Hope and Healing: A First-Hand Report

This week Jim Sanders and Evelyn Gibson, along with a team of videographers, have been sharing life onboard the Africa Mercy, currently ministering in the port of Conakry (Guinea).  Their objective is to capture some of the incredible stories of hope and healing that transpire every day for the ship.  Here's a brief glimpse into what this week with Mercy Ships^® has meant:

Jim's Log

We were told of one man who was blind, deaf and dumb.  His two brothers and he developed their own sign language.  They described the moment they took the patch off his eye--having never seen before--and could do nothing but smile at his brother.  And his brother just put his hands over his face and wept like a baby!

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We also heard of a man who brought all five children to the Africa Mercy.  They ranged from age 6 to 17.  ALL FIVE had been born with congenital blindness.  Dr. Glenn Strauss knew the older ones were hopeless because since the brain, once it thinks it's blind over X years, remains blind even though the eye is working.  Nonetheless, he did the surgery on all five children.  He didn't want the older ones, who wouldn't normally have had the surgery, to think they weren't of value.

As you may suspect, miraculously, they ALL did see . . . and the party they had as they left the boat was something else . . . all five pointing out things about the ship.  Walking down the gangplank each on their own, when they came on board they were all linked together so as not to get lost.  Just so powerful!

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Just finished day four, shooting this afternoon in the "Hope Center" . . . an off-site location where patients who are healing can recover from surgery.  They bring them to/from the ship for dressing changes, etc.

The location is the bottom floor of a two-story "hospital".  In this large three-building complex, there's no air conditioning, and no power for most of the day.  Electricity is for a couple hours, when you can get it.  Even the operating rooms don't have electricity most of the time, if you can believe it.

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The number of deformed and tumor-ridden faces are so many they almost become commonplace.  But they all are in such desperate need of medical attention . . . and to have that done free of charge by medical teams from all over the world is amazing.

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We've spent time interviewing lots of crew.  Something in the order of more than 150 marriages have resulted from on-ship romance! :)

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It's hard to describe the conditions here.  The smells, the sights, the utter desolation is beyond imagination.  But people are living, working, raising children right on the barren city streets of Conakry.

Evelyn's Log

We could be anywhere in the world. Onboard it's totally international--nearly 40 languages spoken. Our now near 90 interviews are people here from Italy, Norway, Scotland, the U.K, Liberia, Cameroon, you name it--and oh yes California and Texas and all over the U.S.!

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It was such fun to spend several hours in the Academy.  We interviewed a number of teachers--all impressive and eager to talk about the Academy and the students.  The student we interviewed was Caryse Parker who's dad is the chief medical officer.  She's grown up on Mercy Ships^® and graduates this year--a young lady who articulates her faith and goals so beautifully.

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Just to keep it real--yesterday our deck was without water and the daily sign posting at the entrance to the ship warned of a crew member being attacked off ship and that the garbage would be remaining on board because the truck broke down.

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Early morning is one time when all is still.  I do these emails in the Internet lounge and there's no one moving around. And yet from all our tours of this huge ship, I know there is activity especially in the galley.  They have been prepping for hours to serve 1500 meals today--several hundred of which are specifically African for the patients and their care givers.  By government edict, a patient is accompanied by a care giver--a relative, friend, whomever.  In the wards the patient beds are raised so that the CG can sleep underneath.  They go everywhere with the patient except in the OR.

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My favorite part of yesterday on the docks was putting down my pad and paper while everyone was setting up and going into the tent where people were waiting for their intake appointments or for bandages or casts to be removed--and shaking hands, hugging a woman--likely Muslim, smiling into the face of a woman whose facial tumor was as large as a football, one whose nose was missing, playing fingers with the kids who were entranced with my white finger and all smiles at the Mickey Mouse face I made sure was on my iPod Nano!  Works every time!!

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Yesterday we interviewed the galley crew in the massive kitchen area. All the meat they use comes from the Netherlands, much of everything else from the States. All the produce is purchased locally--and every vegetable washed and bleached--yes bleached with tablets!  The Executive Chef is a stellar guy--very popular and he knows what he's doing.  And for fun, on October 31, he and some other foodies on board are judging the Mercy Ships^® version of Chopped!  Anyone can apply and sign on as a contestant in two rounds of Chopped--complete with mystery baskets, judges, audience--the whole deal. It's quite an event!  No one has ever alerted the Food Network that they do it--so I'm making that my project as soon as I'm back.  It's very elaborately conceived and implemented.

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Of course the story here is the patients--the healing and the hope. But it's an all-encompassing story of lots of people living together on this dock on a ship that rarely sails, that reaches so far!