So this is it. The time I had dreaded is here and I left the ship yesterday, departing for the guest house in Madagascar’s capitol city, Antananarivo (short: Tana) which is a 9,5 hr bus ride away from our port city, Toamasina.

Our travels here by bus have been quite an adventure, since we almost got into a crash with a truck loaded with shipping containers on our drive to Tana. A reckless SUV driver caused the truck in front of us to brake hard, which sent him and the containers flying into the bushes on the left side of the road, just missing oncoming trucks by inches. Our driver managed to avoid getting into that collision and nobody was hurt. We tried to catch the SUV drivers licence plate, but he drove off too fast. We came by another truck wreck two hours later and I wondered if that SUV had come through there as well :). Well, this IS Africa after all, although it sometimes felt more lush and green and exotic than I had imagined.

Anyhow, we had a great time and I got to spend some more time with the german film crew of RTL Explosiv, who were on the bus with us and did a report on Mercy Ships (I am in it) – yay, see you on TV in Feb/March! Also we did a clip on Mercy ships with a canadian film crew, acting together with my dutch friend Deddie in a TV spot was a LOT of fun, we had pain in our tummy muscles from laughing. The spot will be out in May 2016, I’ll keep you posted.

The last week has been so full of everything – full of joy and laughter, of love, of tears and pain, full of ship-time, packing, praying and fasting, full of worship, family-time, travelling and goodbyes.

It has been a time of challenge and growth, but also of great joy and fun. A time where you choose to open up to people quickly, establish new friendships and then let go again. A time to encounter a new culture and embrace it. To learn about cultural differences and all the things we have in common as people. A time to put my anaesthesia skills to work and a time to learn new things. A time to work hard and play hard. A time for living in a tight community with 400 people in a floating tin box. A time for a fresh, deeper encounter with God.

If you ask me how to describe this place and my experience, I won’t be able to tell you anything but this. It is hard putting into words what my heart feels and especially explaining why it feels this way. And why I want to come back.
Yeah, it is uncomfortable living in a tiny, tight space with no privacy whatsoever with so many people coming and going.  When you’ve just arranged yourself with your bunkmate (the one out of six people in your cabin living on top or below you) in your 3 square meter space and then she leaves, a new person comes and you start all over again: “Hi, I am Silke, welcome aboard – this is where we live, this is how it works (like “this is toilet juice, it goes down the toiletdrain twice a week on monday and thursday, you check it off on this this list and you get refill in the laundry room – no worries, you will get to see that on the ship tour – and let me tell you about the specialties of our EVAC system…. and there is another toilet down the hall in case it get’s tight in the morning).

Yes, it is very weird to enter a full dining room on a sunday night and not recognising anybody because you feel all of your friends have left and there’s a whole new crowd of enthusiastic, loud people sitting at the table you used to meet with the people you love that have just left in the mist of the saturday morning before and you’re still trying to deal with the empty spot in your heart that they have left behind. It’s interesting how you can feel lonely and overwhelmed even in a crowd of people.
The ship is a place of persistent change. Of change and great challenge. We have worked hard. Long hours. Getting up at the crack of dawn and going for a run (yup, me – can you imagine?) knowing this would probably be the only daylight I would get to see that day before I submerge into the belly of the ship on deck 3 to enter the Operating Room.

But you know what? In some sort of weird and awkward way it was also the time of my life.
I have learned so much in the last seventeen weeks. I have met inspiring people that have motivated me to become a better version of myself just by being themselves. People of great integrity and honour. I have met people of excellence that are willing to be in this strange place for a long or short time and invest and sacrifice everything to do so to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor. It sounds dramatic, but this is exactly what you see when you dare to go outside and look around, even in such a beautiful country like Madagascar.
In Matthew 25, 40 we read: And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
But this does not only apply to what we give to the people of the countries Mercy Ships visits, but it has also been a true blessing to me. People have been kind and understanding and going out of their way in helping me. When I was sick, my mates visited me and brought me food and medicine and prayed for my healing. People invested their time in me and taught me how to lead. When I was discouraged, people lifted me up, encouraged me and prayed with me. People opened their hearts to me, became “friends” and “family” instead of “polite” and “friendly” and were willing to risk the pain of inevitable separation and goodbye. And guess what? That noisy bunch sitting at “your” table in the dining room? They are AWESOME people, as an irish proverb says “Strangers are the friends you just haven’t met yet”.

So it can be emotional on the ship. And the toughest part is to see people you love leaving all.the.time. And now it was my turn to leave and I miss my friends on the ship already. But change is good…!
So I will try to figure out how the future could look like. If you would like to keep me in your prayers, that would be much appreciated!
I am also excited to be back home and meet all my friends and share stories and hear what’s been going on in the last four months. And I am excited to become a part of the Moosrain Family in Riehen, moving into a great community with a whole bunch of new challenges and areas to grow and thrive in.

Keep in touch! I am now headed to the Airport, flying to Mauritius for one night – then off to Johannesburg, Munich and arriving in Basel tuesday morning!

Be blessed!

Silke