Reason

There is a reason ...
There is a reason ... I left my job in January.
There is a reason ... I volunteer my nursing skills to help others.
There is a reason ... I haven't received a paycheck in a long time.
There is a reason ... I won't see my family for nearly ten months.
There is a reason ... I live in a small cabin with five other girls.
There is a reason ... I am here and I want to share it with you.

They are the reason ...

 

I just wanted to share my heart and brighen your day with the smiling faces that light up world. I will be volunteering here on the Africa Mercy for the next five months and I pay to be here. All I want for Christmas is to be able to stay here to meet more smiling faces. If you are interested in finding out more visit my donor page at  http://mercyships-us.donorpages.com/crewmates/KariGriffis/ Merry Christmas!

Joyeux Noel

A few years ago a friend told me that he could see me walking down a road surrounded by little brown children. I laughed it off, never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would come true. For the past two and a half years has been an unknown dream realized. Growing up I really didn't think I would leave the state of Georgia none the less go all the way to Africa ... Three times! God has blessed me beyond imagination, giving me a life that far surpassed my dreams. Being the holiday season I've been thinking about what I am thankful for this year.

My job. I get to work in the coolest hospital in the world. Like seriously, no other hospital like it.

Making life-long friends with people from all around the world. I haves group of girls that are more than friends, they are the best sisters I could ask for on the ship.

Perfume and nail polish. I know, I know material things, but I've recently acquired both through friends and it just gives you a big confidence boost.

Wi-Fi ... In Africa!

Pecan pie ... Crazy right!? But when you have been here long enough, a little slice of home is amazing.

Just the beginning of a long list of things that I will compile over the next couple weeks, months and years. I challenge you today to think about what are you thankful for? What unrealized dreams have come to pass? 

Joyeux Noel! 

Manna

Manna - the food miraculously supplies to the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16:14-36)

We have something with a similar name here on the ship. MANA (mother administered nutritive aid) is given to patients who are malnourished or need an extra boost to heal. It’s kind of like really sweet peanut butter … yes I’ve tasted it. Though I’ve been handing these little packets of goodness out for two years it wasn’t until recently that I saw something on the back of the package. It reads … Manufactured by MANA nutrition, Fitzgerald GA. How crazy is that!? I’m not the only thing from Georgia over here in Africa. I’m serving these patients good old Georgia peanuts. I just wanted to thank all of the hard working farmers back at home who work day in and day out growing peanuts. It may not seem like you do much when you are riding on your tractor every day, coming home dirty and sunburned. You are literally saving lives and I for one am so thankful. Each of these little packets has 500 calories of nutritional support. I have seen starving children grow stronger. I looked it up on their website www.mananutrition.org, right here and right now on the Africa Mercy is not the only place you make a difference.

These packets literally are manna from heaven, sent to save lives. Pass this on and share this with your favorite farmer, let them know they make a difference.

What is beauty?

Beauty: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound,, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest).

What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of beautiful? A friend that is just gorgeous or maybe your children. Those are beautiful, but I wanted to share a story of beauty. It isn't the conventional beauty, when you first look you may even want to avert your eyes just because it is painful to see. Look beyond the scars.

The three words all little girls (and grown women too) want to hear .... "You are beautiful." How many of you have longed for those words when you are having a bad day and just aren't feeling very pretty? No matter where you go we are all the same, we crave affirmation. So is the story of Alice, a young girl from Uganda. Alice was very badly burned in a house fire leaving her with scars to her head, face and neck. With the help of a Ugandan veterinarian she was able to come to the ship. Alice has been with us from the very beginning. First as she waited for our hospitality center to open and now after her first of many surgeries. Alice has always been a little different from the other girls on the ward, maybe it is because she has no hair, or maybe it's because she doesn't speak French, but most shifts she sits on her bed quietly coloring with her Papa. But yesterday something else happened. When I came onto the ward yesterday she was happier and generally just more playful. She was walking around the ward with a big pink bow on her head bandage. One of my friends and co-workers told me why the change. I don't want to steal Natalie's story because there is power and emotion in her telling (I'll share a link when she tells it). But here is the most important part, after her dressing change Natalie handed her a mirror and she spotted the pink bow Natalie had secretly place on her head. She immediately giggled and couldn't stop smiling, she walked around the ward showing it off and receiving the affirmation of  "Beautiful" or "Jolie" in French. When I arrived hours later she was still beaming. She had been an outcast for so long but that one pink bow made all the difference. This right here is why I love this job.  It gives a whole new meaning to beauty out of ashes!

What is Your Name?

The question I am asked at least once a week, "What is your name?" The answer is Kari (pronounced like carry). With a ward full of children the response back is never the same. One such conversation started weeks ago with a teenage girl name Glore. She is one of our plastic patients being treated for a burn contracture. Because of the site of her contractures she has to wear an airplane splint. Imagine you are holding your arms out pretending your an airplane. Yep, that's what it looks like. Glore is 100% teenager complete with attitude and eye rolls. Needless to say I have to remind her at least once a shift to put her splint on. Glore and her gang of little minions (complete with a little boy named Mignon) definitely made our evening shifts interesting. There was a night where we weren't sure we wouldn't leave the ward for fear of a mutiny. They were going to take over! She is the reason for my insanity some nights but I love her so much. Why? Beneath all that drama there is a girl who loves so deeply and wants to learn so much. She sits beside me sometimes and just asks how to say things is English. Hair, earring and glasses are her favorite words to try to recite. In the process she is teaching me a small amount of French. I now know how to say "lay down" in French, which has come in very handy with the rambunctious little ones. She has also taught all of the other children how to pronounce my name ... I am now officially Kiwi. I wanted to share some photos of the people who call me Kiwi.


Jennica with two of our favorite girls!

Beautiful Glore with one of our nurses Betsy

As you can see lots of fun and energy!



Meet Graci ... she is adorable and has the most infectious laugh! She loves to give kisses and hold your face.

Don't let those dimples fool you, he is adorable and he knows it. He gets away with alot because of it!

Trusting is uncomfortable

God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are afraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through. 

I am currently reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I've read it a couple times before but I have been in a different place in my life each time. I just read the quote above this morning and it really resonated with me. That is exactly where I am right now, trusting and waiting for Him to come through. It isn't comfortable! It's quite scary not knowing what not only the future but next month will hold. There are several promises I am trusting God with, one being providing funds for this trip. Without his provision I could not be here. I know some of you think that I am such an amazing woman, living my life devoted to helping others. One of my friends put is best, she said Actually I am a horrible person who is loved and forgiven by an amazing God. I have certainly done things I am not at all proud of, but you know what God loves me just the same. He also loves you.

When you pray, your prayers are heard by the same God who 

answered Moses' prayer for water in the desert, the God who gave Abraham 

and his barren wife a son, and the God who made the slave Joseph 

second in power only to Pharoah.

He wants to give you big things. I just wanted to share my heart and challenge you to trust God for the big things. It's not comfortable but He has always come through. I hope this was as much an encouragement for you as it was for me. 

The right attitude

So here's the dealio ... I've been assigned to work on the General surgery ward. It wasn't my first pick, just being honest. One of my first thoughts involved, hmmmm .... Let's just say ice. Ice packs for male hernia patients. You ship alumni know what I'm talking about. Not my favorite part of general surgery. I miss the little cleft lip babies and the huge transformation that happens when a tumor is removed. I absolutely love seeing someone feel beautiful and accepted for the first time.

I kept sulking and pouting about it but then yesterday I realized something. This whole time I have been thinking about what I get out of it and not how I can serve others. Not very Christ-like huh? Yeah, I felt pretty guilty. One of my friends mentioned that every surgery here is transformational. It's so hard to think about the transformation when you don't see the facial tumors gone or bent legs straightened. It so true though, for those men and young boys the hernias are hindering their day to day lives. Maybe they are unable to work anymore or play football with their friends. It must be hard.

So as I work in the General surgery ward I want to keep a good attitude that I would make my Heavenly Father proud. I will show these patients the love and acceptance they deserve and maybe, just maybe I will have a transformation as well.