putting a name to a number

We are safely arrived at the Canary Islands in Spain! After a tearful goodbye to Conakry and five days of somewhat rocky but beautiful sailing, we finally spotted land today. The skyscrapers were definitely a change of scenery from miles and miles of ocean. It's a bit cooler here and the shipyard looks quite a bit different than the Conakry port. It's much more touristy, there's a lot less trash, and I'm amazed with how many foutes (white people) there are here! :)

I have one last (well maybe not the last..) story to tell from Guinea before we left. A few days before departure, my friend Kristina saw a man giving pedicures off the street near the fish market we were walking through. She was intrigued and determined to get her toe nails done. So later that afternoon we went back to the same place, only to find the man gone. A lady with a baby came up and with the little English she spoke, said that she would find him for us.

While we waited, the woman invited us to sit down in the shade and I asked if I could hold her cute baby. Not a problem. I was touched with how she invited us strangers in and were so willing to help us without knowing us at all. Two men finally showed up, seated us on a table, and starting cleaning our filthly feet. I shamefully kept apologizing for the dirt, but the boy wiping them off just smiled and said, "It's no problem." He looked oddly familar, but I couldn't remember where I had seen him. I then noticed a Bible laying on the table, which I haven't seen in Conakry outside of church.

He asked if I was from Mercy Ships, and then asked, "So you're a Christian, right?"

"Why yes, I am."

He then proceeded to tell me that his name was John, he was from Liberia, 18 years old, and had come to Guinea because of the war. Once he came to Guinea, he started attending the church Amour de Dieu in Conakry. There it was! It clicked. The very first week I was here I went to Amour de Dieu, and this boy came up to me and introduced himself. He told me he had some medical problem and that he desperately needed help. I sadly had to tell him (like many others) that all the surgeries were filled. However, while I was getting my toes done, John told me that he had his hernia surgery this past March on the Africa Mercy and was healing very well. He showed me his Mercy Ships release papers that were inside his Bible. I was so happy. A total of 2,873 surgeries have been performed during the outreach in Guinea, but what a difference it makes to actually know someone whose life was transformed through your work. I was struck with how through just a simple, and kind of silly idea of getting our toes done... I was able to remeet someone directly effected by Mercy Ships. John is now healthy, doing good business, and trusting in the Lord. Praise Jesus!



This is the sweet lady that helped us and let me hold her baby.



John and I, post pedicure :)