Sweet African Collage!

- Life is a Balance -

Created by Beau Chevassus, Freetown, Sierra Leone, inspired by Tara McHardy

They're all different photos, but they all have something in common.

6,646 miles later, here's what's going on:

• As of yesterday we're home from Africa! Everything is perfect! 
• After finding out the internet in our little house is 20mb/sec Beau sang "God Bless America" and wept profusely.
• Liz has kissed her cat Splat many times on her dusty little head, and Liz has already purchased her a shiny new collar.
• You Are Awesome is a very simple, one-take video Beau just uploaded on behalf of his African friend James The Receptionist. James loves Gospel music, Jesus, and Mariah Carey. He can bust out a song!
• What has shocked us the most thus far?  How quiet it is. Our ears are still humming from the ship's generators.
• We couldn't wait to go on a run without dodging traffic and jumping over deep sewer pits (although it was very exciting in Freetown); on our layover in Belgium, we ran through the city of Brussels (we saw NATO!).  Our body clocks were so messed up we did our run in the middle of the night.
• The Christian Broadcasting Network (yes, the CBN) featured footage shot by Beau. Check out the incredible story here: With No Hands, Man Teaches Others to Farm
• Take a quick peek at a video Beau made for a 5 year kid named Storm, through theMake A Wish Foundation. (Yes, the Make a Wish Foundation)... Storm on the Africa Mercy   Storm's wish was to come on the Africa Mercy, but since he was too sick, we brought it to him. It was an exhausting project, but totally worth it. Storm's family got back to us after the video was sent off and he absolutely loved it!
• We apologize in an advance if--when in the middle of a conversation with you--blurt out something nonsensical. Please treat it as culture shock or side effects of malaria medication.
       Hypothetical situation:
       QFC Cashier: "That will be $2.34."
       Beau: "I GIVE YOU $2! [throwing a little stick of beef jerky at cashier] AND THIS FOR FREE."
       QFC Cashier: "No, it's $2.34."
       Beau: [response (New window.)]
• Haven't seen our photos of us in Guinea? See the epic pics here!  Stepping Into Guinea.
• What happens next? Beau and Liz will be sharing a lot of cool stuff at Wabash Church (stay tuned for dates and times!). Beau will also be uploading more videos and photos.  Beau starts work at Internet Academy next week. 
• Local in Enumclaw or close by? Join us for an open house homecoming pot luck! Sept 24, 2011, 4:00-7:00pm.  21235 SE 396th St,Enumclaw WA 98022Bring something yummy (no rice or Beau will jump out a window and Liz will curl up into a little ball).

-Beau and Liz Chevassus

http://B.eaudacio.us/

Patient Story with Liz in photo!

Umu Fofanah

Story by Elaine B. Winn (Beau's good friend)

Edited by Nancy Predaina

Photos by Liz Cantu (Beau's good friend)

Umu sat next to her mother in the shade of the awning at the admissions tent. A quiet and modest 18-year-old, she had a very large tumor that expanded her chin, making it difficult to talk and leaving her bottom teeth in disarray. It had started four years before as a toothache, but then it grew rapidly, disfiguring her face and disrupting her life. She had been a relay racer on her school’s running team and played defense on the football team until verbal abuse from classmates became so degrading that she dropped out of school.



Her Aunt Fatmata had come to a Mercy Ships screening, hoping to find relief for her own health problem. But in the process, she met people with facial tumors similar to Umu’s. They were waiting for appointments for surgical repair. She knew her niece was afraid to go out because people laughed at her. So, she went to Guinea immediately to get Umu and her mother and brought them to a screening.

Grateful to have this opportunity, Umu and her mother sat in front of the admissions nurse, who offered encouragement while explaining the admission process. With all the questions answered, measurements taken, and the medical forms completed, she was ushered into a hospital ward in the middle of the afternoon. A bit hesitant and withdrawn, it took a while for her to become accustomed to her new surroundings. The fact that she was French-speaking added to her feeling of isolation. But the nursing staff soon made her feel welcome, and the patients in the ward treated her with understanding. When she discovered a day-worker who spoke French, she relaxed a bit.

The surgery went smoothly. When she awoke in her hospital bed, her hand could feel the growth was gone. One look in the mirror brought a huge smile as she jubilantly exclaimed, “I am beautiful, so beautiful!”  
The shy and retiring teen had bloomed into a lovely flower. The surgery had released a fountain of bliss that bubbled over, changing her demeanor into one of confidence and joy. She smiled at everyone around her.

After a few days of recovery and some post-operative care, Umu was released to begin her life again. “I am so happy to come here and do a surgery. I am so happy Fatmata brought me here,” she said with a warm smile. “If not for the ship, I would never have had a surgery,”

She is anxious to return to school to complete her education. “I want to be a doctor someday and come back to volunteer on the Mercy Ship,” she said. 

"4.5 months is a long time!"

"4.5 months is a long time!"
- Liz Chevassus / Yesterday

"Poseidon's Bane"
By Liz Chevassus

Certainly volunteers stay on-board even longer... most of our friends Africa Mercy are serving for +2 years. It's a tough environment.  By no means is Mercy Ships a cruise liner, nor do they choose destinations based upon how nice the beaches are.  The local people in Sierra Leone are even tougher.  Ask an Africa Mercy surgeon about the Sierra Leone women's posture, and he’ll respond with, "It's very difficult to position them in surgery."  That's because everything is carried on their heads, whether it's a purse or a motorcycle engine, and their neck muscles are overly developed.  And they start when they're 4 years old.

Living in an environment such as this can make one callous towards life.  If you were a Salone and had both your hands chopped off at 15 years old, how would you respond?  With bitterness or grace?  Actually the answer is the latter; a whole lot of grace. Bambay (“Bomb-bay”) is a man, about Beau’s age, who had his hands amputated by rebels who were high on gunpowder and blood.  And yet still, as Beau stood across from him with a camera, Bambay enthusiastically waved his arms in the air, speaking excitedly how God has sent “you,” Mercy Ships, to teach him how to farm.  “We used to slash and burn our fields. We would work like elephants and eat like ants.  But through Biblical principles, we learn to care for God’s land.” The man has unstoppable forgiveness in his heart, and a grace that only Christ can infuse.

Apart from 1,000s of surgeries and operations, this is what Mercy Ships does.  We didn’t know about these programs before coming to Sierra Leone. Did you know that Mercy Ships teaches Biblical agricultural skills (Food for Life), they hire hundreds of local workers to equip them with desirable work experience, they train local doctors, they show the Jesus Film to 1,000s of people, they establish orphanages for street kids (Mercy Children), and heck of a lot more?  Nor did we.  But that’s why Beau films what he films… to broadcast these things.  And that’s why Liz does what she does… to keep the Jesus example going. 

"Boy with his Catch"
By Beau Chevassus

Now, and we’ll attempt not to sound too cheesy here, but it’s the truth, and it has to be said: We’re not the ones doing these things.  It’s you.  His people.  Christ has equipped people like us, and our friends on-board, through you.

For Beau, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned (and I’ve learned a lot while being here), is the importance of giving.  It’s not ours—our time, our possessions, and even our health—so why cling so fervently to it?  Certainly we are to be good stewards, God wants us to be wise with what He’s given us, but never to the degree of making us worry or making them our number one priority.  After all… these possessions are technically not ours.  Be good stewards, but when it comes down to brass buttons (wrong expression, I know) give it away!

We have a deep respect for those who do crazy stuff like this for Jesus, and those who support those crazies.  We only wish we could offer more.  We will be finishing our work here in two weeks, and we're looking forward to rest, family, friends, and pie (pie first!).  We’ll talk to you all soon.

-Beau & Liz Chevassus

"The Fisherman's Crew" By Beau Chevassus