Starting 2017 With An Adventure

Taking silly pictures on New Years Eve.

2017 certainly started off with a bang – some of us decided we wanted to have a dance party so we managed to snag a large speaker and head up to an empty room, grab the youth and some other friends, and put on some great dance music. We took a brief break to officially ring in the New Year with everyone else and then were back at it, laughing and jumping and being ridiculous. What a great way to spend the New Year! New Years day was spent at Babs dock, a lovely little place on a lake, spent with some families, telling stories and laughing. I think all dads are the same in that they tell the best stories – it helped fill that hole that misses sitting around the table with my family, laughing at all my dad’s crazy stories. 

2017 also meant surgeries started again – another block of plastics, and eye surgeries for the first time since the first field service in Madagascar! So exciting to know that this program is underway. 3 days a week they are operating on the ship and the other two days they operate at the local hospital, in partnership with them. We've had large surgeon screenings on the dock, over 50 patients in a day, and Rehab has continued with all their amazing work, teaching kids how to use their new legs. Tiffany and I have been busy planning for all the upcoming teams and Sunday the first team of the new year arrives from Canada! I’m very excited to be able to show my own people all the amazing work that Mercy Ships does.

At the engagement party!

During the break, many people went home and when they came back we discovered that two of our onboarding friends had gotten engaged (not to each other!) so we had a hilarious engagement party for them. We played the Not So Newlywed game, did some ridiculous acting and had some delicious cake (which we made them cut together). I love that our onboarding family will find any and all excuses to get together and celebrate each other. It's this amazing community that makes this place home and these guys are a big part of that, with evenings full of laughter and stories.

A nice snapshot of our trip that Michelle put together.

Before things started up again, a few of us decided to take a trip up north and it was amazing. I could not have asked for anything better. We took an 11 hour bus ride up to Tangieta and stayed in these lovely bungalows. It was so nice to be out in nature, to see trees, to sleep without air conditioning, to have nowhere to be, no technology calling to us, just being together. The next day with headed up to this beautiful waterfall, where we swam and climbed and jumped off things. After that we entered Pendjari park and drove to the hotel in the park, where we checked in and then went for an evening safari ride. I may or may not have fallen asleep at some point…But it was neat because we got to see elephants and lions and baboons and a hippo and lots of different types of deer. The hotel was pretty expensive so instead of getting another room we just got more mattresses and slept all four girls in one room which was fun. The next day we drove around the park some more and then headed to Natitingou. I think it’s the most amazing place I’ve seen in Benin. We stayed at a compound run by some Swiss missionaries (they weren’t there), who spend time praying with the local people, reaching out to them and sharing the gospel. They also opened a school for girls who’ve never been to school and they teach them how to read and write. Everything is managed by a Beninese couple, both of whom have done their DTS (discipleship training) with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) before coming to work here. They treated us so well, and made us some interesting local meals. I definitely ate some new things. 

A small glimpse of Natitingou from the top of a hill.

The night we arrived we went for a hike up one of the hills/mountains, and there was some definitely some tree climbing involved. The people I was with were tree climbing pros. The next day, I spent the morning hiking the mountains, climbing all over the place, and encountered quite a few locals who were carrying large amounts of wood down the mountain – on their heads of course! It was amazing to spend all that quiet time with God, to listen for His still, small voice, and to spend time in the Word. The town itself is quite beautiful, all laid out in at the base of these hills and developed enough that it was lit up at night. That afternoon we took a long zemi ride to another waterfall, and we spent the afternoon climbing and swimming before heading back. That night we relaxed and the next morning we made the 9 hour bus ride back to Cotonou. It was wonderful to be out in nature again, to see the stars, to be able to climb trees and explore. And we had such an amazing group of people, the whole trip was filled with wonderful conversations and laughter.

Who says I'm not a touchy person? To be honest,
if there wasn't a picture, I wouldn't believe it.
I guess lots of things are changing!

My friend Tyler wrote something in his blog that really helped me understand how I’ve been feeling for the last few months. He was comparing the casting of feet with how God recasts and corrects our wrong facing hearts. “He is consistently putting me in an uncomfortable position and holding me there for a while until it becomes normal and my heart changes. Then he repeats the process.” I think that God has been doing this in me for the last few years, but that now we are getting into longer and slower changes. Many of the quick, little things have been fixed and now we’re into things that are much harder to change, and impossible to do on my own. This weekend away, I realized that I have definitely mellowed out over the last few months. I’m less likely to argue and shout out my opinion; I will back down if I see that there is no purpose in the argument and someone is getting upset; I’m more likely to stay quiet. That’s not to say I don’t have a long, long way to go, but the change has started. In the past, I’ve tried to actively make these changes many times, but it never worked. So I started praying about it, praying that the Holy Spirit would help me. And I think that’s why it’s been a slow, unconscious change – because it’s not me doing it, but the Holy Spirit working in me. I’ve also finally realized that truth doesn’t trump love, that just because something is true doesn’t mean it needs to be shouted out so casually or candidly. If you had told me two years ago that I would admit that, I would have laughed at you. It’s encouraging to see that God is working big changes in me and I’m so thankful that He has sent us the Holy Spirit to help us do those things that we could never do on our own.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ~ Ezekiel 36:26

An amazing trip with the best group of people :)