"The End..."

To everything there is a season...one month shy to the day, three years later, we are leaving the m/v Africa Mercy.  It has been an incredible journey which has marked and changed our lives forever. 

The disembarkation forms are signed...

We wave good-bye to our home for the last three years...

Joshua, Mike, Alisia, and Deb

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth?
Did I live my life for you?

When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I have done
For love's rewards
Will stand the test of time

Lord, your mercy is so great
That you look beyond our weakness
That you found purest gold in miry clay
Turning sinners into saints

I will always sing your praise
Here on earth and in heaven after
For you've joined me at my true home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone.

Lyrics by Robin Mark

As we look back at our journey, we can almost see, but definately feel the presence of all those who walked this incredibale trek with us.  To all of you who prayed for us, supported us financially and gave us moral encouragement we give a heart felt thank you.  You may never know how important each and every one of your are to us.  To those who followed us on our blog, thank you, in times when we wondered if it really mattered, we would notice the numbers increase in those following our blog.  Yes, we physically walked the journey - but ALL OF YOU gave us the strength.

The end of this journey...we wait upon God to show us the next...



"It is Official..."

Tomorrow we will walk off the gangway of the m/v Africa Mercy for the last time...it has been an amazing three years!

"Arrival..."

After 10 days at sea, we found land...Tenerife, Spain.  This will also be our last port arrival for the Jacobsen family. 

 I took this picture for my dad...the Tenerife Opera house or as most of us call it "the Helmut".

 Our new friend decided to ride the ship into land instead of fly...

 Joshua and his friends...

 Alisia...

 Mercy Ships flag...

 The Pilot boarding the ship...

 Docking...

AHHHHH...the mountains of Tenerife....

"Power..."

The last few days have been a bit more rough...but really not that bad!  I am always in awe of the majesty, beauty, and power of the ocean.

Thanks Shelly for the pictures.

"Activties..."

When you are on a hospital ship with 240 people sailing from West Africa to the Canary Islands for 10 days...what does the crew do?

 Hang out on the bow with friends enjoying the sun...

 Watch for flying fish and dolphins...

 Watch the waves...

 Appreciate the sunset...

 Laugh with friends...

 Worship on deck 7...

Play for Open Mic Night...

Play golf...sock golf actually...

Othere activties scheduled are movies nights, board game night, Pirate night and dance...basically the sail is a time to get caught up on work, rest, relax, and have some fun with friends...

"Sailing..."

So what does being at sea look like?

 View from where we have come from...

 View to where we are going....

 View from the port side...

View from the starboard side...

...basically 360 degrees of water...

"Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink."

From:  The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Good-bye Africa..."

The time has come where the Land Rovers have been lifted onto Deck 8...



Where they have been secured for the sail...

Where patients once slept, now hospital supplies are tied down and stored...

All crew members have been accounted for...

 The dock is empty and clean...

The gangway is lifted...

 We wave good-bye to friends...

 Sharing this moment with family...

And we waved good-bye to Togo...to Africa...it is our prayer that one day God will bring us back to to this amazing continent...Africa will always remain in our hearts...the drums will always resound in our soul...we have forever been touched and changed by the people we have met and the worship we have shared...

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace..."  Numbers 6:24-26

"Endings pt 2..."

With the every changing life on the m/v Africa Mercy, the one constant is the good-byes.  The last few weeks has proven to uphold that fact.  We have seen an almost mass exodus of over 200 crew members in the last three weeks.  All the scenes are pretty much the same.

 Crew gather on the dock to say farwell to their beloved friends.

 Joshua and his best ship bud Ethan.

 Our friends Barry and Cheryl, whom we first met at Gateway in 2009.  We have travelled a long road together!

 Sharon and Tim we have shared many adventures in the towns, on the beaches, and at the local pools.  We have walked many miles together!

 Our ship-daughter Becca and ship-son Greg.  God has blessed us with the privilage of seeing the matuaration of a beautiful couple.  (Becca was with us at Gateway in 2009 also.)

 And of course, precious friends....

Good-byes are never easy...so we try to say "see you again".

1 Thessalonians 1:3 "We [will always] remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

"Endings..."

Towards the end of our time in a country, certain events begin to happen which add to the reality of the ship leaving-dock pack up and on ship drills.

 We have a Mercy Team* here helping us pack up the four tents we were using on the dock and doing other jobs that need extra hands as we prepare the ship to sail. (*A Mercy Team is a group of individuals who come for a period of time when the ship needs extra manpower to get things done.  They can either be a team assembled from different places or a team from a church-they are GREATLY appreciated! )

 Then there are the "at sea muster drills".  Where we practise putting on our life jackets and going to our life boat stations. 

 Joshua and me (Alisia gets to stay on the air conditioned ship in reception!)

For the first time in three years, Mike actually has to practise putting on his life jacket! 

"Day Workers..."

This year we have had about 200 Togolese Day Workers work with us on the ship.  Many of them are students, Pastors, medical persons, seamstresses, cooks, shop keeps and some are unemployed.  Many of them have worked with us in Benin, Sierra Leone, and now twice in Togo.  What we do as Mercy Ships is impossible without their partnership.  They help us translate into many of the local languages in the hospital areas (some of them speaking 5 or 6 languages), clean the ship, do laundry, cook in the galley, work on the decks of the ship painting and chipping paint.  They  explain the culture and customs of West Africa.  They extend copious amounts of grace when we blunder through some of the customs, culture, and language.  We laugh with them, cry with them, we are brothers and sisters with them.  I am so blessed to call many of the Day Workers friends.  Thank you for all your hard work, patience, and grace.

"Good-Bye..."

This is always the difficult time in the field service...the good-byes.  Not only are we saying good-bye to crew members who have become like family, we also say good-bye to the day workers who we have worked next to for the last 6 months, but we also have to say good-bye to the churches where we have worshipped. 

We thank the Lord for bringing us back to Togo to see friends and churches we came to know and grow to love in 2010.  So the farewell was even more difficult.

Two weeks ago we said good-bye to what we have call the "small church".

 We sat in our normal spot near the kids at the back and listened to the Sunday school class.

 We presented 10 girls with English bibles.  One of the things we enjoyed doing was sharing translations.  They would look at their French Bible and we would share with them the English Bible.

 Mike gave his farewell sermon, encouraging the church to remain faithful.

 And a special good-bye to our church daughter Mawu.  She has become precious to us.

 This last Sunday we said good-bye to the "big church".

Pastor Emmanuel had all the church gather around us and pray for us...what a special send off this was.

 Then Pastor Emmanuel invited us to his office, and presented Mike with a chief's outfit...what an honour.

Mike and Pastor Emmanuel.