Ebola

Mercy Ships made this public announcement a few days ago (August 8^th).  But things change rapidly and since then there have been several suspected cases of Ebola in Cotonou.

As our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, prepares to leave for its ten-month mission to perform life-changing surgeries and train local healthcare professionals in Benin, West Africa, Mercy Ships continues to be acutely aware of the Ebola situation in the region. The organization is taking appropriate steps to protect its volunteers and staff. In April, Mercy Ships redirected its upcoming mission from Guinea to Benin out of caution for the safety of its crew. Benin has no reported cases of Ebola.

The Africa Mercy is the world’s largest civilian hospital ship, designed to operate as a surgical specialty hospital. It is not configured to provide the type of treatment required by Ebola patients. In addition to having changed its itinerary, Mercy Ships has also implemented strict travel restrictions to the affected areas and will continue to monitor the situation closely, making programmatic adjustments as needed.

Founder Don Stephens commented, “The well-being of our patients and dedicated crew is our greatest priority. It is fundamental to our continued service to the forgotten poor in Africa. Our prayers go out for the countries impacted by Ebola. These are places and people we know well because we have served them in multiple visits over more than two decades.”

Even if the suspected cases in Benin test negative, the threat remains real. We were due to set sail for Cotonou, Benin later this week but we have decided to postpone our departure for two weeks. Simultaneously we are making contingencies plans and praying for God to intervene and curb this epidemic.

For those of you who have been following Mercy Ships and/or Ebola, you will know the epidemic began in Guinea earlier this year, and rapidly spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Since then it has spread further through West Africa, where like Europe, travel across national borders for people from the region is easy. No visa’s are needed, the borders are porous. Although now there are reports of travel restrictions and various countries in the region have declared ‘state emergencies’.

Mercy Ships was originally planning to go to Guinea for ten months starting this august. But the Ebola outbreak in Guinea unfortunately meant we had to change plans at the last minute and divert to Benin. Last minute changes are a lot of work and our team currently in Benin has been working hard for the last four months building relationships and making everything ready for us to serve there. With confirmed cases of Ebola in Lagos, Nigeria approximately 2 hours away the possibility of confirmed cases in Cotonou is very real either now or in the future until this outbreak is under control. For those reading this who are intending to work with us in the next field service, know that crew safety is the highest priority for Mercy Ships.

The Ebola outbreak is unprecedented.

It is an extraordinary situation, and extraordinary situations require extraordinary solutions.  

So please pray for wisdom for me and the senior leaders of the organisation as we decide the best way forward.  The safety of our crew IS the priority. Our mission IS to follow the 2000 year old model of Jesus bringing help and healing to the forgotten poor. These two statements are not incompatible, even in the face of Ebola, and I will use all the skills that God has given me to ensure we do both to the highest level possible.