Love and Peace

 It has been a tough few weeks for me personally, trying to come to a decision about my next step. I came to realise my time with Mercy ships was coming to an end, and with that came what am I going to do next.







I have peace about leaving and feel God is calling me to step out on to another chapter. But then my peace is over come with fear and insecurities about what I can do next. Where am I going to live? What type of job do I look for? Do I want to live in the UK? Where do I go? It has been a struggle, and I know God will guide me, but when you have so many doubts that gets forgotten. I am also dealing with leaving a place I have come to love. The patients, my job and friends, going to miss all of it. I mean how could no one miss those smiling kids, who give you hugs even after you have changed their dressing. Seeing hands and feet heal, seeing the joy in my patients eyes when they can move their arm for the first time in years. Oh I am going to miss it all. But it is time to go.
Fortunately in the last few days I have been overwhelmed by God's love for me. Even through the struggles He is there for me, His love is filling me with peace and I know He will show me the way.

Bethel Music - You Make Me Brave Lyrics
I have heard You calling my name
I have heard the song of love that You sing
So I will let You draw me out beyond the shore
Into Your grace
Your grace.






So as I start to step out of the shore again, please pray with me that the right door will be open, and that my last few months here on the ship will be fulfilling.


















I have posted some photos of my patients, that I have had the privilege to get to know through the dressing changes. Also the team I have been working with, they have been a great, and I am thankful for them.

Psalm 77:13-14

Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
Psalm 77:13-14

I see miracles happen on this ship.
One miracle that happened is to do with machines. But I need to start this story last year in Congo. There is a machine we use sometimes on patients that need help healing their wounds. It encourages the healthy tissue to grow and it keeps the wound clean from infection.

Only a few patients needed the machine last year, but every time we used it we had problems. The machine was old which meant the dressings that came with it were out of date too! This caused problems to do the correct dressing. It was realised we needed new machines with new dressings to go with it. So last summer 2 new machines were bought, this is was such a great time, exciting for me as I could do my job a bit better!
The new machines came with a lot of new dressings (which were in date). One of our first patients here in Madagascar got to have the machine put on his wound. It was great working with the new ones and seeing it work so well!

The patient himself was a miracle, but that is another story. He needed the machine a lot longer than we anticipated to begin with. Unfortunately then we started having problems with the machine, we switched it to the other one and still we had problems. At one stage the both machines stopped working. This was such a blow to me. 2 new machines broken, I kept praying, "Lord please let our biomed technicians repair them so we can use them again". The next day I got confirmation that the machines would have to be taken back to the manufactures, which is in the USA. It was disappointing news.
The headquarters for  mercy ships was contacted to see what they could do to help. Fortunately they had a machine that was donated last summer and they could have it to us by the week. This was great news, as the patient desperately needed the machine for his wound to improve.

But a better and bigger miracle happened a day later. The people at the headquarters who are in charge of  our supply contacted us back with great news. They had contacted the company that we had bought the  2 machines from 6 months ago. They had explained what had happened to the machines, they told the story of the patient as well. The people at the company were moved by the story of the patient and about Mercy ships. They could not give us anything for free (due to legal issues) but they decided if we bought 2 new ones at a considerable lower price (actually barely anything) These machines cost thousands, and they were going to give us 2 for a few pounds! Also if bought 2 we would get the 3rd one for free and donate some of the dressings to go with it!

It was a day of rejoicing! We had 3 brand new machines on their way. From going from nothing and disappointment to having so much. This is a miracle that only God could have done.
I am so glad to tell you that we received the new machines. And they could have not come at a better time, as we have 2 patients needing the machines!
I was praying that the machines would get fixed, but God had a better and bigger plan. He does wonders in this place.
(for those wondering what the machines are, they are a vacuum assisted therapy machines)