Decorating the christmas tree

The ship has had Christmas decorations up for 2 weeks already. It was Saturday November 30^th that was decoration day, and the place is beautiful. There is something about Christmas decorations that seem to lift your spirits. We have christmas trees in virtually every space on the ship. In the reception area, the cafe, the mid-ships long, the dining room. You name it - there is a tree!

My cabin-mate and I have a very small tree in our cabin. It lacks lights, but it has the borbles, some small figures and an angel on the top. In my mind, there is always– what goes at the top of the tree, an angel or a star? I say, ‘In my mind there is always a debate’ because in reality I don’t have a choice. On the ship all I have is an angel, and when I lived in England, all I had was a star! Does it matter?

DO you have multi-coloured lights, or plain white ones? Do you put tinsel on or not? Some people have a colour scheme – gold and silver, or red and green for example. So many choices.

 

As I ponder how to decorate  (or clothe) the Christmas tree, I have also been mediating on the following scripture which tells me what I should clothe myself with:

Colossians 3: 12 - 15 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

Few would disagree that the historical figure of Jesus had these clothes on: ‘compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience’. That He lived a life characterized by love. As his follower I want to do the same. I know I fall short often, but just like my clothes get dirty and need washing and ironing, so does my life. So this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and we talk about ‘peace on earth’ , I want to keep putting on clean clothes - compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, love and forgiveness. Then I don’t need to get worried or stressed; angry or offended; because peace will fill my heart instead and I will find myself with a thankful attitude.

SO as you decorate your Christmas tree, and admire the trees and other decorations you see around, consider how you are decorating your life, what clothes you are wearing?

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas.

Thanksgiving

A friend once told me that if you thought of 10 reasons to be thankful everyday that could, actually, overcome depression.

I am thankful for many things and one thing is that I work for a truly international organisation. Mercy Ships HQ (known as the IOC = International Operations Centre), is in Texas, USA; but we have a Mercy Ships Global Association based in Switzerland which supports approximately 17 National Offices around the world. And on the ship we have around 400 crew usually representing 35-40 different countries. What a privilege to be part of such a community.

On board the ship, we deliberately don’t celebrate individual countries national holidays because with so many countries represented, we would be having a holiday virtually every week! Not good for business! However, this time of year (October / November) is in many countries and cultures associated with harvest and a time of thanksgiving. We are right now in the middle of the two different dates for Canadian and US Thanksgiving. And as a ship we have been reflecting on thanksgiving for a week. To acknowledge what we colloquially term ‘our ship family’  - that means our friends who become like family while we are away from our natural families, we have recently had a week of ‘FriendsGiving’. FriendsGiving is a new Mercy Ships term for thanksgiving. We have left notes on one another’s doors to tell them how thankful we are for them and their influence in our lives; we have had a wall poster in the café where we have written 1000 reasons to be thankful; we have simple had a week of being intentionally thankful.

So I couldn’t let this month’s blog slip by without telling all of you how thankful I am for each and everyone of you and the way you have impacted my life. From teachers who encouraged me at school; to medical bosses who inspired me as a junior doctor; to colleagues who continued to model leadership and courage in the workplace of the NHS. Parents who sacrificed and continue to serve me and this work I do now; family who have always been there for me; friends who support and encourage me and walk through the tough times;  church leaders and church family who pray and support me ,……the list is endless…..without all of you, I wouldn’t be who I am today and I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing serving the poor and needy and trying to empower the surgical workforce in Madagascar and beyond, to bring hope and transformation to their own health systems.

I have often said that I feel people support me in 3 main ways, professionally, emotionally / spiritually and financially. SO I am grateful to each of you in this season of thanksgiving and the ways you each support me. As a way of showing you how much we can do together, below are 3 slides of all that you have made possible ……so thank you from me and thank you from the many people here whose lives have been literally transformed. I hope you can find 10 reasons to be thankful today.

Reasons to be thankful - training:

Reasons to be thankful - patient encounters:

Follow the checklist team around Madagascar

Click the tab above ' follow the checklist team around Madagascar' if you want to read an external blog that my MCB Manager Krissy Close is writing every couple of weeks to track the progress of this incredible project. We are aiming to impact the entire nationa by visiting every Regional Reference Hospital and teaching them how to implement the World Health Organisation Surgical Safety Checklist (' the checklist') and then re-visit 3 months later to see how they are getting on and encourage them to continue. 

The 'checklist' has the potential to reduce deaths and infections after surgery by almost 50%. We are also giving each hospital the pulse oximeters they need. A pulse oximter is a crucial safety monitor during anesthesia and surgery which checks how well you are breathing oxygen. Yes, oxygen, that substance essential for life. Without this monitor anesthesia becomes inherently unsafe becuase you dont know you are not getting enough oxygen until is is often far too late. Yet 70% of hospital in sub-saharan africa do not have one!

This is how we hope to make a lasting impact on the nation of Madagascar, and has been something I have felt on my heart to do for a number of years, And yes, it is indeed a big dream,that, thanks to your support, has become reality for me and the people of Madagascar.