Baby Steps Off the Boat

                 It is nearly impossible to believe that we have been in this country nearly a week now!  We’ve been able to take our time getting to know this 8 deck ship with all the offices and cabins tucked in every nook and cranny.  We’ve made at least three or possibly four trips to the onboard store to buy items for our comfort as well as shipboard necessities.  Since we have to clean our own cabin we had to buy a few items to keep the bathroom and kitchenette clean.  Yes – dear friends.  I miss my non-toxic Melaleuca products and did bring soap, wipes and shampoo in all those heavily packed bags but one can only carry just so much stuff you know.  In addition to cleaning items and a few snacks we managed to snag some highly coveted computer speakers!  These beauties have made it possible to enjoy the DVDs we’ve started watching each night before bed.  A little bit of the old home routine transplanted to the Dark Continent. 

                Peter has been put to work much earlier than I since the only crew physician here had not had an opportunity to leave the ship in 52 days!!  He’s a bit pale but amazingly does not have a crazed look in his eyes as one would expect after such a long interment in a small place.  He is a lovely English gentleman and Peter was happy to be the instrument of his liberation to take a long overdue hike into town and along the picturesque coast on Saturday.  Yes- Peter has been on call all weekend as well so neither of us has set foot on the gangway lately, so we have high hopes for next weekend to see a bit of Togo prior to the first patients coming onboard. 

Ship at the pier

Although this weekend there’s not much to tell about our big news regards Friday.  We had a bit of a road trip into Lome’ – the capital city to a dedication ceremony for the local Hope Center that Mercy Ships has spent the last several years helping the locals to build.  Along the short drive to the center the road was lined with merchants hawking every sort of new and used item imaginable!  We were nowhere near the area known as Le Grand Marche in the center of town so I can only imagine the buzz commerce there as I was impressed but the bit that we saw.  The center is currently used for maternity and young child visits so there were many moms and babies at the ceremony.  In addition there were at least twenty ornately dressed tribal leaders.  Each of them had gorgeous gold head pieces that I’m sure indicated either their region or a ranking significance.  Despite not knowing what it meant it was quite impressive.  The country’s health minister spoke as did the director of the ship.  In between each speaker there was a musical interlude.  It seems that music is a mainstay of life here. We’ve been warned that there will be much dancing and singing on the wards when the patients move in.  If we can attach sound files in the future I’ll give it a shot.  Taking pictures of locals is very iffy without certain permissions so I’ll have to wait until I can get some of the official pictures once they are posted and can then add them to a future posting.  Here are a couple of pictures we did find via marketing to show the ship as well as two of the many land rovers that are used to get around in port. 

                The clinic was completely spotless and gorgeous!  While we are here the patients that we see will get post-operative care at the clinic in order to help with their transition following their surgery.   Very impressive!  We were so glad that we got to go along and see this facet of what Mercy Ships does while here and then leaves behind to facilitate continued care. 

                So – just when we thought we’d be settling in for a long, possibly boring weekend on the ship we were invited to go out to dinner with a young, German couple we met at our three day training we attended in TX last September.  We hit it off with them as soon as we met last fall since Peter is, of course, fluent in German and loves ein bier as much as the next German.  Tina is an operating room nurse and has been working very hard with the rest of the nurses to get the ORs in shape for our patients to arrive.  Simon is a social worker by training that has been put to work organizing the 200 Togolese day workers that assist on the ship.  Huge job! They both needed a night out and fortunately they invited us along.  Soon after the ship pulled in last week they discovered a wonderful German, Christian mission near the docks that ministers to the sailors from the local ships.  What a lovely place within walking distance!  The walk was a bit harrowing, dodging trucks and motorbikes that give no berth to pedestrians and have no lanes anywhere for guidance.  Getting there was an adventure but once behind the mission’s walls it felt like an oasis of calm!  Thank you Simon and Tina!  The mission has a cute, little bar, ample seating and a nice pool.  We settled down to a drink and conversation and met many other very interesting people.  I may well end up learning more German than French in the next five months.  After our drink we went next door to a real slice of Germany!  The restaurant “Alt Munchen” looked like it could have been cut from a German travel brochure.  The furniture, the wall coverings, curtains and the menu items were very authentic.  One could almost imagine that we’d slipped thru a worm hole or something to the Fatherland except for the very black waiters speaking French.  I’m glad I don’t drink or I think I’d get confused. 

                Finally, the last bit of good news came yesterday when we and nearly everyone else on the ship took advantage of the satellite phone to Florida and got a chance to call home. We were able to talk to Peter’s mom and one of our son’s last night.  Although there’s just a bit of time delay between speaking and the other party hearing our voice the connection was clear as a bell and one would never, ever guess that we were calling nearly half way around the world!  The amazing technological advances that we’ve benefitted from just in the past week simply boggle the mind!  We can hardly consider ourselves missionaries of the same ilk from centuries past that would set out for a foreign land with little hope of ever seeing their loved ones again.  I really stand in awe of the dedication and minute by minute reliance they had on the author of universe to guide their steps doing His work.  I pray and I hope you’ll pray with us for the fortitude to obediently do whatever it is that He’s laid out for us to accomplish in the ensuing weeks to come.  Thanks so much to all of you that read this and especially to those of you that have taken the time to drop us a note or a comment.  Until next time….