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January 03, 2005
I am going to Africa
On Friday I escape the cold of Britain to head off to Africa for three weeks in Benin. I will be visiting friends working on the ship “Anastasis” of Mercy Ships Ministries, which is docked in Cotonou. I will be helping out in whatever ways I can, and hope to write regular posts here, including photos.
Mercy Ships is a great ministry, expressing the heart of Christ for the poor and needy. The Anastasis is a hospital ship, performing operations free of charge to remove tumours and cataracts, repair cleft lips and palates, and correct orthopaedic and women’s reproductive health problems. These are operations that are normally unavailable or unaffordable for people, and can be literally life-changing.
However, you will be pleased to know I won’t be performing any operations while on board! Alongside these operations, mobile teams are active – in liaison with government programmes – in local communities for health education, vaccination, and community development. I expect to do some translation work, join a team working in nearby villages on an adult literacy training project, and do some personal outreach and ward visiting. Benin is a French-speaking country, and there are also Fulani there, so I don’t anticipate too much trouble finding people to talk to.
As well as my own postings here, you can go to the Mercy Ships website to read the latest ship reports from the Anastasis.
It will be great to get back to Africa, even for such a short time. I have never actually been to Benin before, so it should be interesting. Benin is on the West African coast next to Nigeria, and shares a border with Burkina. There is freedom of religion. It is the home of voodoo, and Islam is weaker there than in Burkina. Christianity is mostly Roman Catholic, with about 1.2% of the population being evangelical.
Posted by Keith at January 3, 2005 10:06 AM
