Being Infinitely Valuable

Cheering on the local rugby team!

I feel like time has really started to speed up lately. We’ve already started talking about ‘Finishing Strong’. Being on Advance means having quite a different perspective because as everyone else is winding down, we’re gearing up and I have to get ready to shift up a gear – but not yet. For now I am firmly focused on this job and everything that needs to be done. The last couple community gatherings, our speakers have been talking about value and it’s caused me to really sit back and re-evaluate some things. One of our chaplains talked about how the value of an object is determined by what someone is willing to exchange/give up for it. God was willing to give up His son’s life to have us. Think about that. That makes us infinitely valuable. It’s a crazy, incomprehensible, unconditional love. Another speaker talked about sacrificial love and this idea of being willing to give up everything, to die for others. Do I have that level of love? For friends and family, absolutely. But what about for those I’m indifferent to? Or for those whose company I don’t enjoy? While I can’t think of anyone I hate or dislike immensely, I think for me the struggle is people who I find to be incompetent. Would I be willing to sacrifice everything for them? I think that’s Jesus level love. We did a quick personality/trait test as part of our Advance preparation and my number one trait was Activator, which is basically a go-getter, the person who gets it done. On the whole list, mine was the only one who also listed negative. It said, these people are usually impatient. Well there’s some truth for you. What does it matter if the person doesn’t do something as fast as I would or the way I think it should be done? They’re pleasing God, not me. Only God knows their heart, knows how hard their trying, knows how far they’ve come. I can only see now, this one instance. He sees their lifetime, their struggles, how far they’ve walked with Him. Through them, God is revealing Himself. He’s teaching me patience for one thing. He’s teaching them to lean on Him, He’s showing how great and awesome He is, and so many more things.

Off Dana's Facebook - a quick snapshot of our Saturday.

We often hear about how God is a good father and wants to give us the very best – this week was a wonderful example of that for me, of how well He knows me. I had the pleasure of hosting Dana Perino from Fox News ‘The Five’, along with her husband and assistant. This gave me a front row seat to some very interesting conversations and interactions. I got to sit and listen to Dana and Dr. Mark Shrime have breakfast and discuss a wide variety of topics. It was like a little happy dream place for me, listening to two incredibly intelligent people discuss politics and history and the global surgical need and encouraging young people to do more and books! I love people who love to read and Dana had some great book recommendations. I also got to go to the residence of the U.S. ambassador and listen to the conversation that they had about Benin, world affairs, Mercy Ships, and much more. We also brought one of the academy students so he could interview the ambassador and he had some great questions! It was lovely to see how much Dana encouraged him. She was a big encouragement to the crew, speaking at our global community meeting and making everyone laugh, even taking questions and showing us why she was such a good press secretary to President Bush. I got to sit and ask her questions about how she started (answering phones for a congressman), and also saw how she used her large social media following to share about some critical positions that we need filled. She mentioned our need for a vehicle mechanic in her live broadcast and the next day we had several amazing candidates who had applied. We did many things while she was here and I’m grateful that I was able to be a small part of it. It was exhausting and all-consuming but a wonderful education for me. I’m incredibly grateful for the crew members who took them out in the evenings which allowed me to have a rest! 

All scrubbed up and ready to go.

On Sunday we went down to the Ward service for our first Dress Ceremony of the year. You may remember me mentioning them last year, but essentially a Dress Ceremony is a time to celebrate our OBF ladies who now have a new start to life! These ladies have often been leaking urine for many years due to prolonged childbirth (one lady said it had been 19 years), and now they have had surgery and are dry. They get new dresses and jewelry and makeup put on and we have a big dance party where they share their testimonies. It is always beautiful and moving. Here in Benin, everyone loves to break out in song, with all the glory going to God.

Attempting to paddle our boats...

I’ll just mention a few of the other new things I got to experience this past two weeks. I got to see a surgery for the first time, it was intense! They were chipping off bone from a patient’s hip to graft it to a metal bar in their face so that a new jaw bone would grow to replace the one they removed to remove a facial tumour (that’s my non-medical understanding of it). Our surgeons are remarkable. I think what impacted me the most was the community and feeling in the OR. The surgeons and OR nurses were laughing and teasing each other, still taking their work seriously, but knowing when to lighten things up and find that balance. It was fun being in there. I also spent a night at the stilt village. We got to take out a boat and paddle around which was a hilarious and frustrating experience. Here we were, two Canadians with plenty of paddling experience and we couldn’t get our boat to go straight! No idea what was going on there. We went for a walk through part of the village that was on dry land and also got up very early to see the morning market, where many ladies are out in their boats with lanterns, selling food to the men who are going out to fish. The whole time we were there people were shouting yovo, yovo at us (and weirdly enough, monsieur), and saying, give me money. I’m not sure if it’s worse for me because I understand everything they're saying but it really got to me this time. It made me miss being able to walk around and be invisible, inconspicuous. It’s a good lesson in grace and patience.

A quick glance at our Agriculture program.

We had visit from Graca Machel, who is Nelson Mandela's widow and the only woman to be First Lady of two countries. If you get a chance, I would recommend looking her up - the work she's done stands on its own and she isn't overshadowed by the men she was married to. I also got to visit our Agriculture site, where a crew member (who is actually Beninois) is teaching 34 people how to do sustainable farming. The program is called Food For Life and is a Train the Trainers program, which means he is teaching them how to teach these techniques to others. The participants are split into various teams and they come together to decide what they want to grow next to each other, based on nitrogen in the soil, crop life, and a bunch of other things I don’t understand. Food is key to having healthy people and I loved the emphasis that is put on building up strong community leaders. I also finally went to the fabric market, bought fabric and had a dress and skirt made. I have an aversion to shopping so it was an in and out thing for me but I’m glad I went through the process and made myself do it. The locals love it when we wear African fabric and I got lots of compliments on it.

Anna and I showing off our African fabric.

We all know I could go on and on about all the great stuff going on here, but I will limit myself to one last thing. One night I was really struggling, with questions of identity, value, purpose, the usual overwhelming lies that we tell ourselves, when a friend knocked on my door because they needed something. They could tell something was wrong and instead of just accepting my brush off answer that everything would be okay, they persisted. It was hard, to say the things I was feeling aloud, to show that weakness and vulnerability, to overcome that lie in my head that says I’m burdening this person with my problems. But, as is often the reaction on the ship, they asked if they could pray for me. I don’t know why that still surprises me so much. It really helped me refocus and gave me a sense of peace about things. In a later discussion, they told me that it made them feel good that they were able to pray for me and help me in that instance. I sometimes forget how much of a blessing it is to be needed, to be useful, to be able to help others. It’s a good reminder to allow others to serve us, especially in our times of need. God is so tangibly present in those moments, where both people are being blessed by the interaction, by being open and vulnerable. God is good, God is here, God is faithful.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8

When one of the writers pulls out her camera, tells you all to grab a bear and pretend it's your baby, and you all listen to her... PC: Anna Psiaki