home.

I am home! Back in California. After 2 1/2 years of serving with Mercy Ships.

It has been the best experience of my life thus far and I am so grateful for everything I learned. I am also grateful for the challenges, the good and the bad times. 

My special friend, Jodelle!

Dancing with N'Sira.

Although I do miss the Africa Mercy & all the wonderf

ul people I have encountered over the past 2 plus years, I do feel like that California is where I am supposed to be at this point and time.

My buds Mafugie, Delamou, & Yaya.

I am not really sure what this next season of life entails. A job is most definitely a necessity, but other than that, everything is kind of up in the air. Which is exciting in a lot of ways.

Thank you all for coming along on this journey with me, thank you for being patient with me when I didn't really know what to say, thank you for sticking by me, praying for me and funding me on this incredible adventure! There seriously aren't enough words to express how incredibly grateful I am for you all. I will cherish all of the beautiful memories that have been made over the past 2 years, forever! 

I  hope you all had the Merriest Christmas and are thoroughly enjoying this Holiday season with loved ones. I look forward to seeing many of you soon!

our very first patient.

This is Ebenezer. He is a Graphic Web-Designer from Lagos, Nigeria. His tumor had been growing for 12 years. His story started with Mercy Ships while we were docked in Guinea. ( See more about his amazing journey here)

  He was the Hope Centre's very first patient. He was there before we even officially opened & before we had put together all 150 beds that our new facility holds. It has been amazing to be apart of this man's story. The other patient's and Day-Crew workers at the Hope Centre refer to him as Pastor Ebenezer. He is always encouraging to all of those around him & he loves leading worship & playing the guitar. I feel so priveleged to see the small daily transformation. Especially as the swelling goes down. 

Leah- My New Hope Centre Partner who hails from Australia, Ebenezer & me

Here is one of the Hope Centre Wards and one of our adorable cleft-lip patients Vernel!

We currently have 7 patients staying at the Hope Centre. We have become like a little family. I seriously feel like I have the best job in the world! So blessed by their smiles and warmth, each and every day!

*Sidenote- Ebony.com wrote an article on me if you'd like to check it out. 

selection day...

..is always bittersweet. So many people we are able to help & so many that we unfortunately have to turn away for various reasons. 

over 7,000 people showed up for screening/ selection day! Which is our largest number to date!

 Was a long day for the potential patients & crew as we started screening at 6am and finished a little after 6pm!

So grateful that it was such a peaceful day!

I was one of the patient escort's making sure that each patient got to their proper station. Miss Comfort (pictured in the pink shirt) made sure so many of the patients and crew were fed and had water throughout the day!

 

 Merci Beaucoup for all of your prayers on screening day!

Stay tuned.. I will have a Hope Centre update for you next week!

screening day is upon us.

screening day is here once again!

except this is the first screening day EVER for Mercy Ships in Republic of Congo, Pointe Noire!

selection day flyers that are currently posted all over town!

please pray for all those that we can help & also those that we sadly will have to turn away.

the school where we will be screening bright and early tommorow morning!

here is a video from last years screening in conakry, guinea to give you a small idea of what it is like!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBf_T7KvHZo

thank you all!

decisions.

Well...it has been quite some time since i have sent out an update.

There has been a lot happening these past few months. It's quite difficult to put it into words.

Leaving Conakry,Guinea was much harder than I thought it would be. Saying goodbye to patients, good friends, & my 21 wonderful day-workers at the Hope Centre!

I seriously cannot believe that it has been 2 years since i embarked on this journey to the ship. I remember stepping onto the Africa Mercy for the first time in Sierra Leone. It was a strange, unfamiliar place at the time. But, over the past two years, the ship has really become home to me.

Thank you for each and every single one of you who have supported me on this journey. Throughout the ups, during my medical leave time, & sticking by me. I literally could not do this without your financial support, prayers, & love. You have no idea how much you mean to me! This has been the best experience of my life thus far! I've learned & grown immensely, & have been able to love on people who have never seen or experienced love before because of their different ailments/disformities.

 I have made the decision to extend my time with Mercy Ships & continue my work at the Hope Centre! I'm very much looking forward to our Field Service in the Congo. ( Republic of Congo, Not DRC).


 As of right now, I'm looking to head home to California in December. I haven't been home for Christmas the whole two years I've served on the Africa Mercy & so I'm very much looking forward to that!

Thank you once again for sticking by me in this last stretch and I don't take your love and support for granted.

a day in my life...

i'm sure lots have wondered what it is that i actually do at the hope centre. well, today you get to see a small snippet of what i do! i had my lovely friend jay swanson, who followed me around the hope centre for a day with his iPhone & here it is.....

quarter of a century.

this past friday i turned 25 years old! what a day it was. full of love from the beginning to the very end. woke up to find so many cards and happy birthday signs on my cabin door.

 i felt so special and so very loved.

i ventured into the dining room to grab a quick bite to eat before heading out to work at the hope centre. low and behold, my roomie had the whole dining room serenading me & singing
"happy birthday" at 7:30 in the morning!

shortly after that, my teammate christoph & I arrived at the hope centre to start our day of work. Only to find that some of my lovely day-workers had decorated the hope centre in honor of my birthday!

some of my wonderful day-workers, myself, & a few patients. did i mention that they sang happy birthday to me 3 times! all in french, english, & then a local language susu.

came back from a wondrous day at work ( have i mentioned that I love my job?!) to find that some of my amazing friends decorated my cabin with polka dotted balloons & pictures of george clooney with fun captions. if you know me well, it's a known fact that I happen to think that george clooney is the dreamiest man alive. So this made my day a trillion and a half times better!

A close-up of one of my favorites.( such a dreamboat, i tell you :] )

feasting on one of my favorite things, funfetti cupcakes!

the evening continued at one of my favorite spots in conakry, jardin de guinee. it's a cute little outdoor restaurant that has live local music on the weekends. my friends were so sneaky & had the band sing happy birthday to me.

you would think that the birthday festivities would stop there. i was already so overwhelmed by all of the love, but no,unbeknownst to me, my friends had something else up their sleeves for saturday.  

 A fabulous bbq beach bash, with carne asada tacos & corn tortillas ( this was such a treat..corn tortillas & carne asada are pretty non-existent in west africa.)

 twenty-five is looking pretty good thus far!this was my favorite birthday i have ever had!  i'm looking forward to seeing what wonderful things & challenges 25 brings my way. 

i couldn't ask for better family & friends & supporters. i feel so incredibly blessed and so undeserving to have all of you wonderful people in my life. thanks for allowing me to be here & continue to serve with mercy ships & experience the best birthday of my life thus far!

thanks to my friend christina fast for the majority of these wonderful photos.

will have a special treat coming for you all soon. stay tuned later this week.

60 Minutes!

Mark your calendars!

Sunday, February 17th, CBS' very own 60 minutes will be airing a segment about Mercy Ships, & our mission to bring hope and healing to the world's forgotten poor.

It starts at 7 p.m. Eastern & Pacific Time and 6 p.m. Central Time on your local CBS station.

Check it out if you get a chance! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

waves of mercy.

i was recently featured in the official mercy ships newsletter!!!

here is the link if you would like to check out the story Mercy Ships wrote on me : )

http://www.mercyships.org/overwhelmed-by-joy/

snaps from today.

i actually decided to take my camera out of hiding today and utilize it. just wanted to share some of the beautiful faces that i get to see every day at my new job via the hope centre. i am not a photographer by any means. but i hope you enjoy.

 it made my heart so happy to see a smile and then hear a laugh out of this little guy. you have no idea.

 love this mother and son duo. joy exudes from both of them.

 to sum it up. i pretty much love my new job. 

a dear friend's heart...

just wanted to share a blog post from a good friend of mine, stephanie. steph also hails from southern california and is a nurse/ VVF team leader.

you can really feel her heart for these ladies.

hope everyone is having a wondrous 2013 thus far!

update coming soon on my last few days on the wards and i've started my new job at the hope centre this week!!!

The new ten

     Ten upcountry ladies arrived tonight. I was sitting with a group of nurses recounting a conversation one of them had with a patient.  The patient, not dry after multiple attempts to repair the hole in her bladder, was telling the nurse that although she isn't healed physically, she is beginning to heal emotionally.  That is a major feat when you consider what these ladies have been through. They are absolute survivors in so many ways. What continually amazes me is the amount of love they offer us so freely.  When asked 'why,' she said "We don't have money, or anything to repay you, so we are paying you with love."  She just wishes her family, many of whom abandoned her after developing the fistula, could see how much "the white people" love her and care for her.

    It has been my prayer from the beginning that despite whether they are wet or dry, they would sense and know the love God has for them.  It's not about the surgeries, or whether they are wet or dry---I just want them to realize how much they are loved by the King.  "If the next surgeries succeeds or fails, what is more important is that I can go back to my village with confidence knowing that I am loved," said Nana when asked how she would feel if she is never healed.

    Today as I thought about starting up another round of VVF, to be honest, I was burdened. It seemed like running uphill again when I just reached the bottom.  I've known the 20 ladies that are on the ward right now for over a month now. I've grown to love them like they are my proverbial children and I can't imagine loving any more ladies like I love them.  That is, until ten beautiful ladies showed up on my doorstep this evening.

     As I answered a page that would notify me that there were VVF patients on the dock, my excitement grew tremendously.  One of the nurses and I excitedly ran to the gangway and as we looked out we could see the ladies congregating around the taxi.

      I could smell them as I approached---no doubt they were my ladies.  There was a mix of emotions in the air. As we walked up to them, we were bombarded with hugs, kisses, and greetings in local tongues. The sense of desperation was tangible as I checked everyone's name to account for them all. Some began to cry---afraid they would be turned away because they didn't bring ID and their name wasn't on the list.  The tears dried up and smiles returned when I sent the taxi driver away and one by one led the ladies toward the gangway.

     As they stood near the foot of the gangway many of them pointed in the direction of the gangway platform---through charades I informed that indeed they were going to walk up that giant ladder-like apparatus, up a couple stories, to their new home.  Some forged ahead fearless, but the older ladies were reluctant and scared.  One of the translators, a young man, lovingly noticed they were scared and took them by the arm to lead them up the gangway.

     Chitra, one of the Gurkha's--a soldier in the Nepalese army--pantomimed that they must use the hand sanitizer before entering the ship and one-by-one as the ladies passed by the hand sanitizer machine, hands were cleansed.

     We mounted the stairs that would take us into the belly of the ship and their home for the next few days and hopefully weeks as they have surgery and are healed.  I wonder what they're thinking as they mount the stairs; some pause at the top unsure, and others gallantly forge ahead. We reach the corridor that will take them to C ward--a transitional ward, it most recently housed the screening team and hopefully soon will open as a full fledged ward bustling with new life, but for now it's the women's hope center. The ladies will stay here until the next surgeon arrives and examinations begin on Monday.

    As they take the long walk down the corridor to C ward in the quiet of the night I can feel their sense of relief.  I open the door of C ward and find 10 beds all made up and ready for them; Each stocked with a gown, a bag of goodies and a blanket for warmth. There's a warm glow emanating from the ward; the once harsh florescent light has been covered by African fabric giving off a warm cast.

    What happens next is one of the many reasons I love these ladies so much.  One-by-one the VVF ladies on B ward--also awaiting the arrival of the new surgeon--wakes up, gets out of bed and excitedly comes to greet the new ten.  The calm of C ward has been replaced by excitement as greetings and hugs are exchanged, food and water passed out and showers commenced.
 
     As I leave them to settling in, my heart is so full of thankfulness as God replaces my original fear with utter joy and love for these new ladies.  

http://akerneloffaith.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-new-10.html?spref=fb