Other Activites and Ministries





Working in the coffee shop!
I have been given the chance to be involved with many other activities on and around the ship. I have always wanted to work in a coffee shop. But going from high school to university to my nursing job, there was never an opportunity. Here however I have been able to volunteer in the coffee shop on my time off and serve my fellow crew members. This has been so much fun and such a great change of pace when I am not working. I also am doing a lot of sports… I know classic.. I play basketball, soccer, volleyball, badminton, ping pong, and swim in the ship’s pool. We also go on a lot of local trips as well. There are times where we can have 2 or 3 days off of work, and then we make trips to the different areas of Cameroon. I have hiked Mount Cameroon.. one of the largest Mountains in West Africa!! I have also visited Kribi a couple of times where we eat local food, relax at the beach, and spend time with some of the amazing people I have met here.
Volleyball Tournament



Volleyball Tournament
Mount Cameroon 
Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon
Kribi
Kribi




















I have also been involved in a lot of other ministries off the ship. I got the opportunity to go to the Hope Center numerous times. This facility is actually built by Canadians.. whoop whoop! This building is for patients to stay pre and post surgery who live far away and don’t have any relatives living close to the ship that they can stay with. I have been to church there a few times on Sundays and have visited during the week to talk with patients and play with the kids. This is such a cool opportunity as you get to meet your patients before they come to the ship and see how they are doing after. This helps establish a unique and close bond with the patients and it is encouraging to see them throughout their process of healing.













Celebration of sight
Mercy Ships also arranges other ministries that crew can do while they are off. I got a chance to go to a local deaf school in our community. We read them a story from the Bible and helped them color a picture. Again, I was unable to communicate well, but it didn’t matter. Almost immediately they accepted us and loved us the moment we walked in the door. We also visit a lot of orphanages. One that I have heard about, yet have not been able to visit yet, is run by a single woman who takes care of 48 children all by herself. She has no idea most days where her next meal will come from for all her children. Her place is also very run down and her rent is very behind. Yet she has such a strong faith that God will always provide. Some of our fellow crew members were very moved by this women’s strength and faith. We were able to raise enough money to pay for all her debts, give her some food and supplies, and are hoping to build a new house for them to all live in with proper facilities. This project is already moving forward and it is such a blessing to be a part of this. I have also been able to go a celebration of sight, which is when all our patients who have received cataracts can come and dance and share a little of their testimony and journey of being blind and then being able to see again! As you can imagine this was an incredible experience!
Celebration of sight

Deaf school 
Destiny Orphanage













The woman who takes care of the 48 children


One of the villages

I also when on a boat tour that took us to a couple villages. These villages were inhabited by Nigerians who were illegally in Cameroon. One of these groups was a polygamist group. The Chief had 4 wives and over 60 children. As you can image, the village was mostly kids running around. Due to being illegal however, there is not much of a future for these kids. They travel for miles to get drinking water, they survive on barely anything, and catching fish is there only source of income. They cannot receive medical attention because they don’t have papers and may get arrested if they try. Sometimes the girls will get married off when there are just 11 or 12 years old. Then they work for their husbands and produce children for them. In some cases the men don’t even work at all. Visiting these villages made the stories of my patients all the more real.  Many of our patients are from these types of villages. One of them got married off when she was 12 years old to her father’s friend, and she gave birth to a child at 14 and then suffered with a fistula for 3 years before coming to us. One of our other patients had a similar story and was 1 of 11 wives to a man in her village. It is heartbreaking and surprising how common it is. These women are often very uneducated and feel they have very little worth. Most don’t understand English or French, and only know their own dialect. And there are around 250 dialects in Cameroon, which can become very isolating. They work for their husbands, and are often given nothing in return. So when they do develop fistulas, they can be easily ex-communicated and replaced. The stories of our women can be very heart breaking, but I am always so amazed at how joyful they are in the wards. I am blessed to have the opportunity to love these incredible people.
























Prayer points:

1. Please pray for our women's health program. Due to many circumstances, we are having trouble finding the women who need fistula surgery. We know they are out there, but due to these patients going into hiding, our arrangement with the screening process with the government, language barriers, and accessibility we are having trouble getting in touch with them. Please pray they find their way to our ship

2. Our plastic ward has opened these past couple weeks. Here we do a lot of burn contractures and other facial reconstructions. Due to these surgeries however, these children and adults are in a lot of pain. Please pray for fast recoveries and motivation for these patients to continue following their treatment plans. Especially for the children, they don't aways understand the importance of moving even when they are in pain.

3. Pray for our relationships with our fellow crew members, patients, and the people of Cameroon. Things are not always positive and easy, so instead of becoming negative towards one another, pray that these situations brings us closer to each other and that we are an example of the love Christ has shown us. That He gives us patience, kindness, selflessness, love and understanding in all these relationships.

4. Pray for Destiny Orphanage and that the process of building a new facility goes smoothly. Here is a youtube link that shows more about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOKszZqAERY&feature=share

5. Please pray as I enter the holiday season that I do not get too homesick ;)


As always feel free to message me if you have any questions!!
Love you all and thanks for reading!!!

Stephanie

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