An
individual, a personal story, a life changed forever. Whenever anyone
asks about what we do, the answer from me is always about transformational
change. As Mercy Ships approaches the final weeks of our 10 month field
service in the Republic of Congo, the statistics are beginning to be complied.
For many (those wired a little more like Graeme, maybe) it's vital to be able
to measure our impact and hold us accountable logistically - not that I mind,
just don’t ask me to crunch the numbers! (Do you want to see the stats?) Me? Well, I want to tell you all about
Emmanoel.
As this
precious wee man reached his second birthday, he struggled to breathe. His parents were able to get him to a local doctor who
diagnosed malaria, but instead of improving, Emmanoel's breathing became more
restricted and laboured. Eventually the doctor informed them the cause was in
fact a tumour growing rapidly in the toddler's palate - he would not live until
his third birthday. The doctor knew what to do to treat the wee patient, but had no surgical
skills to save his life.
Emmanoel and his parents were among the 7000 people who
attended the Mercy Ships surgical screening day at the beginning of the field service.
While they were waiting in line to be accessed for treatment, Emmanoel stopped
breathing. His parent's distress altered the emergency medical team who were
able to resuscitate him, and he was placed at the top of the surgical schedule.
Because of the tumour, Emmanoel's mother had never heard his voice. She didn't have long to
wait ... his first word was Mother! His second word was Uncle (a
bit to his father's concern!). The third word Emmanoel ever uttered was ... tomorrow!
That one word sums up why we invest all our 'todays'
in serving the poorest of the poor. What a privilege to be part of bringing 'tomorrows' to people in such need of both hope and healing.
On the big picture scale, we do have some exciting news - there's a new baby coming on the block! Well, the sea. Mercy Ships has started work on building a new hospital ship from the ground up. Already with a significant percentage of the costs specifically donated, the new ship at 37,000 gross tonnes will be larger than the Africa Mercy. With more than double the number of hospital beds and 200 more crew, this vessel with dramatically increase our capacity to provide desperately needed health care services to the West and Central Africa region. There will be a strong focus on training and mentoring local medical professionals in the nations we serve. With deployment expected sometime in 2018, our task here in New Zealand to recruit crew and raise funds for surgeries and operational costs just became a lot bigger. Exciting, scary, wonderful!
Your support and prayers are hugely appreciated as we work to serve the Kingdom by serving 'the least of these.'
