Page 27 - MyFaith Mag April - May web 2016

Left: Tertius operates on Left: The ship docks
‘Mercy Ships’ which are in some of the world’s
huge ships rigged out with poorest countries to
operating theatres and after offer free life altering
care facilities from stern to surgeries
bough and manned entirely
by volunteers

The journey of Jean Bosco -a cassava farmer in the Congo

A mysterious growth appeared on Jean’s back in 2003. What Jean calls his malady was, in
fact, a lipoma—a benign, soft-tissue tumour composed of body fat. Left untreated,
a lipoma can advance into giant proportions. In extreme cases, it can even weigh up to
eleven pounds. This helps put Jean’s plight into perspective—by the time he boarded the
Africa Mercy, the watermelon-shaped lipoma protruding from his back weighed twenty
pounds. In 2013, Jean’s lipoma ruptured and began to bleed. He had no choice but to seek
emergency medical care in Brazzaville but could not afford the surgery he would need..
But then he learned about the Mercy Ship that had arrived in his country...

Under the expert hands of South African volunteer Plastic Surgeon Dr. Tertius Venter, the
excision of Jean’s massive lipoma was complete in two hours.

Today, Jean is overjoyed with this gift he has received from Mercy Ships. “What could I
give Mercy Ships in return?” he asks. “What am I to say to God for what He has done for me? This ship goes beyond. This ship is in God’s truth”. “All I
can give is thank you.”

Jean Bosco—a farmer, a father, and a husband—can now return to
his family and his land as an unburdened man. His easy smile lights
up as he envisions his homecoming. “Imagine your favourite fútbol
team has just won the World Cup,” he says, “...that is exactly how my
family is celebrating as we speak. There is a very perfect joy that is
waiting for me and mine when I get home. It has been ten years
since I could rest on my back”. (Excerpt from Grace Antonini’s blog
‘Unburdened’. Used with permission).

CL myfaithmag.com Some of the
work that

Tertius Venter
has done over

the last few
years.

APRIL / MAY 2016 | 27