Equipping to Serve

 


Equipping the GLM Hospital and Preparing the GLM Crew for Mission 

The Global Mercy (GLM) returned to Tenerife, Spain in July 2022 for additional equipping of the ship's  hospital and community members. Tenerife is a beautiful island enjoyed by Europeans because of the sunny weather, many beaches and diverse landscape for hiking.  The well developed Tenerife area has good roads, housing, and a stable Spanish government. Any comparison with Dakar, Senegal is easily noticed in the infrastructure and the luxury resorts found along the coastal areas of Tenerife, Spain. 

Many of the GLM crew talk about a feeling of disconnect when enjoying the lovely ocean views, hikes and well developed shopping areas because of their desired goal to be in the planned mission work within Sub-Saharan Africa. The Mercy Ships organization encourages the crew to think about this time as the important start of the GLM mission. Our current time in Tenerife, for the equipping phase, is viewed as a moment in history for our new purpose-built hospital ship. We are expected to be in service by February 2023. The unexpected equipping time is complicated by electrical issues in the hospital which needs correcting, and general supply and shipping delays haunting our world. The Mercy Ships organization focuses on the hope for the Global Mercy to help people without safe surgical care for the next fifty years. 

My time on the ship is filled with leading and participating in community groups which promote faith. The groups include the study of C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity, Women in the Bible, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor ... and Yourself (Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert), Chosen series, and Making Peace with Change: Navigating Life's Messy Transitions with Honesty and Grace (Gina Brenna Butz). Every crew member, including the captain, engineers, deck support, hospital clinic professionals, technical team, teachers in the academy for family members from 2-18 years of age, and dining room/galley servers, hospitality, and chaplaincy, are aware of the transitions that continue to occur as we live away from the familiar lives in former home countries. Whether change occurs after a positive choice or a necessary decision, navigating to the new normal routine is demanding and stressful. The community groups are designed to help crew feel a supportive involvement. 

Part of my role on the GLM is leading worship services and doing devotions during meetings around the ship. On Labor Day (not a holiday for the GLM in Tenerife) I spoke during the mandatory Monday 'All Hands' morning meeting on the importance of community. The word community has many definitions as we think about a group of people living in the same place or having particular characteristics in common. Community may also bring up personalized emotional feelings based on the desire to be loved. I believe community is a place where people know our name and talents. When I was working on my doctorate in psychology, my education created a strong theoretical belief after reading, 'We've Had a Hundred Years of Psychotherapy - and the World's Getting Worse, by American psychologist James Hillman and writer Michael Ventura. This inspiring book focused on the lack of community support in our social systems and resulting increase in psychological distress. Community is essential for psychological wellbeing. Community is God's desire for us.

Romans 12:4-5 states we are better together than we are alone. "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others". 

Growing up I loved being in community around a campfire. We would make s'mores by roasting marshmallows on the open fire, hoping for the golden outside with creamy center, and placing the treat between two graham crackers. I realize the concept of a s'more is a north American creation with the word s'more simply meaning "some more". The image of a warm fire also creates another community time as I remember my family gathering on a cold Minnesota winter night. The sound of crackling wood and smell of the fire in the fireplace is a treasured memory of family time. Community time is essential throughout our lifetime. When there is an unhealthy community time, whether at home, church, work or in a friendship group, there will be suffering.

I talked about my childhood memories of community around a fire because I wish to use the analogy of a FIRE TRIANGLE when talking about God's desire for us. For a fire to occur there needs to be 3 elements - oxygen, heat and fuel. If one of these elements is missing - the oxygen, heat or fuel, the fire ceases to exist. Community also needs three elements to exist. A community requires the elements of love, passion and people. 

LOVE - Love is similar to the oxygen needed for a fire. Love is essential for community harmony. We are called to love one another, care for one another, pray for one another, encourage one another, support one another and counsel/guide one another.

PASSION - Passion is the heat in the fire of our community. The passion (heat) gives energy for our faith walk with Jesus. God wants His world to live with a passion for peace and harmony. Passion will nourish us and build hope in days of struggle.

PEOPLE - People are the fuel of the fire. Without LOVE, PASSION, and PEOPLE, we will not have community, People ignite (fuel) the community fire by bringing love (the oxygen) and passion (the heat) to the gathering.

As we go forth in our communities, let us pray for a strong and loving place to live.

* Let us pray that everyone feels a sense of belonging.

* Let us pray that our community helps us experience diversity with a desire to learn and embrace the beauty of God's vastly diverse world.

*Let us pray that our community holds us accountable to live justly.

* Let us pray that our community offers support where there is a need.

* Let us pray we find love, joy, passion, health and peace in a loving community.


  
Beautiful community in Tenerife - Igueste San Andres

Hiking in the Igueste San Andres area


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