Just in time for Christmas, here are two heartwarming stories from Marilyn in the Congo. Learn more about the African people this amazing ship serves, and how faith in God is behind it all. ---Sharon(This is a running email post written by a volunteer nurse serving on the Africa Mercy, a hospital ship that travels the African coast. In your charitable donations please remember this worthy organization).
December 20, 2013
Greetings, my friends,
I like to
share two stories with you, stories that make me smile, stories that
make me grateful to God not only for my own blessings and good
health, but also for the privilege of being here to help extend God's
compassion to the people of Congo.
Earlier this
week, our field team conducted a routine eye screening at a small
out-of-the-way church in one of the residential neighborhoods
of Pointe Noire. What wasn't routine,
however, was the appearance
of one of the first people in line. A
twelve year old boy stood
there with his father, his face disfigured by a large, weeping
tumor covered in bandages. Nothing wrong
with his eyes? Good, go home! Next!...No, that's not how it played out.
He wasn't a
candidate for cataract surgery, but he sure would have been a
candidate for maxiofacial surgery, had we been screening for that. So, stop the presses. What can we do? Ask more questions.
It turns out that the boy lives far away, and they only heard about Mercy Ships last week. Filled with hope, father and son traveled for ten hours to reach the ship. They couldn't find a screening for tumor surgery (that was done last September...), but undeterred, they sought us out anyway by coming to the eye screening site. How they found us at that little church, I'll never know.
It took a few phone calls, but we got clearance to bring the boy to the ship for further work-up on that very day. He and his father rode to the ship in the eye team vehicle after the screening was done. That boy was radiant with joy, and full of hope. By the end of the day, he'd had a CAT scan and lab work done; he'll most likely have surgery sometime in January. What a different life he'll have without that tumor on his face. What initiative and perseverence his father showed to give him that chance.
My second
story concerns a young man, age 19, who has been completely blind
for many years with dense cataracts. His
mother was afraid
for him and refused to allow surgery by the local surgeons. (From what I have seen,
she was probably wise in that decision...) Sadly, his mother
died a year ago, so now he lives with his
aunt. Mercy Ships came to town, and
together, they decided to
risk surgery. He had his first cataract
surgery a week ago. He was brave, but during surgery, he called
out to mama...her
dreams for his future, grief, and hope all intermingled in that one
word. Well, her dreams and his hope were
rewarded--he had nearly
perfect vision in that eye even on the day after surgery.
A week later,
we operated on his other eye. Oh, oh. According to the
measurements, he needed a very different lens in that eye--four diopters
different, which is huge. That's not
usually the case--people's
eyes tend to come in a matched set. What
to do? Were the
measurements wrong? Dr. Wodome, a very
competent and confident
surgeon, was in a dilemma over which lens to implant, one that matched
the measurements, or one that matched the other eye, since that one
had worked so well? The team stopped for
prayer, and the
surgeon chose to match the lens to the measurements. Results? Nearly perfect vision in the second eye
also. His two eyeballs
really were different lengths. It's good
to work with a surgeon who
seeks God's guidance in making decisions.
I сould not refrain from commenting. Vеry well
ReplyDeletewritten!
Also visit my web sitе: kjøp canada goose