How da body?

Well, how are you? Or better yet "how da body?" It's an expression that I hear and say often. "How da body?" "Body" is not quite as all encompassing as "you" but in a land where physical needs are often not met, the state of the body is probably a good starting point.

These last few months have been really eye opening in that regard. I still remember my first day walking through town. The streets are so busy, so dirty, so loud, so poor. I have to admit, that first day I was overwhelmed. I mean, you come because you want to serve, you want to help, and you see all of this around you and you wonder if it will make any difference. It just seemed so big, so endless, so hopeless. Thankfully, the future of this nation is not up to me, or up to Mercy Ships. The future of this nation, this beautiful nation of Sierra Leone, is up to God. It is in his hands, not mine.

What I have realized is that I can't save Sierra Leone, but I can join with God in loving it, in walking with the people of Sierra Leone, and by doing my part in the things God has called me to. I have come to see that if change is to happen, it happens with individuals, one person at a time. And as one wise woman told me, that's how Jesus did it, just one person at a time. So here I find myself, working as a nurse, loving and caring for one person at a time. My last few months have been a time where God has shown me what it means to love. Each day I feel like he's giving me a greater capacity, to see what he sees, to fill my heart with this deep deep love that I know only comes from him.

We have a group of patients right now that have been here for a while. They all had some sort of skin graft to one or multiple extremities most likely from a past burn contracture that kept them from using that extremity. These kids are amazing. I love them so much, that even when I'm not working, I feel compelled to go down there and visit. The Patient Life Team that I talked about in my last blog comes down to the unit every day and leads praise and worship with us. And these kids love to worship God! They are so precious. I worked night shift this past week and every night I’d walk in and hear, “Stephanie, Stephanie, let us sing, let us sing” and we would open the song book together and pick 2 or 3 songs to sing before tucking them into bed for the night. They would have loved my mom! I know my nursing skills are needed here, and man, is it ever a blessing to be able to use them, but the thing I love the most is to just play and sing and love on these patients. To see joy in their faces, to laugh with my African brothers and sisters, ahhh, such a blessing.

As my time here in Africa comes to a close, I just want to thank you all for your encouragement, your prayers, your love and your support. This time has been such a blessing, one that I wouldn't trade for the world. We serve a good God, a really good God and I am excited to come home and continue to see what He has in store. Love you all!!!