Tired and Exhausted

Lately I have been quite exhausted and tired as it is hard work when you see so many patients in a day. I definitely lost track of the difference I was making and started to just see my patients as just another foot to cast or another leg to give exercises to. I caught myself saying things like “oh my gosh I have 15 or 20 feet to cast today” (which definitely isn’t a good attitude to have because there are people whom God loves attached to those feet). So I guess I was becoming a little desensitised to the difference I was making….

Anyways so I prayed to God simply to remind me what difference I am making, and then came along a little boy called Junior… who reminded me of why I am in West Africa.

So he is about 6 years old and use to have bow legs (before he came to us). Anyways his mum was telling us what we had done for him. She was saying that his whole life he had been teased by all the other little kids because of his deformity. The other little kids use to chase after him and tease him cause of the way that he looked with his bow legs, the sad thing was that he could never run away from them as he was too slow. Anyway Junior wasn’t like any boy, he would never back down and always stand up for himself and say “you’ll see one day my legs will be straight and I will chase after you”. His mum was telling us that she had taken him to another hospital and Junior said “maybe this is how my legs will become straight”. But this hospital had said that there is nothing they could do, anyways Junior continued to believe that one day his legs would be straight so he just said to them politely “that’s ok, one day my legs will be straight”. As the years went on he continued to believe that one day his legs would be straight. Now this 6 year old boy had heard that Mercy Ships were coming to Lome and he said to his mum this is finally how my legs will become straight. And low and behold he was picked up at our screening day, had the surgery and now his legs are finally straight.

He is running very fast and playing soccer and now is ready to go back to his village. Actually by now he will be in his village, legs straight and chasing after all the other little kids saying I told you so “one day my legs would be straight”. For me it’s when I hear stories like these that it makes being here in West Africa worthwhile.

Actually I would really like to share something else which has simply blown me away. The more time I have spent here and the more lives we impact like Junior the more I find my heart being drawn back here. I had perhaps saw myself coming back in 5 or so years as I thought there was no possible way for me to come back anytime sooner other than quitting my job in Brisbane and I really wouldn’t want to do that as I really love my life in Brisbane and definitely see myself there long term. But at the same time I was thinking how awesome it would be to come back next year. Anyways what I have learned by way of experience is to sometimes leave things in God’s hands and just say – “perhaps maybe” perhaps maybe God could open up some doors for me to come back sooner, even in the midst of every door being apparently closed. Anyways one of our little kids who we are treating for club foot (who has an amazing story of their own – but maybe for another time anyways his mum was very thankful for what we are doing for him and she said something to me which I thought was kind of weird since she had no idea of my situation. She said that she was praying for the impossible to become possible for me.

And when I heard this I new exactly what she was talking about, even though she didn’t. So I decided to email my boss back in Brisbane just to see if I coming back next year was a possibility (and I even said to her that I was completely expecting her to say no and that I was fine with this). Anyways as God would have it I found out just the other day that my work back in Brisbane has given me another 9 months off to come back to Sierra Leone next year. I am so thankful for all the caring people at Royal Brisbane hospital who have released me to serve in Africa.

And I am always thankful for a God that answers prayers.

As they say in Africa,

God is good,

ALL THE TIME

Life outside of work hours

Just wanted to send through some pics of life here outside of work hours. We are pretty busy during the week so we try and get off the ship as much as possible to restore some of our sanity as it’s a small ship at times and it’s a good to get your feet on flat ground. So here are some of the highlights and lowlights thus far.

Highlights

Putting together a Glee dance video for our mercy ships film festival (check it out here)

Lots of sport

Local transportation

Sweet sunsets everyday

Having a nice pool down the road to do flips in

Good friends

Having the president of Togo come to the ship

Lots of camping, fire, drums and dancing with local

Jumping off massive sand dunes

Winning best poser in a mercy ships dance off comp

Cramming 6+ people into one bunk to watch a movie

Camping with the locals and helping them prepare rat stew

Drum lessons

Sweet waterfalls

Long road trips and killing time

Awesome beaches

And now for some Low lights

Practice fire drills every second Thursday

2 minute showers

8 washing machines for 400 staff

Top bunk
Having an unreliable 30 year old van for transportation

Having to pole vault across a river

getting stuck in the middle of a tour de Togo cycling race

sleeping whenever you get the chance because there is always something going on

Hope you have enjoyed a little insight into life outside of our work day

God bless

Nick

God is Good again….

hey let me tell you something pretty exciting,

so Mercy Ships have asked me to stay until the end of the outreach which

would be an extra two months. Which I would be super keen to do. The main obstacle is that I would need my work back in Brisbane to give me the all clear, which wasn’t very likely given the fact that they have already been so good to me with letting me have time

off… So I figured I should enquire and see if it was a possibility. So I was seeing if I could extend and the awesome thing was that they said yes of course….

I’m constantly astounded in God’s goodness....

Ok so there are so many amazing stories so far....

I am learning so much, I get to do so much with the doctors and surgeons,

help them take pins out - do post op reviews with the patient, do cast

changes, and heaps and heaps more cool stuff...

Oh and there are also lots of extra curricular activities, in fact

this weekend I have organised a doubles tennis tournament which should

be pretty fun (me and my partner are favourites so hopefully should

have a win)...

anyways God is Good

Nick

Mercy ships life

I just wanted to say that being here is the most exciting thing, its

amazing being part of an environment that absolutely loves God and

shows it everywhere they go....

Even though I am probably working harder than I ever have before, it

feels like a holiday and when you see God's love everywhere you go you

can't help but be encouraged.

I just wanted to share some of the amazing things that have happened

so far.... Being here really is like being on a roller coaster... all

day every day....

In just over two weeks I have seen more lives torn apart by physical

disability and devastation than I have in my whole life.... Now this

tends to have a bit of an impact on the most hardy person (even though

that's clearly not me).

Somethings have honestly brought me to tears...

...for example when you see someone with a massive tumour the size of a

coconut, growing on the side of their head and walk around with a scarf

covering it up, its hard to deal with, especially when they are

standing right in front of you...

Now seeing this isn't actually the hard thing it’s the fact that even

though the only thing you can see on their face is their eyes, you can

still see the years of torment and pain in their eyes....

Now on the other hand when you see these patients after their surgery

and the transformation that takes place and the change that takes

place in their eyes its truly inspirational and makes all the hard

work worth it.... hence the feeling of being on a roller coaster....

I am definitely learning a lot.

There are so many amazing things that have happened so far which have

been such a blessing for me to be part of. One of which was at an

Ortho screening day. The night before the screening I was told that

they wanted me to be one of two Ortho screeners for hundreds and

hundred and hundreds of patients, where there would be only two people who

would decide if they saw the surgeons or not. Now two things went

through my head - I was quite honoured that they felt I was competent

enough to make such clinical decisions and the second was that I felt very

out of my depth.... I didn’t just feel like a fish out of water here, I felt

like a fish in the African desert. So before I went to bed I had a

really good chat with the surgeons about who they could and couldn't

help, and then after that I revised like a final exam at uni....

anyways I remember that night praying to God - please please please

help a brother out.... give me the wisdom to know who to accept and

the strength the turn away those we cant help and please let me show

your love in everything that I do....  now understandably I was a

little daunted with the situation of having to see hundreds and

hundreds of patients and knowing that I would have to be the one to

turn a lot of them away, however I took some comfort in knowing that

there would be someone else to help me in the process.

Now in answer to my prayers, I was absolutely fine and to prove God

has a sense of humour in answer to my insecurities, I turned out being

the only one doing the screening as the other person was needed in

with the surgeons for the whole day....

... so it was little old me and hundreds of Africans waiting to see if

they could be helped.... and one by one by one by one by one.... I saw

everyone of them... about 300 - 400 in all (when a crowd is that big

it’s hard to estimate). Now I had to tell a lot of them that we couldn't

help them but for these we would always have people willing to talk

and pray for them... and they all went away listened to and helped out

as much as we could.....

Now I had told a lot of people we couldn't help them but there was one

little girl with ataxic cerebral palsy and significant brain damage which the Ortho surgeons could clearly do nothing about. She was the cutest girl I have ever seen

and when she stood up, because of her poor balance she would hold her

hands out and try and grab you and when she did manage to grab you she

would give you the warmest hug (no joke it felt as though God himself

was hugging you). Now I really couldn't bring myself to tell her that

we couldn't help her - so I went in and got Doctor James McDaniel (who

is an amazing man of God) and told him about this little girl. He was

more than happy to come out and talk to the family, and to hear him

speak was truly amazing...

He gave this little 7 year old girl a big hug and told the mother that

this little girl was a special gift from God and not a curse (which is

what a lot of them have been told their whole lives). He then went on

to say to the mother that God only gives special gifts to special

parents and that she was a special parent that God had trusted this

child unto.... now words cant explain what these words did for the

mother... even though we couldn't help her physically, hearing

those words would have done far more than what they could have done

with their hands in surgery...

It was such a blessing to be part of something special like that....

In the Word of God it says that when you feed the hungry; give

drink to the thirsty; shelter the homeless; clothe the naked and care

for the sick, you are doing it to God himself,

well being here and doing these kinds of things I have experienced

something amazing... when you do such things and when you see the

smile on those faces you help.... you really do see God himself

smiling back at you, through them....

And one thing I realised was that God really does have a plan for everyone we see and even though we can’t help them all- we are just handing them back over to God who could do a much better job than we ever could....

anyways this is just one story of God working during His day...

God is Good

And I am definitely enjoying the roller coaster ride...

Nick

Finally arrived

Just wanted to give a bit of an update...

first of all ... Oh my God - I love it so much on board here - it

really feels like home....

so I've been on the mercy ships boat in Togo - Lome, a week now and

its been pretty hectic but unbelievably awesome,

there always seems to be something going on here so when you get

some time to yourself it is priceless - so i am enjoying being able to

spend some time replying to some emails....

So I arrived last Monday and the first thing they did was take a photo

of me for my ID badge, which isn’t the best thing after a 16 hour

journey when your looking like a raccoon in head lights...

anyways they don’t waste anytime here, I had to get up at 5am to go to the

first of the screening days - now these are something else - its

basically working out who we can and can’t help... words really can’t

illustrate what goes on but what we have to do is screen heaps and

heaps and heaps of people as to whether or not we can help them on the ship -

...if you picture a “running of the bulls crowd” and

add about 35 - 40 degrees to the equation

and combine it with so many peoples last chance of ever being helped

then you are about half way there. One of the hardest things that I’ve

had to deal with so far is to see so many people turned away because

we couldn’t help them...

So the first week has mainly involved doing these screening days in

all different locations of Lome - football stadiums, hospitals and other

buildings (if you can call them that)

Now I’m quite lucky because this is something that everyone really wants

to be involved but they don’t always get the chance to do it... but I’m

just stoked that for the first two weeks this is what I will be

doing...

Now I’m slowly learning what exactly I will be doing on board - but basically I am the

hospital’s physio - so i will be doing some burns work, mainly kids

Ortho and some Maxillo-facial. I also found out that I will be

involved in rolling out this Ponseti program in Togo (never been done

before) - which is just a way of treating club foot with only a minor

Subcuntaneous Tenotomy and serial casting... Now I’m really excited

about this because I get to work quite closely with the surgeons and

get to go to all these meetings with them and with very high up people

in the medical profession in Togo (I feel completely out of place -

but I just smile a lot and go along with the flow - and it seems to be

working out) It’s funny when they introduce me as one of the phyios

who is one of the experts who will be helping roll out the program and

teach the Togolese how to do the technique – I’m not really worried

because my rehab team coordinator is a physio and has heaps of

experience with this so she is just going to help bring me up to speed.

So the weekend is just coming to an end and I have just come back from

Church with the locals - and boy was this something else - think of a

5 hour service in a really hot building with lots of singing and

dancing... its something else... I guess they really love God and

just don’t want to stop praising Jesus...

Anyways here are a few interesting things that I have found since arriving:

1. There are about 500 staff on board and most of them are female (we

are heavily out numbered - which has pros and cons :)

2. sleeping in a 4 bed dorm (which I have) is a good thing especially

when there are 10 bed dorms - this is where being a guy has its

advantages because we get more of the 4 bed dorms

Highlights (there are way too many stories to tell but I really like this one)

1. At one of the screening days we got there in the morning and before

we arrived there were way too many people so we had to close the gates

and only see the people who were already inside the gates except for a

few rare exceptions...

so what we had to do was set up an extra triage out the front of the

gates for only very high priority patients (i.e. either people with

severe orthopaedic problems or people who have tumours the size of

coconuts and we could only see these if they were having difficulty

swallowing. So the highlight was that I was out the front of the

gates and for say every 50th person, one person could come

through... and I got the privilege of helping a mother carry in her

little daughter who had really really really bad knock knees (I wish I

had a photo) to the point where she couldn’t walk... anyways we brought

her in and she got to see the surgeons.... I tell you what it’s soooo

exciting being right on the front line.... I look forward to seeing

her on the wards....

anyways so that’s about it ... my French is definitely coming along and

I reckon ill be speaking some form of French when I get back (not sure how good though)

oh  one more highlight - on Saturday night there was a disco party on

board the ship and I won Best Poser..... with a Wittchetty grub

impersonation followed by a worm impersonation.

Its funny the ship is starting to feel like home...

Nick

Journey so far – about to board

So I just wanted to share something which I thought was pretty cool, now when I started writing I didn’t intend for this to be so long, but when God is good, He really is good…. Anyways I will understand if you need to take a couple of sittings to finish reading.

Ok anyways so I was reading my Bible the other day and came across something which made me think about how God has brought me to where I am at the moment… About 7 months ago I wrote in my Bible a dangerous prayer that went something like this…

“Lord perhaps maybe, just perhaps maybe you could make a way for me to go and volunteer in Africa… Lord I know that there are a lot of things that stand in the way but perhaps maybe you could just make a way…”

Now rewind a little and for the last 2 years I have had this unwavering and unshakable burning desire to go to Africa and work with mercy ships as a Physio. Now not knowing what to do with this I asked someone with a bigger and Godlier brain than me (Ps Tony from Brisbane) Anyways I remember he prayed a simple prayer with me – “that if this truly was God’s will then let the doors start opening up”

And what followed was nothing short of a personal miracle, one by one doors opened up. Big ones, small ones and ones that seemed to be dead bolted, they all started opening up.

Now the reason I am writing is that I really just wanted to just share how God has reached out and made away… over and over again… there is truly nothing that He can’t do…

Now I like bullet points because it makes things easy to read so I thought id bullet point all the things that He has done…

• First of all I needed to actually get a position with mercy ships, which is harder than it sounds when there is only one Physiotherapist for the whole hospital – but sure enough God is good.

• Secondly, I needed my work at Royal Brisbane Hospital to let me to go and still hold my position for when I get back. Now I figured I had no chance of this as I had only been back 4 months from having a year off travelling overseas - but again God is good.

• Thirdly I wanted to volunteer for as long as I could, but I figured asking for 3 months would be pushing it. But my Physio director told me to put in a wish list and she would see what she could do… so 3 months managed to turn into 6 so that I could volunteer for longer and work back in England for a month or two so I could earn pounds to save more - so again God is good…

• Everything started falling into place and now all I needed was to save like crazy as I had just also bought a new apartment and had a mortgage to take care of. So again I prayed to God for Him to make a way. Now I wasn’t expecting God to drop money from the sky (although this would’ve been nice), but what followed truly was amazing. One by one, opportunities came my way to earn and save more money. For the last three months I was in Brisbane, I pretty much worked every weekend I was there. Work gave me the opportunity to take a pregnancy exercise class after hours. So of course, as a completely faithful servant (out of his depth) I put on my tight lycra shirt and shorts and took the class for 5 weeks– I’m sure the Big Fella would have been having a chuckle.

I also got asked to take on the position of senior of outpatients while my boss was on holidays (at higher pay) - so again God is good. By this time I had work organised in England and I figured in light of my new senior role at the hospital I would ask my England job for a raise before even working a day and see what would happen… and the most amazing thing was that they actually did – so again God is good….

• Everything was now looking fine from a financial point of view. I had now organised two of my friends to stay in my apartment while I was away, which obviously was going to help with the mortgage repayments. However I got convicted big time as I had just found out that I am not suppose to rent it out within a year of purchasing the property (stamp duty). Now I find it really hard to knowingly do the wrong thing so I just gave in and said ok God you know what’s best. So I decided to trust in God and not charge my friends any rent for the 6 months. Now what followed was truly remarkable.

When I told my friends what I was wanting to do it completely blew them away… that I was willing to let them stay free of charge for the 6 months. And the reason was because of my relationship with God and I also told them that it’s just a really easy way to show God’s love towards another.

And secondly it really forced me to trust in God. Completely submitting to His will, I was really looking forward to seeing what was going to happen – it was kind of funny, I wasn’t worried at all, I had this peace that everything was going to be ok even though my financial situation now wasn’t too great.

• Now what came next was nothing short of a personal miracle and continues to blow me away… I was talking to one of my friends (someone who didn’t have a personal relationship with God) about my situation and he suggested trying to raise the money, which to be honest had never even crossed my mind. Dumb I know, but it never crossed my mind to let people know what I am doing and why I am doing it…. and see if they would be willing to help.

In just under two months I have managed to raise enough money to get me back on board (literally) – everyone’s generosity was just awesome

Girls from work were selling chocolates for me

I had donations from the most unlikeliest of people

I had donations from all over the world from people I hardly even knew

And the most amazing thing was that I got anonymous donations that totalled over $1000 (so I guess sometimes money does fall from the sky…)

The other amazing thing that happened in the process of raising the money was that it forced me to let every single person that I have ever known – what I am doing and why I am doing it….. that I am a Christian and because of my relationship with God I want to share His love to others and this is just one practical way of doing it….

So anyways I just felt compelled to share how good God has been towards me of late. When I look back in retrospect I see a personal, caring, providing God that can do absolutely anything… and He reminds us of this everyday… God truly is good…

The funny thing is that I have gained so much already and I haven’t even got on board yet…

Oh just on a side note, ill tell you something pretty cool and awesome also. I flew into Nottingham airport the other day on a public holiday. Turns out pretty much all public transport comes to a stop on public holidays in England and I found myself with no way of getting to Birmingham (over an hour and a half away).  So I just said a quick prayer to the Big Fella asking Him to help me out and I kid you not within 2 minutes the person I was sitting next to on the plane found me from across the airport terminal and offered me a lift to exactly where I needed to go… so good

Now don’t get me wrong things like this don’t happen to me all the time.. I think it was God’s way of reminding me that He is with us wherever we go…

May God bless you and may you see Him in the big and small of your day

Nick