Heading Home.

I am all packed after spending all night downsizing my 2 bags of 40 kilos to 1 bag at 22 kilo...slight mix up on the bag allowance. I did good only a few tears were shed when I had to part with some stuff that I did not want to part with. I was just trying to look at it as God trying to simplify my life just a little bit more. I think i did good after 19 months  gone all I have returning with me is one little bag. 

I head out tonight at 8pm from Tenerife, spend the night in Dublin, fly to Chicago in the am, and then to Stl early evening tomorrow. Please pray that the snow holds of until I get there. I do not want to have to relive last years disaster at the Chicago Airport. 

It has been an adventure of a life time and thanks for reading and keeping up as I went along. 

Merry Christmas... and Happy New Year. 

We made IT.

We docked this morning around 8:30 am in the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. We were welcomed by our very own trumpet player. Every time the ship comes or goes from Tenerife this man is there playing his trumpet for us. He was there last year and sure enough he was there this morning. In fact he was the only one there welcoming us. The entire crew loves to hear his music as we approach. It actually is rather moving. Around 10:30 am the mass exiting of sea loged crew began. I asked a few of the kids what they were doing today some answered the park, some answered getting ice cream but one little girl answered We Are Going to McDonalds. What ever the activity be I know we were all glad to be able to walk on dry land. The site of green grass and the smell of flowers and vegetation was enough to make me happy, oh the beauty of simplicity. 

The Trumpet player

Video clip of the arriving tunes

The Numbers...for Benin 2009

This post is for those of you who get amazed at the stats. I must admit they are rather impressive. However the glory goes to Him not use, for we are nothing without him. 

996 reconstructive and plastic surgeries;
185 cleft lip and palate repairs;
1161 general surgeries;
2 local surgeons trained;
3,521 cataracts removed;
570 other eye surgeries (pterygia and stabismus);
2 local eye surgeons trained;
33,851 eye evaluations and other treatments;
7,083 pairs of sunglasses distributed;
5,689 pairs of reading glasses distributed;
18 community eye field workers trained;
154 obstetric fistulas repaired;
4 local surgeons trained in fistula repair;
231 orthopedic operations;
10,175 dental patients seen;
794 dental hygiene patients;
13,174 oral health education;
25 oral health teachers trained;
2 dental assistants trained;
28 patients received palliative home care;
6 Burkitt's Lymphoma patients received palliative support;
19 families trained in wound care;
10 agricultural staff trained;
23 local agricultural trainees;
1 hostel constructed for agricultural college;
19 mental health workers trained;
119 church & community leaders trained in mental health;
50 prison officers and workers trained in mental health;
2 church leaders conferences attended by 602 attendants;
and 12,000 people watched the Jesus Film and many made a commitment to Christ.

That brings the total to about 80,000 people who have been directly touched by this ministry in the past 10 months. WOW.

⁹ I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;

         I will sing praises to You among the nations. 

    ¹⁰For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens

         And Your truth to the clouds. 

    ¹¹Be exalted above the heavens, O God;

         Let Your glory be above all the earth.

Psalm 57:9-11

Day7. Peek At The View.

Here is a peek at what I have been enjoying for the last seven days. It has been lovely. The sail is still as smooth as a baby's butt. Praise the Lord. Our ETA for Tenerife is Saturday morning, I leave one week from today, and I am 80% packed already.

There is a light at the end of this tunnel.  

Sunday... Day 6.

MERCY CHRISTMAS.... From our ship to your home. haha

Day 4.

We are still moving,  and this is how I spent my afternoon. :)

Sunrise Day 3

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, 

       for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

 

Au Revoir l'Afrique

Tuesday we sailed out into the Atlantic blue leaving Africa in the long off horizon and our next destination 10 days away. As we left the port I found a few tears making their way down my cheek. I was surrounded by people from all over the world, some who have only been here a few weeks and some like myself who have seen this entire outreach through. From beginning to end. I wondered what most were thinking as the words amongst all of us were few. 

I knew what I was thinking. I was thinking of all the hard work and sweat( literally)  that has went into these last 10 months, all the patients and family members who have in someway or another been affected by our presences. I was thinking of all the randomness that occurs everyday and is now not so random. I was thinking of all the places I had visited over the last 10 months and all the people I had come in contact with. I was thinking of friends who have come and gone.I was thinking of all the challenges and success that have passed me by. I was thinking of all the change that has occurred in my life since the very first day I left home over a year and a half ago.  But most of all I was thinking of how honored I was to have lived such an awesome adventure in my lifetime..not that the adventures in my life are over, just this one. 

When I left home June 2008 I was expecting to see our Father in ways I never thought were imaginable and sure enough He out did himself. It has been a journey and don't get me wrong there have been good day and bad days, but that is life. I leave Africa with a heart empty of things to give and full of blessing received. I knew this would change my life, however I never knew what change my life really entailed. 

So now I sit on a rocking hospital ship that is making its way to Tenerife and from there I will fly home....not sad but happy, blessed, and thankful. It's amazing really. God has granted me such peace about leaving and returning home. He has prepared me in such away that I know that coming home is the next step. Now I wait to find out what steps to take after I step of the plane. 

Liz Meg and I on Deck 8 just before we set sail. 

The tug pulling us out to sea. 

Separation for land and people waving good bye. 

The now empty birth were we lived for the last 10 months.

Togo Advanced Team that will stay in Africa and prepare the way for the ship to head to Togo in February.

Au Revoir l'Afrique!

My Thanksgiving.

I know Thanksgiving is one of those holidays were most people have plenty of traditions to uphold and follow. However this weekend I have been thinking about what Thanksgiving actually means and I am almost positive that eating lots of food until you are about to burst then laying around watching tv while you flip through the ads for Black Friday is not the only way to celebrate. Enjoyable to most but not the only way. This Thanksgiving I celebrated in a new way and it was such a wonderful day.

It started out by not having to work thanks to all the hard work the dental team did 3 days prior. It was not planned to take the day off however it worked out that way. 

I woke up without an alarm which is one of my most favorite things to do. After waking up I talked on the phone to a dear friend living in Norway then I had lunch. After lunch I thought to myself oh my!  my first day finished with the clinic and I am all ready bored. Then I remembered I needed to actually make a trip out to the clinic to check on one thing. So I got a car and set out for the dental clinic one last time.

On my way I remembered I also needed to stop and see Joyce and Jugo one last time. You might be asking yourself who are Joyce and Jugo? I blogged about them back on September 12. Here is the short version on them. Joyce the mom and Jugo the daughter came to the dental clinic on the first day back in February. Jugo needed a cleft palate operation and we did that for her back in September. From February until now I have developed a lovely relationship with this family. I have been to Joyce's store several time for visits and she would randomly stop by the clinic just to say hi and see how things were going. Over the months I have really grown attached to them.

So I thought Thursday would be the perfect day to stop by and say hello/goodbye. First I stopped at Joyce's shop where she has a small business. After visiting for a while we decided to go pick Jugo and her sister up from school. That was a treat in its self. They were so surprised to see me and not only to see me but to see me at their school. After picking them up we drove to their house. The ride was so fun. The girls had never been in a car and they loved it. Every little bump and pot hole that most people complain about they laughed about. On the way to their house we made a small detour at the tailor shop to pick up the dress they had made for me. It was so cute.. I love it. Once we got to the house they showed me around which took about 2 min. The house was 3 rooms one room had a bed on the floor, and one room was the kitchen/ toilet all in one. The girls changed clothed and then I took them back to the shop. I asked Joyce how late will she work tonight and she told me 9pm. She then said in Africa you must work hard so your children can have a little. By the time we arrived back at the shop it was time for me to go.  We prayed together, said our good byes, and even cried all of us including Jugo. 

You might think to yourself this seems like an awful way to celebrate Thanksgiving... but it was so wonderful. I was able to just for a few hours step into the normal every day life of a little girl who's life has been changed by what we done here on the ship. I was able to see the grace God has given them and myself. I was able to see that the people we are here serving are just that people with normal lives. People like you and I that are just trying to get by. While we were praying before I left Joyce said one line that I will never forget She said "Father Thank you for using Jessica to stop my tears. Thank you for guiding us to her, and using her to guide us to the ship. My tears are gone now and I thank her but PRAISE YOU for who YOU ARE. 

This has been the best Thanksgiving ever and it was not because I had a nice spread of Turkey, potatoes, dressing, and pumpkin pie.....which I did have in case you were wondering. It was because I was able to see at the end of the day all politics and branding put aside, peoples lives are being touched and in most cases it turns out that not just the patients lives are being changed it is also ours. The crew members who are here to help but in the end are helped more than we/ I could ever imagined. 

I hope you enjoyed your families and friends over the Holiday, I know I missed mine but none the less I had a day full of things to be Thankful for. 

Joyce outside her small shop. 


Surprise pick up at school. The girls loved it. 
Jugo at home jumping on the bed. Typical kid. 
Outside the house just before we said good bye. 

Packed Up Cleaned Up Wrapped Up Day 3

Day 3 and the dental clinic is now packed into a container sitting on Deck 8. It only took us 3 days to tear it down, clean it up, and bring it back. All our hard work payed off and now we get tomorrow OFF... which means it will be just like home(well not just like but as close as it is going to get) tomorrow on Thanksgiving Day.  Sleep, spending time with good friends, and a Thanksgiving Day meal. I have so much to be Thankful for, and have had an Amazing year. Time for whatever is NEXT. 

First trip from the clinic to the ship

Second trip from the clinic to the ship. Packed true African Style. Stuff  stuffed everywhere.

Neighborhood boys waving goodbye to us the last time we pulled out of the clinic. 
3rd and final trip from the clinic to the ship. We had to stop and retie down the tables on the top of my Land Rover. We almost lost them. 
Me bringing in the LAST thing to be packed into the container. WOO HOO it is finished.
The container with all the dental stuff.
and there it goes from the dock to deck 8. 

That my friends is how you tear down, pack up, and move a dental clinic from land to sea.

Cleaned Up. Day 2.

DAY 2. Cleaning- Finished! Only thing left to do is bring it all back to the ship tomorrow. :) 

Day 2 
empty sterilization room 

Empty Dental Clinic

loading up the generators and compressors. That was a big job! Thanks Karl for the help.

All the equipment packed and ready to be driven back to the ship to be placed in our container tomorrow. 

Pack it Up. Day 1

Last Friday a clinic full of patients. Today messy rooms with people everywhere packing up.

DAY 1

Friday's Patient Pick.. The First and The Last

Today was the last day of treating patient at the Dental Clinic and it was bitter sweet. We had so many patient waiting outside the gate of our clinic that as we drove away for the ship at 5:00pm many were still standing there begging us to help them some of them even had tears running down their faces. That is hard to take anytime and as I sit here and type this I am emotionally and physically drained. However as I have said many times, God knows when you have had enough and he knows just the way to ease your mind. Which brings me to my LAST Friday patient pick Mousaha. 

Mousaha has a rather long history with us. His chart reads patient number 52. He came to see us for the first time on November 27 our first day of clinic. He presented with a rather severe mandible fracture. He is the same man I talked about in a story on my blog back in April. The patient featured on the short dental video the ship put out many months ago. The same man I have spotted several times around town while I was out and about..every time resulted in him greeting me with a smile and a hand shake. 

Well today when he walked though the gate, I was greeted with a hug in addition to his huge smile.  He came in today for his final check and Praise God he is healed completely, including his new denture that replaced 7 teeth that needed to be removed for the surgery, and oh man is he happy with the results. 

As we did our last hugs and smiles to one another and he turned his back to walk out the gate for the last time, a part of me felt so complete. Not only is he my Friday patient pick... He is my Favorite patient ever pick.

His first appointment was our first day of clinic and his last appointment was our last day of clinic. 10 months of treatment and finally his chart reads DISCHARGED.

His charts full of clinical notes from all of his appointments.

10,000th.....

Introducing our 10,000th Patient.......

The dental team treated it's 10,000 patient today. It was rather exciting for me especially because this is the goal I personally set for us before the outreach even began and now we have actually achieved it. I think this is a testimony to how HARD we have been working these past 10 months.

When I think of the many volunteer crew and patients that have passed through the gates at the Dental Clinic this outreach it amazes me. Meeting this goal represents the hard work of many people of all ages and nationalities treating and caring for one patient at a time one day at a time. 

WAY TO GO DENTAL TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Friday's Patient Pick! Prison Edition.

Yesterday and Today the Dental Team went to the Cotonou Prison to work. We treated 310 patients in 2 days and had a blast doing it. More photos to come tomorrow or Sunday. This brings me to my patient pick. The gentleman below was one of the first ones in line to receive treatment. After his tooth was extracted he decided to show off a pit for the camera. He also decided he liked me and thought it was necessary to present me with a nice pair of sandals (picture below).  At the end of today we had a little sing and dance time and a few of the prisoners joined us in our celebration.... one of them being FRIDAY PATIENT PICK- prison Edition. :)  

Please do not bypass the hugeness of this mans muscles. 
Being a poser
My lovely small sandals, which I love and will keep forever.