Just a piece of the puzzle

The Tactical Management Team on board is reading When Helping Hurts together. Since I sit in on their meeting to take the minutes, I get to read along with them, and be there for the discussions at the end of each chapter.

This is a book that I can't recommend highly enough. It is my third time reading it, and it is still transforming my definition of poverty.

The video on this page gives a concise summary of the main thesis in the book. Poverty is not just a lack of materials--it goes far beyond that. Poverty is the result of broken relationships with God, with ourselves, with others, and with the world around us. Their point being, by this definition, we are all living in poverty in one way or another.

Not that material poverty does not deserve our special attention, but it's important to understand that when it comes to needing help, we are all standing on the same side of the counter, and it's Jesus who stands on the other side, offering the one thing we all really need.

Screening in the city of Kankan. Yes, life in West Africa is always this colorful! Photo: Shawn Thompson

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. --Colossians 1:19-20

Here's what's been on my mind as we work our way through the book. We often hear people who have just completed a service experience, and who are riding a fantastic spiritual high, saying, "I thought I was going to (insert country here) to serve, but I feel like I received so much more!"

This is not an inherently bad thing to say, and what I'm about to share is by no means the case for everyone, but I hesitate to say this because, after hearing it said in so many contexts, in my own mouth it tastes kind of like a generic platitude.

Words, words, words.

If I do say this, I want to make sure the underlying message is not, "I feel great because I served." Because by default that's what "serving" does: it confirms my belief that I am a good person, and believing that you're a good person feels, well, great!

What does "serving" look like for me? This week I laughed with another crew member over a shared struggle--we have so many photos of  what goes on when we're NOT working that go with tantalizingly fun stories, and conversely so few photos that illustrate what we actually do for a job! Is it surprising to hear that the photo above is a pretty accurate representation of my day-to-day work on board?

How do I prefer to describe this experience? Take Kate out of the subject line.

As the nation of Guinea works towards a future where healthcare is safe, timely, and affordable for everyone, Mercy Ships is just a piece (although a pretty complicated piece) of the puzzle. If my role as Executive Assistant is just one of the many, many, jobs it takes to make this piece work a little bit more smoothly, praise God!

As an organization, in addition to performing surgery, we have the ability to provide training and mentoring programs to support Guinean healthcare professionals who choose to stay in Guinea and are eagerly striving towards a better health system for their people--often despite the major difficulties of accessing training and resources compared to their peers from "western" nations.

Dr. Rafiou Diallo, one of the the participants in Mercy Ships' surgical mentoring program, is one example of this. From 2013-2018 (between visits from Mercy Ships) he made a dramatic dent in the number of Guineans living with cleft lip.

Dr. Rafiou Diallo, performing surgery on the Africa Mercy next to Dr. Gary Parker on March 27, 2019. (Photo:  Caleb Brumley)

The days when I feel closest to God are the ones where I realize how how small I am compared to how big He is.

I recently hung on the wall next to my bed a printout of a poem that gives me a deep sense of peace. It's called "Prophets of a Future Not Our Own", or simply "Archboshop Romero's Prayer".

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. 

The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent

enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of

saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

No statement says all that could be said.

No prayer fully expresses our faith.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No program accomplishes the Church's mission.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an

opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master

builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own. 

Be at peace this week, dear friends. :)

"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

Keep reading for some February/March highlights!

I got a deluxe tour of the engine room on my birthday!

...and someone (I have my suspicions) decorated my office :)

Captain Milan spoiled us one evening by opening up the bow, which usually only happens when we sail!

Goodnight, AFM

In many places, seeing this many zeros on a dinner bill (that's 255,000 GNF) would be eye-popping! In reality, this is dinner for 2 for ~$27. I still get confused moving that many decimal places!

The nearby "Iles de Los" are a  very popular among the crew as a weekend getaway. If you're ever in Conakry, I can recommend a boat driver!

New Year News

Now that I have a whole half-a-field-serive of experience as this Guinea-based hospital ship's Executive Assistant under my belt, I want to share a bit of what I do on a weekly basis.

What had me coming back to the ship with a box of 64 redwood lions and 45 canoe-shaped bowls? Just doing some shopping for the Development department back in Texas. Now I get to add "Negociatrice and Errand-Girl Extraodinaire" to my resume.

Also added to my resume from this year? Taking minutes, wrapping gifts, interpreting for francophone visitors, drafting blog posts, figuring out the proper way to address an envelope for the Spanish Ambassador... And knowing where to find anything you could possibly be looking for on this lovely ship we call home.

...And I can store that resume for an additional year, because my plan as of now is to carry out my current role for its intended duration of 2 years, which will have me on board through the upcoming Field Service in Senegal, 2019-2020.

Did I think when I initially signed up for 10 months that I'd end up spending 3 years on board with the same organization? My blog URL says no ("Toto, we're not in Cameroon anymore..."). But this year it seems natural to keep going.

What difference does this make right now to those reading this? (First of all, thank you for reading my blog!!) I am always in need of your prayers. Here are a few specific things to be praying on.

• This coming week, we are hosting a delegation from Liberia, who are meeting with Mercy Ships leadership to discuss their collaboration for a future Field Service. Prayers for a smooth visit and fruitful talks would not be wasted.
• You can pray for my plans for transitioning to my third field service with Mercy Ships--I'm working out just how I would like to balance time for rest and time to serve and be present with my supporters with this summer.
• Pray for new volunteers who will soon be applying for next field service, some of whom may even be arriving soon on the ship! The ship is especially in need of maritime personnel (engineers and deck officers).
• And you can pray for the patients whose lives are being changed because of access to safe, affordable, and timely surgery, and/or because of exposure (some for the first time) to the gospel and God's fierce love for them, which is offered to those that are interested.

Speaking of reading my blog, many people are here because they like hearing my news, and I've been abysmally bad at meeting that demand. That's why I'm going to stop this blog post here. Because when I try to tell everything in one post, I get so caught up with words and the post never makes it into being! I definitely share plenty of photos and their captions, and if you want to hear more about anything in them, I'm happy to share! Hopefully in this way I'll be able to post what there is to share more frequently without worrying about including everything. Thanks again for your grace.

Scroll down to watch one second from every day, November-December, and some more photos :)

Blessings from Conakry,

Kate

Wooden boats next to a universally recognizable object (everyone gets a Nalgene when they come on board!)

October:

November - December:

This isn't one of the shopkeepers, but it's one of their friends, and he asked me to take his photo!

Me and the Finance Director, Barney, snap the obligatory "OMG PRESIDENT CONDE IS ON BOARD BUT WE
SHOULDN'T TAKE HIS PICTURE SO WE'LL TAKE OUR OWN PICTURE INSTEAD" selfie.

Choir concert at a Day Crew's church.

Waiting at the boat station. Anyone need popcorn, toothpaste, or sweatpants?

Christmas decorations!

Doing some walking laps on deck 8 one morning.

One of the nurses is also an amazing artist. Check out this banner she made for our current sermon series out of cardboard!

Dinner out with the youth leaders wearing our "fabrics".

People watching from a second story cafe. They were all out to catch a taxi!

The super blood wolf moon was visible from Conakry. A good number of crew got up early to watch.

The Beautiful Ugly

Shipyards aren't inherently beautiful places. Our walk to church today involved dodging trucks and puddles of questionable liquids. Outside of the port gate, as we make our way through the part of the city called Kaloum, the sidewalk is strewn with trash, and is missing pieces at random intervals, exposing the sewage below. As we walked, passing vehicles swept dust across our feet and into my shoes (Which, combined with sweat, turns into mud. In my shoes. Fabulous.)

But sweat eventually dries, shoes can be scrubbed, and clothes can always be washed (or just hung to dry, depending on the weather!). If I am writing a blog post to complain about the mud, I am living on the wrong continent!

Abby, Flavio, and Nicole on our way to church, with the ship in the background.
(I don't think I was supposed to take this photo, in hindsight. Ports are sensitive about that. Whoopsie!) 

Let me start again. Shipyards aren't inherently beautiful places. And do you know what I mean when I say, big cities in general are not inherently beautiful places? But when I take off the blinders, put on the breaks, beauty suddenly infiltrates, and it's impossible to ignore.

A container ship in the right place at the right time.

I remember about 2 years ago when I was living in a house in Saint Paul, our neighbors had a construction project going on. For months, there were outhouses, heavy equipment, and raw materials everywhere. But as I went out to my car each morning and saw the sun rising over the "mess", the light changed the whole picture into a scene that can only be described as heavenly. The phrase that came to mind was "the Beautiful Ugly".

How could I possibly pay attention to the ugliness of the pieces when I felt so captivated by the beauty of the whole picture?

These are the moments no human can plan for. Do you know anyone who would say "I'm going to impress my neighbors with a beautiful yard, and I think I'll do that by covering it in blue tarps and plywood scraps!"

Although I never got a picture of the construction site in my neighbor's yard, I did find a few examples in my pictures from the past month. I want to get better at capturing the things that stir me that much.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

-Psalm 139:7-8

Pictured: A beautiful sunset over the island just off shore in Conakry.
Not pictured: A beach below the frame covered in no small amount of  things
left behind that don't normally belong on a beach...

When you walk around Kaloum looking for the Ugly, you'll focus on sewage and dust and trash, and if you're in a position to ameliorate those things, there is a place for focusing on that. But the Beautiful is also ready for those that look for it--in the way the sunlight befriends the dust as it is kicked up, the brightly-and-beautifully-clad mamans in the market, the two tiny feet of a sleeping little one sticking out on either side of her, friends enjoying each other with no other agenda, and the eccentric dashboard decorations in the local taxis.

On a trip to Kribi in Cameroon.

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,

To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple.

-Psalm 27:4

Abby making friends at the tailor's (aka. the place with the most fun people-watching)

a 7am Skype call on a Monday (yawn) where Ally the Operations Director and Dr.
Gary the Maxillo-Facial Surgeon shared why what the ship does is important
(aaahh :D Nothing like listening to such thoughtful leaders to calibrate your perspective)

Your eyes will see the King in his beauty

and view a land that stretches afar.

Look on Zion, the city of our festivals;

your eyes will see Jerusalem,

a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved;

its stakes will never be pulled up,

nor any of its ropes broken.

There the Lord will be our Mighty One.

It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams.

No galley with oars will ride them,

no mighty ship will sail them.

-Isaiah 33:17, 20-21

Fabric sellers on bottom, tailors on top. There was a constant overtone of sewing machines.

Full disclosure, as I write this post, I'm conscious of feeling a bit "gushy". Maybe I'm just more emotional than normal because someone dear to me left the ship this week. But then again, the beauty of God is something very worthy of our excitement. It points to something bigger than whatever beauty we're beholding.

Someone on the ship referenced a quote. I can't remember where it came from for the life of me, but the story has stuck with me, and it very much applies here:

As someone watched the sun rise one morning, they prayed and told God, "Thank you for this painting." God answered, "You are part of that painting, enjoying it."

The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains,

The world, and those who dwell in it.

-Psalm 24:1

When was a time when you noticed a "beautiful ugly"? I'm really interested to hear if reading this has brought examples to your mind. Pictures are welcome!

That's all for now. Enjoy this second-a-day video of our first full month in Conakry!