Hello from Cotonou Benin.
We finally arrived last night on the ship around 8 pm. We were greeted by the ship crew, fed dinner and then taken to our room. Our room is very cozy with a queen bed, desk, small couch, sink with a few cabinets, and small bathroom. We are on the port side and have a small window overlooking the water. We were rather surprised at how large the ship is. There are about 400 + people on the ship at any given time. This morning we took a tour of the entire ship. We got to see the school (grades K-12), OR, hospital wards (four 20 bed wards and one 4 bed ICU), laundry, library, and galley kitchen. This ship is really incredible. The hospital administrator took us on a tour of the hospitality center, which is about 1/2 mile from the ship. It was built to house patients who have come from long distances, and who need post-op appointments, but are not in need of hospital care. He also took us on a tour of the city. It looks very much like Dakar, Senegal where we were for a short time last year. It was a great day to be exposed to what Mercy Ships is doing in this area.
Tonight, we had dinner with Dr. Glenn Strauss, who is the head of ophthalmology on the ship and will be responsible for training Nathan. He and his wife Kim are delightful and we look forward to learning so much from them. They hope to mentor us by leading us in a Bible study (I John), as well as helping us to think through how we will practice ophthalmology in Peru. We are grateful that the Lord has provided them while we are here.
Thank you again for your prayers. We have recently been reminded of the power of prayer as we have seen God provide in so many ways in the days leading up to our departure. We thank God for all of you in our lives. We pray that you have a blessed day.
Below are a few pictures from our day.
The tent is the eye screen center where Nathan will go on fridays to use the YAG laser and to perform postoperative visits. This is in the hospitality center.
I am soo excited to be able to follow your adventure!! The ship sounds very impressive and what a blessing to have a couple to mentor you ... love and prayers -- the greene's
ReplyDeleteyay for the pictures! thanks for keeping up with this. helps to SEE where y'all are. Sanford is doing well. Isaiah and I went to a fall festival yesterday where he BEGGED me for a goldfish. I got out of it by reminding him that he already had a pet to care for! :) He said, "Oh YEAH! Sanford is my buddy." so cute. love y'all!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you made it safely! Keep the pictures and details coming! We love them and you!
ReplyDeleteso good to see photos! we just took a virtual tour online of the ship- fun to see where y'all are right now! know we're thinking/praying for y'all much...our thursday night group is praying too :) love to you each~z&l
ReplyDeleteSo grateful to see you with a smile! We love you and glad to know you're there and ready to go.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, so pumped for you guys, God bless yall! I will be praying for you guys and cant wait to get updates!
ReplyDelete