Home is Wherever My Duffel Bag Falls

Hello from Senegal, once again!!! I'm so thankful for the ability to share the events of recent months. Last time I wrote I was preparing to embark on a new journey with Mercy Ships. The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind adventure that I would love to share with you.

Here's a brief synopsis of events over the last three months:

- At the end of August, I packed up my longtime home in Oregon. I said goodbye to my friends, church, and hospital. I am forever grateful for the community God built around me in Oregon. At this point, I relocated to my parent's home in Idaho. The first of many moves in a short span of time. 

- Mid-September brought with it a temporary move to Lindale, Texas. I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks at the Mercy Ships International Service Center going through a training program called OnBoarding. We learned about Mercy Ships as an organization. We also dug into the Word of God, looking at who He says each of us is through His eyes and how that should influence the way we see one another as we serve side by side on the ship. 

For those who don't know much about Mercy Ships, volunteers travel from around the world to work as a team aboard the ships. At any moment in time, there are at least 40 nations represented onboard, if not more. As you can imagine, this can easily create tension as we blend together so many different cultures. However, if we all view one another as created in God's image, the tensions quickly melt away and we can make effective teams. 

During the time in Texas, 9 of us lived on the Mercy Ships campus together. We were all bound for one of the ships at the end of our time there. We became a tight-knit family. We had plenty of opportunities to explore all that East Texas had to offer, including a night at the rodeo, BBQ, and a visit to Buc-ees. Lord willing, we will all be serving together on the ships for the next 2 years or more. 

- Following my 4 weeks in Texas, I got to spend a few days with family before saying my next round of goodbyes. On Oct 15, my feet landed back of Senegalese soil. I embarked onto the Africa Mercy the following day. By Monday, I was back into the full swing of life onboard. I immediately returned to patient care in the hospital and then got to slowly transition into my new role as Ward Nurse Educator. 

The weeks have passed quickly here. As I write to you, we are about to close the hospital. Our field service is complete. We will clean the hospital, pack everything into crates and boxes, and sail to the Canary Islands to meet our sister ship, the Global Mercy. 

As a crew, we've been spending time reflecting about the 10 months the Africa Mercy has resided in Dakar. The time has been plagued with challenges including: COVID outbreaks, lice outbreaks, chickenpox outbreaks, being asked to move our ship to a new spot in the port, supply delivery issues, and more. Through all of it, God has been faithful to provide the needs for each day as they came about. We leave this time in Senegal having served nearly 700 patients, providing over 750 surgical procedures, and most importantly of all, having shown everyone around us the hope and healing that we have in Jesus. 

- They say that change is the only constant in life. I still have one more major change coming up in three weeks. The Africa Mercy is sailing to the Canary Islands to meet up with our sister ship, the Global Mercy. The Global Mercy has been much anticipated for many years by the organization. She is set to sail to Senegal in February for her first full field service. The major change for me is that I will soon be packing my duffle bags once again in order to move onto the Global Mercy at the beginning of December. I am incredibly excited for the opportunity to join the GLM community and help finish the final tasks of the ship before we return to Senegal.

Prayer Requests:

* Please be praying for complete healing of all of the patients that we have treated in Senegal this year.

* Please pray for safe travels of many crew members as they return to their home countries with the field service drawing to a close.

* Please pray for calm seas as the Africa Mercy sails toward the Canary Islands.

* Please join us in prayer for the final preparations of the Global Mercy.

Thank you all for joining this Mercy Ships journey along with the entire crew here in Senegal and in the Canary Islands. I'm thankful for each one of you. May God bless each of you.