Container

I'm here in midships on the Africa Mercy sipping a rather flat Diet Dr. Pepper, but nonetheless it is a good remedy for homesickness these days. What a blessing it was to be home in Texas for four months surrounded by loved ones, mexican food, and DP. The soda/pop (or coke for the Texans) arrives on the ship via container from the Mercy Ships headquarters in East Texas.

Volunteers at the IOC fill the metal box with donations and purchased hospital supplies, food and drink (chips & salsa), mail, and personal items. Then that container is placed on a 18-wheeler, brought to the coast, loaded on a massive ship, and travels across the Atlantic ocean to meet us in West Africa.

This past week the hospital staff have been unloading and reloading containers that fill up the hull of ship. I am amazed each time I walk back to the central supply area- how much supplies it takes to keep a hosptial and a town of people running. In order to sail and for a smooth transition into Sierra Leone- we needed to secure everything in containers. So, we made a chain of people and passed bandages, surgical gloves, jelly, mustard, and air conditioner units all into containers. I have realized being here on the ship, I am not "just a nurse", but one day I may be a pancake maker, barista, or supply organizer. All week, crew have stepped out of their role to help prepare the ship for departure from the shipyard in Durban. If my muscles allowed, I would join the rest of the available crew to make a chain from the dock to the store rooms- passing chicken nuggets, french fries, toilet paper, and other essentials. When I see everyone coming together I think of my favorite passage in The Message:

2 Timothy 2:20-21

"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."