all God does is good

It's been a whirl of a few months - after a fantastically restful break over the summer, I rejoined my floating home in late July in Durban. From there, we set sail for Cape Town where we spent a few days. If you have never been - well, you must. Table Mountain stands majestically above the city skyline, as the Africa Mercy takes its home on the Waterfront harbour. For me, it was a time of rest, refueling and a little bit of planning for the months ahead. From there we took a 10 day sail to our new home in Cotonou, Benin.

I'm in a new season now and have moved from Hospital Director to Medical Capacity Building Director. I wanted to get my hands dirty in a different way and have the opportunity to get involved with the training side of what we do. 

This is me with my Medical Capacity Building team. As a team, our goal is to support and strengthen the local surgical health system from grassroots to Government in the most impactful way. Ambitious, aren't we?!

This is what we hope to provide:

·        High quality medical education programs and quality improvement initiatives which include courses and mentoring in the areas of Anaesthesia, Surgeon mentoring, Surgical Nursing – Ward and OR, Biomed, Ponseti and Nutrition (Food for life).

·        Targeted donations

·        Targeted Infrastructure projects

·        Support to the Government to influence policy development such as implementation of WHO Safe Surgical Checklist and National Surgical Plans

·        Data collection for use in research and impact evaluation

It's an honour to be a part of creating and building a 'lasting impact'.

I'm still keen to keep my hand in the clinical side of things we do, particularly in relation to quality and evaluation. One of my favourite events of the last few months, was the surgical evaluation days we held for patients who we provided surgery for here in Benin back in 2009. It's not often we get the chance to re-connect, to check on how people are doing, to encourage, love, laugh, to learn what went well and what we could have done better. In fact, there aren't many people or organisations in the world who do such a thing. Patients were surprised as we showed them photos of what they looked like back in 2009 and were, without a doubt, touched by the fact that we cared enough to dig out their phone numbers and hunt them down from so long ago. Below, Dr Gary Parker - our Max Fac surgeon of nearly 30 years, reconnects with some long lost friends..

And for the patients who still have life transforming surgery to come, here's a small glimpse of some of the beauties we have lined up....

The twinkle in her eyes would never tell you of her twisted feet beneath....

Same for this little one...

Like so many of the people we get the privilege of caring for, I just love to watch the transformation. It's a delight to look beyond their eyes and to let them know that we see them as more than meets the eye. Treasured children, wonderfully and fearfully made.

One such treasure with who is in our line up with a Cleft lip is called 'Bignon'. Some born with such disfigurements are rejected and spend their lives fighting to be known - worse, even thrown away. But you know what Bignon means? 'All God does is good' - her mum and dad knew there was more to their treasure than a funky lip.

And with that thought, my friends, I will leave you.

All God does is good.

Check out this incredible short video....

Love always, KWW

light

We all know what happens when you put a plant by the window, it grows towards the light. I’m looking at a plant doing that right now. Its leaves are, literally, stretched towards the light. It’s like they couldn’t get any closer if they tried. They are desperate for it. Desperate for a taste of life.

Just yesterday I turned the plant around. I faced it towards the wall, back towards the light, ‘face’ towards… not very much. Nothing life giving, anyway. And, do you know – it was only a few hours before I could see those leaves turning back towards the light. They simply cannot bear to be away from it. They just can’t do it. They’re desperate.

I wish I looked like that. I wish you could look at me and see me desperate. Desperately turned towards the light. I wish,  if you took me on a good day and stripped away all that was good and picked me up and turned me away from the light – I wish, I wish you would find me desperately turning back towards the light.

I wish, if we found ourselves in some lifeless conversation… if we felt like death had got it’s hold… if things were being torn down or gossip was spreading its infective spew, if light was not present and hopelessness was staring right at us… I wish, I wish I could be the one to pick up my chair and put my back to the darkness. I wish you could see me stretching towards light, towards truth and grace. If only I was like those sun worshippers - their care and attention to make sure that sunlight reaches every part – that not a minute is wasted in the shade of a passing cloud. I wish my heart was so attentive. I wish it would shudder at the hint of darkness and find its place in the light. I wish.

And yet sometimes, I just sit staring at the darkness. For hours. Or days. I sit lifeless. I seem to feed on it. And funnily enough, I get weak. We don’t do so well without the light.

Sometimes a friend along the journey comes and shares some light and before you know it, you feel life seeping back again.

But sometimes there’s a humongous choice. Sometimes I have to actually get up, intentionally turn myself around and look for the light….

And then other times, light and life descend from nowhere.

The glistening twinkles of sunlight falling on the ocean blue, the crashing waves at 501, the chirping bird high above in a tree, the riches you find in so called poverty, the redemptive song that fills the Hospital corridors, the hope that literally shines through blood soaked bandages and casted legs or the thought that maybe, after nearly 2 years on this beautiful island, we did make a difference… sometimes light and life just seep back in.

917 Max Fac Surgeries
473 Women’s Health Surgeries
238 Plastic Surgeries
817 General Surgeries
162 Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeries
Over 12,000 Dental patients

Light into darkness for 1000s of lives. 10s of 1000s of collective years of suffering. Ended.

Not to mention the 1000s trained and mentored in ways that will enhance their ability to provide safe surgical care to thousands more.

Or the surgical clinic that was renovated and filled with expertly trained Malagasy nurses who will go on to treat some of the 2,000 new cases of obstetric fistula that will form their ugly selves here in the coming year. Light sometimes looks like hope. Justice even.

Madagascar’s population is one of the poorest globally and there are approximately 15,000 children and adults disabled from clubfoot, with an estimated 1,000 children born here with the condition each year. The cost of treatment is often prohibitive for many families with an average income.  And so what a joy to be a part of Tamatave’s first ever clubfoot clinic born right here –  and with the support of International NGO, Miraclefeet, the work will go on for years to come. These beautiful feet will turn to the light. They will know what it is to walk and run and play… they will do the things they were created for. Light sometimes looks like redemption. Like new feet dancing in the rain.

What beauty He lets us hold.

And so, as we close our time here on this rich island of Madagascar, we are already in full swing with plans for Benin. The hope we promised in 2014 that got snatched by the scare of Ebola will be restored this coming August. We will deliver the package of light with care. It will be generous, it will be full of love and, I pray, will deposit oodles of light into 1000s of more lives.

May we turn to the light. Desperate.

And, until the day comes when we don’t need to stretch anymore, may you be found drenched in the restorative, hope filled power of light.

Love. KWW

This is me with my incredible Hospital Leadership Team

Check out these beautiful short videos if you want to see some more....

https://vimeo.com/157146540

https://vimeo.com/149663551

https://vimeo.com/164754519

New feet

new life

new freedom

Thanks for letting us share in your beauty, Madagascar xxx

love ripples

Did you know that love ripples? 

It seems it’s well understood here in Madagascar. You will have seen so many examples of it through other Mercy Ship blog posts –  Medical Capacity Building, patients who have had surgery, the 7000 something who have had dental care… there are plenty of examples of love poured out.

But did you know it rippled? Its effects don’t just stop where you pour it out.

A few weeks ago, I met with a senior lady from UNFPA – the organization who are helping us find and transport ladies who have obstetric fistulas that need repairing.  I met them to address a few issues and it was enlightening to hear their stories. We see the part that’s in front of our eyes and, sometimes, we can easily forget the rest. The part that involves finding the ladies – literally searching for them, talking to them, trying to convince them that this big white ship is a safe place to come. The part that involves gathering names and arranging bus loads of ladies to come for screening – helping them find a route to the nearest town, over nonexistent bridges and rivers that are swollen from the rains… and when the day to send the bus towards the ship comes, convincing the ones who are too scared to come, to climb aboard. It’s humbling to see the collaborative work that we are privileged to be a part of. And it was interesting to see how the ‘issues’ I had come to address, slowly became not so big when I began to understand their story. It’s a phrase our very own Group Managing Director Donovan Palmer has put in my head – ‘seek to understand’ –  and his wise words stood me well.

At the end of this conversation, the doctor who coordinates all these crazy logistics said to me… ‘when one of the ladies returned to the village after her surgery, the village elder asked me: how come she’s so strong?’  – he explained, ‘ not in her body, I know she’s healed. I mean – how come her spirit is so strong?’. I opened my mouth to answer but didn’t get the chance before the lady from UNFPA jumped in to explain that she had looked at our website and realised that we don't just care about physical healing but about healing of the soul as well. She said that she realised that the most important thing Mercy Ships could bring to Madagascar was love. She said that there are ladies far away in the south of Madagascar who could have the opportunity to have surgery closer to home but they have refused because they want to come to Tamatave. She flung her arms in a big embrace and said, ‘it is like they know they will be surrounded by love if they come to you....’.

Love ripples.

And even in the painful circumstances of the young girl who passed away last week, love rippled. It did.

I saw it in the dedicated care of those whose skilled hands cared for her. I saw it in the Community. I saw it in the way every department offered their help. I saw it in the feedback from a missionary who lives not so far from the young girl’s village (at least 4 days by road from us): ‘… Her mum told me, through tears, how well you cared for them throughout their time on board. Her uncle told us that you did so much for them, not least making all the transport arrangements (4x4, MAF, Helimission…) and that you didn’t ask them to pay anything.  They also told me that the family and the village elders expressed much appreciation for all that you did for them in getting them back home, and the word they used was fitiavana (love); in doing all these things you have shown your love for this dear family, and by doing that you have shown many more people the love of God in you’. 

Let’s keep loving and may it ripple far and wide – in our own hearts, in our Community, in Madagascar and far beyond.

“A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

a picture says it all...

What has been happening in Madagascar, you might ask?! It's a good question, so here's a little insight....

We arrived back in Madagascar at the end of August and in the last few months, we have seen some phenomenal things unfold - from life transforming surgeries - to vast growth in our medical training programs that literally impact the entire country.... to little club feet that have been straightened... here are some picture that tell the story...



                                       

Our mentoring opportunities for nurses, doctors, anaesthetists, surgeons and even the sterilising and biomed technicians have grown once again this year...

                                        

Not to mention the many courses... Check this wonderful video out to give you an idea of some of the medical training we have been doing - 'Lasting Impact' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT8i_bRjgMU

This is a group of 16 local nurses we are in the midst of training to take over the Fistula Centre we will leave behind and hand over to an organisation called 'Freedom from Fistula'... they are a precious bunch - trained nurses but previously unemployed... this is hope and building for the future...

We have been able to renovate many of the buildings at the local University Hospital and the results are incredible...

The Ponseti and Biomed building before... and after....

And...

The Rehab and Biomed Department before... and after...

Where children with Club Feet get treated using the Ponseti (non surgical) casting method...

And feet that were bent begin to dance... how incredible to think they will never know what life was going to be like for them...

And...

The HOPE Centre where over 200 patients are housed pre and post surgery whilst for B&B... before... and after...

And... The Operating Rooms before... and after...

The University Hospital really has been transformed. 

And not just that...

there's the long lines of patients for the Dental Team (above) - who have treated over 3000 people since September this year

Our Patient Selection Teams have searched for patients in 11 different cities... and seen literally thousands and thousands of potential candidates....

And whether it's the ladies who have had their Obstetric Fistulas repaired (122 since September)...

Or the kids with bent legs (106 since September)...

Or the natural beauty that is just Madagascar...

(I'm the one nearest with my foot poking out of the water whilst searching for tropical fish!)...

Thank you God for your amazing grace that loves, trasnforms and heals hearts for eternity... we give you all the glory....

And if all this leaves you hungry for even more... check out our overview of our previous Field Service here in Madagascar October 2014-June 2015 https://vimeo.com/132544326

amazing grace... happy chirstmas!

Beauty for ashes..... the weak become strong.... what was sent to destroy us, God uses to strengthen us... these are all truths for children of God and somedays I wonder… how did I get to receive this amazing grace? I didn't do a thing....

It's nearly 7 years now since my feet lifted from the tarmac of Cotonou's runway to board a plane home. I knew my mercy ships work was somehow coming to an abrupt end in Benin, but I couldn't stop it and as I found myself in a mixture of tired and empty, I had no idea what life would look like once I got home. It was an uncomfortable season, that's for sure. But over the course of the years that followed.... He restored it all. He led me on a journey that opened my eyes to His beauty in ways I had never known before. I was met with arms open wide and all I felt was amazing grace.

It's who my daddy is. When God restores, He always restores to a place better than it was before. He aggressively pursues restoration. He is always revealing his restorative character here on Earth. He just can’t help it. Think of all those crunchy dead leaves – new ones already in the process of popping out – or the seemingly dead bulbs getting ready to burst their pure beauty through the winter ground. And in the Spirit, it’s the same. Whatever comes towards us, God positions himself to redeem... He allows it to benefit us... for it to somehow become an asset in our lives. The enemy simply cannot destroy the purposes of God. Encouraging, isn’t it. His heart is so set on restoring every lost and broken thing in our lives that we cannot help but be overwhelmed by His goodness. And as He does so, He is exalted! Our task is to somehow let the goodness ooze out and let others see the love song that we are a part of. That doesn’t mean there won’t be scars along the way, but even those, He arranges in such a way that somehow speaks of His beauty. He is always revealing who He is.

And so last month when I found myself in Benin again.... the Country I left, wondering if I would ever return.... and the same Country I returned to last year for a couple of months to prepare for the ships arrival.... the one we ploughed so much energy and love into... the one we so desired to see God's heart for... to dream big for... to call Heaven to Earth for... and then from where we had to suddenly leave as a result of the Ebola crisis… how our hearts were broken.... the hope we brought and then had to snatch away. It all felt so unfair and didn’t make sense. But all the while, God was nurturing it and keeping it safe…

So it is with great delight that I can share that Mercy Ships has decided to go back to Benin for 10 months beginning next August 2017. Maybe it just sounds like just another Country. Another decision... just some more work. But in my heart it's not. And in the heart of God, I know it's not. He’s in the midst of restoring hope and releasing His amazing grace. I know He is. He can’t help Himself.

Last month, I was privileged to be part of an Assessment trip to Benin for us to begin designing our surgical and medical capacity building (training) programs there. We collected all sorts of pieces of information that form part of a larger puzzle that help us better understand the needs in the Country and how some of the things we can do fit in with that. It was a wonderful time to re-connect with those we met last year. And the grace extended blows me away - we were not met with bitter hearts who had tasted the hope we’d offered and felt abandoned but by hearts that were warm and open and... Oh, so kind. It can only be God. He is the one that nurtured that hope. The One who promised He loves them. The One who promised He would never leave. The One who is ever present and reminds me that we are mere fleeting parts in His story.

Benin... You speak to me so much of Gods redemptive heart. You hold memories of fun, of amazing grace, of generosity that knows no bounds.... may it just get more beautiful. May the plans Mercy Ships had for your people just get bigger... May the delay that felt so discouraging be used by God to propel us to even greater things for you. May Jesus give us eyes to see what you need, how we can help.... May His face be seen...

It makes no sense... But this is grace...

And I pray you meet it this Christmas too – the gift of God’s own Son – amazing grace given for you.

With love and Happy Christmas all the way from Madagascar!

KWW

restoring design

What’s it all about?

It’s been a busy few weeks as this place has swung into action. The Hospital laid dormant for a couple of months – it became a thoroughfare, a building site, a warehouse…. a place I did not recognize.

But as the mooring lines landed just 3 weeks ago and the medical staff stopped their work as cooks and cleaners and dining room workers and returned to Deck 3... the place took on new life. The work of the Father became evident in it again. He was making it all new. He had been there all the time.

You see without the building site part, it could never be the Hospital part. We don’t exist independently. Without the restoring and creative work of the engineers and electricians and carpenters…. this place we call a Hospital would have crumbled away a while back – or at least not be functioning as well as it does. Every year there is work unseen – pipes are laid, rooms are renovated, floors are re-laid – it all goes on when the Hospital staff have escaped… our part of the ‘body’ takes some rest whilst another part works diligently.  They do it for us. They do their part, so we can do ours. Humbling isn’t it.

And that’s what our Hospital is all about. That’s what is at the heart of it. Our Heavenly Father – He’s always restoring His design. Whether it’s in our furnishing and function… whether it’s in the hearts and minds of those who work here as our rough edges brush up against others… or whether it’s a tumour invaded face finding it’s form again or an arm able to envelop another for the first time in years…. it’s all about restoring function.

It’s endless.

Whether it’s the songs of the ladies who pace the corridors on their daily walks as they recover from the injuries of traumatic labour – the unity they find, the solidarity, the safety – healing not just for their leaking bladders but in their hearts too. Or the cries of children as they process the fear and the unknown of being on a big white ship…. and find love…. or even the simple hernia that has troubled a proud man for years that gets repaired….

Restoring design. It’s the heart of our Father. And it’s what we’re all about.

So here’s to 35 weeks of surgery ahead, to the sharing of knowledge, to the mentoring opportunities that will deposit hope and release life, to clubfeet which will learn to dance on the injustice that they were born into.  To the thousands of Malagasy who will teach us not of the ‘poor and needy’ but what it is to be rich in heart and beautiful in spirit. To the opportunities to learn from each other and discover new life. To restored design in whatever form.

We watch with thanks that we get to be a part of the story. For all the restoring that He has already done and will continue to do…. we give Him all the Glory.

here we go

Hello from the ocean blue! Having spent a few weeks in Durban, South Africa whilst our Ship got fixed up and ready for the season ahead, we're finally on our way. In fact last night I sat outside to eat my dinner and spotted not just a whale nearby but LAND! We could quite clearly see the south eastern coastline of Madagascar and a sense of, 'it's really happening' dawned on me and I realised once again the privilege to live on this floating home.

The last few weeks have not been without their trouble and even after we set sail, we had more hitches that held us up a few days before we could finally say that we're on our way. The unexpected few extra weeks in South Africa have been a good time to reflect and team build, not to mention see some of beautiful South Africa. I even found some snow, and yes, I did have a little sledge down a slope! I'm certain God is not the author of 'bad things' but I do see how he uses delays and things like this - we've been on our knees and the time has forced us to fix our eyes on Him... and to remember where our hope comes from.

As we look to the time ahead in Madagascar, I've been thinking about all the opportunities that lie ahead. God is infinitely creative and always has fresh ideas. It's an exciting life with Him, isn't it?

Have you thought lately about what ideas.... what seeds you are planting into the future generation? Your friends? Your family? Your own life? Are you planting seeds of life? Ones that will keep on bearing fruit?

It's a joy to work for an organization who lives and breathes the things that make my heart beat. To work with like minded people who care about the same things I care about and who get mad about the same things I get mad about. It's refreshing. It enables me to myself somehow. It gives me courage to stretch and reach for the Jesus dreams that have been planted inside me. And what a privilege it is to stand on the shoulders of those who have walked before me and who have dared to believe.

How can we do the same? How do we face such never-ending need? Such devastating poverty? How do we know which seeds we should plant? And where? There are opportunities everywhere! These are questions I find myself asking - as Hospital Director on the AFM - and as Kirstie Randall living in Community here. How do we do it? How do we not run dry? How do we not grow weary doing good?

In Isaiah 55:8 it says that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. And His ways are not our ways.

Jesus wasn't driven by need and opportunity.

Jesus only did what the Father told him to do.

Good ideas only last until a better idea comes along. Good ideas inherently lack capacity to withstand pressure.

God ideas have resurrection life and can never die.

Are the seeds that you are planting releasing their potential? Do you need to do some pruning? Get rid of some bad ideas? Even some good ones? Good ideas compete with God ideas.

It's my prayer for me - for my team - for us as an organization - as we embrace a new Field Service and all the decisions ahead. I pray that we would strip ourselves from selfish ambition, from pride, from anything that would tangle our hearts and minds from discerning what the will of the Father is.

So that we may walk with a freedom and a heart that is committed not to good ideas that jump at every opportunity and need in front of us, but to the God ideas that He breathes into us.

I'm looking forward to all that lies ahead - whether it's a couple of thousand surgeries or stories of transformation people experience when they take part in one of the many medical training courses we will be running,... or in the new Obstetric Fistula Centre we are setting up or in the new Ponseti Clinic (Clubfoot treatment). Whether it's stories of transformation of buildings as we renovate the Operating Rooms in the local University Hospital, or of people's hearts and attitudes - including my own - it all thrills me, because it's what we're all about. It's what Jesus is all about. Redemption. New hope, new life. Love it.

Grace, peace and all wisdom to you as you sift through the dreams in your heart and find the ones Jesus has planted right there. Run after them!

Much love as always, KWW