"Freetown, Sierra Leone..."

Well, after14 days of sailing from Cape Town, early this morning, we arrived in Freetown Sierra Leone.  This was our first glimpse of Freetown this morning....

The air had the faint smell of burning fires and the sun began to burn off the mist of the early morning... 

On the dock, patiently waiting for our arrival, is our Advance Team, Gateway Group, and various crew members that arrived before the ship.  Also there is a band, the Minster of Health and other dignitaries...

Two of our Sierra Leonean crew members present the flag of Sierra Leone to a former patient.  (This is Mercy Ships 5th trip to Sierra Leone.)

The crew had been practising the national anthem to bless the country with upon our arrival...

Advertising for our screening on March 7th...

The new view from our window...

Mike on the bridge wing watching the events unfold on the dock...

We now, in honour of the nation we are serving, are flying the flag of Sierra Leone...

May God bless our time here, may we not only bring hope and healing to this nation, but the clear demonstration of God's love and peace...

"Sailing Olymipcs II..."

What do a group of people do when they are banned to a ship for two weeks and not able to go ashore...Olympics.

Today some very creative people got together and set up ship wide Olympics.  The games consisted of 'can' curing, 'can' you remember, and other 'can' games.

Alisia's team was the dolls-she was the toymaker.

The best team was presented with the ultimate trophy...a can replica of the Africa Mercy!

"In the Spirit..."

To get into the Spirit of the pending arrival into Sierra Leone, Alisia decided she needed to take off her normal black nail polish and do a makeover.

The makeover on her nails ended up to be in the spirit of the Sierra Leone flag.  The green stripe represents agriculture, the country's natural wealth and its mountains. The white stripe stands for justice and unity, and blue represents the Atlantic Ocean and the harbor of Freetown, the country's capital.

"Equator..."

If you think I have been ignoring the blog, I have not.  It seems that for some reason Google did some changes and our Tech. team did some changes and they were not compatible.  So we been patiently waiting to get access again...

Today we crossed the equator and are now back in the Northern Hemisphere.  My friend Shelley took this picture...amazing.

"The Creche..."

I wanted to get caught up on a couple of stories that I missed while we were at Appelbosch.  While we were staying at Appelbosch, in South Africa, one of the things we did to minister to the community was help paint a local creche (which we be a type of school in the US). 

On Thursday evenings, during our community service we often take an offering.  One of the offereings was to raise enough money to buy paint and painting supplies to help brighten up this creche.

A group of people got together for a couple of Saturdays and do what we do best...minister to the people through actions.

The Creche...

Cleaning out the carpet...

Stenciling after the walls were painted...

More stenciling...

The amazing work crew...

"Sierra Leone..."

Check out this link to Tim and Hannah's most recent blog dated 2-16-2011.  They are currently on our Advanced Team in Sierra Leone and have some great pictures from the advanced screenings. click here 

Thanks again Tim and Hannah and the rest of the team for all the advance work you are doing!!  See you soon!

"Leaving Cape Town..."

This amazing picture was taken as the Africa Mercy was leaving Cape Town.  Table mountain is in the background.

"The Tee..."

The front...

The back...

"Appelsbosch Gang..."

This is the crew, that for the most part, spent the last five months at Appelsbosch.  We had t-shirts made that said "I survived the Bosch". 

Thanks Murray for the picture

"Welcome Home..."

We have been back on the ship for just over a week now.   This was our Welcome Home to the ship. It really felt like we were returning home after being in exile!  What a wonderful welcome!!

Flags of all the countries were on display from Deck 7...as well as balloons on the gangway...

Thanks for making us feel so welcome and special!!

The rest of the week has been a crazy and intense!  As we prepare to sail, sometime in the future, there are so many things that have to happen.  This last week several times, over the overhead public address system, you would hear:  "All available crew to deck 3 to help unload supplies."

 Now, these supplies were not just one or two boxes, we were unloading 6-10 pallets of boxes or delivery truck loads...mostly food and ship shop supplies that would last us the next few months. 

How is this done?  The truck park on the dock at the aft gangway.  A human chain begins to form...the chain continues through the pilots entrance rounding the corner, down the hall, down the stairs to deck 2, down the hall and into the frozen storage area (about 50 or 60 people).  Or one person takes a load of boxes (ie: chocolate bars) carries them down the hall to the left, up 48 stairs, and then walk 1/2 the ship length about 65 steps to the fridge in the galley....back down the stairs and repeat.

Needless to say we all slept very well at night and had a few achy muscles in the morning.

AAHHHH...ship life.....

"Good-Bye Durban..."

Well, yet another bitter sweet day...we have had quite a few of those lately! 

On Thursday we left the Durban harbour.  For a normal ship this would really mean nothing.  But for us, it means God's hand was working even into the wee hours of the morning.  As many people know, we have been going through a major overhaul on the ship these last few months. 

When we arrive in Durban on September 1st, the crew of the Africa Mercy embarked on a journey that would run new cables through the ship, fix up the galley, replace the generators and add a new A/C system and many more fixes that I don't remember.

Our technical team worked thousands of hours in hot humid conditions to accomplish this task.  Needless to say, our leaving Durban on Thursday, was a tribute to the effort and hours that they put in to the refit of the ship.  Without their efforts we would still be sitting in Durban...Thanks Technical team!!

So, what does this mean...it means we are on our way to Sierra Leone.  Our advance team has been working extremely hard these last few months to prepare the way for us.

So we are on our way...

 Some of the kids waiting for the lifeboat drill to end...

The tug pulling us away from the dock...

Linde and Alisia...

Bendik and Joshua...

Good-bye Durban...

The berth where the Africa Mercy has spent the last five months (less the time in dry dock)...

The helicopter the took the pilot off of the ship...

"Goodbye Appelsbosch..."

Last week we drove out of Appelsbosch for the last time in five months.  It was rather a bitter sweet moment.  Appelsbosch was been a real struggle for me in many ways.  For those of you who know me and my propensity to have things clean, neat, orderly,  "perfect", in working order etc...Appelsbosch challenged me to the core of my being. 

It gave me a great respect for people who live in far worse conditions and are happy.  Maybe not happy, but they don't let their "lack" affect their outlook on the day, week, life.  Paul says in Phillipians:  "...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am."  Can I say this?  To be honest, no.

I will always remember our time at Appelsbosch for the crew members I got to know better, for getting to know people I normally would not have a chance to get to know, for the incredible scenery every morning, for our new church family, for the daily struggles of living there...but most of all for the lessons in life it taught me about myself.

There will be things I will truly miss about Appelsbosch...

The treehouse the kids played in...

The rope swing...

Claire's Corner where we would sit and talk...

Overlooking the amphitheatre...

The kids tire swing...

Packing up and waiting...

Driving down the road for the last time...

"Visitation..."

As you have heard me say for the last few months, we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our "extended" church family in Wartburg.  Since they have been so hospitable and gracious by opening their hearts, homes, and sharing their meals with us, yesterday we had the privilege to be able to share our home with them.

The captain open the ship up for crew to be able to bring personal visitors onto the ship on Sunday.  We had such a wonderful time showing them around our floating home and sharing Peter's wonderful pizza and of course now "world famous"chocolate chip cookies!

The crew saying good bye...yet again...We love you guys and will miss you...one day we will be together again...in God's timing!