And back....

The excitement of the past 2 months has become now the sobering reality of the future.  My future is now intertwined so deeply with West Africa, and particularly Sierra Leone.  It started with my daughter Kristin’s short term mission to Sierra Leone in 2011, where she worked with an organization called Word Made Flesh.  That 4 month stint then inspired her to go back in 2013 for a longer 2 year term.  And so I made plans to visit Kristin in the spring of 2014, planning to spend 6 weeks there to experience living once again in a 3rd world country, and helping out with the work there.  2 things happened in 2014 at the same time that would change my life forever.  The first was that a Dutch missionary, Heleen van den Brink, had her time of oversight by her professor changed from January to late March, and so she stayed on in Sierra Leone for 3 more months after completion of her term of service with a Mental Health organization called City of Rest.  And the second was the beginning of the Ebola epidemic, which particularly ravaged the countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.  And so, those events intersected with my visit to Sierra Leone, both affecting my life forever.  

The ebola epidemic at that time was just starting, so the effect on my visit was not that great.  I was working in a clinic which was run by Aberdeen Women’s and Children Hospital, and the final week I worked there, they made us wear gloves to examine every patient, and then finally closed down the clinic the last week...so a negligible effect.  And Heleen, well, I barely met her, but had 3 times of interaction on an informal basis which piqued my interest slightly..Once when I was invited to some friends of Kristin’s house for a meal, which she also attended.  (Later, I found out that this ‘chance’ circumstance was orchestrated by her friends, but love doesn’t care that it has been set up!) Then there was a time that we went to the beach with some other friends, as I went along to visit with her professor.  During that time, I visited with her professor and found out that he had spent a time in Guinea Bissau as a family practice doctor, and so he invited me to a mental health conference that he was giving in Freetown there.  So, since it was on my off day, I went there, and not knowing a lot of people there, ate lunch with Heleen and an American psychiatrist.  So I found out that she was single, that she was from the Netherlands, and that she loved the Lord.  But I left it there, when I left, thinking both things would soon pass.

Little did I know.  The ebola epidemic mushroomed over the next few months, and particularly in the last 3 months of 2014.  That inspired in me the thought that I was uniquely gifted to help in that effort.  I was familiar with West Africa, knew the language to some extent, and not as attached as a doctor with a young family.  And my work as family practice doctor and ER physician was good preparation for the work that would be going on over there...And so I investigated several opportunities, including Doctors Without Borders, Samaritan’s Purse, but with little success.  Meanwhile, Heleen left Africa for the Netherlands during my time in Africa, and so that did not bear fruit either.   

So...fast-forward 6 months plus…Through definite leading of the Lord, I am now engaged to be married to Heleen, and heading to Africa to Sierra Leone to work in an Ebola clinic in Sierra Leone.  I will be working with an organization called International Medical Corps, which will be staffing some of the new clinics in Africa started to treat the Ebola epidemic..so here we both go, as Heleen will be working with Save the Children.  We will be in separate cities, separated by more than distance, as no physical contact will be allowed for the 4 months that I am there.  But when you go in God’s will, there is peace, and so I am happy to help in any way I can over the next several months. So I (we) go in peace...