Hi, guys!

First of all I would like to sincerely apologize for leaving you in the dark for so long! As is wrote in my last blog, it is often challenging for me to take the time to sit down and put everything that is going on here into words (or even part of it, as life here is very complex). But I did update my prayer request page – if you like, click on the link at the very top of the page that says “Prayer requests /Gebetsanliegen” and check out what’s new. Also I have some exciting news on the VERY personal side!

During the preparation course from Mercyships in the Headquarters in Texas in September 2016 I met a wonderful man from the Netherlands named Ruben. We became friends, then best friends and started dating in February this year. Please pray for wisdom for the both of us as we head into this adventure, and pray for love and patience towards one another and love, wisdom and grace in the interaction with others.
Being a couple on the ship can at times be quite challenging, because you are always surrounded by a ton of people. It is nearly impossible to find a spot to sit and talk without being seen (which sometimes can feel like being watched) by people. But this fact also adds a lot of security and accountability.
The definitive upside of getting to know each other in this ship environment is that you see one another in the most raw and real life situations (before coffee and/or breakfast in the dining room, with no make-up and messy hair  during an early morning fire drill, under pressure, hot and sweaty, sleep-deprived and personally challenged in the laundry room – the Mercy Shipers will relate to this comment). It is kind of upside down and inside-out here with relationships – if you think of it, we have been living together under the same (metal) roof (deck) since September (on three different continents) and seeing each others “everyday life” – faces. It’s the beauty of imperfection (although I must say that this man is really amazing – the challenges I write about here concern me, not him 🙂 ). I couldn’t be more thankful for this opportunity and the gift of knowing Ruben and walking alongside him in this adventure.

We went on PTO (Personal Time off – or holidays, as you may also call it) in April for 10 days and visited friends and family in Hamburg and Fryslan (The Netherlands). It was a great time to reset, refresh, clear the head and also enjoy some cool air. Being from the northern part of Germany, I actually began to miss cold and rain and even got excited about a short hailstorm we ran into in Hamburg. Isn’t it interesting what you get excited about?

But I suppose you are more interested in hearing about ship life than our PTO, so here’s a little update on that:

We are about to finish up our field service here in Benin. And no, we are not quite sailing just yet. But the Advance team is already in Cameroon and preparing for our arrival and setting things up in the country. The packup and securing for the sail has already begun, the dock space and loose items on the decks are being stowed away and the spaces are slowly but constantly becoming more and more empty, which feels … awkward.
Emotionally times are also more challenging because we have much, much more departures of staff than arrivals and the goodbyes are part of everyday life. Saying goodbye to dear Long-term crew members who have become family over time is probably the worst part, even though I am super excited about what is ahead of them on their journey and curious about which path God is going to lead them in.  But – there is always a painful gap in the community at first as they depart. A void that will eventually fill up and close because of God’s grace and provision of amazing people that come to the ship.

Also, there are only two more weeks of surgery left and that presents a whole new challenge. How to fit in the last patients for the last surgeries, choosing cases with lower complexity (because of the follow-up treatment that we will not be able to provide for) and unfortunately  saying “no” to a lot of patients. I admire the screening team that is confronted with this situation all the time and make such wise decisions and face this challenge without falling apart mentally. I imagine this to be the hardest job on the ship. And there are those patients whom we have treated, that are still on the road to recovery.

After our community service tonight we got handed a list with the names of sixteen patients that are having rough time with the healing of their wounds. But along with this, one of our amazing crew members, who works in Outpatients (from where patients are being discharged) let us have glimpse into what her work looks like in these days. She shared the stories of two of the patients whom they were very concerned about because they weren’t healing well and whom they had to discharge because they had to go home to support their families.  God spoke to her and asked her to pray for them and remind them that God is the ultimate healer (not us or Mercyships). She was obedient and in both cases she got the feedback a couple of days later that the patients had healed completely.

And if I take time to pause and look back at the work we have done in these last months as a whole team, people from different countries and different professions (I am especially thinking of our non-medical team members), coming together as one body, with the same vision and goal, that have made it possible for us to perform the surgeries, and looking at the patients we have helped, the statistics are overwhelming to me. And I try not to look at the mass of numbers, but at the individuals, every patient that brings his and her own story. Some that have touched my heart more than I wanted to, where letting them go back home after their treatment on the ship almost felt like a loss at first because they brought so much joy and spunk or simply because their transformation in the healing process was so impressive.

So if you ask me, yeah – it is challenging to be here and a lot of us are tired as the field service is wrapping up, but there is no place on earth where I would rather be. It is the beauty of imperfection. It is the mess of everyday life and challenges where we can stretch out to God and find grace and strength for the day. It is at those times, when you feel as if you have nothing left to give, that you can actually give the most valuable thing – and that is to point to the creator of all things, the giver of good gifts, He who has begun the good works that will fulfill them. Christ is the Healer, not Mercyships. But I have the privilege to be a part of this journey, so I choose to dive in deep. Head first. Every day.
Acts 3, 6
Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Love from the Africa Mercy, Cotonou, Benin

Silke

… what are your thoughts? I love to hear from you!!!