Tuesday 22 February 2011

a different side of life

Someone said yesterday that we must be constantly entertained by our boys. I'm sure that is true of most children, they constantly do and say funny things, it is especially true of Joshua. He is a little Uncle Sam in the making, a class clown, regularly saying funny things whether he means to or not. Yesterday he 'packed his bags' for Sierra Leone. This involved finding the only available bag - a small plastic bag that he had brought home from a party - and putting plastic lions in it. Today he wore his swimming goggles in the bath so he could put his face in the bubbles and look at the bottom. Life is not dull. Nor serious a lot of the time. Nor quiet, but I digress.

Anyway, today was the first of many briefings we have to learn more about Sierra Leone, the ships host country for the next ten months. We saw pictures, nothing gory I might add, but of people missing their arms or legs, a result of the horrific cival war that Sierra Leone saw only a few years back. And our happy little four year old showed more distress than I thought he would understand. And we talked about wars, and bad people and how God can let bad things happen. It is certainly going to be an interesting, eye opening time, and we are excited by the capacity of the ship to help many. Already over 5000 patients have been screened for surgery in the North of the country and hundreds of them scheduled in. There is such great need for health care and we are excited to be part of a ministry that is making a difference to some of the worlds poorest. We'll be seeing some of a different side of life once again, wondering why things happen to some people and why by the grace of God they don't to others. We're excited to be starting this new chapter, serving the God we love through serving the poor and needy of Sierra Leone.

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