Sundays ago I went to a small Church that met under a mango tree. They have such a passion and desire to give of everything they have, their money, their talents, time, etc, to serving the Lord! They encourage each other, pray for those who are in need, and take care of the poor among them! You see in them a desire to be the hands and feet of Christ here on earth….after all, if we are made new in Christ, our lives should be different than the rest of the world, and the way we love should show that we are loved by Jesus and changed by His love!

                There is so much happening here every day. One month has flown by and yet I feel like I’ve been here forever. Praise the Lord for the many times He’s given me grace or strength when I had none!

Zimmy Jon drivers!

Michelle after her first Zimmy Jon ride...she loved it!

 



Dodgy the crocheting man!



Street Art

Some of the things you see while walking!

some of the amazing girls I go shopping at the market with!