The Yangas Family Voyage: 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.