La Pasión que Arde en mi Corazón

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 ...

Fue muy emocionante para mí ver a Fadimatou y su bebé listas para regresar a casa, después de haber pasado por muchos meses de esfuerzos y por fin ver el milagro completo, ahora Mass-Odatou tiene una nariz y una boca normales.  Así como ella, en total 2508 pacientes recibieron cirugías gratis a través de Mercy Ships, 1000 fueron hospitalizados en el Africa Mercy (el barco ;), y de estas cirugías 334 fueron cirugías maxilofaciales (los pacientes que yo pude conocer y cuidar más de cerca).  2142 adultos y 366 niños recibieron un milagro que parecía imposible de lograr. Dios les dio la oportunidad de cambiar su tristeza por gozo, su vergüenza por valentía, su derrota por victoria, y su debilidad por fuerza. Como les conté en la entrada anterior, el proceso de nuestros pacientes para recibir el milagro no fue fácil, hubo dolor, cansancio, miedo y mucha paciencia. Todos los que han estado hospitalizados y han pasado por una cirugía saben que no es fácil, pero vale la pe...

During my time here, most of our maxillofacial patients come the day before of their surgery, go to surgery, and after a couple of days or maybe a week they are ready to go to the Hope Center and come to the ship for their follow-up appointments. A few of them may have complications after their surgery, maybe a wound that won't heal properly, maybe an infection, but thankfully those are a few exceptions to the majority. These are the stories we like to witness and also the way we want things to happen in our own lives. We like things to happen as they "should", in the right time and in the right way. I, personally, am not a patient person. As an ICU nurse I always want to find a way to solve problems, and keeping things under control, planned and successful is my way of thinking of a good day.   But today I want to share about two families that have taught me what patience and endurance are. The moms share the same name, both are muslim, and speak the sa...

Durante mi tiempo aquí, la mayoría de nuestros pacientes de cirugia maxilofacial vienen el día antes de su cirugía, van a cirugía, y después de un par de días o tal vez una semana, están listos para ir al Hope Center y venir al barco para sus citas de control. Algunos de ellos pueden tener complicaciones después de la cirugía, tal vez una herida que no cicatriza adecuadamente, tal vez una infección, pero afortunadamente esas son algunas excepciones.  Estas son las historias que nos gusta presenciar y también la forma en que queremos que las cosas sucedan en nuestras propias vidas. Nos gusta que las cosas pasen de la forma en que "deberían ser", en el momento adecuado y de la manera correcta. Yo, personalmente, no soy una persona paciente. Como enfermera de cuidados intensivos siempre quiero encontrar la manera de resolver cualquier problema, y un buen día para mí incluye mantener las cosas bajo control, planificadas y con todas las metas cumplidas. Pero hoy qu...

How to pray for a Mercy Shipper  When I talk to friends back home, they express how happy they are for me, how much they admire my courage and passion for serving the Lord, and, that should uplift my spirit, but sometimes it doesn't.  I don't feel brave and adventurous when I wake up here.  Sometimes I wake up happy because I got to sleep in after a long and busy shift that ended almost at midnight. Sometimes I wake up cranky because loud noises won't let me sleep during the day, after a night shift.  Sometimes I wake up missing my family. Sometimes I wake up feeling lonely, wondering what to do on my day off.  Sometimes I wake up happy and grateful because I remember how lucky I am for being here. Sometimes I wake up excited because I will go visit friends at the Hope Center, or will meet new people.  Sometimes I wake up with a nice text or voice message from a friend that is praying for me.  I wake up like any normal person, in any plac...

Cómo orar por una voluntaria en Africa   Cuando hablo con amigos de mi país, expresan lo felices que estan por mí, cuánto admiran mi valentía y mi pasión por servir al Señor, y eso debería alegrar y animarme, pero a veces no es asi.  No  me siento valiente y aventurera cuando me despierto aquí. A veces me levanto feliz porque llegué a dormir después de un largo turno que terminó casi a medianoche. A veces me levanto de mal humor porque el ruido no me deja dormir durante el día, después de un turno de noche. A veces me levanto extrañando a mi familia.  A veces me levanto sintiéndome sola, preguntándome qué hacer en mi día libre. A veces me levanto feliz y agradecida porque recuerdo lo afortunada que soy por estar aquí. A veces me levanto emocionada porque visitaré a mis amigos en el Hope Center o conoceré gente nueva. A veces me levanto con un mensaje de un amiga que está orando por mí.  Me levanto como cualquier persona normal, en cualqu...

" I led them with kindness  and with love,   not with ropes. I held them close to me;   I bent down to feed them. "   Hosea 11:4 (CEV) My love life has been the black point in my life. Everything else has always gone well, I have been blessed with a beautiful family, with good education, good jobs and now with an incredible ministry.  But my romantic record has many mistakes and decisions that I wish I had not taken, I have been hurt and I have hurt others as well. Seeing the single female missionaries who have worked with my parents for many years, I remember thinking  during my childhood that I wanted to serve God, but only after I got married, it seemed terrible to think of living like them ... but God taught me a great lesson, many years later.  I remember wondering how it was possible that they were so happy only with God, how they always seemed so brave and joyful.  Getting married and having a family was alwa...