Amongst Heroes

Today I sort of had the morning off and was able to get some extended time in with God which was wonderful! But, I DID miss the hospital. Later in the morning, Sarah & Luke Thelander came to visit on their break from school. I love those two kiddos. And, OF COURSE, they were thrilled to show me the population of driver ants that developed outside my building. We spent a good chunk of time admiring them. Then, I went on a water-filtering mission for Joanna! …I walked down the hill to one of the storage buildings to try and find some stuff for Keir. That was kind of a failed mission because I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I took some pics to get some verification, so I’ll be going back ASAP to grab the correct item. But, it was a fun little mission…I love the walk to the hospital, even though I did get quite gross and sweaty.

Joanna, but particularly little Luke Thelander have me on a anti-dehydration program and are constantly shoving water into my system. So, everywhere I go, I pack my bag with a water bottle and flashlight (it gets very dark here at night and you never know what you might step on ;-). I also coat myself in bugspray, however that does not seem to do much as I am covered in Bifudou (Gabonese term for no-seem bugs) bites….they appear like little red specks. After my walk down, came back up and grabbed a few things before I picked up the Thelander kids. Sarah, Luke and I set off on another jungle adventure while their missionary parents had a meeting with other missionaries. Sarah & I playing Miss Mary Mack:



Then, we (Joanna, Sarah, Luke, Dr. Tom, Carrie & Jeff) all packed in the Thelander’s SUV to go into town, Lebamba. Bongolo falls on the way to town:



With Joanna’s help I was able to do some grocery shopping today in Lebamba. We also visited Gushar (the basket maker). Gushar is 25 years old, in school, and also has a wife and two kids (maybe more, not sure)…on the side, he makes baskets. If he passes the exam this year, he is hoping to go to university in Libreville. Gushar, the basket man:



Ose, the tailor, said he recognized me from two years ago…not sure if that’s true, but he DID take a picture of me in my Gabonese outfit back in the day!..Back to grocery shopping, food is generally pretty expensive and almost all stores carry the same things. Store/market in town and Gabonese kiddos:



Almost all the shops are run by non-Gabonese people. Most of the shop owners are Muslim and attend the small mosque in town. Joanna Thelander (missionary surgeon’s wife) and Deb (missionary pediatrician) told us that this is because it is virtually impossible for the Gabonese to save their money. This is because if a Gabonese man or woman does make money it is not solely theirs…if there is a need in the family (even extended family), that family has the right to demand money of the individual with more money. For this reason, there are a lot of half-built houses in Gabon. It is every Gabonese person’s dream to have a stone house, so when they amount any money they immediately start building, but more often than not, their source of money is depleted when relatives demand money…thus leaving a half built house.

After getting back to the mission station, my housemates and I were invited over to Dr. Deb’s for dinner. Pauline was also there. We had a lovely time. Pic of Pauline, Dr. Tom, Dr. Deb, Me & Carrie:



Honestly, it was an honor to sit amongst those that I consider heroes. I am coming to the realization…more and more everyday, that I am SO privileged to hang out and pick the brains of such amazing people. Everyone on this station and in Libreville, like Pauline, Deb, the Thelanders, Lisa, the Straws…are all SO fantastic. They are here to serve God by serving these people. I’ve been hearing and observing hospital stories all week and the dedication of these missionaries astounds me. They will stop at nothing to serve the Gabonese and every other patient so that each person at Bongolo Hospital sees the love of Christ. It is because of their love that people understand the love of God. Deb was saying that a mother and child came into today and the child was so malnourished, but the mother said that she didn’t have money for nutritious food, she didn’t have any family, etc….and Deb said told her that she was a young woman with talents who could find something to do and that she (Deb) would help her and do whatever it took to make sure that she received enough for food for her and her child...Long story short, I get to sit amongst and work alongside individuals that I consider heroes. Heroes because of their love, attitude and responsiveness to the call of God.

I told Deb it was good to be back "home" in Bongolo and she said that the first time you come you're a visitor and after that you come "home"...so she welcomed me back "home" ...So looking forward to spending some time with Dr. Deb in the peds ward! :-)

There was so many other things I wanted to write, but now I don’t remember!!!