We happened to arrive during the week when the founders of Mercy Ships (Don & Deyon Stephens) and the international board were also on the ship for a board meeting, hence lots of inspiring presentations and exciting updates straight from the executives - which have left the volunteers deeply encouraged and honored to be part of God's loving intervention in Africa through Mercy Ships.
Coming back to Mercy Ships for the second time, it took little effort to integrate into the ship's culture on our arrival last Sunday after nearly 40 hours of travelling - long but definitely worth going the distance!
I did not realise how much I had missed this culture until I walked through the familiar gangway of the 7 decked 'floating hospital' and instantly felt connected to the unique community of Mercy Ships where you know most people didn't end up on the ship by mere accident but because God at some point stretched their faith and called them to this part of the world so deprived of hope and resources.
Travelling through the streets of Freetown (Capital of Sierra Leone), we were confronted by the lingering aftermath of civil wars and many years of government corruption which have left the citizens crippled in every way. I saw ditches and sewage drains filled with rubbish, children sleeping amongst the rubble, mothers with babies on their backs and bags of material on the tops of their heads that I can barely carry with both hands, mad drivers cutting through traffic and men with animals trying to navigate through everything and everyone on the road, all going in dfferent directions.
Amongst the crowd I saw many indifferent faces, but occassionally I see eyes pleading for compassion which remind me of the reality for many here - poverty that I can leave behind in a flight upon completing 2 weeks of service. Unfortunately this IS life for many here in Sierra Leone. While I thought I was doing a noble thing flying half a world to serve the poor, when I begin treating the Africans it became clear to me that I was the recipient of something precious that I could never give myself - fulfilment and purpose. Afterall, I am the one who is being fueled and renewed on the inside through serving in Sierra Leone. It feels like a compass finally finding it's North.
We began treating patients the day after we arrived and performed over 1000 extractions between the 4 dentists in only 5 days! The reality of having only 7 local dentists for the entire 6.4 million Sierra Leonians almost seems a little unbelievable, but the dental condition of most patients we saw proved the fact.
Though many times I found myself completely overwhelmed by the significant amount of treatment required for each patient we saw and am often exhausted physically from the continuous, non-stop, serial extractions, something in the eyes of the Sierra Leonians spoke to my heart and motivated me to keep going everytime I appracoh them with a prayer or smile. It's like a spark of hope that they have been longing for, and once again I count myself SO privileged being used by God as an instrument to inject hope and love to those in desperate situations.
To live and serve in Africa requires a lot of faith. Every morning I wake up to a very real world filled with intense suffering, hopelessness and injustice. If not for the grace of God sustaining all the work that goes on at Mercy Ships, many could've been defeated by the challenging conditions here.
His grace is sufficient. The fact that we struggle and fall short actually qualifies us for it, because we were created to operate out of His grace in all that we do.
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