A Taste for the Unlikely

A couple of weeks ago I posted on the medical screening that Mercy Ships held here in Monrovia, Liberia. The following story was written by Claire who works in our Communications department. It gives another side of the screening and reminds me how privileged I am to work with this incredible group of people.

In the early hours of a Saturday morning, Monrovia saw the mobilization of a different force. Not the rag-tag bands of flip-flopped rebel soldiers; nor the motley militias loyal to the government; not even the United Nations peacekeepers in their blue caps and white tanks. A force bringing neither war and conflict, nor peace and negotiation. A much less likely force, bringing hope and healing. The more I work with Mercy Ships, the more I see that God has a penchant for the unlikely. It's unlikely that an ageing passenger and cargo ship, staffed by volunteers of different ages and cultures, would sail to serve in the world's poorest nations. It's unlikely that thousands of people would benefit from free healthcare, free development projects, and free educational programs in three short months. And it's unlikely that at a medical screening of hundreds of war-weary, poverty-stricken people, suffering conditions no developed nation will tolerate, you'd find joy,
peace, and love.

But that's what I saw at the screening in Monrovia's JFK Health Center on Saturday, March 19. Faced with deformed lips, cloudy eyes, and bulging bumps, the crew was ready with broad smiles, kind words, and gentle hands. From Craig, reveling in his first experience of screening as he managed the front of the line, to Deirdre, painstakingly scheduling patients at her thirtieth screening in 18 years. From Lauren, earnestly drawing out patient histories, to James, affably taking patient 'before' pictures. As I walked around the screening site, dropping in on different stations at different stages, I saw the fruits of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. People working for hours, helping person after person after person, giving their time and energy again and again. Jenni talking with people waiting outside, Linda singing to those waiting inside, Ed testing samples, Sam smiling at the door, Lucy drawing blood, Kristine checking eyesight, Chuck manning the exit, Henry praying with and for those we can't help. All these crewmembers and so many more, and none doing this for money, for acclaim, for anyone they actually know personally. It's all so unlikely - yet this is the force God has mobilized.

Maybe lasting peace in Liberia is unlikely; maybe permanent stability and security in West Africa is unlikely. Then again, light is unlikely in the depths of darkness. Hope is unlikely in the midst of despair. Life is unlikely in a body hanging limp on a wooden cross. Thankfully, our God has a taste for the unlikely.