'Tis The Season - by Rachel

Here we are doing some last-minute packing for our 2-week trip to the UK for Christmas with family, courtesy of British Airways (who grounded one of our flights over the summer and gave us some rather generous compensation - thanks BA!), and I realized it had been a shockingly long time since we blogged.... so here it is, a quick glimpse of Christmas season on the Africa Mercy.

Sinter Klaas came to visit us, all the way from the Netherlands.  Via Spain.  I think.

Daniel was less impressed with Sinter Klaas than he was with the cookies in his bag.  Can you spot him?

In our multi-cultural community there are many ways to celebrate, and so many amazing people who put on fabulous events to bring the community together:  Santa Lucia (from Scandinavia), Sinter Klaas (from the Netherlands), cookie baking and decorating, ginger-bread house competition, door-decorating contest, Christmas concert, craft night, Winter Wonderland Christmas bazaar, and Advent services to name just a few.  

Cookie baking!

Christmas craft night!

more crafts...

...and more crafts

The Elementary School Choir getting ready to sing at an Advent Service

...and here's your annual digital Christmas card:

Let me leave you with a thought expressed by one of my fellow-Chaplains at the last Advent service:  

There was no room for Him in the inn.  

There was no room for him.  No room. 

How can we, especially in the midst of what is often a really busy season, make room for him in our schedules, in our lives, in our hearts?

We wish you all a very merry Christmas filled with the peace and joy of His presence.

What do we do all day? - by Rachel

Some of you have asked what our daily lives are like here on board the Africa Mercy.  So, here's basically what we do all day!

The kids go to school from 8:00 til 3:20 with an hour's break at noon when we eat lunch together in the cabin and the boys practice piano. (I'm teaching them, which goes pretty well most days!) The Academy's curriculum includes all the usual subjects plus Bible.  We love that at school they get to learn about God's love and plan for us, as well as getting a great quality education!

Zaden's class wearing the colours of Benin

Ashani scootering on the dock after dinner
Yes she dressed herself :-)

Daniel and Zaden playing games with patients in the ward

Kevin and I are very much enjoying serving the crew by working in the Chaplaincy department again.  At the moment there are 4 full-time chaplains on board, and 3 part-time (we mums/moms work for most of the time our children are in school).  According to official documents:

The focus of the Chaplaincy is to provide and facilitate pastoral care for all Mercy Ships personnel. 
Our goal is to help create an environment for each individual to live in a biblically healthy manner in order to fulfill their purpose in Mercy Ships for as long as the Lord has designed.  
Our belief is that by being objective, safe and impartial we can influence, encourage, shepherd, teach, counsel and mediate in both proactive and responsive ways."

For our Chaplaincy team, this involves a number of different things, including: 
- planning, coordinating and carrying out our weekly Community Meetings and Sunday services
- coordinating Community Groups, youth and children's ministries on board
- debriefing crew after traumatic or stressful events
- walking with crew through crisis - whether that occurs on board or  with friends & family at home
- counseling (individuals, couples, pre-marital)
- listening, praying, coaching
- providing resources (books, Bible studies, Bible reading plans)
- organizing retreats
- leading departmental devotions

As for the two of us, a lot of our time is spent in counseling couples and individuals.  We are so thankful to have taken the excellent counseling school with YWAM earlier this year, as it equipped us in many ways for this season. 

We feel privileged to walk alongside people as they allow God to work in them, as He draws them closer to Him (and each other) and transforms them into His image.  This can be a painful process at times, and it is often hard to be vulnerable and admit our weaknesses or points of growth. When people come to us to share what they're struggling with, we are on holy ground.  
Over the course of a year, around 1,000 crew members come to serve on the ship (usually about 450 at any given time).  We want to help them to serve effectively so that we can all bring hope and healing to the people of Benin, but also help them find God's hope and healing for them personally during their time on board.

counseling crew members

My (Rachel's) main focus in Chaplaincy at the moment is also to coordinate the counseling offered by all of the Chaplains on board, helping to provide resources as needed, giving In-Service counseling training for the Chaplaincy department, and liaising with Mercy Ships' Head Counselor at the International Support Center in Texas.  This is a role that is definitely a steep learning-curve for me, but one that I feel honoured to be in.  I'm learning a lot on the job and feel as though I'm in a really great internship with excellent supervision.  :D

On that note, I am thinking and praying about whether (or not) to pursue further education in counseling during this season.  There are many online programs that have the potential both to equip me further to serve the crew on board now, and also to qualify me to work in the counseling field outside of Mercy Ships in the future. The information available about different programs is overwhelming, and I am seeking clear guidance about this. Any prayers would be welcome!

Visiting patients on the ward

Thank you for your prayers!  

We would love to hear from you and find out what's going on in your life - please drop us a line either by email or via FaceBook! 

Each Number Has a Story -by Kevin

It’s an exciting time on the Africa Mercy because the hospital is open and the surgeries have begun here in Benin.  There is great need here, but the delivery of hope and healing has begun.   We hope to provide 1,500 surgeries, and to impact over 8,000 people with free dental care.  I was reminded this week that each of those numbers has a story. 

  

This story started in 1999 in Freetown Sierra Leone when a 12 year old boy was badly burned - so bad that he spent 18 months in the hospital. (After I visited a hospital in Freetown I was completely overwhelmed by the poor conditions and could not imagine staying there for any length of time.) He developed burn contractures on both legs, making it impossible for him to straighten his legs, or to walk.  He had dreamed of being a soccer player, but now the doctors were recommending amputation to regain some mobility.  A friend of the family pleaded with him to disregard the doctor’s advice, because he felt that God had a different plan for Osman’s life.  They left the hospital the next day, hoping that God would heal him one day. 

  

Six months later, in 2001, God brought a hospital ship to the war torn country, and on the day of surgical screening Osman’s dad made sure that he was first in line to see the doctors.  They arrived at 0300.   When he was told that there was no doctor on board that could help him, he was in despair, but as he started to make his way back home he recalled the book of Job, and his favorite Psalm, #23, “The Lord is my shepherd…” He prayed the whole Psalm.  Then a doctor came out of the screening area looking for him, and said that he could help.  Osman was given a number that would change his life, his date for surgery.  On the Mercy Ship M/V Anastasis, Dr Tertius Venter performed a contracture release on both legs and he was sent down to the ward, where he would stay for 2 months and 3 days.  I remember his face because his bed was at the entrance to the ward, right at the bottom of the stairs.  I passed him every time I started my shift as charge nurse.  Although I did not know his story then, I knew his dressing changes were often twice a day, took a long time, and it were almost always painful.  Osman endured, slowly regained the use of his legs, and was able to walk again.   



In 2011 Mercy Ships returned, and Osman gave up his job to work as a volunteer day crew.  Now he works on board the Africa Mercy full-time, and we reconnected a few weeks ago while I was having a tour of the engine room. When I asked him why he had come to work on the ship, he said: “Others gave up their jobs so I could get my healing, now I want others to get their healing.”  Osman continues to use his sharp mind and strong work ethic to help the healing continue as he works as a member of the engineering department.  Last year in his free time he was able to build 5 hand-pedaled wheel chairs for disabled children so they could find some freedom to move.   Osman knows what its like to be a prisoner in one's own body, and he knows what it’s like to be set free.  I pray that we will all not grow weary of doing good because the numbers can make us numb, but rather to remember that behind every number is a story. 

Osman and (old nurse) Kevin  -Sept 2016

The nurses have been working hard to get the hospital unpacked and ready.

The Hospital Open House on Deck 3 of Africa Mercy.  Future Doctors/Nurses?

Dr Gary Parker and Ashani

Thank you for your prayers and support,

The Yangas Clan

South Africa to Benin - by Rachel

The Africa Mercy has been our home for a month now and much has happened!  4 days after we arrived on the ship in Durban, we set sail for Cape Town: a 3-day sail that was a bit bumpy as we went around the cape.  The seas weren't that rough, the ship just had a bad attitude (she was built as a rail-ferry, not for the open sea). Here's a link to a great video that Miguel, one of our On Boarding team members and ship's photographer created.  It focuses on our 2-week field practice in Winterton, and has some great footage of the sail to Cape Town too:  https://vimeo.com/179564686

We had a lovely 4 days in Cape Town, where we got to catch up with good friends from Cape Town and Worcester!  We also hiked Lion's Head, the mountain between Table Mountain and Signal Hill, with amazing views of Table Bay and the ship:

On the lovely 11-day sail from Cape Town to Benin, all the remaining pollywogs on board became shellbacks as we crossed the Equator, complete with line-dancing and a tug-of war (you can see our 3 in the foreground):

This was the view from our cabin.  Not bad, eh?

And here we are arriving in Benin, West Africa, where we will be spending the next 10 months:

We were welcomed in true West African style with music and dancing, and the First Lady even came to welcome us.

Here's the new view from our cabin, where we get to see container ships coming in every day to dock in the space behind us, off-loading cars and containers:

We are now 3 weeks into the school year, and the kids are finding their feet in the Africa Mercy Academy.  It really is a huge bonus to have such a high quality school on board the ship.  Their goal is that the crew's children's education will not suffer from their parents serving on board, which we really appreciate!   Here's Daniel and his 6th-grade class and home room teacher:

Zaden probably has the biggest adjustment to make, as due to the differences in the South African school system's ages and standards, he essentially missed most of 3rd grade and all of 4th grade.  Here he is with his fellow 5th-graders on the right, with the two 4th graders in his class on the left:

And Ashani is loving her kindergarten class:

One big surprise of arriving in Benin was to find that we have been given a HUGE enclosed dock space.  The soccer, ultimate frisbee and volley ball fans on board lost no time in putting it to good use:  (Daniel is out there, in a blue and orange T-shirt.)

And the "after" photo: 

Kevin is speaking to the community tonight to help them prepare for this 10 months in Benin, the birth place of Voodoo which is practiced by 40-60% of the population.  "This is for keeps, a life and death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels." Eph 6 (the Message).  We need not be afraid, but we need to be aware, and committed to fight with the weapons of hope, faith and love...and fight to win.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

4 continents in 6 days, 18 beds in 3 months.

Well, here we are, finally settled into our cabin on board the Africa Mercy.  It has been quite the journey!

Our On Boarding team of 30 people left the Mercy Ships base in Texas on July 13th, and we all made it to Heathrow together.  Our family had somehow ended up with a different Heathrow-Johannesburg flight from the rest of the team, and our flight was grounded and rescheduled for the following morning... with NO available connecting flight to Durban for the next 3 days or more!!  We decided that if we were going to be stuck somewhere, my parents' house in Sussex would be preferable to Jo'burg airport.  :D  

So after a lovely night and huge buffet breakfast in a 5-star hotel courtesy of BA, we spent a lovely 2 days with family, including dog-walks in the English countryside and a serendipitous reunion with my brother's family.  Not what we had expected to be doing, but it was really, really lovely and a well-needed rest.  

2 flights and a hotel-night in Dubai later and we finally landed in Durban where our team-leader drove us 3 hours to rejoin the team in Winterton, in the Drakensberg mountains of South Africa.

Our focus for the next 10 days was to support some amazing local ministries in the HIV+ and Zulu communities by helping with construction, painting, and general maintenance.  The nurses in our team also did some home visits and offered medical help.  
Daniel opted to spend his days at the larger site where most of the heavy construction was happening, mixing cement and pulling his weight along with the rest of the team.  The other Yangases went to a smaller site where we help build shelves for the storage unit, repaired the play ground and did some painting - Zaden and Ashani made themselves useful by helping out and running errands, and also spent a lot of time playing with local kids. 

Our other focus was trying to stay warm.  It was beautiful but very cold there at night, and we were housed in an old airforce base: 

Our family had the whole of the attic (green roof on the right) which was HUGE and had 52 beds in it - but was not insulated and about the same temperature as outside (just above freezing most nights.)  This is how we stayed warm at night:

...and in the evenings and early mornings:

We really enjoyed our time in Winterton, getting to see what some other ministries are doing there, and helping out as we were able.  The kids also thoroughly enjoyed feeling like legitimate team-members and interacting with our team-mates.

On Wednesday we made the 3+ hour drive back to Durban, to board the Africa Mercy as long-term crew, for the 4th time (K and R),  2nd time (D and Z) and 1st time (A):

We were (fortunately!) reunited with all the boxes we had sent from Worcester, and thus began the unpacking:

So, this is our new home for the next 3 years.  The boys and Ashani have bedrooms each containing a bunkbed and closets and a small amount of floor-space, we have a large living-room with port-holes facing aft (rear of the ship) which also doubles as our bedroom, a handy entrance-area with storage space, sink, fridge and microwave, and a bathroom with a shower.  We are mostly all settled in now, and we think it's going to serve us very well. 

Our first night on board marked our 18th different bed in 3 months!

The kids are going to be well set up with friends as there are 5 or 6 other boys roughly our boys' ages, and 4 or 5 girls around Ashani's age.  The boys have already been making mayhem on board by participating in some very spirited Nerf-gun wars in the corridors!  The school year will start in 10 days and we are very excited that the kids will get to attend the Academy on board.

Kevin and I will start 3 weeks of in-service training with the Chaplaincy department tomorrow, and we are looking forward to getting to know our fellow Chaplains (total of 4 full-time and 3 half-time) and having the privilege of serving the international crew in this way. 

Thank you for your prayers and support as we have completed the "Unbelievable Intercontinental Adventure"- 23,500 miles.

Kevin:  One of my highlights was seeing our kids do so well in difficult situations.  I am very proud of them.  Ashani has remained out-going and friendly with everyone she has met.  During our time in Winterton she was overheard asking her friend,"Why is your skin brown?" Her new friend Grace reported "because I'm from Nigeria" and Grace asked Ashani the same thing so she explained her situation, "well I'm from India".  With that settled, they carried on playing.

Lunch with 600 - by Kevin

Picture yourself eating lunch in a small restaurant with metal walls, packed with people from around the world.  It is loud, busy, controlled chaos.  Out of the window you can see poverty so intense and gut-wrenching that it overwhelms you.  

Mercy Ships surgical screening day, Sierra Leone, 2011

This is lunch on the Africa Mercy, docked in West Africa.  

How did all these people get here? How are they getting along with each other and providing a million dollars worth of care, every month, free of charge? 

It is a mystery of God's grace, but there is a method in the madness of serving lunch to 600-700 crew members, translators and dayworkers.  Of this group, only 120-150 are long-term crew (serving 10 months +), and they are the pillars that help keep the community in alignment with the core values of Mercy Ships.

This is one of the reasons that the Yangas family is in East Texas in the summertime for 6 weeks.  Having served with Mercy Ships for 8 (Rachel) and 6 (Kevin) years in the past, we are now, along with our 31 classmates, being prepared to be grafted again into the core of long-term crew on the Africa Mercy.  

Our OnBoarding classroom here in Texas

We are a beautifully diverse group on board the ship, from 30-40 different countries, but we must function in unity.  So we are learning about ship life, the history of Mercy Ships and basic safety - and all this is held together by the core values of Mercy Ships:

1) Love God

2) Love and serve others

3) Be people of integrity

4) Be people of excellence in all we say and do

Mercy Ships is a community of faith, intentional in following the 2,000 year old model of Jesus Christ.  The focus is to bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor, using hospital ships.  It takes short-term crew, long-term crew, supporters and donors, and above all God's love and grace.  I don't know how it works, but somehow it does.

Sambany had a 16.5 lb tumour removed on the ship in Madagascar this year.

We have committed to serve as volunteers for 3 years on board the Africa Mercy as part of the chaplaincy team, overseeing the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of the international crew of 400.  When our training here in Texas is complete we will re-join the ship at the end of July in Durban, South Africa.

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