Well… maybe this won’t be such a surprise for some of you. But I am returning to the Africa Mercy!

Lots of things are happening that I never thought would happen…I will be joining the Africa Mercy (AFM) in Benin pretty soon AND I have a blog!!! Crazy, right?! If you keep reading, I will explain why I am returning and what I will be doing. But as for why I am starting a blog….it seems to be the easiest way to communicate with you- my friends and family- while I am abroad! (but don’t worry…I will still be able to email and all that jazz!)

So here we go…

Yes, I am returning to be apart of Mercy Ships once again. When I contacted the travel agent this time, she responded, “that seems to be a trend among travelers…I can’t tell you how many repeat passengers I have who have decided to join the crew again and again!” Well, I guess thats a good thing ☺ And so it stands, I have officially been bit by the Mercy Ships bug!

What will I be doing? I will be a Palliative Care nurse, working as apart of the Palliative Care team for 10 months. It will be quite different than what I do now, as well as what I did on the AFM last time. But I am VERY excited! I remember reading an article about 3 years ago about the Palliative Care team with Mercy Ships and bawling my eyes out as I read! My roommate came in to make sure I was okay, and I told her that one day I hope to be apart of this team. She probably thought I was crazy at the time, but now it is happening! Let me explain what this team does (obviously, I have never been apart of the team so I don’t know exactly, but I will try):

While the ship is able to change peoples’ lives drastically with surgeries that they may never have had the access to, there is much that the ship is not equipped to care for/cure. Some people may say something like, “Well why bother when there are so many people that you can not help?” An answer to this question can be compared to the familiar “Starfish Story”

A young man is walking along the ocean and
sees a beach on which thousands and thousands
of starfish have washed ashore. Further along
he sees an old man, walking slowly and
stooping often, picking up one starfish after
another and tossing each one gently into the
ocean.
“Why are you throwing starfish into the
ocean?,” he asks.
“Because the sun is up and the tide is going out
and if I don’t throw them further in they will
die.”
“But, old man, don’t you realize there are miles
and miles of beach and starfish all along it!
You can’t possibly save them all, you can’t even
save one-tenth of them. In fact, even if you
work all day, your efforts won’t make any
difference at all.”
The old man listened calmly and then bent
down to pick up another starfish and threw it
into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.”

It is a simple story, but so true! If you can help just one person, then its worth it! So what about the people that the ship cannot help? There are often many people that come to the surgical screenings and are turned away. Perhaps it is an inoperable brain tumor, cancer, or even a chronic condition incurable by surgery. This is where the Palliative Care team comes in. They identify people that could benefit from home care and then work together with the community surrounding these people to bring them hope, provide symptom management and wound care, financial planning for the future, etc. Our goal is to show the love of Christ to people who are isolated, hopeless and fearful because of a terminal illness and extend support to the family of the terminally ill person. {https://www.mercyships.org/programs/palative/}

This time on the AFM, I will be meeting the ship in Benin. And will be there for the entire field service…10 months. [I know, I can hear my family’s groaning as they read this too]

So really, why am I going? While aboard the ship a few months ago, I explored the idea of returning with some friends and the current Palliative Care team leader, but it seemed far-fetched and improbable. I thought a lot about it and prayed about it even more. My decision to return came down to a few thoughts:

Like I mentioned, ever since learning about the Palliative Care team a few years ago, I dreamed of being apart of this team some day. And now is my opportunity. I have enough applicable experience to be accepted and hopefully helpful as apart of the team, there is a position open, and I had returned from the ship thinking “I could do this!”

If now was the time, how did this fit into my life/plans? It perhaps wasn’t the safest thing, or the wisest financial move. It still gives me a knot in my stomach to think of being so far from my family and how I will only be able to have conversations via phone/internet with my friends for 10 months. And on top of all of that I have to leave a job I absolutely LOVE! But the final piece in my decision-making puzzle came from Psalm 33:13-15, 20-22

The LORD looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds… Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O LORD, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

I realized that God loves that this is something I am passionate about and He is FOR me going. This isn’t something where I am bored with my life and I need to do something crazy. Nor is it all because I feel like I have to go all the way to Africa in order to get on God’s “good side,” but rather the complete opposite! God loves me enough to perfectly come up with a plan to redeem me and all of His creation from our totally helpless state → Jesus died for me and then BEAT DEATH itself when He rose again → so this frees me up to LIVE, learn more about God, love people, and even empowers me to bring HOPE to all that are hopeless- people from Lakeland and Tampa Florida to West Africa.

Bringing hope to the Palliative Care patients in Benin excites God just as much as it excites me, and He has created me and begun to prepare me to be able to care for people walking through these hard times.

So, while I don’t know specifics of what I will be doing [or even if I will like it to be honest!], I am going to trust Him. Thanks SO much for journeying with me!

❤ marris

PRAYER LIST:

pray for patients for the palliative care team to love and serve

pray for a wonderful organization to partner with

pray for preparation and travel

pray for my family ☺

P.S. In an effort to spare you from reading a novel-of-a-blog-post, and to spare me from writing another crazy long update about the ship, I have compiled my email updates from when I was on the AFM in the Republic of Congo. These include some pictures and stories of patients, as well as details about the ship. If you haven’t read it, it might be helpful to frame what life will be like for the next 10 months. It can be found in the post prior, titled “Recap of the AFM in Congo”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Thank you all for participating in this journey with me! I appreciate all of the prayers, emails, and support more than I could ever say. Even that you would take the time out of your day and read this blog post is SO humbling!

If you would like to partner with me in prayer, thank you! I will try and include prayer points with every post. And if you would like to support me/Mercy Ships financially, just follow the links: http://mercyshipsus.donorpages.com/crewmates/smithm/ OR https://www.mercyships.org/

Please note… Although I am currently serving with Mercy Ships, everything communicated here strictly reflects my personal opinions and is neither reviewed nor endorsed by Mercy Ships. Opinions, conclusions and other information expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of Mercy Ships.