Miracles: 2508 + 1

It was very exciting for me to see Fadimatou and her baby ready to leave the ship and go home, after having spent many months here and finally seeing the full miracle, now Mass-Odatou has a normal nose and mouth. 

Like her, 2508 patients received free surgeries through Mercy Ships here in Cameroon, 1000 were admitted to the Africa Mercy (the ship;), and 334 of these surgeries were maxillofacial surgeries (the patients that I could meet and take care of more closely). 

2142 adults and 366 children received a miracle that seemed impossible to achieve. God gave them the opportunity to change their sadness for joy, their shame for courage, their defeat for victory, and their weakness for strength. As I wrote on my last post, the process for our patients to receive the miracle was not easy, there was pain, tiredness, fear and a lot of patience. Anyone who has been hospitalized and has been through surgery knows that it is not easy, but it is worth it when it means an opportunity for a better life. 

For these miracles to come true, there were thousands of people involved, not only the volunteers who came to work on the ship, but also many people around the world donating to support this gigantic task and many more people praying. Praying for all of us and for our patients. Praying for our physical, emotional and spiritual health, praying for protection, praying for joy, praying for strength and energy to work, praying and praying.

But, I also received a miracle here. No, I did not find "the one", not yet ... haha! 

As you may know, I have been sharing about the plan to continue serving here for one more year, and also participate in the training offered by Mercy Ships. The goal of $10,000 included airline tickets, food, housing and personal expenses. But it was a very big goal that seemed impossible. Despite sharing on social networks, praying a lot, receiving verbal and prayer support from many people around the world, the donations that I was receiving were not enough. And time was running. By the beginning of May, I had to have at least 75% of the budget in order to travel to Texas for training and be able to return to Guinea, and by mid-April I had less than 10%.

I felt very disappointed and frustrated at not seeing God's provision supporting the dream He had placed in my heart. I had to send emails with the answer I feared most: "I only have xxx dollars". I invested my savings, but they were not enough. And time kept running. Every day, many times a day, I would feel distressed and pray again: "Please, Dad, let me see your power", "Please, Dad, do not forsake me", "Please, Dad, I do not want to have to give up to the work that you already gave me", "Please, Dad, this is the job of my dreams, I love to serve you, I do not want to have to leave it". "Dad, you are the owner of the universe, please open the heavens and send your heavenly treasures to be able to continue serving you here." "Dad, nothing is impossible for you, please provide."

God used these months of waiting, struggling with fear and anguish, to strengthen my faith, to get closer and closer to Him, to get to the point where I could open my hands and say: "Dad, whatever happens, You are still in control, You use everything for good, and wherever I go, be it to Guinea, to the United States or to Colombia, You will be with me and I will continue serving you, I will enjoy the weeks that I still have here and I am going to thank you for the 6 months you gave me in Cameroon, I am going to thank you for the plans for the future, because they are good and come from Your heart. "

Every day, every time I searched in His word for strength and hope, I found them. 

Two years ago, when I started my relationship with God (I wrote a post about that too;)), I started reading the Bible from Isaiah (after I finished Revelation I went back to Genesis and kept on that way :)), and here in Cameroon I started the book of Psalms. 

Psalms has been the perfect book to pray, to cry, and to find in God my consolation, my refuge, my hope, my protection and my sustenance. I could write here many, many verses that God used to give me peace and hope, the truth is, it´s a little difficult to just choose a few.
"When pressure and stress come on me, I find joy in your commands." (Psalm 119: 143)
"Make me walk the path of your commands, because that is where I find my happiness, give me enthusiasm for your laws instead of love for money, turn my eyes away from useless things and give me life through your word...Confirm your promise to your servant, the promise you made to those who fear you." (Psalm 119: 35-38)
"Even so, he felt compassion for their anguish, and heard their cries" (Psalm 106: 44)
"Seek the Lord and for his strength, seek Him continually." (Psalm 105: 4)
"I brought my problems to the Lord, I cried out to Him, and He answered my prayer." (Psalm 120: 1)
Every time I prayed, in my heart the Holy Spirit answered me with much patience and love: "Calm down, trust, wait."

By the end of April, I had the opportunity to share my testimony at a meeting here on the
ship, about my story, how I came to the ship and how my experience had been until now, and after receiving positive feedback for sharing this, I thought that it could be good to post this testimony on the Mercy Ships intranet. Honestly, I did not think of this as a fundraising strategy, but as a way to encourage other volunteers not only here on the ship but around the world (among the  national offices in Europe and the United States).

After thinking about it, on May 16 I published my testimony on the intranet blog, and I received several positive comments, I really did not expect something else to happen. 

But that was the day that God had destined to answer my prayers, the prayers of my family, friends in Colombia, friends in the United States and friends here on the ship. God used only that blog for one person in the office in Texas to read it and send it to an American company, who read it and decided to fully support me. They literally said: "Everything you need to serve in Guinea."

After 5 months of praying, crying, waiting, trusting and walking by faith, God provided. 

He provided everything I needed in one single day, exactly one month before starting the training, one month before the deadline to pay the flight ticket to Guinea. He is the owner of time. 

God backed up the sacrifice I made of not traveling to my country to see my family, and agreeing to go to the training in Texas. God backed up my faith when I applied for the American visa and for a leadership position in the hospital. 

God used the only thing I had to offer, the only strategy I could try to use to share my passion with other people, the words I can write. But it was with His love and His power that He fulfilled His will and at the same time the desire of my heart. 

It took me more than a week to sit down to write this post, maybe you can imagine everything I felt when I received the miracle from God for me. Right now, as I write and listen to music, I have to stop every once in a while to take a deep breath and not start crying (again).

I feel happy, loved, and honored by the blessing that God gives me in providing to continue serving on the Africa Mercy. I can say that these months of waiting were worth it not only for the response to my prayers, but for how He used this time to draw me to Him daily, continuously. I love Him because He loved me first. The process and the miracle have allowed me to know Him, to trust Him more and I have been able to understand that He only wants our heart to be united to His; material things, circumstances can change but He wants us to know that He is always there, and that by opening our hands, letting go of our dreams and our fears, we can take His hand and walk with Him.

There's no shadow You won't light up

Mountain You won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall You won't kick down

Lie You won't tear down

Coming after me

Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself away

(Reckless Love, Cory Asbury)