Week 2 Update (Maybe I'll have a better title after I write the post) (Nope, it never came to me)

It's been a little over two weeks since I walked up the gangway to the Africa Mercy for the first time. Someone recently told me that time on the ship is a mysterious thing to gauge, sometimes it's faster than expected, other times slower. 

It's been incredible getting to know the hundreds of other crew members aboard the AFM. Doctors from Ireland, nurses from Australia, videographers from Minnesota have all come together to serve the Cameroonian people in their own way. It's humbling and empowering to be on such a large, committed, diverse team - a team that lives, works, sleeps, and eats together all the time. I'm not going to lie, this idea was a bit overwhelming during week 1; absolutely zero personal space. I've found that I can do without my own space a lot better than I thought I could. Which is good because that's sort of a 'make or break' factor in determining one's success aboard the ship. (I've been referring to the AFM as a boat to some of my fellow crew members for fun and every time I do, they get deeply offended/look at me as if they had intentions to hurt me. "It's a ship, Caleb.")

We've begun the process of admitting patients to the hospital and I've spent some time with Ernest, a twenty-seven year old from the Eastern region of Cameroon. Ernest has a facial tumor the size of a grapefruit. He told me a few days ago how he wishes he could eat an apple. As I type this, he's in the OR. Please pray for Ernest's recovery. We've also got a 3 month old named Paul Pascal aboard and awaiting clearance for surgery. Paul's mom brought him to one of our patient screening days last week - he weighed less than 2 kilos (4 lbs.) just under a quarter of what his weight should be for his age. Once his weight normalizes he'll be admitted for surgery and his cleft palate will be a fairly simple procedure, it's just pins and needles at the moment because Paul came in so malnourished. So, if you could keep him and his mom in your prayers as well, we'd all appreciate it.

1 Cor 13:12-13 (MSG)
We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.