Amazing?!!?

People come to me after they find out what I am up to and say 'what you are doing is amazing'

Well to me it doesn't feel that amazing, to me it feels like I am doing what I have been called to do, it is exciting as I love the work I do on the ship, and I feel very privileged to be part of such a great work that God called me to do. But to be honest I do get days that I don't want to go, I want to feel settled in one place with friends and family. Then I realise that I would be miserable doing that!

At church the services have been on singing a song, even when we don't feel like it, when everything is going wrong, when you feel there is no hope, that's when we need to sing more. Well my song since coming back is the Hillsong 'I surrender'. To me it is personal as I needed to surrender everything to Jesus, and I feel like in the last few months I have been. And the difference in my life has been amazing! All the stress and work I needed to do to get ready to leave has been pretty high but then I give it all to God and the peace I have is Amazing!

So I might not feel like I am doing anything amazing, but God is doing amazing things!

I do have a newsletter and if you would like to receive it, please email me!



Answer to Prayer!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I accepted an offer on my house! I was getting ready to get it off the market when a couple came to see the house and they made an offer. The paperwork is now going through, but it is still a long process.

 

I am so thankfull for everyone who has been praying with me for the sale of the house, but still pray that everything will go smoothly and that we will be able to exchange contracts before I leave!

 

This verse has spoken to me in the last few weeks,

Zephania 3:17

The Lord your God in your midst,

The Mighty One will save,

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing

Congo

Having received my acceptance letter from Mercy Ships,  I thought it was time I went into more detail of where I am heading to.
I will be joining the ship in Congo, to be precised Point Noire in Congo Brazzaville. This is not Congo DRC, which a lot of people get mixed up with.
So here it is a bit about Congo......


 The right name is Republic of Congo, it is located in Central Africa, bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda. The capital is Brazzaville, which why some people call it Congo Brazzaville.

Congo was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa, upon independence in 1960, the country became the Republic of the Congo. The people of Congo are largely a mix of Catholic and Prodestant. There are 62 spoken languages in the country, but it can be grouped into 3 categories. The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form around half of the population. The second largest group is the Teke who live north of Brazzaville with 17% of the population. Boulangui are 12% of the population living Northwest of Brazzaville. Pygmies make up 2% .The Republic of the Congo's sparse population is concentrated in the southwestern portion of the country, leaving the vast areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited.

 

 

The country is located along the equator because of this the weather is consistent all year around, average temperature during the day is 24 C. The dry season is from June to August, and 2 main rain seasons March to May and Sept to November.

 

The ship will docked in Pointe Noire, the second biggest city after the capital Brazzaville. It is situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Pointe Noire is the main commercial centre for the country, and at the centre of the oil industry. But it is also know for its fishing.

 

This is just a small look at Congo, and where I will be based for 10 months on the ship. This is the first time the Mercy Ships has been to this country, please pray for the team who are there getting things ready for the ships arrival in August.

I will hopefully be joining the ship on the 21st of August. I am already getting things ready for leaving but the main prayer point is my house, I am trying to sell it but there is not much interest at the moment, praying the right person will come along and buy it!

 

Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when i will be back again......

Well it is sort of true, I am leaving on a plane and I don't really know when I will be back again. Yes you have read it correctly I am leaving, hopefully I will be joining Mercy Ships at the end of August, this time in Congo! I am joining the crew as long term, this means at least 2 years, but it may be longer! Therefore I am not really sure when I will be back in the UK. (Of course I will come in between to visit friends and family).

 

I am really excited and looking forward to joining the ship in Congo. This is the first time Mercy Ships has been in Congo and I feel such a privilege to be part of the team there.

 

So how have I come to this decision????

Well after praying and finding what God has for me, it became clearer that I was to join the ship, I know some of you are thinking... so soon???!!!

Yes the time is right and I feel so much peace about it all, that I know this is what God has planned for me.

Also 2 years and more feels a long time, but I have known for a while that God had called me to Africa for a reason and that eventually would be there for a longer time.

 

There is so much to do at the moment, there is a lot to do before I leave in August, the house being the main thing. Please pray that everything will be ready for me to leave in August and that the time I have here in the UK with family and friends will be good.

 

I will keep you posted on how things are going and the dates of me going. Also I will do some fund raising so will let you know about them.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 & Isaiah 58:11-12

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!



Hope you all had a good Christmas and enjoyed the festivities! I was working Christmas day but fortunately I was off then for a week. This meant I could go to my parents house to enjoy Christmas with my family. It has been a while since all my sisters and brother where together. The family is growing too, with a new nephew but also the rest of my nieces and nephews are getting bigger!






For New Years I was able to go to Oxford for a few days with one of my good friends, it was a good time of relaxing and chatting!

At this time of year I always reflect on the year that has just gone, and I can say that 2012 has been one of the best years yet. I have been so amazed and blessed through out the year, from working with wonderful patients and staff, to friendship and most of all how God has supplied all my needs and more!

Also at this time of year I look forward to the year ahead to see what I will be doing! As some of you know I am looking to see where God wants me, I know he has more for me and I think that is back in Africa. Looking to see if its back on the ship or something new. Therefore I am changing my blog's name to Ana's Adventure as you must probably have seen. I will be changing it later depending on what I do.

A verse that has spurred me on is in Isaiah 58:11

The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

After an amazing year I can only wait and see where Jesus guides me!

Hoping you all have an amazing year too

Back on UK soil!

I have been back in the UK for over a month now, time has gone so quickly and I am sorry I have not written before. I did not know what to say as I was on a roller costar of emotions and it is only now that I feel I can share.

Thanks Deb for the photos!

I left the ship at the beginning of November, the last few weeks on the ship were some of the best times there. With the orthopaedic patients being so cute and lovable, to the day workers on the ward who work so hard and make working on the wards such a  pleasure, and oh their generosity. And then there is the nurses, all of us from different parts of the world but we all work together in unity and love.
Then there are the friends. Friends who are going to be your friends for life, as we grow together living on a ship and are there for each other through low and high times!

I was fortunate enough to have a weekend away before I left with some of my friends on the ship. The weekend was full of adventure from the taxi getting lost and then braking down, but then we had highs of watching the sunset while a thunderstorm rolled in behind us, and then swimming in the rain, oh and the taxi broke down in a village, where we befriended the locals especially the children!

So as I think about that weekend I feel so blessed to have so many special friends that I can share weekends like that.

I am grateful for my time on the Africa Mercy, I have learned and grown so much there that it is hard to put it in writing. Leaving the ship was very hard as I did not want to leave my friends and patients, but I knew I had to go home. After a night flight with little sleep I arrived in London to be met by my parents, it was a lovely. Then the weeks that followed are a bit of a blur, stayed with family, met with friends, trying to catch up with all their news. It was hard as I felt very numb and wanting to be back on the ship but also it was nice seeing familiar faces. My nieces and nephews kept me going, they are so cute and I have missed them!

As I write this I have been working for the last 2 weeks, moved into my house and settled to life in Swansea, but there is something in me that I know I am not going to settle here for good, as I know God has more plans for me. I am excited to see where he is going to lead me so I have decide to keep this blog going so watch this space.......

I am going to change my blog name as the year has been and a new phase is starting

 

Just want to say thank you to all my supporters  xxxx

What a wonderful God we serve

Well it's about time I wrote a blog, I have been putting it off for too long!
So much has happened that I think I will just write about what is happening right now.
I am working in B ward which some call the "boisterous" ward, why??? because it is full of children (20 patients) and then add their caregivers who stay with them, who sleep under the patients bed and then add little babies who are siblings and need to stay with their mothers who are still breastfeeding this all adds to over 40 people on the ward. But that is not all you have the day workers who are a great help on the ward, they translate but also help us move the patients, make the beds, help with the food, the list goes on.... So you have +40 (patients+caregivers) + day workers + nurses + doctors + physio = a wonderful at sometimes chaotic ward, but I love it!



Salone Kids!!!



B ward is hosting the orthopaedic patients at present, we have patients who where in Sierra Leone last year and came to have their pins removed, unfortunately some did not work out as good as was hoped so a further operation was needed, therefore a longer stay with us. Then we have patients who have club feet, bow legs and a few other problems with their legs, and we even had one patient which the doctors have never seen, her knees were knocking together making her feet spread out, eventually she would have had to walk on her knees, fortunately she had the operation and hopefully will be able to walk straight. This is only one of the stories that everyday make my work so good, the transformation they get is so great, and when they start walking (even with the cast on) everyone cheers!

I was fortunate enough to look after a post op patient this week, I was not looking forward to care for her as the day before the doctors had told the patient and the mother that they will not be doing the surgery as it had too many risks. After a lengthy discussion they gave the choice to the family, through interpreters and hospital chaplaincy the patient and the mother decided to go for the surgery even though the was a very high risk she would loose the lower leg. This problem in our countries would not be that bad as prosthetics are so widely available, but here there are not and are expensive and this family would find it hard to get one if the operation did not go as well. But they went for the surgery. I to be truthful I thought they should not go for it, I was thinking do they know all the details, are they really sure? I was very doubtful. So when I was allocated her for my shift, I thought oh no I am not the right nurse to look after her. I am glad to say that so far she has done very well, she is still in the crucial time that it could change, but my attitude has changed. I was negative but now I am so positive and this is all due to God, he has worked a miracle on her and in me. My prayer is that she will make a full recovery and be able to walk straighter and be able to join in with her friends and family.

Proverbs 3:5  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"

There is so much I could go on forever, my heart is full with stories of where Jesus has done a miracle through the doctors and the nurses working in the hospital. I am so thankful to be part of this amazing team and this in someways is going to be the hardest thing for me when I leave, in only 2 weeks I am heading home, it's going to be hard but I know that God is with me and he has more plans for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and that is what will keep me going and hopefully will give me peace as I leave this wonderful and great work.

 





                                                                  

Our little patient with traction!

 

Enjoying time with the patients!



Enjoying time at the Hope Centre, the patients go here after surgery as they live too far away to come back for outpatients appointments

 

Our Ortho Dr with one of our patients

 



I love this boy, his cheeky face says it all



Beautiful patients from Salone