Our family recently struggled through another round of viruses. We are better now. Only Tytus is still struggling with a cough. His cold type virus aggravated his asthma. While moving his nebulizer the cord caught on a drawer handle and I dropped it. It was not repairable. We brought out our old nebulizer and borrowed a transformer to run it (it was 110v and the ships is 220-240v). After a week the transformer burned out. We were offered another one to use. It burned out in 10 minutes. At this point, it seemed as nothing could go right for the better part of a month.BUT God is good, patients are being healed, and the Gospel is being shared.
Our small group (on the ship) is dwindling as more of our group has left. It's sad to see our long-term friends in Mercy Ships leave. And It can be hard to adjust to new people in a personal setting. We enjoy studying the scriptures together and how it effects (affects?) our prayer life and passion for other people.
Stephanie and I are also using our "Mark journals" sent to us from Summit (our home church). I love the format of having the scriptures/book of Mark as part of the journal. That way we have the "word" and the journal as one unit. You read the scriptures on one page and journal on the opposite page (no cell phone app needed). We also follow along with the Sermons through podcasts.Tytus and Ezra both have "Sunday School" on the ship from 6pm to 7pm on Sunday night. There is also church service on board starting at 7pm. You can also attend churches locally. That is why our services are at night, so people can experience a local church. Although for local services you may need a translator AND be prepared to spend the majority of the day away from the ship. We aren't there yet with the boys. Church in a foreign country can be a long process. Sometimes full of uncertainties for small kids. Bring lots of snacks and be prepared for awkward and embarrassing moments with your kids. There is also Ward church held every Sunday down in the hospital for our patients and that is open to the crew.
The hospital has been busy. Sometimes all we have to do is look outside our Cabin window to feel joy. Right now the dock "waiting" area is a happy place. Full of kids playing and running all over the place and mama's running after them. They will receive life-changing surgeries. Some will be so young they won't even remember. But their families will.
Each new field service brings its own challenges and we are definitely feeling them and working through it! -- Please pray for our family, the hospital team, and our precious patients!
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