Three Joubarnes in Cameroon

Limbe. PC: The one and only Caleb Brumley.

A few weeks ago I learned that I had a twin…okay, I’m just kidding. But I was incredibly blessed to have my mom and sister come visit me here in Cameroon, and many people thought my sister and I were twins. Some people even thought it was me and that I had gotten my hair cut. I thought it was pretty hilarious. So what was it like to host my mom and sister onboard the Africa Mercy? Well, it was a bit like two worlds colliding. My mom visited me in Madagascar but hadn’t stayed on the Ship because I was short term. This time, they both got to stay onboard in one of our lovely guest cabins with an ‘ocean view’. They got to experience a 6 am fire drill, overhead announcements, the Ship rocking, the constant presence of others whose names you can’t quite remember, every Day Crew greeting us, waffle Friday, the hassle of coming and going from the Ship, curfew, sharing cars, not having grass to play on, Ship food, and so much more. Like the Media Liaison that I am, I had a whole schedule prepared and printed out for them (my friends thought this was hilarious). But hey, hosting is something I know how to do!

Mom and Jess visiting me in Cameroon!

They got the full Hospital Experience Tour, including the OR (led by yours truly), and I took them to all the offsite locations. They also got to see the chimps, eat at my favourite places (Indian and schwarma), attend a lively Bible study, worship with us, meet all of my favourite people onboard, sing karaoke (Jess and I rapped some Drake) and participate in some movie nights and pool/dance parties. We even played rugby on the dock with the Captain and his boys. Instead of our normal Community Meeting, we had a joint celebration on the dock with Day Crew, which of course turned into a big dance party as well. We heard some testimonies, from a patient, from a crew member and from a Day Crew. The Day Crew shared that he never knew what a fistula was until he started translating some documents for our MCB team. Then at one point in the field service, he saw one of his family members onboard the Ship (his cousin I think). He asked her what she was doing there and she replied that she was a fistula patient. He couldn’t believe it. He had no idea that she suffered from this. No one in his family knew. He was so convicted by this that he and a few other Day Crew started an organization to help women with fistulas and to bring more awareness to the issue. What a story! 

I also brought my mom and sister to a local African church. Interestingly, the pastor was threatening to dump water on people if they fell asleep. He also invited up a couple who had gotten married the day before and asked them how the previous night had been. The man was very eloquent and said, the night was very long and very short. The pastor kept pressing him so he then said, the room was filled with honey. Even that wasn’t enough, because the pastor kept asking. He then had them kiss while the whole church cheered and took photos. It was a very strange experience and we laughed a lot.

My hair is always a source of amusement.

Their time onboard was pretty quick, especially considering that I whisked them off to Yaounde so that we could visit Edith and Valerie. You’ve heard me talk about both of these beautiful ladies at length. They have been a big part of my time here in Cameroon. I had planned on hiking the crater lakes with my mom and sister, but that was off limits due to some security issues. I am so thankful for God and His timing in this, because I think it was so important that I bring my mom and sister to visit this lovely family. We traveled with one of my Cameroonian friends (who will soon be coming to Canada for school!) and arrived at their home in the late afternoon. We only stayed for a couple of hours but it was so lovely to talk with them, play many games with the kids, and have no agenda other than being with them. I am always reminded of how similar we all are, and that we don’t necessarily needs words to communicate, but can do so with laughter and silliness. It was my fourth and final time to visit them, which made for a difficult goodbye. I’m so thankful to have been a small part of their journey and for all that they have taught me. 

That's me lying in the surf. And you wonder how I get
so sunburned...

Then it was time to say goodbye to mom and Jess and go back to work. But first, a day trip to Limbe (it had been off limits for a while) which was incredibly refreshing! Hosting my mom and sister hadn’t exactly been restful (we packed in a lot), but I know it was quite an experience for them, and selfishly, I know it will be so helpful for me when I'm adjusting to being home. They will know who I’m talking about and have more context for my stories and the things I miss. I am so thankful that they were willing to travel all this way to come and see me. I am also very grateful to my friends who took the time to get to know my mom and sister and do stuff with us, just because they knew it was important to me. There are some very special people on this Ship! But back to Limbe – this place has been refreshing for my body, spirit and mind, all field service. I ended up falling asleep for quite a while after a few hours of playing in the sun (and also came back very, very sunburnt…). 

Interviewing Trésor and his Mama with BBC.

And then it was time to host our very last team of the field service. That’s right, as of this writing, we have hosted our last team. I have hosted my very last team, maybe ever. Wow, what a thought. This final team was a media team from BBC West Africa and I was reminded of what a blessing this job has been. I get to hear amazing stories from our crew, Day Crew and patients. We interviewed a nurse who had grown up in Niger with missionary patients and spoke some of the local languages which allowed her to better communicate with some of our patients, and was so cool! Another nurse we interviewed had grown up in Cameroon, moved to the States at 16, become a nurse, and now come back to serve her own people through Mercy Ships. I just can’t help marvel at the amazing way that God works in peoples’ lives. We went on a short home visit to go see Trésor, a joyful 4 year old boy who had double cataract surgery onboard the Ship. His mama Larissa had quite a story to tell (I don’t want to scoop the Comms team on this so I won’t say too much just yet).  At the end, she said something very powerful. She said that there was no gift so precious as the gift of a life, especially a child’s life. She said that someone could give her new shoes or clothes but that eventually those things would rot away. Now, every time she looked at Trésor, until she died, she would be reminded of what Mercy Ships (and God) has done in her life. Wow, what a testimony. I could go on and on about the stories that I’ve heard lately, but I’ll leave it there for now.

Our matching fabric for the wedding.

Of course, it’s not just work that goes on here. Some friends talked me into coming for a massage and pedicure (Rose, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!). It was quite an experience and for me turned into quite a gigglefest since I’m basically ticklish everywhere. But hey, the massage lady (Nadia) and I were good friends by the end of it. One evening turned into quite an outing as it took us about two hours to get to our location (that may have been partly my fault). Our location was a Bowling fun center and once we arrived we had a blast! Kate and I even danced on a DDR machine (she’s a beast). It was an evening of laughter and bonding. Yesterday, some of us were blessed to be invited to the wedding of one of our Dental Day Crew, Solange. Apparently when you attend a wedding here, everyone is expected to get outfits made from matching fabric which is picked out for you. Our fabric was quite ‘lovely’ as you can see. The church part of the wedding was fairly traditional (although no kissing of the bride). The only big difference was that if you were sitting, you couldn’t see anything because everyone was right up in the face of the bride and groom, taking pictures of everything. It was pretty hilarious. Later that evening there was a reception, but we only got to experience a small part of it, considering the bride and groom only appeared at 10:15pm and we have curfew. Apparently these parties last until 3 or 4 in the morning! 

Our 'Oscars' - all of the bronze statues received from the MoH.

Two more quick things that I have to share (yes, yes, I know, I have a lot to say). The first thing is that the goodbyes are coming fast and furious now. A piece of my heart left this week as I said goodbye to the Silva family. They have been my Ship family and I don’t know how I would have done this without them. However, I’m fairly certain that this was more like a, see you later, than a goodbye. The second thing, is that we had our Thank You Reception last week to thank all of our partners (I had the honour of being the MC). The Minister of Health came up and after speaking, he started to present some bronze statues to our Managing Director and Government Liaison. But the neat thing is that after those two, he kept going. He had another 12 or so statues to give out to various Crew members, not necessarily all members of leadership. It was really great to see the surprise on their faces! Typically it is only head management that is honoured by the government and it was really nice to see that they went out of their way to thank many others as well, including people who mainly work behind the scenes. I loved that. 

Okay, I’m done rambling (for now!). God is good and He is here.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. ~ Romans 3:22-24

A family photo with Valerie, Edith and their whole family.