Body

This morning I had the honor of sharing a devotion with the hospital staff before we started our day. I have done it a couple times before, but this time struggled with what to share... I had a wonderful time this weekend away at a Women's retreat for rest and quiet time with God. I found myself looking around and noticing the women- I barely knew, since I don't work with them in the OR or even see them after work hours. However, each of these lovely ladies ranging from 25 to 65 years old, that work in the dining room, sales, deck department, and the school- are vital people to the ministry here on the ship. I found the passage in Romans 12:4-6-

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts..."

So this spurred me on to share with the hospital staff that the body of Christ is present on the ship as we all have different jobs and gifts. I returned back to the ship on Sunday morning and started interviewing people on camera about different jobs ranging from the chief officer to housekeeping staff. Then I asked people what container they were to be a blessing to others like mentioned in 2 Timothy 2:20-21 (The Message)

"In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing."

So on the Africa Mercy we have silver platters in hospitality to trash bags and dinner plates in the dinning room. Pipe wrenches to help keep our water running and gas meters to regulate the engines. File folders, passports, coffee cups, bed sheets, crayons, betadine ointment, and frying pans make up this ministry.

I was even challenged as I was sharing this devotion as I was preparing myself to be another container today in the operating room. I am starting a new job that will carry on to Togo next year. In addition to being an operating room nurse, I will help out managing the sterilization department and coordinate VVF & general surgery. It is a role with more responsibility and even new skills, but I am really looking forward to seeing how God uses me this way to be a part of the body of Christ on the ship.