Unforced Rhythms of Grace

This month I thought I would start by sharing some statistics:

It has been busy. February, March April is often the busiest time for me. Our medical capacity building projects are in full swing, many of the big surgeries are happening as word has got out that we 'really can help people', and we are full steam ahead into planing projects for the next field service.

Jesus was busy too. Frequently we read in the bible that even when Jesus tried to move away from the crowd, or to find a quiet solitary place to pray, the crowds followed Him, or somehow managed to find Him. Never does He turn them away. Never is He irritated that they found Him and interrupted His plans. Always, He welcomes them, teaches them and gives......gives of Himself, His time, His talents, and his energy. How did He do it? How did He manage to keep up this seemingly relentless pace of life and at the same time always seem to be calm, and never stressed.

I have thought often about this, living and working where I do. Often there is little time to myself. Evenings, weekends, even first thing in the morning in the dining room, there is often something clamouring for attention, someone needing something, a visitor, a friend, a partner for one of our projects. How can I respond with the same attitude of Jesus?

Matthew 11:28-30 gives me a clue - "Come to me. Get away and you will recover your life. I will show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me, watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I spent some time in my hammock today. Resisting the temptation to answer emails, do more work. And I mediated on this verse. What does it look like to 'learn the unforced rhythms of grace' - even in the heat of the busyness? 

Most of the time it is pleasure, a privilege, a honour to respond to the demands on my time - just like Jesus did.  With joy and grace. But sometimes it is hard. Sometimes I wonder how on earth I will get everything done. Sometimes it just feels too busy. It is at times like this that I remember, how time and time again, Jesus gives us what we need, when we need it. SO many times in my life I have felt like  - 'God just expanded my time!' I don't know how it happened, but it did. A car journey that was supposed to take 8 hours, takes 5-6. A piece of work gets done much quicker than expected. A sick patient gets better quicker than expected - miraculously so - and I end up with a whole extra day I didn't anticipate. Yes, I HAVE SEEN ALL THESE THINGS. So I am learning to trust that there is a time under the sun for everything. 

So right now in midst of a very busy season I am trying to 'come to him.....let him show me how to take a real rest.....Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.' And to believe his promise that he really, truly 'won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on me.' And that His desire for me is that I 'live freely and lightly.' 

And the more I fix my eyes on him, the more I know that it is possible, even in the busyness, even with all that is on my plate. 

SO I look forward to writing again in a months time, with more statistics and more stories. Testimonies to an incredible God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever. 

How do we find our patients?

I am often asked the question – ‘how do you find your patients?’

Answer: Teamwork and Communication

In days gone by we held a mass screening at the beginning of the field service. Literally 1000’s of patients would turn up, sometimes 7000 in a day. It took all the crew to organize safety lines of patients, to escort them from room to room through the process from: basic assessment, to a registration station for name and contact details, basic medical of blood pressure and heart rate, a surgeon assessment, a biopsy or ultrasound, photographic documentation, and finally a scheduling appointment station etc. We worked closely with local police to ensure crowd management was safe and calm and we would use a very large venue such as a football stadium to host the day. This would yield most of our patinets for the 10 month field service. Problem was, most of our patients came from nearby. Or even if not, the country was relatively small and you could reach even rural areas in 9 hours on a bus. This model worked well in countries where the port city was the capital (or major) city, and there was large scale urbanization. This is the case in many West African nations.

However, Mercy Ships is expanding, last year it was Central Africa (Republic  of Congo) and now it is East Africa (Madagascar). And so our strategy has expanded and adapted to take account of the differences. Namely larger countries, with less urbanization.

In the last few years we have been pioneering a new approach – going to where the patients are instead of expecting them to travel to us. The aim is two fold – first: to really reach the poorest of the poor, those in rural areas with no access to healthcare; secondly: to reduce needless travel for those who we know we cannot help and to prevent patients waiting all day in a line of 1000’s of people, only to be told ‘no, I am sorry we cannot help you’. Most healthcare aid/development work takes place within a 100km radius of the capital or major port city. We are trying to reach beyond this and go out further and deeper to the areas of greatest need.

We have a dedicated team of 4 screening nurses who travel the country and assess patient’s suitability for surgery. Those who fulfill our criteria are given an appointment card to come to the ship to be seen by the surgeon on the dockside. We call this surgeon screening. If the surgeon agrees to operate the patient is given a date for surgery. We have proven nurses can screen very accurately and 80-90% of patients they bring to the surgeon screenings are accepted for surgery. But they can’t do it alone. Madagascar, in particular is a huge country. So, while the screening team have literally travelled 1000’s of km, (see red triangles on the map) they have been helped by a number of people:

·         Mission Aviation Fellowship – have flown them to remote areas

·         Many partners, other mission organisations, charities, large and small businesses, telecommunications companies here have spread the word and communicated via radio, TV, posters, SMS (text messaging)

·         Our own Communications department have designed posters, written and translated the radio broadcasts and other advertising material, and set up a FaceBook campaign (FB is big in Madagascar)

·         Senior management have helped craft the overall strategy and trusted those below them to carry out a very successful campaign.

A dedicated team of highly skilled nurses can only achieve so much, teamwork and communication can achieve so much more. Reminds me of the WHO Safe Surgical Checklist, a surgeon can only achieve so much, but teamwork and good communication can reduce mortality and complications by up to 50%.

Gifts - thank you

Three years ago I resigned from my consultant job in Paediatric Cardiac Anaesthesia and Paediatric Intensive Care to work full time for Mercy Ships. And what an incredible journey these last 3 years have been, emotionally, professionally and spiritually. And it is not a journey I have travelled entirely alone. It feels like many of you have travelled with me through a kaleidoscope of different contributions. So it is a shared journey because your help makes it possible.

Emotionally, living without a salary is a strange phenomena in today's world and I have found the experience very humbling. Clearly it is impossible to raise your own living costs, but with the support of family, friends, organisations and other charitable donations who give in many ways it has been possible. And over the last three years I have been frequently moved to tears and humbled by people's gifts. A friend of mine recently wrote a blog about gifts and she quoted this definition:
Gift [gift] noun
1. Something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present.
2. Something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned.

Often people's gifts have come at just the right time, when I am struggling, or wondering how something will work out, or simply feel exhausted and in need of encouragement. The gifts don't have to be large or even financial, sometimes a simple cup of tea or glass of wine, a short chat, has lifted my spirits in ways some of you wouldn't even know. A timely email has the same effect. I thank you as friends for every gift, large or small you have given.

Professionally, many medical colleagues of mine have also given me additional gifts. Gifts of encouragement, good advice, and metaphorically speaking, you have held my hand part of the way. We have shared the joys and the trials of teaching and training in low income settings, we have wrestled with the difficulties and tried to make a difference. You have stretched me and introduced me to people who have challenged and shaped my thinking. And you continue to support me, and encourage me to think about the future and the inevitable question, ‘what will I do next?’

Spiritually, my faith in God who can provide and who can do the impossible has grown beyond measure. I have seen God provide for my needs, financially, emotionally ,and I have witnessed many miracles in the wards of our hospital. Translators who couldn't speak a local dialect being able to speak it to a certain patient who needed it but not to others, a lady with a vesicovaginal fistula which was not amenable to surgery was prayed for and her ‘leaking’ stopped, someone else who was HIV positive was prayed for and then said to be HIV negative, several intensive care patients have gone from being medically speaking ‘at deaths door’ to suddenly extubated (off all life support machines) and back on the ward in less than 24 hours – phenomena I have never seen before. Also, individual crew members coming to the ship have seen their own lives transformed through prayer and encounters with the love and power of God. Not to mention, the God-inspired ideas that I feel I have had. Ideas that have defined the creation and the current strategy of our healthcare education program. The favour we have had with contacts at home and abroad. I see Gods’ hand at work everywhere and I am grateful for your gifts – your prayers that open doors in the heavenly places and afford protection and strength to continue.

But it hasn't all been easy. I can't say I have loved every minute of it. There have been tough times. I miss family and friends, I miss playing golf, sailing, simply walking down the street alone and sitting in a café, I even miss running in the cold and rain. Living and working in a small community isn't always easy either, relationships are easily strained and life can feel very intense.  I shared a room with two others for two years, but now have my own room which makes huge difference, but others I work with and rely upon are not so fortunate.

However, as a Christian, I believe that since God has called me to work with Mercy Ships he will  provide whatever I need (physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, professionally) because that is what the bible promises. And that truly, has been my story.  I have witnessed God provide through so many of you in a miriad of various gifts. Gifts….those things, ‘given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned’.

Whether you believe it or not, The bible says we are all made in God’s image, so it doesn't much matter what you believe, you, each of you do in fact exhibit parts of God’s character  - generous gift giving for one. I know – I have seen it and experienced it from you.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I wish you a very Happy New Year, and may God bless you more than you expect or deserve.