Emma, Chris & Josh School Photos

This years official school photos. Please check out the Flickr site (click on the grid - on the left) for more!

Chris spends a night in the AFM Hospital!

After a day of fun activities on the dock and around the ship in celebration of Mercy Ships 30th Anniversary, we had just spent a lovely evening of worship and reflection on Mercy Ships history and were leaving the cafe after having a sociable time with other crew and Emma came in and told us Chris had slipped over and hurt himself. He had been playing with some of the other young people on board and fell, landing awkwardly on his arm. There was already a nurse with him, but it was immediately clear that he had broken his arm. The bone just above the wrist was bulging in an abnormal way. Even through the dressing in the picture below you can see the bulge!!



We took him down to the Hospital where he was examined and then sent for X-Ray. The Crew Physician - Dr. Craig Albrecht confirmed that his arm was broken and that he would need surgery the following morning to manipulate the bone back into position.

Chris was given pain medication to ease his increasing discomfort and spent a fitful night on ICU - not ....I hasten to add because he needed ICU care, but because its a small quiet ward that had no other patients. He was set up with an IV drip in preparation for surgery, scheduled for around 8:30am the following morning. He didn't sleep particularly well but was in reasonable spirits when we arrived down to see him at 8am.
The pic below shows him just before going into the OR just after we all prayed with him. I'm told one of the surgeons has a pic of Chris actually during the surgery which I will get off him and add to this report later.



I was able to accompany Chris into the OR and stay with him until he was asleep. The procedure probably took no more than 10 minutes before the process of waking him started. He was returned to the ICU ward about one hour after surgery sporting a bright orange cast!



He was later taken for a further X-Ray and was back home in the cabin with us around 12:30 lunch time. He slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
He received the best possible care from a team of our own Surgical and Nursing staff, who we cannot speak more highly of. The love and care shown to Chris and to us was outstanding. Thank you to all involved:


Dr Leo Cheng - Surgeon
Dr. Craig Albrecht - Crew Physician
Dr. Derek Pearce - Consultant Anaesthetist
Tracey Jackson & Sarah O'Neill - Anaesthesia Providers
Linda Vicalvi - X-Ray Technician
Anneli Persson & Mary Peters - O.R Nurses
Brenda Howson, Andrea Visser & Todd Woods - Ward Nurses

You are all awesome!

We took Chris to see the Crew Phsyician the following day and he showed us the X-Ray taken after Surgery showing Chris's radius nicely re-aligned.

[Coles Chronicles] Out with the Palliative Care Team

Coles Chronicles

Out with the Palliative Care Team Oct 20, 2008

Introduction

On the ship, HR oversee what is called the “Minor Jobs” scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to allow those who are not normally working in what we call a “Programs” role to get involved. Programs include our Hospital and Healthcare functions, Construction, Water & Sanitation, Agriculture, Mental Health Program, Community Health Education & Palliative Care.

The idea is that by permission of your department head you are released from your primary job for period of time to get involved in one of these areas. The most typical release is half a day per week or at best a full day per week. It is so important for many to be able to get involved in this way and I’m no exception. I love my work in HR & alos with the Orphanage at the weekends but also wanted to get involved in one of our off ship programs. I had heard about the work of the Palliative Care Team and really felt this was something I would like to be involved with so I join the team just one day per month. It isn’t an easy option, but what a privilege to be able to come alongside people in their hour of deepest need. Currently the Palliative Care Team comprises June – PC Coordinator, Jim (one day per week, minor job) – PC Nurse, Jerry – Liberian day worker employed by Mercy Ships as our Translator, you’d be surprised how difficult Liberian English can be to understand! This is Jerry pictured below!

I go out with the team one Monday per month & Barbara – works in Hospitality and does PC as her minor job also.

These are some stories of those we visited on my last day out with the team last week.

Robert 6 yrs bilateral Burkitts Lymphoma - new referral (no picture)

We left the ship at 8:40am and already it was beginning to get hot. The official last day of rainy season is the 15^th October and the soaring temperatures are testament to that.

We drove for about 30 minutes through the morning traffic of Duala Market, renowned for being particularly hectic at this time of day, but were pleasantly surprised by a reasonably speedy journey. You have to be here to really appreciate the sights sounds and smells of an African market place and Duala is no exception. We had arranged to pick up 6yr old Robert and his mom Lucy at the last filling station before St. Paul’s bridge. From there we were going to take them to St. Josephs hospital to get Robert started on chemotherapy. First we drove to their home to pick up a few small possessions, including a straw mat for mom to sleep on during the time Robert was to be in hospital. The journey was about 50 minutes, back through Duala Market, through the centre of Monrovia and out towards Elwa.

Robert is a lovely little boy with a wonderful smile. He has two large swellings either side of his face, making both his cheeks protrude. In addition his left eye is also affected and beginning to swell. These swellings only appeared a month ago and this type of cancer is extremely aggressive but the success rate is reasonable IF treatment is started early enough. It was imperative to get Robert into hospital and get the treatment started. Concern was etched on the face of Roberts’ bewildered mother as we entered the hospital.

The hospital was crowded with people. It seemed very sparsely equipped with stone floors and wooden benches. Even at 10am it was very busy. We registered Robert, which for us, being Mercy Ships didn’t take too long as he had a referral from one of our Mercy Ships doctors. Once registered, we sat and waited for him to see the doctor and have blood taken for lab work. The doctor was unexpectedly in the Operating Room so we had to wait. There was no air conditioning so it was hot and noisy and very busy. Eventually Dr. Roberts arrived and Robert was sent to have blood taken. Once that was done we left Robert & his mom to see the doctor and have the admission process completed. He should start on Chemo tomorrow. We pray that it has been caught early enough. Four days later when June revisited Robert the signs were very good & he seems to be responding well to treatment.

Levi 9 yrs – Burkitts Lymphoma, possibly in remission

From St. Josephs we drove back towards Monrovia to the home of 9 yr old Levi. Levi & his mom Grace and younger brother Ivan have come to Monrovia from up country so Levi can get treatment, leaving the rest of their family behind. We pulled off the main road and travelled about a kilometre through a small market town and then pulled the Landrover off to the side of the road. We crossed and headed through a clearing in the trees to a small village. There were maybe 6 – 8 houses that I could see. Some were the more traditional mud houses, others were very derelict and war torn concrete houses. Children played in the dirt, men sat around and chatted and the women of the village were engaged in a variety of chores; washing laundry by hand with a wash board, sweeping floors, braiding their children’s hair, bathing babies and cooking over the open fires. A typical African village scene. As we approached, laughing children ran to greet us and threw their arms around our waists. Such open displays of affection and welcome are common here in Liberia. The children called out with smiles “Hello white woman”!

Grace brought a couple of small wooden benches out for us to sit on and placed them in the shade of a large tree – a welcome respite from the scorching mid-day sun. We sat and chatted with her for some time before Levi arrived home from school with his younger brother Ivan. Grace was clearly weary and heavy hearted as we talked. As any mother would be, she is desperately concerned for her little boy who has already undergone previous surgery on the Mercy Ship and then chemotherapy treatment in JFK Hospital here in Monrovia. The original diagnosis for Levi was a condition called Fibrous Dysplasia and his surgery was for debulking of the large swelling, however after a biopsy it turned out to be Burkitts Lymphoma.

Levi – on AFM after surgery & in JFK Hospital

Not only is she worried for her child, she has no money for his treatment, or for his school fees. Leaving home, up country, meant she also left behind her means of earning an income from her small farm market stall. Mercy Ships Palliative Care program has some money within its budget to help support these families for the cost of medical care so we were able to give enough money to help pay the hospital bills. It was heartbreaking though to hear this mother’s plight as she is struggling to feed her children on next to nothing. She explained that sometimes neighbours take pity on them and gave them “small small” bits of food. As she was telling us this Ivan who is probably 6yrs old stretched across his mothers lap and cried for some bread, which she couldn’t give him. It took all the strength I could muster in that moment to hold back the floodgates as I observed this family’s plight. I thought about my own children on the ship, healthy and strong, well fed and comfortable and realised again how blessed we are. Grace was doing her best for her children with almost nothing.

Levi has been told by the hospital to go back and visit in 3 weeks so they can see how he is doing. His mom has been warned that though his cancer has stopped growing for the moment, it could well start up again.

We asked Grace to find out what is would take for her to start a small market stall here, in Liberia while she is here so she could at least start to earn a little money. June (Palliative Care Coordinator) will return on Wednesday to talk more and see if we can help. Before we left we prayed for this family, for Levi who is the dearest boy, very bright and so appreciative of our visit. We prayed for wisdom for the way ahead for them and for God’s provision, for a miracle in this desperate situation. They walked with us back to the road and waved as we drove away.

Levi & Ivan his younger brother

Sarah 78 yrs – Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Sarah is a joy to know and this was to be my second visit with her. She has a sharp senses of humour mixed with a wonderful faith in God. Sarah’s house is a bit more challenging to get to, so we drove through the village as far as we could and then walked for about 10 minutes to her house. She lives in a room in a fairly large house covered in corrugated iron sheeting and shares it with probably 6 families. She has her own room at the back.

Sarah – on Screening Day

Sarah has a large tumour on the side of her face which is constantly oozing. Last time I visited she had a veil draped around her head, today the dressing was off, the veil was gone and the tumour (which had grown since last time I went), was dripping down the front of her clothes.

Sarah – on Screening Day

June bathed the tumour and added a fresh dressing advising Sarah to keep the dressing on. The trouble with having it exposed is that it will attract flies and other insects which could lay eggs and bring all kinds of extra problems. We topped up Sarah’s supplies of swabs, sterile water for bathing her tumour and extra dressings. We also gave her a further supply of pain medication and multi-vitamins. Then we sat and chatted. Sarah loves to tell us all about what God has been speaking to her in the last week and she talks easily about the things he tells her. Things like; that He will never leave her or forsake her, that He will help her in her pain. It was inspiring to hear her and then June asked me to pray for Sarah. It struck me how blessed I had been hearing of God’s faithfulness to Sarah and I asked God to give me the right words as I prayed for her and that I could be a source of blessing in return.

Odette 4 yrs – Burkett’s Lymphoma

Odette lives in the same village as Sarah. She is only 4 years old and today’s was just a brief visit as its her birthday on Thursday & June wanted to let her mom know that she would return on Thursday with Cake for Odette and the children of the village in celebration of her birthday. The swelling on her face is clear evidence of this awful disease.

Odette - taken the day we visited

We only stopped a very short while with her at the end of a tiring day, but it was great to end the day with her. Odette smiled broadly and leaned in to me as we chatted and made plans for her birthday.

Palliative Care is all about showing love and care for those we are powerless to bring physical healing to, other than chemotherapy treatments, pain management medication and wound care. Most of the patients are terminally ill, except for a few who are able to start treatment early enough. We have cared for over 30 during this field service and only a handful of 10 – 12 are still alive. Palliative care is also about loving and supporting the families as much as possible as they struggle to look after their loved ones in their last days and then with the eventual funeral arrangements and a little help with expenses.

Please remember Robert, Sarah, Levi & Odette in your prayers and each of their families as they care for them.

Brenda

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[Coles Chronicles] News Stories on the Coles

Coles Chronicles

Dear Family & Friends

Please excuse the briefness of this message. I wanted to get this out to as many people as possible in the fastest possible time.

Mercy Ships recently ran a story on our family during the time that Matt was on board the ship over the Summer. The goal was to get this story published in time for World Maritime Day on 25th September. As a result of that story we have been interviewed by the Liverpool Echo, BBC Radio Merseyside and also there is a link below to an article in Christian Today

The Liverpool Echo is running the story in tomorrow's edition, so don't forget to get your copy!

BBC Radio Merseyside is airing the interview sometime between 6am & 8 am tomorrow morning 1st October on the Tony Snell breakfast show - be sure to tune in.

Any other links to stories about our family serving with Mercy Ships will follow.

In the meantime check out this link:

http://www.christiantoday.com/article/magnificent.seven.are.the.toast.or.africa/21519.htm

and this story on the Mercy Ships UK Website:

http://www.mercyships.org.uk/magnificent-seven

Andy & Brenda & family

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NEW CHIEF ENGINEER ON THE AFRICA MERCY

Thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for Andy during his exams. Not only did he pass, he achieved Grade 2 passes in both Mechanics and Naval Architecture. The pass grades range from 1 – 6 (1 being the highest, 6 the lowest)

We are incredibly proud of him. He himself will testify to God’s faithfulness and presence with him during his exams and will give God all the glory, but all credit to Andy too for his hard work and diligence which have been rightly rewarded.

At last night’s Africa Mercy Community meeting Andy was honoured by his Engineering Team who turned up in Dress Uniform (Black & Whites) to support him as he was commissioned into his new role as Chief Engineer. Both the Captain (Tim Tretheway) and outgoing short term Chief Engineer (Pete Johnson) made moving speeches in honour of Andy and the special occasion. He was presented with a working uniform shirt & his 4 stripes epaulettes.

Andy today in his working Uniform

Matt left last week after 5 weeks with the family on the ship. It was wonderful to have the whole family serving together for this time.

For more photo's click on the Flickr grid top left corner of the blog

The Cole Men in Action

Here are some great shots of Andy, Matt and Steve in the Engineering Control Room

Such a great opportunity for the boys to work alongside their dad!

I can't persuade any of them to work in HR - desk jobs are definitely NOT their thing!!

Back to School!!

After a long summer Emma, Chris & Josh are finally back at school for the new Academic Year 2008/2009 and can you believe Josh has graduated from Elementary School into Junior High?

Just before school re-opened the Mercy Ships Academy (as it's known on board) had an open house to which we were invited. The purpose to go and have a look around and chat with Teachers. This year is extra special as both Steve & Matt are on board to share the experience.

During the Summer Holidays:

You may ask what Emma, Chris & Josh did during the summer in the midst of rainy season in West Africa....well after having two weeks at the start of the holidays to just relax and play games etc...they joined different departments to help and do something productive with their time. This was a wonderful opportunity and they made lots more friends on board by being more actively involved in ship/community life.

Emma - worked in the Sales Department, which includes the Starbucks Cafe, Ship Shop & Snack Bar. This was a perfect fit for Emma as she is sociable. She loved the interaction this gave her with the crew.
Chris - worked in the Dining Room. He already had some friends who worked here so it was great fun for him. There is a real team spirit in this department, which is staffed by mainly our younger adult crew members. Josh - worked with the Academy Summer Program. He is a little young to work in a department so this was perfect for him. He loves small children and is very good with him. He's often been likened to the Pied Piper - where Josh goes there's usually some younger kids following!

Mini Break in Robertsport

We just got back from a 3 day break in Robertsport - a 3 hour drive West up the coast from Monrovia.

Stretch break en route!

View taken from our tent. It was a beautiful location. We stayed in tents on stilts with decking flooring. The set-up was so nice it could hardly be called camping!

Every convenience, at least while the generators were switched on!

Bearing in mind it is currently rainy season we didn't know what to expect of the weather. It had rained for 4 days solid prior to us going and we disembarked the ship and began our journey in the rain. By the time we arrived it was glorious sunshine. The sun continued to shine till the morning we departed! We had the most lovely time, relaxing in the sun, reading, watching the kids all play together in the lagoon, playing family games, including a darts tournament, Mexican Train dominoes, and card games.

Two of the evenings we had camp fires and roasted marshmallows and told funny stories including stories from childhood days. What a special family time.

Today is Matt's 21st Birthday and we look back in amazement at how our kids have grown and all that our family has done especially over the last 8 years since we joined Mercy Ships. It has truly been an incredible journey. We listen to our kids talk and realize just what a broad world view they have, along with an appreciation for so many different cultures.

We decorated our cabin door with pics of him at different ages, much to his embarassment!

Opening presents! After opening this one Matt can honestly tell his friends he got a helicopter for his 21st!

This remote control version has done many laps of our cabin today and then out into the mid ships area attracting a crowd.

Thank You for Your Prayers!!

Coles Chronicles

Thank You for Your Prayers!! Brenda

Thank you so much for your prayers today for Andy. His first exam is behind him and it went better than he could have hoped for. His exam was from 1:15pm - 4:15pm and I spoke to him about 15 minutes after he came out. I could hear the relief in his voice and the satisfaction, knowing that he had done well. He was able to choose questions that he felt confident in answering and he said the answers just flowed. He went into the exam with a sense of peace and the assurance that God was with him and that there was a whole host of people praying for him....so THANK YOU!

Please continue to lift him before the Lord for the last paper on Friday - Naval Architecture. Please pray that these last two days of study will be productive and that he will be able to absorb and retain all the information he needs. At least now he just has one to focus on!

Again - thanks - your prayers really made a difference

Brenda & Andy & family

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Prayer Prompt - Andy's exams this week!

Coles Chronicles

After 3 and a half months of long and intense study Andy is in the final few days before sitting the two remaining papers to complete his Chief Engineers License. He has worked incredibly hard but he needs and covets your prayers. These are two difficult subjects - Mechanics and Naval Architecture. The Mechanics, in particular covers very broad subject matter with over 35 subjects in the curriculum. The paper has 9 questions of which he has 3 hours to complete 6 questions. There are literally hundreds of mathematical formulas that he has had to learn and remember for this exam - no formula sheet provided. The two exams are on Tues 15th (Mechanics) & Fri 18th (Naval Architecture)

Please pray for:

• Peace and a tangible sense of God's presence with him
• That he would be able to decipher the questions (which are so amibuously worded)
• That he would be able to recall the facts he needs
• That God would reward and honour all his hard work and effort with success, so that he can return and step into this key role within the Ministry on board the Africa Mercy

Thank you so much - we know your prayers will make a difference!

Andy will fly back out to the ship in Liberia on 23rd July. There will be 2 wonderful family reunions, The Cole family reunion and Africa Mercy family reunion

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Steve in Engineering

Can you believe that Steve has already been on board the ship for a month, having arrived on 11th June? It's been more of an adjustment for him than I think any of us anticipated. He is anxious to know what is the next thing that God has for him and is certain that he is not meant to stay on the ship for more than a couple of months! Please pray for him that he will have peace during this time of waiting and trusting God to reveal the way ahead.

We are all excited that Matt will arrive this next week - Wednesday 16th July. Matt will also work in Engineering with Steve and of course Andy returns the following week on 23rd after 4 long months apart.

The pictures below were taken of Steve this week. He had come up to the Dining Room for his break. He's been on a particularly dirty job this last week tracing pipework under the deck plates in the Engine Room. He had a few experiences that tested his patience and endurance, one in particular when he got himself wedged in a very confined space and couldn't move. He was stuck there for an anxious 15 minutes which felt a lot longer, before working his way out!!

Our Recent Orphanage Visits

We have continued to go regularly to the same Orphanage that we were involved with during out last field service - The Centre for the Aged, Orphaned & Abandoned Children.
So far the rainy season, which has now officially started, has not hampered our visits. We continue to have fun with the kids with a variety of:
Games

Relay Races

Song Times - "Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes!"

The recent lessons which are always followed by a related craft activity, have included looking at the Fruits of the Spirit, The story of Zaccheus, The story of Jesus filling the Disciples nets after they cast them on the other side of the boat and then this week we looked at:
The Story of Creation.

It was a particularly fun week as we had recently been given a large donation of individual tubs of Play-Doh! We took these along this last week when we learned about The Creator God. After that kids had a wonderful time creating, plants and trees, fish of the sea, birds of the air, animals great & small and people of all shapes and sizes!

Emma, Chris & Josh continue to come along each time and thoroughly enjoy our time there, getting fully involved in all that we do. Emma loves to hang out with the teenage girls and this week chatted with those busy doing Laundry for the 65 kids that live there. Can you imagine that much Laundry, for that many children, all done by hand with washboards and soap that they make themselves?



No washing machines here!

One of my favourite activities is painting the girls nails. While I was doing this last time, one of the older girls came by and stood chatting to me whilst braiding my hair!