Random Update Points

-The water situation is improving- normal restrictions continue to apply, but praise God, we have secured enough water to: drink, run our sterilizing machines, wash our hospital laundry, wash the dishes for our family of 400, to flush our toilets, to wash our personal laundry, and to have an occasional “ship-shower.”



-We have officially completed our first full week of surgeries. This year we are starting with the orthopedic, eye, and maxillo-facial, surgical specialties. We have some of the most beautiful children on-board right now. It isn’t a secret that I love the African children, but the ones with cleft lips, bow legs, and club feet are my favorite and my ward is full of them!


-This year I will be working as a ward nurse, a charge nurse, and during our 10 weeks of orthopedic surgeries I will be the Orthopedic Nurse Team Leader- which sort of means I am the nurse manager of the Orthopedic Ward. My ward has 40 beds and almost all are full! My responsibilities include organizing beds- admissions & discharges, rounds with the surgeons, kissing the babies, writing daily progress notes, sitting on the floor with the babies, assisting the ward nurses, blowing up balloons & making sure the little kids share them, answering questions, playing balloon volleyball on the ward, changing dressings, finding the elevator when it gets lost upstairs, sorting out the location and placement of supplies in my ward, assisting with patient allocations, kissing babies, arranging follow-up care for the orthopedic patients, orienting and welcoming our new day volunteers-translators to the ward and helping them find things, reminding them to wash their hands, & guiding them in the right direction when they are lost, working with our physical therapists, frequent runs from deck 3 where the ward is, to deck 6 where the only working ice machine is, to get ice for all my patients with aching legs, hugging the children, praying with the patients when they are in pain, answering more random questions, running to the lab to see the malaria parasites that my patient was just diagnosed with, talking with the dietician to see if we can order milk for my patients since the pharmacy has no great source of calcium supplements for the patients, trying to get the translators to distribute the milk to my patients instead of letting it sit in the kitchen all day, making post-operative checks, ensuring the patients are receiving adequate amounts of meds to relieve their pain, smiling at my patients, making sure the patients get craft supplies, delegation, putting up curtains with magnets around my patient’s beds for privacy, kissing the babies, dancing or attempting to dance when we have worship time, and of course any other task that may presents itself! I love my job!


-This past week I worked 69 hours in 6 days, averaging 11.5 hours a day. God has given me amazing strength! Unfortunately, I caught the respiratory bug that is spreading around the ship. My throat is as rosy as my sun-burned skin, my body aches all over, my nose is running, I feel feverish, but couldn't be happier! I love being back in Africa!  

All Mercy Ships' Crew Are Safe...but Prayers Appreciated!

Please Lift up the People of Sierra Leone & The Mercy Ships' Crew in Your Prayers...

A very sad incident occurred in the course of screening activities on Monday in Freetown, Sierra Leone of which you need to be aware.


Initial incident reports indicate that when screening personnel arrived at the stadium this morning there were 700 people already allowed into the stadium and a large crowd outside. Sometime after 9:30 events yet to be conclusively determined occurred to agitate the crowd and cause it to storm the gate. In response 200 more people were admitted to relieve pressure, but tragically 13 were injured, including one fatality and two life threatening situations. Mercy Ships personnel on site cared for the victims and accompanied them to hospitals. No Mercy Ships personnel were injured. Ongoing investigation will determine the facts. Please keep the individuals affected and their families in prayer, and pray also for the entire crew. This is certainly a time to pray and believe that God will work all things together for good in this tragic situation.

Mercy Ships is deeply saddened by the tragic events that occurred today during medical screening at the Freetown National Stadium when a crowd stormed the gate resulting in several injuries and one life lost.  Mercy Ships personnel working at the site attended the injured and accompanied them to local hospitals. "Our hearts and prayers are with the individuals and families of those affected by today's events. The occurrence of this incident in the course of activities intended to restore lives is tragic. We move forward with tremendous sadness, but great determination, to assist as many people as possible in the next ten months," stated Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens.


Mercy Ships exists to serve the forgotten poor and has served Sierra Leone five times over the past two decades, also helping establish two land based health care facilities. For the next ten months, Mercy Ships will be providing surgeries for qualified patients while working alongside the Sierra Leonean Government to support its five-year healthcare plan and strengthen the functions of the national health system.


All Mercy Ship Crew are Safe, but Prayers Appreciated!!!

a quick note

I am back in Africa!!!

I am in Freetown, Sierra Leone!!!

I arrived safely on the ship after a flight from London to Brussels, a layover in Brussels, and a sketchy, water-taxi ride across the river/ocean (more to come about this adventure)...

I love being back on the ship!!!

I/we need prayer...we are currently relying on a dwindling water supply that the ship carried with them from South Africa... our reserves are quickly running out...we have not yet been able to secure our supply of water with our host country, Sierra Leone, because we recently found out the local water is contaminated with e-coli...this issue presents a small problem... not only for the local people, but us...we are in need of extra water at this point in our outreach because we are in the middle of cleaning & scouring the hospital, sterilizing our surgical instruments, & cleaning all our equipment that was stored in containers while the ship was in dry dock. With the water shortage we have had to halt all but essential uses of water...

Intervention is needed from God in the area of the port. The day after the ship arrived in Sierra Leone, control of the port went from government owned to private ownership. This change is huge & the ship is in the middle of it! We need a mountain of shipping containers to move so that we can secure our dock & set-up our dockside units.

I/we/the people of Sierra Leone need your prayers....tomorrow & Tuesday...are the screening days for Mercy Ships. The day we triage and select those that we will be able to operate on during the next 10 months & those we will not be able to help. We are holding the screening at the local stadium in Freetown. Please pray that those we can help will come to seek help & pray that those we will be unable to help will stay away. Pray for divine intervention in the entire process...We expect thousands of people to come...

I must go to bed now. Morning is going to come before I know it!