Reaching Into God's Toolbox, Not Mine

Sierra Leone is known for having a beautiful coastline. One of the first places
I visited ashore with friends is known as River No. 2 Beach.

The Global Mercy arrived in Freetown on August 22. I arrived to join the ship the following week. The process of arriving involved not only a plane, but also a bus, a boat, and finally a Mercy Ships Land Cruiser, which arrived at our narrow dock space around 4 hours after my plane landed--what an adventure!

Passengers lined up at the Seacoach embarkation terminal to
board the water taxi that takes airline passengers from Lungi
to Aberdeen, where I would meet a Mercy Ships driver.

After serving in Senegal since August 2019, bringing the ship to any other country is a first for many of the volunteers on board, and the newness of everything hits us as soon as we descend the gangway.

The rolling green hills of Freetown start their climb literally across the street from the Global Mercy's the dock space. I've been told that they are officially hills, even though to my Minnesotan eyes they definitely look like mountains! One of my favorite views from the GLM's outer decks to the east is the Old Fourah Bay College building, perched elegantly on an ledge overlooking the port under a towering tree. (At some point the college moved to a new location on top of the hill facing the ship)

The view of Old Fourah Bay College (center) from Deck 7

Another iconic tree known as Cotton Tree (it's officially a kapok tree) served as a landmark in one of Freetown's downtown areas, before it was tragically felled by a bolt of lightning last May. A central object in stories of the nation's founding at the end of the 18th century, it was viewed by many as a national symbol of Sierra Leone, even appearing on the 10 SLL* note.

Cotton Tree was believed to be more than 400 years old. It required a massive clean up effort to clear the surrounding roads after it fell.

At the beginning of every field service, supplies are unsecured from their sailing storage places and arranged to resemble hospital wards and work spaces once again. The wards are scrubbed from top to bottom, canopies are raised, and events are hosted. Many teams grow between two to ten times their size as Day Crew arrive on board for their orientation. Virtually every department is carrying out training while also executing a sudden massive gear switch from shipyard to sail to field service mode.

Day Crew and Crew working together to set up a
canopy at the HOPE Center. Photo credit: Abigail Beinetti

The ship's senior management team paid a visit to the
HOPE Center to take a tour and pray for the team.

Most crew are still able to go into town on the weekends, and when we do, there is a lot of a lot to take in. Riding down the road in the back of a keke, I found myself wondering aloud, "Are we still in a market, or is every street just this busy?"

In Mercy Ships we believe that poverty is more than just material and physical, more than funds and food. We believe that every person on earth experiences some form of poverty, be it material, social, environmental, spiritual, or most often, a combination of all of the above. If there's anything that living and working in close quarters with several hundred other people will teach you, it's that without exception, we're all broken and in need of forgiveness, grace, and help. 

Another view from the HOPE Center.

For some, it's just more visible than others. 

It's visible to us in Freetown when crew and day crew are stopped on a daily basis virtually every time we go out. Men and women of all ages ask how their loved one might register for surgery.

Unfortunately, we have already said all of our "yeses" for this field service. Each "yes" is wonderful, life-changing news for the more than 2000 people who will receive surgery on board over the next 9 months. But each "yes" also comes with multiple "no's".

We knew before we arrived in Sierra Leone that even with the Global Mercy moored in the port, the available medical resources and personnel in the nation were dwarfed by the level of medical need. It's difficult to even compare to places like Dakar.

Arrival day in Freetown, with the "Advance" team on the dock
dressed in blue, along with other people invited to attend and
welcome the ship. Photo credit: Elizabeth Brumley

One Sunday during worship, I was reflecting on all of this--the things I had noticed out in town, the questions I'd been asked, and the smallness I felt in the face of all that is not in our power to fix. In contrast to this, we were singing a song about God's power to do the impossible, even when we don't see it.

Way maker

Miracle worker

Promise keeper

Light in the darkness

My God

That is who you are

Even when I don't see it

you're working

even when I don't feel it

you're working

You never stop

You never stop working

All crew were invited to do a prayer walk through the Hospital
before the wards opened. Here my group was visiting the lab.

When worship ended, the crew separated into groups and went down to decks 3 and 4 to pray over every space in the Hospital. It's amazing how much ground you can cover when you have several hundred people with the same goal!

Faced with the problems stemming from living in a broken world, when we look into our own toolbox to fix things, we will inevitably fall short. But we know there is great power when God opens up his tool box. With us he shares the tools of hope, joy, love, and most importantly, prayer. With these tools in hand, and when we learn from the Master how to use them for the greatest effect, ait's amazing to see the change that comes about, and imagine the change to come in the future. They're the only thing that takes our little drop in the bucket and turns it into an abundance of hope for a community, for a nation, and for the world.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

-Ephesians 3:20-21

Joy looks like these Deck crew preparing for arrival.
Photo credit: Elizabeth Brumley

With the Chief Steward Paul and his wife Dulce at an event for our
Partners that was held on board. Photo credit: Tirsa Tapia-Masson

During the Hospital Open House, the medical team gave
the rest of the crew, including kids, a first-hand  taste of what it's
like caring for patients! Photo credit: Elizabeth Brumley

Hope looks like our more than 280 Sierra Leonian Day Crew, pictured here all in one place for their first day of orientation! We could not do this without them. Photo credit: Tirsa Tapia-Masson

* The currency of Sierra Leone is called leones, abbreviated as SLL. $1 USD is worth about 20 SLL. Recently, the leone was re-denominated, knocking three zeroes off of the face value without changing the monetary value. Thus, 10,000 leones is now 10 leones. Currently, both types of notes are in circulation, as the old notes have not been entire recalled, but the values are so different that it causes no apparent confusion.