...testing God's nudges...pink fans...and Fan Milk...

I stepped off the plane and thanked God for safe travels and finally opening the doors for me to depart Guinea- as it had been ridiculous struggle against corruption and bribes (which I refused to pay) with the airline officials for 4.5 days,…yes days… prior to that moment. I acquired a visa without difficulty. My luggage arrived in one piece. There was no appearance of tampering with its contents (as happens more often than not in my foreign travel). And I cleared customs without one question being asked about the thousands of dollars worth of chemotherapy drugs I was carrying for the mission hospital.  I smiled and squealed with delight as I stepped out of the Lomé airport and was greeted by my former translator who worked with Mercy Ships in 2010 and 2012 while the ship was docked in Lomé, Togo.
 

Right outside the airport, I found a Fan Milk man with his little bike- cooler selling my favorite packaged, iced treats. Fan Milk is one of the best inventions in Africa- it is only sold in Togo, Ghana, and Benin- it is the closest thing to an ice cream man this side of the world! I have been craving the cold, little Fan Milk treats for a year now (since I last left Togo)! In this land where it is so hot, that even gum melts, cold treats are a necessity!  For a mere 30 cents I purchased one of my favorite treats and first used it as an ice pack to cool my sweaty skin and then tore a small hole in the package with my teeth and savored the cold chocolate milk flavored slush that seeped through the hole, cooling my tongue in a heavenly way.

My former translator and friend helped me secure another essential in Africa; a fan. I smiled and definitely took it as God’s special gift to me that pink fans were cheaper than all the others and pink is my favorite color.  We stopped to acquire a few more Fan Milk treats for my ride, I thanked my friend for welcoming me, and then the taxi driver and I set off for my home for the next few months… Hôpital Baptiste Biblique, an amazing mission hospital, in the African bush, located at the base of a glorious, lush, green, mountain, a few hours northwest of Togo’s capital city of Lomé.

I nodded off and on in the taxi, not really fatigued from the short plane flight, but all the drama leading up to my departure- and the early hour in which I had to leave the ship to head to the airport. I startled awake to a refreshing breeze, the outdoor temperature had dropped by at least 10 degrees as we ascended toward the mountains. The shift in temperature assured me we were almost to our destination.  I was giddy as we neared the hospital. I could not stop grinning from ear to ear. As the taxi came to a stop, I jumped out of the taxi, un-loaded my luggage, and breathed in the fresh air and said, “God- here goes nothing…lead me, strengthen me, guide me, and uphold me as I go deeper for you, testing if I have what it takes to be a missionary nurse on land, show me your will as I test the nudges you have put on my heart….and thanks for Fan Milk and pink fans!”