Let the journey begin!
After my 18 hour journey I finally made it to Cameroon! And so the journey begins...
But first, I want to thank everyone who helped to get me here. Without you (my family and friends) I wouldn't be living my dream!
It was a nice last few days in America ..visiting with family and friends before taking off from D.C. My flight was uneventful to Brussels and I had a 3 hour layover before heading to Douala, Cameroon. Both plane rides totaled about 7 hours each. So it was at least broken up nicely. Luckily I met some fellow Mercy Ships crew members on the second plane so I didn't have to go through customs alone. It was a bit intimidating but after about an hour we all made it through to find our representatives waiting for us.
As soon as we left the airport locals were coming up to us, saying "mercy, mercy" -they knew what we were here for, and they followed us all the way to the car (children included). Even at 7pm the air was almost unbearable! It is quite hot here-about 90 degrees everyday. This was my first taste of Africa-pretty much everything I imagined it might be. We drove through the town a bit (15 min) to get to our ship. Let me just say-the drivers here are crazy! They don't really care which side of the road they are driving on-they just go. After 15 min we pulled up to the ship and it's a lot bigger in person! You can see my picture below. But seeing the ship I felt this sense of peace come over me-like I am finally doing what I was meant to do! It's funny-today in our mandatory meeting the operations manager talked about how we were all CHOSEN. He reminded us to navigate the ship keeping in mind that everyone here was chosen by God to do this job. It's really cool when you think about it that way. Remember wherever you are in your life-you were chosen to be there. I think it puts a different spin on the way we all may think.
But, back to yesterday- we had a quick dinner and some orientation before I crashed in my bunk. Once I unpack a bit more I will include a picture so you can see the living situation. It's a 6 berth cabin, I am in the middle on a top bunk. My fellow cabin mates are all very nice and very helpful. Some of them have been doing this for years, and know a thing or two about life on the ship.
So today was the first day-mostly just orientation to the ship. We also toured the ward where I will be working. It's D-Ward which is the pediatric unit. All of these kids come to the ship for surgery, wether it's cleft palate, a tumor, a burn, or some other deformity we do our best to fix them up and send them back into their communities. I haven't interacted with the patients but the consensus I am hearing is that it will be absolutely life-changing. I cannot wait to share my stories with you. I'll share more about the ship and specifics later-but I just wanted to let you know I made it! And I will try to write a few times a week.
Once again thanks to all my family and friends. I miss you already!! And am sending my love from Africa!
But first, I want to thank everyone who helped to get me here. Without you (my family and friends) I wouldn't be living my dream!
It was a nice last few days in America ..visiting with family and friends before taking off from D.C. My flight was uneventful to Brussels and I had a 3 hour layover before heading to Douala, Cameroon. Both plane rides totaled about 7 hours each. So it was at least broken up nicely. Luckily I met some fellow Mercy Ships crew members on the second plane so I didn't have to go through customs alone. It was a bit intimidating but after about an hour we all made it through to find our representatives waiting for us.
But, back to yesterday- we had a quick dinner and some orientation before I crashed in my bunk. Once I unpack a bit more I will include a picture so you can see the living situation. It's a 6 berth cabin, I am in the middle on a top bunk. My fellow cabin mates are all very nice and very helpful. Some of them have been doing this for years, and know a thing or two about life on the ship.
So today was the first day-mostly just orientation to the ship. We also toured the ward where I will be working. It's D-Ward which is the pediatric unit. All of these kids come to the ship for surgery, wether it's cleft palate, a tumor, a burn, or some other deformity we do our best to fix them up and send them back into their communities. I haven't interacted with the patients but the consensus I am hearing is that it will be absolutely life-changing. I cannot wait to share my stories with you. I'll share more about the ship and specifics later-but I just wanted to let you know I made it! And I will try to write a few times a week.
Once again thanks to all my family and friends. I miss you already!! And am sending my love from Africa!
We do thank God you arrived safely. I have Joshua 1:9 tucked away as a reminder that ‘God is with you wherever you’! We love you and miss you much already, but knowing you are on a mission from God brings peace!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, you have been sent by God. He orchestrates everything. We don't always see it that way. When you are doing God's work, especially on a mission field, you really feel God's presence. I love mission work. You just feel...this is it! I sense you are feeling that! You are using your God- given gifts and talents for Him.
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