Reflecting on Reflections

I was sitting in the front seat of a taxi recently (actually I was sharing the front seat with another girl:) and after introducing myself to our driver I mentioned that I thought his country was beautiful. His response was interesting. He said "Yes, but it is not reflective of us." I asked him to explain what he meant and he told me that the government and the state of Sierra Leone as it is right now does not really reflect what the people of Sierra Leone are like. I would have to say I agree with him.

Since then I have been thinking about how we represent ourselves to the world around us. I would hope I represent Jesus Christ well enough for people to know Him through my life. He is the only example I consider worthwhile to follow. I know there are so many times when I let myself obscure my reflection of Him. These are the things I need to work on. The more I see of the world, the more people I meet in it, and the more cultures I encounter, the more I am convinced that all I want and all I want people to see me being like is Jesus.

A few weeks ago I had the joy and privilege of spending a few hours talking with Clementine Tengue. Clementine has been with Mercy Ships in West Africa for about 14 years and currently leads the patient life ministry here. She is the one who counsels all the patients onboard. When someone is terminal Clementine has to tell them, if they are diagnosed with HIV she is the one who tells them, and when they need someone to talk to about surviving the war here she is the one who listens to them. She gets called down to the wards day and night and often over the weekends. Someone who did not have the strength of Christ as an example would quickly run out of energy beneath the weight of all this. Clementine, however, has Christ and that quickly becomes evident when talking with her. She overflows with a calm,peaceful joy. You can clearly see how much she loves the patients. Her example has prompted people to want to follow Christ themselves.

So Clementine is my prayer request that I am sending back to all of you. She has asked me to ask you all to pray for her because she knows that it is prayer that enables her to continue on every day. Pray that Clementine will continue to model Christ to people, that God will continue to direct her words and actions with hurting people, and please pray that she would be given a designated office to counsel patients in. Clementine has demonstrated Christ to me; I pray that I demonstrate Him to you:)

Isimbi Johanna

For Love of a Continent

Recently I was returning to the ship after being out in Freetown all day and I was reminded again that love comes from God. I was crammed into the backseat of a poda-poda (public taxi van) shoved into the smelly armpit of the guy next to me and my favorite Sierra Leone hip-hop song was blaring through the poda-poda. I had a pounding headache from walking in the sun all day and not drinking enough water. I also realized that I had no idea where I was going. It was already dark out and I couldn't recognise where we were. The one overwhelming feeling I had in the midst of all this was great happiness.

I love being here in Africa. A love that somehow comes straight from God. I have had just enough glimpses of his great love for this continent that it makes me love it too. He died to redeem this place and these people. Living here on the ship is not like being in Africa. It is a comfortable bubble which is fine for all the crewmembers coming and going; as for me, I would spend all of my time out in the country if I could. Living the way the people here do, eating what they eat, and learning what they know. I love having discussions with the people of Sierra Leone. They have a great freedom of speech and really enjoy debating. It is fascinating for me to see the world through their eyes.

So during the week I work scrubbing away at bloody instruments and studying to become certified as an OR sterilizer. It is good work and I enjoy it. On the weekends I go out into the country. I walk around or ride in poda-podas to the houses of my friends here in Sierra Leone. Usually we share a meal together and I am reminded how much I love being in Africa.

Isimbi Johanna

Tropical Paradise (almost)

My plan was to update everyone weekly so sorry for falling behind. Let me backtrack a bit.

This past weekend we had a ship's holiday on Friday so I spent the 3 days beach hopping around Freetown. Picture if you can the most beautiful beach you have ever been to...with warm white sand, clear blue water, big lush palm trees all over, and rolling green hills in the backgrouond. Now take away any people except you and a few fisherman and that is exactly what the beaches here are like. Like I said Sierra Leone is a very beautiful country.

The only drawback, particularly for someone like me who can't swim, are the riptides which can pull you out to sea. The waves could not be more different than the ones I am used to in NH. For one thing they are so warm that it reminded of being in a hot tub; unfortunately they are also so powerful that I don't even attempt to swim. Once I went in only to my waist and I got picked up by a rather small looking wave, swirled around in the water and slammed down onto the sand. New crew members coming to the ship get briefed on what to do if they get caught in a riptide. Sadly a few years ago 2 crewmembers were killed by riptides so it is definitely a safety concern. Hence my no swimming decision. Otherwise though, the beaches are awe-inspiring.

My favorite beach out of 3 I went to was called River Number 2. This beach was incredibly beautiful but it is the history of the place that inspires me. It is a completely community run beach. During the war the village banded together to survive. They buried their valuables in the sand and sent all the women and children out to Banana Island where the rebels could not swim out to them. After making it through the war together they noticed that their beach was a popular spot for foreigners and decided amongst themselves to make some beach chairs and tables and charge a small fee for using them. Next they got a generator. This started what has become an amazing story of what happens when people work together. Due to proceeds from the beach and wisely using them to benefit everyone the people there now have solar panels that provide electricity for the whole village, a well to give everyone access to water, an emergency health fund, a nursery school, a beach guesthouse (where we stayed), and a small craft market. We were blessed to meet the manager of the beach and hear more of the history from him. They even adopted a house of amputees* and integrated them into the community. Truly, it is an uplifting story to me. People can be very evil and destructive I know so it is good to be reminded of what people can also do to bring health and safety.

I will be sure to write sooner next time!

Isimbi Johanna

*There are many people with missing arms or legs in Sierra Leone. It was a common practice of the rebels , among many other senseless horrors, to cut of people's limbs simply because they could.

Africa at 3 am

On Friday I took a 9 hour bus ride away from Freetown going towards Kono district to visit the families of a few of the day workers here on the ship. African bus journeys and I are old friends. When the 6 of us got to the bus they had sold our seats, even though we had tickets, however it is Africa so they brought out some blue plastic stools and we spent the 9 hours perched on them in the aisle. Like I said I am used to this. And oddly enough I find it uncomfortable but fun.

Sierra Leone is a very beautiful country; lush and green, with palm trees all over the landscape. We drove past what was formerly a serious rebel checkpoint during the war and straight on to diamond country. Apparently Kono is the place to get diamonds but as I do not like them myself I didn't pursue it. Kono is a town rebuilding itself. Amazingly, bombing, war, and indiscriminate mining have not been able to destroy the peaceful beauty of this place.

We spent Sarurday getting food at the market and then cooking it. A great experience for anyone who has never prepared a meal in Africa before which 2 of our group had not. I specially requested fufu since I can't get it in the states and I miss the food in Africa so much. Fufu, which is also known as ugali in East Africa, is ground up cassava which is made into a paste and then boiled in water until it thickens into something like a dough. It is served with a sauce or soup for flavor and the whole meal should be eaten with your hands. I love cooking outside beneath a tree and then sharing the meal with everyone on one plate. We should eat like this in America. It is good communion.

This morning we had to catch a bus back to Freetown at 4 in the morning. The 3 girls in our group were staying at a little guesthouse so we planned to leave there at 3 to get to the bus early. As fun as sitting on a stool over pothole filled roads is it is best to be avoided if possible. You get airborn enough in the seats as it is. Although I think the roads here are miles better than in Kenya.

We were about to leave the gate of our little compound at 3 to meet one of the guys who was picking us up but he wasn't there yet. As we were walking towards the door to wait for him on the street the security gaurd came running towards us protesting vehemently that we not leave. Being a rather cynical person I assumed he wanted to make sure we had paid our bill and weren't trying to sneak out in the dark. We didn't speak Kono and he didn't speak much English so he went and woke someone else up. Turns out he takes his job seriously and he would not let us walk out there in the dark because he was worried for our safety. We decided to wait inside. The security guard, an older man, kept saying "I yo papa, yo ma pickanins" to explain why he wouldn't let us go out there. He meant that he was our papa and we were like his children.

I love being in Africa. Sure sometimes I have been in threatening situations but for every person who would harm me there are more like the security guard. Africa lifts my spirits when I am sad, grieves me when I am feeling complacent, and alway always fills me with joy. All in all I thank God for my weekend because I got to spend it in Africa.

Isimbi Johanna

P.S. We made it to the bus with plenty of time to get seats and watch Celine Dion music videos for an hour before we left:)

A Day in the Life of an OR Sterilizer

Hi people,

I have been too busy to update you all but now I will tell you why.

I work Monday through Friday from 10am until 7pm down on deck 3 of the ship in the OR sterilizing room. I like it a lot actually, plus I have weekends of:)

Here's how it works. When the surgeon is finishing up in any of the ORs, which are down the hall from us, the nurse brings us the trays of equipment that were just used. We take them and clean the blood off to get them ready to go in a special washing machine. Once we have run a full load in there we take them out, dry them off, reassemble each surgical tray by making sure all the needed instruments are there, wrap them in layers of cloth like a present, and put them in the sterilizer. After they come out of there each tray and instrument is now sterile amd ready to be used when needed. It is a very detailed and time consuming process. I like it.

I am very impressed with how well run the Africa Mercy is. Somehow, really by the grace of God, the people here have managed to make a hospital, a bank, a school, a restaurant, a hotel, and a ship all operate smoothly together with people from 33 different nationalities onboard coming and going each week. And all this is done from a different country every year! As you can imagine it is no small task but like I said I am impressed. In the midst of all this the focus is still on God. He is the only one who could pull all that together and turn it into something that glorifies Him.

I have not had much opportunity yet to leave the ship. I walked around town last saturday and on sunday went to a wonderful church called Word of Faith. I love worship in Africa! Tomorrow I am going to a chimpanzee sanctuary which should be interesting. I just want to be outside. The one downside of where I work is that it has no windows and neither does my cabin. I ate my dinner outside on deck 7 tonight and the sun was so bright on the water it hurt to look at it. Still it was beautiful.

I will let you all now how the chimps are:)

Isimbi Johanna

My boy Nqobisitha

This afternoon I hung 4 pictures up above my little bed. There were 2 pictures of my siblings and I, which I find very supporting when I am feeling lonely, a picture of Silivia my baby girl in Uganda laughing, which just makes me happy to look at, and a picture Nqobisitha sitting on the ground in Zimbabwe, which is a particularly acute motivator when I am feeling tired. I stood there looking at them afterwards and I realized that he, Nqobisitha, is a big reason a came back here to Africa.

I think about this little boy almost every single day. He is one of 2 people that I cry about the most when I think of them. He would be about 10-years old now and most likely still has no mother. I am not completely sure why but God has laid Nqobi on my heart so intensely that sometimes I feel nearly as if I am grieving over my lost son when I think about him. Right now I can't feed him, or wash him, or make sure he is happy and not hurt so instead I came here to the Africa Mercy where at least in the long run I am helping kids like him.

I don't know if I made much of an impact on Nqobisitha; I spent a few nights feeding him, holding him in my arms while he fell asleep, and whispering prayers in his ear that he would grow up healthy and strong and loving God. He ,however, has certainly made an impact on me. It is this I find that I am thinking the most my first week back here in Africa.

I finally have an opportunity to go off the ship today and see Freetown. I was starting to feel trapped onboard here so I called my parents earlier and told them about it and they said they would be praying for me. An hour later I walked out of my cabin and immediately got an invitation to go to the market:) Thanks parents! It is an encouraging reminder to me of how my heavenly Father cares for me.

Next time I will have to tell you about cleaning surgical instruments all day! Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

Africa Baby

I was speaking with an elderly man from Nigeria recently who yelled out "Africa!" as I walked by him. This was because I have talked with him about Africa before. I went over to him and he took my hand and called me an "Africa baby."

I suppose that is as good a description of me as any other. In a funny way I feel almost as if I grew up in Africa. Certainly as a Christian at least. In many ways it feels almost like going home when I return there but in many other ways I am glad it is not. The truth is that when my immune system can no longer fight back and when I am immensely saddened to hold another sick or dying child that I can do so little for I always have the option of America. To step back and take a break from grinding poverty is a luxury that the majority of Africans never know.

I am going back to Africa tomorrow; specifically to Sierra Leone. I miss the wet, earthy smell of Africa that hits you the second you step of the plane, the graceful women walking along the road with tremendous loads on their heads, and the beautiful malnourished children who smile with such joy it makes me think they must have been playing with Jesus Himself.

More than anything else I miss the intensely up close and personal way I encounter my Lord God in Africa. Africa strips away your comfort and complacency and challenges you to make a decision: there is either a loving God of the Bible or there isn't. It makes sense to me to conclude that there is because who else but a God like Him could enable people to live with such beauty surrounded by such suffering. I miss seeing God like that. I have realized that Africa equips me to serve people better in America.

By Monday evening I will have arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone to begin 3 months working as an OR sterilizer with Mercy Ships. That will be good but mostly I am excited to spend time with God in Africa again:)

Talk to you all from the ship!
Isimbi Johanna

Double Vision

Hi all,

I know I know and I'm sorry. I should have posted before now. Just in case any of you don't know I made it home safely and had a great Christmas with my family.

It is very difficult to try to keep you updated once I get home because I find it hard to put into words. I've been trying to for weeks but can't really explain it; the joy and sorrow of coming home. I am so glad to be spending time with my family and in a lot of ways being in the states is comfortable and easy. I can take hot showers with running water, I can eat whenever I want and whatever I want, I can drive myself places, I can set the temperature to what I like, I have a bed to sleep on, and I can entertain myself however I choose.

The problem is that although I can do all this I can't do it blissfully. I have spent enough time in other countries and cultures that I know things now because I've seen them. I know that so many kids not only don't have running water they don't even have clean water and if they do so many don't know that they need to wash every day. I've seen them covered in scabies and open running sores because of that. I've washed them. I know that there are kids who get one meal a day...of tea. I've seen them so malnourished I could count the bones showing through their skin. I've held them. I know there are people who walk for miles and miles in the hopes of getting medical care. I've seen them lined up waiting patiently for their turn. I've walked with them. I know there are people who don't have adequate protection from the elements. I've seen their homes. I've sat shivering with them. I know there are orphans who have no beds or blankets. I've seen the cement floors they share. I've played games with them. I know there are teens who have such limited options they will have sex, get pregnant, contract HIV, join gangs, and get sent to prison because of boredom. I've seen teens who've done this. I've talked with them.

So as I hope you can see it is a difficult blessing; having double vision. I do however know that everything my Lord has shown me He will use. The passion He has placed in me would not be complete if I hadn't seen what I've seen. I look forward to His continued teaching. And now I'll be seeing you guys!

Isimbi Johanna

I'll be hooome for Christmas!

Hey people,

This is my last posting from the continent of Africa. I am leaving for the airport very earlier tomorrow morning. Sadly that is the only time I could get a ride I didn't have to pay a lot of money for but my flight doesn't leave Cape Town until after 10 pm so I will be sitting for a long time before I can even check in. I arrive in London on Monday morning and after another long flight I will then be in Boston:)

Amidst prayers for safe travels I would appreciate it if you could mention an early as possible check in and that the time will just fly by (no pun intended). Thank you guys for what a tremendous support you have been in this time of my life. I have definitely been impacted during this school and I am looking forward to getting home and sharing some of that with you. It is a time of very mixed feelings; I want to be with my family for Christmas but I'm sad to leave very good friends. I will be grateful for a chance to rest but I will really miss working with the people here. Anyway, speaking of rest I should go sleep while I still can. I love you all!

Isimbi Johanna

Crossing Oceans

Hey guys,

I hope you are all fully enjoying the holidays. Apparently NH is lacking snow at the moment which makes it harder to get into the spirit of things but I'm hopeful that by the time I get home there will at least be a few inches. (1)

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged sooner. I have been strangely moody this past week and don't really know how to explain myself. Not that surprising considering that I am at the end of outreach about to return home. I am so excited to be back for Christmas and see my family but at the same time am reluctant to go. My heart feels fully alive in places like Zimbabwe while I am helping people and I already miss it. I can't really describe the feeling of returning after you have been away for a while in a different culture; you kind of have to experience it yourself and then you get it. For me it feels like I have one foot still in Africa and the other in America and I am just stretched out between them. The good thing when trying to live in two worlds at once is that I get to experience twice as much of God during the stretching time.

Alright, I will give you guys a more complete update later. I was just online waiting to Skype with my family but they apparently forgot about me (2) so the computer I'm borrowing needs to be returned. I have my final exam tomorrow morning if you think to pray for that and then our school is going to have some rest days before our graduation on Wednesday. One week from right now I will be boarding my flight in Cape Town to return home. See you soon! Love you guys and Merry Christmas!

Isimbi Johanna

(1) NH received about 3 or 4 inches of snow the evening after we spoke with Johanna!
(2) We didn't get home from church in time...

Zimbabwe is a life-altering, God glorifying, fantastic country!

Hello everyone!

I just got back to South Africa on Thursday after a 26-hour train ride and am just letting you all know that I made it OK. As soon as we arrived back at the base the two other American girls and I went out for a Thanksgiving lunch although mostly we were going for the coffee that we missed so much (if my Grandma and my Dad read this I blame my coffee addiction on your side of the family). This morning I left the base and got on a train again to come to Cape Town and hang out with the girls in my school. Starting this Monday we have some more health teachings to do at a school here in SA for a week. I am praying that God will give me the energy for this last bit of outreach...

Thank you to everyone for my birthday wishes. It was wonderful! To celebrate my 23rd year I got to give massages to about 50 old Zimbabwean women who have been working incredibly hard their whole life and now have back and joint pains. I loved it!

I will be graduating on the 10th and will leave to return to NH on the 13th. See you all later!

Isimbi Johanna

Happy Birthday, Johanna!

Since the clock has passed midnight on the African continent we will pause to wish Johanna a wonderful day of reflection and blessing.  Johanna was a Sunday child (5:00 AM on the dot!) so even though the date is one day early, we will recall the blessing of her arrival in triumph and accomplishment (her older brother was born via C-section but Johanna was 'all natural' in her arrival!).  In the end the doctor essentially missed all but the final details since even then Johanna traveled on a schedule that she and her Creator arranged together.

Her mid-wife (a faithful Catholic) expressed that it was such a spiritually transcendent experience that all she felt the need to do was to go to church on her way home.  God was indeed gracious to grant us (and the world) this good gift of life.  Happy birthday, dear daughter child!