Crew

Monday was one of those days you try to get forget, but relived as you process through the events that led the crew to leave early from screening. More than anything I felt God’s presence from the beginning to once we got back to the ship. As well as this past week, the crew has been blanketed with prayers from all over the world.

Crew arrived at all times of the morning to do security, set up, registration, and escorting patients. The hospital spent a couple hours seeing patients and scheduling them for surgery. At my break time, I was called along with other nurses to treat people that had been in line- some had been in line for not only hours, but for days. Can you imagine waiting in line for that long to see a doctor? The need is so great here. People were scattered everywhere, suffering from dehydration, heat exhaustion, and injuries from the line pushing on the gates. The nurses and doctors just kicked into high gear to help those in need of water, intravenous fluids, and medical attention. Regular crew turned into ambulance drivers, as we had to take people to the local hospital. Extra crew became security and joined hands to make a path to move the line elsewhere. Water servers and prayer warriors came out to stand guard near the triage tent. In screenings past I have seen the body of Christ in the crew, and even more so that day.

Afterwards, as I walked back to resume my job in general surgery, I had a friend come up and put her arm around my shoulders urging me to drink water so I would not fall victim to the heat. We went on to screen for a little while, until we heard everyone was being evacuated from the stadium. We gathered our supplies quickly and headed to the landrovers. It was like the Titanic- not enough lifeboats for everyone. Another friend was there to give us a lift up off the ground into the back of the trucks. We found ourselves riding through the streets of Freetown with waves and smiles from locals we passed. It was hard not to question God’s purpose in us leaving when we knew we could help those still waiting in line. We were taken to the team house so the drivers could go back to gather the rest of the crew. A couple hours passed and I made it back to the ship. We had to share our experiences on paper with the Captain and our Managing Director as soon as we came onboard. As I sat there trying to process the day’s events, the Captain prayed for us and thanked God for keeping his crew safe. It made me realize, how much more our Heavenly Father cares for us and is concerned about his “crew”… the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 18-20, 26-27

"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ~ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."