REBLOG: Home Again

Ali, a nurse I met on the Africa Mercy last summer, just arrived back on the ship after 14 months away. Her blog is one of raw honesty--the times patients don't make it, the dengue fever she wound up with while in South America for a few months this summer, her heart being torn between ship life and "home" life... I love following along with her life, although I doubt she even remembers me from our brief time aboard together.

I wonder if this is how I'll feel when I arrive back in Africa after being "home" on furlough. I hope so...

Home Again

I've always wanted to be a vampire!

My friend Michelle is on the Africa Mercy in Sierra Leone right now. I love her recounting of her recent blood donation experience! I never had the opportunity to give while I was on board, but I love hearing people's stories!   I am a vampire, I am a vampire, I am a vampire, and I lost my fangs...

Da Jesus Book...

This is copied from Alison's blog, and was just too good to not share. Alison was an OR nurse I met while on the Africa Mercy.

This passage was shared at the missions conference from da Jesus Book. Translation: The Bible in Hawaiian Pidgin. This is the great commission, Matthew 28:18- 20, in where Christ commands us to go out and make disciples as he promises us he will stick with us until the very end of the earth... or it until it goes pow.

"Den Jesus go near dem an say, “God wen give me all da power, so now I in charge a everyting all ova da world an inside da sky. So you guys, go all ova da world an teach all da diffren peopos, so dey can learn bout me an come my guys. Baptize dem, an dey goin come tight wit my Fadda, an me his Boy, an God's Good an Spesho Spirit. Teach um how fo do everyting dat I wen tell you guys fo do. An you know wat? I goin stick wit you guys all da way, till da world goin pau.” Matthew 28:18-20

refocusing....

I really never thought this would happen so quickly! I wasn't planning on being here for a few more years at least! And it's something where I will be years behind them... and it's frankly no fun sitting back and watching...


See... I have now officially entered the stage where my friends are all getting married. Let's just say 4 of my single friends bit the dust this weekend (what is it with May weddings?). Granted, I wasn't best friends with any of them, but they were all girls I'd known or had served with for the last couple years.


It seems like I'm always getting the comment, "I bet you're gonna miss your boyfriend while you're in Africa!" And I get to tell them, "well, actually I'm not dating anyone." Not now, never have. And I'm fine saying that, I really am. But I hate the reaction that I get. It's kind of this pity that sneaks into their voice as they reply with, "Well, keep holding out for a good guy, you'll find someone. Don't worry." Or even worse, "Singleness is a gift, and I'm glad you're embracing it" like they think they know all about me...


True. Singleness is a gift. Just like marriage is. Neither is better than the other. The apostle Paul seemed to put singleness above marriage, actually. But 1 Cor 7 is really about being able to serve God in either stage. Sometimes there are places and roles that we can fill better as a single person.


Amy Carmichael and Gladys Alward could not have run their orphanages if they were married. Would Amy have been able to provide a safe home for the temple girls if she was married and the girls were scared of men?


(And since this post is not a treatise on single missionaries, I'm gonna move on... I'm sure we could all list a ton of amazing missionaries who could serve God better because they were single.)


On another hand, would the US military be able to send men and women into combat zones if they were married? There are some missions, my brother tells me, where the servicemen are not allowed to be married. In a situation like "Blackhawk Down" would those men have been able to go back into the firefights if they were more concerned about their wives and children back home than their buddy losing blood from shrapnel in his femoral artery?


See it's all about focus.


"What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short... For this world in its present form is passing away. I would like you to be free from concern... An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." - from 1 Corinthians 7:29-35


What am I focused on? Am I sitting here wishing I was walking down the aisle? (check) Am I sighing with discontent as I see pictures of my friends' pregnant bellies? (check)  Am I wishing away my singleness which includes an insane--and perhaps unsafe--amount of freedom to do anything, to go anywhere, and be anything I want to be? (hmmm...)


Right now I can serve God better single better than if I was married... so here I am.


This summer should be an incredible time of being 6,000 miles away from cell phone service, instant communication via text, and a whole bunch of distractions. I want to be whole-heartedly in Togo. Serving the doctors and nurses who are serving the people of Togo. Hearing from God what He would have me do after graduate school. 


And undergoing some desperately-needed refocusing.


(you can follow my summer at katiefarr-africa.blogspot.com)

What's on my bookshelf right now...

I have this ever-increasing stack of books on the shelf by my bed in my dorm room... this stack has recently undergone a growth spurt thanks to my recent discovery of $65 sitting in my Amazon.com account, and has been added to through borrowings from college friends.

Then there's the non-existent stack of books I have finished reading. It's non-existent because I've passed them on, loaned them out, or sent them home for my parents to read... good books are like a good pot of coffee--they're so much better when they're savored slowly and shared with a friend!

So here are a few of my wordy friends, perhaps you'll find something to read just in time for summer! I'm not going to do a book review by any means, but I just want to share a few thoughts with ya'll. (Click the image to go straight to Amazon.com for more information)\

Brown Like Coffee - The List Guy

I received this book as a thank-you gift from the A&M Navigators staff this past Christmas and it sat on my shelf for quite a few weeks! It's thin size didn't seem too daunting and I actually enjoyed it's warm and upbeat message that is directed to churched college students. Each section of the book starts out with a description of a specific coffee drink and then makes an analogy to the Christian life. I found it to be quickie read, and the thought provoking questions and easily applicable challenges helped get the concepts out of the page and into real life. It's a good book to read once and pass on to a college-aged friend.



Through the Dark Woods - Joann Swinney
I wish I found this book earlier. It's written from the heart of an English girl in her early 20s. She writes from the Christian perspective and incorporates a good bit of scientific data about depression and addresses the social stigmas associated with it. It's a wonderful book for those who know someone who is depressed, are worried about a loved one and aren't sure how to broach the topic, or for the depressed person themselves. One chapter provides a long list of things a person suffering from depression can do to stop the cycle ... journaling, making a pot of good tea, trying a new recipe, going window shopping, going on a brisk morning walk... This is the first book I have read that has acknowledged both physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of depression or that has indicated that returning from depression is not an easy affair that happens overnight.

For Young Women Only- Shaunti Feldhan
I've heard about this book for several years and finally bought it! I love the subtitle: "What you need to know about how guys think." Yeah, there's a lot that us girls WANT to know about guys (and we have magazines like Teen Vogue and Cosmopolitan to satisfy that), but what do we NEED to know in order to live our lives more appropriately and help our Christian brothers out? The statistics from thousands of young men from all different walks of life were really helpful and showed me a different side of the male population! The best thing about this book was that the authors give you the facts, share the Spiritual truth that correlates, but allows the reader to decide what she will do about it. It's not a book of rules by any means, but a good resource to have. Several girls have asked me about modesty, appropriate levels of sarcasm with guy friends, and have sought me out for relationship advice and it's been neat to show them what guys across the country have to say on those topics! It's also helped dispel some of the myths I've had about brothers and guys in general, even after I've grown up around so many guys!

Lies Young Women Believe - Nancy Leigh DeMoss
I haven't started this book yet, but I look forward to more of Nancy Leigh DeMoss' heart-to-heart truth! It looks like a great book for high school girls working through it on their own or perhaps with a small group of friends. It's different from "Lies Women Believe" in that it includes sections of questions and room to journal. The 25 lies tackled in this book include "beautiful girls are worth more," it's OK to one person at home and another with other people... especially online," and "I can't handle the loneliness of staying pure."

Lady in Waiting - Jackie Kendall & Debby Jones
I have not read this one either, but the subtitle also intrigued me; "Becoming God's best while waiting for Mr. Right." It's a pretty thick book but includes an in-depth workbook at the back. I think this will be a good part of my summer devotions.  :-)

The Hospital by the River - Catherine Hamlin
This is an autobiography of a woman who with her husband started the first fistula repair hospital in Africa back in the 1950s. Since then the facility has helped over 20,000 young women return to society after a procedure to correct damage done by an obstructed and prolonged childbirth process. Mercy Ships does a number of these corrective surgeries and one of the current ship crew recommended this book to me--aparently, many of these women also participate in physical therapy as part of their post-op care! I'm super excited to dig into this book and learn a little more about the incredible medical needs in Africa and I'm inspired by this woman's passion for the physical and spiritual restoration of each patient!

God's Will

How do you know when you're following the will of God? One of the ways is when He confirmed things through "circumstances." Or more like incredible God-moments that just could not have been planned any better.

These last two weeks have been full of such God-moments; let me share a few with you...

Last Tuesday, I was standing in the hall outside my Anatomy & Physiology classroom waiting for class and randomly looking at the bulletin board on the wall. On the section advertising summer internships for students in the biology field there was a brochure for Mercy Ships!

Three weeks ago, the first day of Anatomy & Physiology lab, my TA asked each of us to introduce ourselves, share our career goals and say what we were doing for the summer. I said I was going to West Africa to work on a hospital ship this summer and my TA asked if it was with Mercy Ships! She has never been to the Africa Mercy but has supported several crew members over the years.

When I mentioned that I wanted to be a physical therapist at a missionary hospital in Nigeria, the guy sitting next to me (who is now one of my lab partners) asked if it was the Evangel hospital in Jos on the SIM missions compound! His family served with SIM for several years in Nigeria and he grew up there!

This past weekend at the Renewal conference for the South Central regional Navigators I was talking with one of the staff guys that serves here at A&M. We were again talking about summer plans and I was attempting to convince him that I could not do a Navigator-sponsored summer program; I already had firm plans. :-) I said I was working with Mercy Ships and he asked if I knew a girl named Allison Green who is working in the OR on board! One of my friends back home told me about her last year and I've Facebooked with Allison a little since then. Small world!

And then I've started to find checks in my mailbox... God is confirming, God is providing, God is leading... to Togo!

Mercy's on its way...

This week I am at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center at the Introduction to Mercy Ships (IMS) program--figuring out what I signed up for this summer! :-)

***If you continue reading this blog you will no doubt become very sick of hearing about Africa! As I start raising support and sending out prayer letters as the time of departure approaches I will be blogging here ; until then, this blog is where all my excitement stays! ***

I am so impressed by the entire Mercy Ships organization and all the aspects of ship life! The staff during the IMS has been incredible to answer ANY question we've had and to answer ones we didn't even think of asking! I've learned about meal times, laundry days, opportunities to get off ship, living quarters (I'll either be in a 6, 10, or 12-berth cabin!), insurance to get bodily remains back home should the worst happen to me, malaria medications, the Starbucks cafe on board, setting up my crew bank account, how long the upper deck is (for those early morning runs/walks), raising support and getting tax receipts for donors, and a whole host of other random but useful tidbits of information!

The best part of the IMS was meeting a sweet girl named Abi who is actually from about an hour from me! She will be serving aboard during the same time as me and we might even fly there together! God is so awesome to provide me a friend already!

As it stands right now, I will be joining the ship in Lome, Togo on June 13th. I will be serving as a hostess in the Hospitality department. I will be working to make sure crew cabins are prepared for new arrivals, greeting crew members at the airport/as they walk up the gangway, giving tours to first-time crew, making beds, creating goodie bags, baking cookies for events, and whatever else is needed in Hospitality. It's a job. Nothing I haven't already done, but if my off hours after I pull a weekend on call I will be able to observe in the orthopedic area of the hospital.

The ship will wrap up around August 7th (my scheduled departure date) and then after a week to tie-down items and prepare for sailing, the ship will make for South Africa. There the ship will be fitted with new generators and crew will be able to complete any needed certifications and training. Depending on when the fall semester starts back at A&M, I might be able to extend my stay and sail to South Africa and fly home from there... I may end up regretting that decision if I find I'm prone to seasickness... :-)

One of the videos that has really touched me this week is below. Calvin Nowell, a small-name Nashville wrote this song specifically for Mercy Ships and this video is from one of Africa Mercy's recent field services in Liberia, I believe. While this is not the official recruiting video and was put together from crew footage, this song is what has impacted me the most!

That's it in a nutshell... now comes all the support raising, immunizations, and the wonderful wait during this entire next semester! :-)

finally!!!!

So, sitting here on my desk is a glorious large white envelope with my MercyShips application safely tucked inside. Tomorrow morning it will be walked to the post office on the North side of the A&M campus, weighed and metered, and then dropped into a tub of mail to be sorted and sent on its way...

Oh my gosh, I am so excited!!!!!!! This has been a several year process from realizing that God was laying the African people on my heart, finding out about MercyShips, having an entire summer without summer school (first time in 3 years!), and having my parents totally on board with it.

And then the process of filling out the extensive application, getting 2 letters of recommendation, and getting a complete medical exam. (and soon will come the wonderful rounds of vaccines and the process of getting a visa :P )

It's hard to believe that instead of sitting here reading the ship's blog, watching videos, and dreaming about being a part of MercyShips, next summer I might be off the coast of Sub Saharan Africa as a part of the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship! If I am accepted to go, I will be just housekeeping or kitchen staff, but that is OK. Until I graduate from physical therapy school and pass my licensing exam I won't be allowed to do anything hands-on, but I plan to spend most of my free afternoons in the therapy/prosthetic clinic!!!

Anyway, this is a somewhat random post--an unusual derivation from my typical blogs--but I just had to tell ya'll!