Seventy two hours of prayer

I am unbelievably blessed and so completely not worthy to be working alongside such fabulous nurses as they have onboard the Africa Mercy. I will maintain it as long as I live. Caring, like, for real. Hearts full of compassion and brilliant ideas for their patients, such as the latest scheme some great soul has cooked up. As the nurses we're doing a 72 hours of prayer for our hospital, the ship, our patients, time of personal reflection, confession of sin, dedicating our steps to the Lord, using the time for worship and communion with the Lord. We're praying for the physical recovery of our patients and so much more importantly for their souls, that they may come to see and know the Lord while onboard. That those who know Him may know and see that He has not forgotten them.

E Ward has been redecorated by creative minds to be comfy and cozy. There are dimly lit lamps around the room, pillows on mats on the floor, somebody found a carpet! There are corners for creative expression and words the Lord gives us during this time. Journals to write reflections in. A map for us to pin requests on in the world. A cross for us to confess sins at. We are signing up for hour prayer slots, yes, even though the wee hours of the morning and I am so proud of everybody 'cause there are only three or four slots left open. I must admit that my rather skeptical self took a look at this loooong signup list and I did really doubt the nurses alone would fill it, but there they go... with help of a few ancillary staff as well.

I was talking with one of my roommates and she was telling me about how her colleague had visited the mother/baby hospital in town and was horrified by some of the stuff, mainly the sterilization room (chlorine in buckets for O.R. utensils, washing and reusing gauze (!!!!!) and that intubation equipment doesn't get even washed between cases... yeah, here's some TB for you, for you and for you). She was mentioning just a real need to pray for all of this stuff and start doing something about it, where I took her hand and marched her up to our prayer signup sheet... I love it when I see people's eyes light up about something cool like that.. isn't that just the way the Lord works?

So I'm just praying as the Lord pours his mercy out on the people of Sierra Leone through us, that He would have mercy on us too while He's at it... healing those wounds, healing hearts, mending broken lives, restoring individuals to their families and communities.