The Face of Dental Pain

These pictures were taken by a Mercy Ships photographer at one of our recent screenings.  We screen every Monday and Thursday morning and the line is pretty much always the same.

Line starts forming 1-2 hours before we arrive.  Security Volunteers keep things organized

Men,Women, and Children are separated for safety

My Team Leader, Sieh, is an expert.  He will screen all these people in 20-30 minutes.

Bangaly, one of our Day Worker interpreters explains the procedure so everybody knows what will happen

Have you ever had a tooth ache?

Soldiers who have been shot, say it is like being shot in the mouth.

The pain lasts anywhere from several days to a couple of weeks.

The only thing that hurts worse than doing nothing is touching anything.

Sometimes the pain goes away and then comes back every couple of months.

Sometimes your face swells.

Children particularly have a hard time understanding why the pain just won't go away.

Have you ever had a toothache?

Then you stand in line all day to see a free dentist.

And then there is hope that your pain can go away.

This is the Mercy Ships Dental team.  Some are here for only a short time, some are here the entire 10 months.  We come from many nations, but with one purpose.  We are who God sent to heal the pain.

The Prison Ministry

 

From Mark:
Last week I went to a local prison with 7 other men, 3 westerners and 4 African crew that are regulars on the prison ministry.  A group of ladies also went to an adjacent women's prison.  This was my first outing to a prison but the prison ministry group had been to this prison once already a couple of weeks earlier.  Sorry, no real pictures as we are not allowed to take cameras into the prison.  Also, Guineans are very touchy about pictures of locations like prisons.  This prison houses some political prisoners so our leader asked that we not bring cameras at all.  I tried to find pictures on Google that reminded me how things were.

First, a little description is in order.  This is not a prison like in the western sense with a lot of bars and high security.  This prison is basically a walled compound with with rows of tin-roofed rooms.  The prisoners seem pretty free to move around, there only seemed a couple of places where guards were placed.  It look more like an old-time frontier fort.  A few chickens ran around.  I think the prison only provides a bowl of rice per day, so prisoners have to get other nutrition as they can, from family, friends or what they can grow on the inside.  Inside there is a Chapel, roof and benches, no walls; with a large wooden cross and old picture of Jesus.  If I had my guess I would say this was a catholic chapel but it's simplicity did not give a lot of clues.

We arrived and we were required to wash our hands with very heavy bleach solution that I was told not to wipe off on my cloths because it would bleach them.  This is an attempt to prevent the spread of Cholera into and out of the prison.  The eight of us filed into the chapel and after several minutes of waiting and no one coming, we just started to sing.  After about 4 songs the place began filling up.  As to not bore everybody I will just give some of my thoughts.

This is where our faith was designed to be.  I was surrounded by perhaps 40 men who, for just a few short minutes, were free from their prison. 

If there was ever any question that God is everywhere, he was there.  Yes, God can be found in prison in west Africa.  More than His presence I felt his hand moving.

The Word was spoken, the Word was sung.  The power of hope came.  The Love of God, the Truth of the Gospel was poured out on the dirty ground of this prison.

While sitting and worshiping with these men I came to the realization that apart from the Holy Spirit that we receive through the blood of Jesus we are all in a prison.  Our prison may not look like the one these men were trapped in and the bars that hold us are not always as visible, but it is a prison.  Dirty, confined, lost.  I began to see that the true power of God is, that even in a prison, God can come.  I know that if those men can embrace the Truth that we told them and make their prison a prison worthy of God and the sacrifice of His Son, they will be free, even in prison.  What's more, if our prison truly reflects the Gospel, other men will fight to break in, to come into our prison, just for one touch, one feel, one glimpse of the Glory of God, Jesus Christ.

Cascade de la Soumba

We left the Africa Mercy at 9:30 in the morning hoping to find some waterfalls.  We had a map, a picnic lunch, and an idea of where to go.  Two hours later we still had no idea where the waterfall were, but we had made it out of Conakry.  We found the city of Dubreka.  We understood that the falls were somewhere around Dubreka.  We spent several minutes driving around the area stopping and asking various Africans, "Ou est cascade de la soumba?"  We were told they were east.  We were told they were west.  We still had no idea where these waterfalls might be hiding.  Then someone in the land rover had an idea...lets ask a taxi driver he might know the whereabouts of theses infamous waterfalls.

Gabe helped me out.  We just kept repeating ourselves.  We smiled really big.  We repeated ourselves louder and added some hand motions that we felt depicted waterfalls beautifully.  Still no one understood.  Then I said in my 'excellent' french, "I would like to look at the waterfalls of Soumba?"  Ah Ha!  Understanding.  Then our new African friend who up until this point only spoke French said, "I give you this man to show you waterfalls."  I squeezed in the back with the boys, and our tour guide pointed.  Thirty minutes later we arrived at the falls.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Hat Day (Lots of Pictures)

A dinosaur, a fish, and a volcano.

A dinosaur attacking the fish.

Super excited about school Spirit Day!

He picked a blue shirt to match his fish.

He picked a red shirt to look like lava.

My favorite part of hat day was Matthew's volcano sound effects.

Caleb was amazed by Miss Leah's rather large hat!

I love that toothless grin.

Jacob wore his dinosaur shirt...the shirt was three inches too long at Christmas last year.  It was a 3/4 length sleeve shirt today.  These kids grow crazy fast!

Pain of Change

Mark's Reflections after a Mercy Ships screening

For those not in the know, Mercy ships general screening is something our organization does at the beginning of every field service.  It is usually a single day event where people are told they are to be selected for free surgeries.  The poorest of the poor show up.  Not to say they are all materially poor, but they are all poor in the sense that they are searching and hoping for healing they can not provide themselves.  I want to start with a story, a story about a man, a man whose name I don't know.

Photos courtesy of Mercy Ships photographers

This man stood in the line above all day to see if our ship could help him.  Behind that bandana is a physical disfigurement that he refuses to show this world and for good reason.  Most of us would not want to see it.  I want to look past the disfigurement as God looks past the disfigurement of us all.  Looking into this man's eyes I can see a weariness.  I will tell you I saw this man later, when his bandana had been removed and his shame was visible to the whole world.  The look in his eye changed from weary to hopeful when another man, a healer, touched him.  His hope was in man and that is a sad hope indeed.  I wish I could tell you this story has a happy ending, but this is a true story, a biblical story.  I do not believe our ship will be able to physically help this man, though I do not know for sure.  His physical condition will end his physical existence.  The only happiness I can offer is a hope, a hope that we share with this man.  Our hope is that we, the eternally poor, can receive a healing that we can not provide for ourselves.  Jesus Christ

I pray for the man above daily and I lament that I did not even get to know his name, but God knows his name.  God knows his pain.  I encourage you to pray for this man also.  The prayers of the righteous have power.  God's presence in Guinea has the power to save.  Pray for the harvest and the harvesters.

Our faith is a faith of hope, so I want to leave you with some encouraging images.  The day was not all pain and suffering.  There was joy and beauty in the Spirit, even here, among the disfigured poor. Many here will be healed by our ship.  Many will put off physical pain and suffering for a while longer and that should be celebrated as well.

Photos from Guinea General Screening.  Courtesy of Mercy Ships photographers

I will leave you with one last thought.  We are all the disfigured poor.  Were it not for Jesus, who came to save me I would be weary and without hope.  Are you ready to die to yourself and be born in Him?  You will see as He sees and feel as He feels, touching the disfigured, hopeless masses with a love so powerful it made the universe come into being.  To follow Jesus is to know the pain of change.  Are you ready to be holy?

Snapshots Of Our Week

The screening line.  Photo courtesy of Mercy Ship's photographer Michelle Murrey.

Screening Day:(By Mark) This was a powerful day, a GOOD day, but only in the biblical sense.  I would not label it fun.  Seeing the amount of human suffering that can be condensed in this place was heart breaking.  I can honestly say the only thing that got me through the day was the Holy Spirit.  In the end God's presence was there even among all the suffering.  I will continue in further detail in a future post.

Five Gold Star Days = A Sprite: I absolute love to see my sweet not so little anymore boy's  face light up when I bring out a special treat, and tell him that I am so proud of him.

Fire drills and lollypops: Lollypops are sticky!  I am so thankful for friends with baby wipes, and next time I need to remember water.

Colds, Coughs, and Earaches, oh my!:  I would call it a low, but we all seem to be recovering and are none the worse for wear.

Cuddles while reading dozens of stories: Caleb stayed home from school Friday, and slept until lunch.  We spent the afternoon cuddled on the couch reading stories.   It was special alone time with my sweet littlest boy.

As you can see he is now completely recovered.

Feeling alone while surrounded by people/ missing friends and family: You might wonder how one could possibly feel alone while surround by people, but it does in fact happen.  Luckily God sends special people who help to encourage me when I am feeling a little down.

Uplifting conversation arranged by God: It seems that when I am the most down.  Thinking about family and friend God never neglects to send someone who encourages me.  It makes me feel very blessed!

First Day of dental work & Sweet chubby cheeks on adorable African babies: (By Mark) Thursday 400 people showed up for the first dental screening. We began the day with a down pour and I joked with my team that this was God watering our little seed of a dental clinic.  With the amount of rain that came down I believe we will grow into a awesome, fruit-bearing tree that I hope will nourish this land long after we have left.  Not that our growth has been without pain.  There were problems, trials and persecutions to be overcome, but that is the way to the kingdom. Amen.

A grocery store: Saturday Mark staid home with the boys while I checked out a local grocery store.  I bought black olives, granola bars, mint tea, & chocolate cereal (yummy)!

 

Church in Africa together as a family: (humidity does a crazy number on my hair) We walked about a mile to church this morning as a family.  Church in Africa is different than our church in America.  The boys discussed some of the differences on our mile walk home.  The most pressing on their little American minds was the lack of air conditioning.  I for one was thankful for the two extra fans the church purchased since last Sundays service.  I enjoyed this weeks service and we even finished with one of my favorite songs, "Lord I Lift Your Name On High."  All in all it was a very pleasant Sunday morning.

First day of Karate...discipline here we come! (The numerous pictures are for the grandparents enjoyment.) I am so thankful for the amazing people in our Africa Mercy community.  There are karate classes offered twice a week, and the boys got their uniforms second hand.  Everyone is so generous with their time and their things.

So thankful to be serving together as a family!  We hope you all have an abundantly blessed week.