So
I’m in DTW airport waiting
to board my flight to Germany. It’s 5:50 est and 10:50 Ghana
time. It’s kind of weird to
think
that it
really should be bed time not
dinner time. There are a lot of things that are different to think
about. Like, I won’t be on U.S. soil again till July. I
won’t see
anyone I know right now again for 6 months. Right now 6 months seems
like such a long time, but I know on my way home 6 months will seem
like nothing. God has been so
amazing through my getting ready to come it’s almost
like I keep waiting for the “let down� but when I was
checking my
luggage the group in front of me was from Spring Arbor U.
They will be
on the plane with me to Germany. Just having someone to
watch my
luggage while I go to the bathroom it so nice. So far everything
has
been really smooth; other then I forgot to take my liquids out of my
carry on so they had to check that all out; but I made it
through. Now
I’m just praying that I get on the plane with all my carry
ons.
Well I
guess that’s all for now, I’ll try to write more from
the plane or
Germany or something like that.
01-03-07 afternoon
I’m
on
the ship! I made it last
night at about 8:30 Ghana time
(3:30 est) or so. I had no real problems, I didn’t get lost at
any
airport. I got through immigration and customs quickly, I hardly had to
say anything I just showed them my Mercy Ship documentation and they
waved me right on through. Last night was kind of hard, they basically
showed me to my room (room 133) after I filled out more paper work (oh
the joy). Then I was by myself to unpack. My roommate was not here in
the room at the time, he was watching the football (soccer) game on the
TV up stairs. So I felt very alone, but I did get everything unpacked
and I’m kinda sorta settled in my room.
I got lucky as I have a shower and toilet connected to my room we
do
share it with our neighbors. I did get to take a shower which after 20
hours of flying and hot airports and stuff I really needed although
it’s nothing like showers at home. In Ghana we have it really
nice
because we can take 3-4 min showers but once we move to Liberia we will
be limited to 2 min showers do to lack of water.
We have three people living in this room but one will not be back
until the 15th or 17th I think from his holiday (vacation). Seth is the
roommate I’ve meet and he is form here, Tema Ghana. He seems
very nice
and so far has been amazingly easy to get along with. In fact he keep
insisting that I take up more space.
I was able to fall asleep last night at around 10pm (5est) and
sleep
till 6:30 which is when Breakfast starts. Then I decided to walk around
the ship a little. I found the aft deck and the Community Development
Services (CDS) office and met the director Mark. He showed me
around a
little before my welcome orientation which was at 10:30; then after
that I met with the HR department then it was lunch time. After
lunch,
I took a 30min nap then I had to go to the crew clinic to show them my
“yellow card� or that I had gotten all the vaccinations
I need have.
Then a quick stop by the crew bank to pay my crew fees and open my
account. Afterwards I met Collin, who I was going to start
working on
the well drilling rig with but when I met with him I found out that
they won’t have the part ready to put back on till Friday, so
he just
showed me the rig. It has two small John Deere diesel engines, and for
the most part is hydraulically driven.
Then I had free time to relax so I thought I would do my
best to get
lost and learn somewhere new to go on the ship. So I got my horrible
map they gave me and set out to find the ship shop where I buy what I
need while on ship. But it turned out to be closed on Wednesdays so
then I thought I would find the gift shop. Which is just about as far
away as you can get on the ship, but I did find it and I bought a
lanyard for my ship ID. They have tee shirts and a bunch of native
stuff. It is a pretty cool little store.
Then I needed to get my power inverter checked out so I
went on
another adventure to find the electricians office, which you guessed
it, is right next to the ships shop. Oh well it only took me half the
time to get back so I must have learned something. Oh yea, by the way,
my roommate Seth is an electrician so that’s cool I got to
see
where he
works.
Which brings me to now, I’m just sitting here
typing to
ya’ll.
Although I probably wont get this posted till tomorrow the 04 because I
have to wait to get internet access, until I’ve taken my I.T.
orientation which is tomorrow evening at 4pm.
Tonight I have my tour of the ship and then the only other
orientation is safety, which will be held next Monday evening at 8.
So that’s what my first evening, morning and afternoon
look like.
I’m praying for you guys as God lays you on my heart, and long
to hear
from you all and see how you are all doing.
Thanks
Mike
><>peace in<><
01-03-07
evening
Well I hope
you all
don’t get used to
all these posts or really just
this one really long one because I haven’t been able to get on
the
internet with this computer. But anyway I just wanted to talk about
dinner tonight and after wards.
01-04-07 So I got dirty today. I
decided to
show up at the CDS office and see if
there was anything I could do. Mark my “boss� had me go
down to the
storeroom and sort though the tools and see what we had. It only took
me 20 min to find the store room but I did and then I spent the next
hour and a half just going through the maintenance type tools but I
found a good set I think. Then I went back up to the office to see what
else I could do and they decided to give me a 4x4x5 crate on the dock
to keep my tools in so I got to go to town with Gordi and look for some
secure hinges and latches; that was a trip in itself. And I thought
high school drivers were bad. So I spent 30,000
cd’s
which is the
money used here that is roughly $3
U.S. Then after lunch Gordi helped me work on the crate a little, and
we got it all secure. So now I don’t have to haul the tools up
and down
two flights of stairs and through lots of small hallways.
Then I had a
little
time before my IT
training so I took a shower
and tracked down my power inverter; which is beyond help, but
that’s
ok. I found out today that most things in the U.S. can run on 220volts,
as long as it tells you on the plug. My laptop, DJ, hard drive, and
camera all can but my speakers can’t but, oh well.
I’m happy I can use most of it. Ok, well its bed time again so
peace to
all and to all a good night.
Mikey
><>peace
in<><
Thursday,
January 4th, 2007
so
i had my IT training today. but now i need to get my laptop set up.
then i can post everything i’ve written on there. i would have
it all
set up but there was a small problem with my power converter so i had
to get a new one. but i did learn that i just needed a plug adaptor not
a power converter and they had one in the shop here on ship so it is
charging and maybe tonight after the community meeting i’ll get
it set
up. thanks again for your prayers and you can pray cause i start
working tomorrow on the well drilling rig.
mike
><>peace in<><
01-06-07
Wow what an amazing two days. Yesterday, Friday, was my 1st real
day of
work. In the morning Collin, Bob and I got the drilling head and chains
back on the drilling rig and I got to see it work for the 1st time.
Well work isn’t really true, I got to see it move like it
should.
Tuesday I think they are taking it out to drill the 1st well since
I’ve
been here. I’m really bummed that Monday through Wednesday of
next week
I have another orientation in the mornings so I don’t get to go
out
with them, but please pray it works and all goes well.
Then
after
lunch I got to go out
to the polyclinic, which means
many clinks. Mercy Ships is building a new maternity ward so I got to
see that and the bobcat I’ll be working on and one of the
cement
mixers. Which I know now is broken thanks to me wanting to take a look
at the motor on it. Oh the joy. Dad I may need some advice on
rewinding
pull cord springs if I can find all the parts.
Then today,
Saturday, after breakfast
I didn’t know what to do so I took a nap, it sounded like a
good idea.
Then I thought I would go do some laundry. Well the next available time
slot was 2 pm so I walked around the ship and relished the haze as at
started to lift and for the 1st time I could see outside of the harbor
towards the sea, and there was about 20 ships out there waiting to come
in but unfortunately non came in while I was watching. Then I was
getting a drink before I was going to do laundry when Sarah asked
me if
I would like to go to town with Rosemary, Jessica and her. So I gave up
my laundry spot and went with them to the market in community 1; which
is the area of Tema right out side the harbor. It was really crazy,
hundreds of little places to buy things, and thousands of people crowed
into walkways barely big enough to walk through. Juan, who is
from the
DR, drove us there. So the girls went off to do their shopping and I
followed Juan as he did his. What a crazy time. He was buying fruit and
eggs for himself so he could have better meals when he wanted to. Then
he bought two snails they are huge here, I’ll post a picture as
soon as
I can to show you but he named one Grandma and the other Sam. They are
pretty cool.
After dinner
Jessica, Rosemary, Sarah,
Juan, some others, and I
watched a movie in Juan’s room with a projector, it was really
cool.
Now it's time to go to bed because I want to be up in time to go to a
local church with Sarah and Michael. So yea, I hope your all getting
really jealous and want to come now.
Mikey
><>peace in<><
01-11-07
So yea I know its been like two or three or maybe four
days
but hey
I have friends now so I’m busy and I work some times, really I
do. Well
I really haven’t worked much yet but mostly because everything
is out
and being used, but today I had the most amazing time. I was going to
help the well team drill the well they are working on but the pipes
they needed to continue so I went with Pam and John-Peter to get water
samples and pictures of the wells. It was so much fun.
It’s about
a
hour or hour and half from the ship to get there. If you see a map of
Ghana I was just south of the big lake on the river. I did get some
pictures of me pumping the well and a lot of pictures of the kids. I
loved the kids
It was a very rural area, and the kids loved to see
themselves
on
my camera. So I would take pictures and then I would show them which
was really fun at the smaller villages but one stop me made was at a
pretty good size school. So I took pictures of 20-30 kids and then they
all wanted to see the pictures so they keep pushing in. I had to
squat
down for them to see and they finely pushed me over so I got back up
and kept showing them. One little boy came up behind me and brushed off
my back and my butt for me it was so awesome he was so shy about it but
really wanted to help clean me off.
I don’t think most of the kids there had ever seen a man
with a
full
beard like mine; which was a lot of fun too. They were a little scared
at first but finely one of the little boys asked if he could touch
it
and I said yes. It was great, he touched it and then ran away but very
quickly he was back and then every one of the kids wanted to touch it.
There were 20 or so kids at this place so I think they all had a hand
on my beard at once. I love kids, they are so cute. One little boy even
had to climb up the side of the land rover to be able to I would guess
he is Jocobus’ age which is like 2ish maybe 3, it was so cute.
Hey everybody,
I’ve had a great few days here in Ghana. I went to the airport
market
in Accura on Saturday and got a Ghana soccer jersey and a Ghana flag so
that was really awesome. I also started looking at drums so I hope to
get one in the next week or to.
Sunday was a relaxing day. I just hung
around the
ship did
laundry and read and stuff like that. I ended up not going to Ada this
weekend which I was kind of bummed about but oh well.
So yesterday, Monday, I went out with the well drilling team
again
and fixed the pump and we were able to drill about 2 meters then a plat
on the drill broke so we had to wait till we could get the welder
today to fix it. Then in the evening a group of us went out to a
pub
to get dinner. That was a lot of fun.
Today, Tuesday, I went back out with the well drilling
team
and on
our way I saw my 1st baboon, that right a real, live, not in captivity
baboon. Well really it was like 10 of them running across the road. I
was really sweet. Then we welded the plat back on and I fixed a leak in
the water line. After all that about 20 minuets of work they
decided
to use a different bit that they didn’t have so we were done
for the
day. When we got back to the ship I started to work on the 1st cement
mixer to just check it out and stuff but it’s a diesel and
I’m not too
sure how to start a diesel with a pull string so I have to ask about
that tomorrow.
Well you all have a great night I’m off to
dinner
then a
training
meeting. Thanks again for you prays and I’ve been praying for
you as
God places you on my hart.
01-20-07
So it’s been a fun week. I’ve mostly
worked
with the well
drilling
team this whole week. We’ve had some ups and downs. We
were able
to
drill through some rock which was a 1st for the team. But we had many
set backs as well. We broke the holding plate and had to weld it the
next day. We clogged the smaller drill bit twice in a row and had to
keep pulling it back up to clean it; then two oyster shells got caught
in the mud system. I know that’s over most of your heads and to
be real
honest it’s still kind of over my head but mostly that means we
drilled
a total of like 2 or 3 meters the whole week and now our hole is only
15 meters deep and it really needs to be at least 27 meters.
It’s
been
kind of a failure but we did learn some stuff. Oh yea, and I got
to my
1st engine work on the drill rig the fuel filter got plugged
on one of
the two engines and so we soaked it in gas and it works for now.
I did meet a small boy named Desman and Friday when we
were
drilling he was hanging on me the whole day it was so much fun. I also
was able to buy a back pack from Victoria, a lady that we stop and by
Fan Ice (cheap ice cream) from everyday; it was a whole $4.
Last night, Friday, I got to go bowling again which is
always
a
really awesome and fun time. Even though I didn’t win this week
I did
get to know some people better. First of all I want to say
Norwegians
really rock. There is a girl named Nina from Norway here and we hung
out and talked a lot last night. She told me if I ever want to really
learn how to snowboard she would love to teach me. This is after I told
her about our beloved Mt trash more or Brighton. I also met a lady
named Mary Lou, a lady that knows some missionaries that my parents and
I know, son Tim and a girl named Molly and we talked a lot about
way we
came to the ship and about what kinds of things we left back
home. It
was a really good, refreshing time for me because I found out that
there are others here on the ship that feel the same way about their
“home church� and really feel like this is their home
now. They
both
were very encouraging to talk to.
Then today I went to the market with Lefty and some
others.
Lefty
was picking up a shirt and skirt she had ordered from a man named
Bubba
and I bought some fabric to have a shirt and some shorts made.
Unfortunately Bubba wasn’t there today so we have to go back
Monday,
but I did get some nice fabric so I’m excited.
Oh yea, on Thursday evenings we have our community
meetings
here on
the ship which is like our mid-week worship service and they have some
pretty amazing speakers. Anyway, I got asked to play bass with a
Ghanaian named Enoch and his sister Mary Ann and a German named Judith
and a guy named Tash, I’m not sure where he is from. It was so
amazing.
When we were practicing we didn’t sound very good and were
having a
hard time meshing well together but when we played for the service God
flowed though us and it was a really awesome time of worship.
I’ve also
been asked by a few people to teach them bass. So hopefully I will be
able to have some time to spend teaching what I know and Enoch offered
to teach me some guitar. Good times.
Well its time for a nap or something so you all have a
wonderful
day or night or what ever and thanks again for all your prayers; they
have been felt this week. May God bless you as He has been
blessing me.
Mikey
><>peace in<><
01-30-07
So yea I know its been awhile and that’s good because
it
means I’ve
been really busy and don’t have much time. Its been a really
busy but
also really amazing.
Last week I started working with the transportation
department, as
there isn’t a whole lot for me to do with CDS right now. They
needed
and engine pulled out of a Land Rover Discovery. So I spent the whole
week working with Richard. He is a local mechanic from here in Ghana.
Its been so much fun working with him and getting to know him. They
have different names for the tools and stuff but I’m starting
to catch
on. We spent all week working on it. We got the engine out found the
problem with the clutch and replaced some seals and stuff and went to
put it back it and realized the clutch kit we got was the wrong one. So
we had to put it off till this week. But today we got it in and running
although we taken may wrong steps like miss timing the engine and
forgetting to hook up certain wires and stuff like that. Now it runs
good but we still need to bleed the clutch and hopefully it all works.
This past weekend I got to go to the Cape cost. The Cape cost
has
two slave castles, the Cape Cost Castle and the Elmina Castle. Is was
really humbling to go were the slaves have been. Walking into the male
slave dungeon you could feel the fear and helplessness and I knew what
was going on and they didn’t. At both Castle we walked though
the “door
of no return� which was the door they walked though and after
that they
weren’t thought of as Africans anymore. I try to take pictures
to
really capture the feeling of the place but most of them didn’t
turn
out. I think the statement of our tour guide at the Cape Cost Castle.
He said “this tour is not about who was wrong the blacks or
whites but
that we should work to make the world one people together.�
Then Sunday on the way home we stopped at a crocodile farm to
eat
lunch. The food really sucked but I did get to play with the crocs and
had my pictures taken with them. Good times
I spent another week mostly working with trasportation again.
We
finely got the truck going that I’d been working on which was
nice. I
also changed the oil and air filters in the well rig and large air
compressor.
I also got to go to the farming graduation which was a really
great
time. The pastor at the church where the class was taught, pastor
Metell, is a very intense man. It also was really cool to see so other
groups are doing.
So yea Friday night we had a department dinner and relaxing
time at
a local Dutch hotel. It had a really nice pool and it was right on the
ocean. We also had dinner there and just got to hang out. It was a nice
and relaxing evening.
Today I went to the Accra market and got me dejamba drum with
a
carrying case. I am really excited about learning to play it.
Well I know this is short but I have to go say good bye to a
friend
that is leaveing for Germany tonight I hope you all are doing well.
2-13-03
Hey all, I hope life is treating you all well. I’ve been having
a
really great few weeks.
I know I haven’t posted in a while or for that matter called or
anything like that. Well you see, you really the inter net to that. Our
satellite has been down so it makes contact really hard. I really sorry
but hopefully it will be up soon and I can post this. Well I guess if
your reading this then it is up or I finely decided to use unsecure
internet connections.
Any way I last wrote when my friend Daniela left for Germany.
Since
then I’ve stated driving all around the area as Ben another Guy
in the
CDS department lost his license so he needs somebody to drive him
around. He teaches farming classes so I’ve been learing a lot
about
farming in the afternoons between lunch and dinner. He is an amazing
guy and we’ve became pretty close.
I’ve also helped transportation fix some land rovers,
packed up
some stuff to be loaded on the ship, and driven people around when
needed during the mornings. I haven’t really had to fix any of
the
machines that are under my care because most of the projects that
needed them are finished and most of them are back on the ship for the
sail to Liberia. Its been are really interesting two weeks. I did get
to watch the well drilling rig be loaded on the ship. Its amazing that
such a big thing can look so small when it is being lifted by a crane
up to the deck of the ship.
Sunday February 4th I went to the Sunday service down in the
ward
on the ship. It was a great time. You sit with the patients on their
beds and sing and listen to the speaker. It one of the best services
I’ve ever been too. The patients are so happy to have you there
and the
one I was sitting next to keep felling my beard.
On Wednesday Don Stephens the founder of Mercy Ships was here
and
spoke. It was really awesome to hear him and get a small picture of his
hart for God and for Mercy Ships. Mostly he talked about the African
Mercy and her comeing to meet us in Liberia.
Then last weekend I got invited to a retreat that somebody
donated
money for, for the longer term crew. I wasn’t planning on going
as I
was on the low end of the time they wanted you to stay for, but the
night before, Thursday evening, a girl named Holly, who was the girl
that welcomed me to the ship, personally invited me since they had a
spot open up last minute. I wasn’t really sure at 1st but after
a
little thought and pray I really felt like God was telling me to go. I
had been invited to go meet the most powerful chef in Ghana basically
he is the king here but that trip was going to cost me $50, and since
I’m getting to go up to Bakino Faso for a week at the end of
this week
I’m really trying to save money. So being invited on this
retreat was a
way to still get off the ship and see some more of Ghana with out spend
very much money.
Then Jen and I decided to climb back up the mountain path
back to
the town with out using the rope that was there to help you back up. We
both made it but I really felt how out of shape I was. The rest of the
day Jen, Holly, Josh and I played some games and talked. The service
that night was a really awesome time to just worship God and spend some
time in His presents.
I really made three good friends this weekend. Jen, and Holly
are
sister like I said and they are from Ohio. I know, I know Girls from
Ohio can be scary but they both think ohio state sucks. J So they
really are pretty amazing girls. Josh is from the UK. He likes to
juggle and he is a really funny guy.
So probley the coolest part of the whole weekend was when Jen
and
Holly invited me to fast with them. When I asked them what the fast was
for they explained how neither one of them have any idea what they are
going to do when they leave the ship in July. So it’s a fast to
seek
God’s will for them. How amazing is that, since I have no idea
what I’m
doing in “July� if that is when I leave the ship.
God’s pretty amazing
isn’t He. Not only have I made some awesome friends who I
really love
hanging out with He also provided people that have the same questions
and needs in their lives, so I have someone to pray and fast with.
So yea right now I’m sitting here watching Ben teach
some
local
farmer how to make manure tea. Yea that’s right manure tea.
Good times
I bet you all wish you were here nowJ
Well I’m starting to run out of batteries and I want to type up
some
other stuff so that’s all for now. I really hope to have this
posted
before I leave Friday on my trip cause I’ll have plenty to
write about
after that trip.
I hope you all have a wonderful day thinking about manure tea.
02-15-07
Today
I attended my 2nd farming graduation. I think I’ve told you
that my
friend Ben is teaching farming and that he lost his driving ability so
I’ve been driving him around a lot. Well I was the one that
drove him
mostly to this class and the guys in the class took me in as one of
them. So for the graduation, a lady in the class bought some raw fabric
and stamped a pattern on and then another guy in the class made Ben,
John Claude and me shirts. They are really nice looking shirts. I was
totally not expecting that, it was such a blessing.
02-23-07
So I got back from my trip to
Burkina Faso yesterday morning at .
What a trip. We left the ship at
Friday the 16th to go to the STC bus station where we caught a bus
going to Tamale Ghana.
About 2 hours into the
trip the
bus broke down and we spent the next 7 hours sitting on the side of the
road. Which was really awesome because 1st Jeni, Holly, and
James were with us at this point and I got to spend a lot more time withthem
and also cause we did things like play hackey sack with a bunch of the
kids from a near by school. We also sat around and talked and read and
things like that. So even though it was about 100 degrees outside we
still had a great time.
Finally
another bus showed up just as it was starting to get dark and we
unloaded the old bus and loaded the new one, and once again we were on
the road. We got to Tamale at about 8 on Saturday morning where we
split the group into two. Four of them went on to
MolePark in Ghana
and 7 of us went on to Burkina Faso.
We had to take a
Trotro
(a 12-15 passenger van) on to Ouagadougou,
the capital of Burkina Faso.
We met a guy named
Muhammad who helped us get a trotro. We could find one for a good price
at the station so he told us about a friend that he knew that ran a
mission school and had a van that would take us for the cost of gas
plus whatever we felt like giving the mission. What a blessing. They
could only get us as far as the border because they didn’t have
the
right insurance to get across but they found us a trotro for a good
price for the rest of the trip. Well, right after we crossed the border
and were out of site the driver stopped and was letting others get on.
So we started asking what was going on and found out he was trying to
get paid twice, what we paid and then have the new riders pay also. So
after arguing with him for 30 minutes we got him to give us half off
and we would let him load up the trotro. So the rest of the way there
was 18 people in a 12 person van. What a great 3 -4 hours.
Well we made it to
Ouagadougou at about
Saturday. God had placed an amazing guy in our path though John Claude,
the same guy who helps Ben teach farming. It turns outJohn
Claude had went to Burkina Faso some time ago and on his way his wallet
had been stolen so he had no money and there just happened tobe
a guy sitting behind him named Eme who just took him in to his house
and helped him out. Well John called his friend and asked him to show
us around. Well he and his friend Isaac picked us up at the bus station
around took us to a hotel where
he had made reservations for us. Then after we got our rooms they took
us to dinner.Now Ouagadougou
is kind of known for its street
side
cafes so we went to them and it was awesome because it was all chicken
and no fishJ. I was really happy about that.
Then
the next morning they took us to their church which was a French
speaking Catholic Church it was really cool and a really pretty
service, and I even kind of knew some of what was going on.One of the coolest things about
Burkina Faso
is that almost everybody rides motor scooters. So we walked by the
church’s parking lot afterward and there was at lest 3000
scooters. It
was a pretty large church. It was so cool though to watch them leave;
it was like a mini rolling thunder as they “rumbled�
by.
So
then we got to go to Eme’s house for lunch again; it was such
good
food. It was only the 2nd home cooked meal I’ve had since being
on the
ship and the 1st one that wasn’t fish, so I was so
happy.
His family is awesome; he has a wife, one daughter and two sons. I got
some good pictures if I ever can get my computer really hooked up to
the internet I’ll post them but yea, that’s another
story.So
yea then we had to go move hotels because the one we were in
didn’t
have room for us that night. We found one that would give us one room
for all 7 us for a pretty good price and the guys were able to pull the
mattresses out on a balcony so it worked out.
So
Monday we were on our own till like 2 when Eme got out of work then he
sent some of us to a craft market and took some of us to try to get
some more Cefa’swhich is the money they
use there.
That
proved fun since Cedes which is Ghana’s money is worth less up
there
since it is so inflated so Ema ended up trading us all the money he had
personally and then he’ll just use the Cedes when he comes to
Ghana
next time. He also makes bagged water for his job so he gave us to huge
bags of bagged water which was awesome since we had to buy all our
water and it got pretty expensive. Then that night we went out to
dinner again and Chris, the other guy with Ben and I met a Liberian
refuge named Kevin and Chris and I ended up talking to him for over an
hour. He had nothing, so we tried to give him one of the big bags of
water to sell since he couldn’t get work but he explained that
they
would just think he stole it since he was from Liberiaso
we had to take it back it was really sad.Then
Tuesday evening while walking back to the hotel from town I got hit by
a taxi. Yea that is right, hit by a taxi, nothing too major; my wallet
chains just put a big scrap in the side of his car, but then he started
yelling at me and I was like,�Hey, you’re the one that
hit me I’m just
walking on the side of the road so you be careful buddy,� and
he drove
off.Then later that night we meet some more
Liberian refuges and where able to buy them some food.After
this trip I’m really excited about getting to get to
Liberia I really think I’m going to love the people
there.
So then Wednesday morning we got up really early and
caught the
STC bus that goes straight to
Accra.
So 20 hours later from when we finely left we rolled back to Accra
and another hour long taxi ride got
us back
to the ship.Over
all it was a really awesome trip. I’m really glad I got to go,
even
though I didn’t get to do anything that I had wanted to on the
trip.
Like see elephants or ride camels or anything like that.God
was so awesome and blessed us so much and kept us safe and I made some
really good friends on the trip.
Thanks
again for all your prayers they were really felt on this trip.
I’m
praying for you all and I hope you all get to see God’s mighty
power
today.
The
sail. Wow what a time. I learned that I love to sail. It’s so amazing
to be out on the open water, no land in site. To sway back and forth,
while feeling the gentle rumble of the engines.So
yea, some people are sick and I feel bad for them but I love it.
So
we were going to leave dock at about 2ish on Sunday but the engine
would not start so after waiting till like 12 in the morning most the
crew went to bed. We were told that it was going to be like another 4
hours till they had the problem fixed, so some sleep sounded really
great. I was awakened at like 2am by a friend that was helping to get
us out of port. So I ran up to the deck to see us off. It was a pretty
cool time. Watching as the dock gets farther away then watching the tug
boats push and pull us around then as we left the harbor both tugs blow
there fog horns as a good bye and one of them gave us a “kiss” that was
pretty cool then the pilot boat pulled up and the harbor’s pilot had to
jump from our boat to the pilot boat. Then we were at sea.
We
sailed till like 6 am or so and met up with a tanker, then we drifted
with tanker till we had the fuel we needed. It did take a little longer
then we expected to get the fuel but it all worked out then we were off
again at the blinding speed of 12 knots.
I’ve
spent a lot of time hanging with Jeni and Holly just talking, watching
movies, reading together, and mostly trying to help Jen feel better
about being sea sick. I thank God for bring such great friends to me on
the ship. We have really amazing talks and we really became close. If
you could keep them in your prayers they both have something in their
pasts that they really seeking God about right now.
So
Tuesday evening we had a worship service on the bow. What an awesome
time. Worshiping God as He paints an amazing sun setting right in front
of us.Singing as the wind blows over us, swaying
to the
music as the boat sways back and forth. Yea pretty much it was one of
the best worship services I’ve ever been too.I was
also
able to spend some time listening to God as the others around me were
singing, and I’m pretty sure that for now He wants me to come home in
July. What then? Who knows. I’m thinking of going to do a DTS (disciple
training school) somewhere in the world to get some more training but
that would be another $6,000 so we’ll see. I’m still praying and
seeking about that. So yea if you want to pray that would be great.
Then
Wednesday I got to help make root beer floats for every body which was
a fun and awesome time as many of the crew members not from the
US have never had them
before. I also learned that I should never get sick in the UK
cause root beer taste like medicine there. So yea when we were just
finishing up it started to get really, really windy and it started to
rain. We cleaned up really fast and Jeni, Holly and I played in the
rain. It was so amazing we had been hoping for a storm on the sail, and
we got one.So we played in it, and of course I
just had
to throw Holly in the pool just because then Jeni and I jumped in after
her. It was crazy because the rain was so cold the pool felt like bath
water. Then we went back to our rooms and changed and put our clothes
in the dryer because they were wetJ
and watched a movie. After which we took some towels out to the pool
deck, dried off some lounge chairs and slept outside under the stars.
Well at lest I did till 3am and woke up saw that Jen and Hol were gone
and felt really uncomfortable so I went back to my bed.Then Thursday we came in to port in Monrovia, Liberia.
This port is way different then Tema’s. First of all, just out side of
my port hole I can see one ship tipped on its side leaning on the dock
where its been for like 10 years, and I see two other ships that sunk
side by side. That’s right, right here in the harbor. We also have a
dock all to ourselves here. We were greeted on the dock by the vice
president of Liberia
and a dance
group and
choirs and hundreds of people. There were also UN guards all over the
place. Lots of guns and security. We saw three “swimers” that had swam
all the way across the harbor, about a mile, and were warned that they
will try everything they can to get on the ship and will steal any and
every thing they can.Finally
today, Friday, March 2, we had a security briefing letting us know to
be very careful as Liberia is just getting out of 14 years of civil war
and the people here are desperate and will do anything they can to get
some money.Now saying all that I’ve been told that
Liberians are the nicest people you’ll every meet, and I’m really
excited to meet them. As I said in my last post after meeting some of
the refugees I’m excited to be in Liberia and I feel like
God has some huge plans for my time here. Well I think that’s all for now. I pray that you all are
doing well and thank you all for your prays.Also
I just wanted to let everybody know that last Sunday evening my aunt
Barb past away. So if you could all keep that and my family in your
prayers that would be amazing.
03-05-07
Saturday,
all day, Jeni, Holly, Josh, and I set up a Lord of the Rings marathon.
That’s right all 11 hours and 6 minutes of them. Well I made it though
the 1st 5 disks but it got way too crowed in Jen and Hol’s
room with some 15 people so the three of us left to get some fresh air.
Also there was a full lunar eclipse so we watched that. I did have some
pretty awesome nachos so that made me happy.
Sunday Jen, Hol, and I decided to walk to
Monrovia
to look around and to get your blood moving. It felt great; we walked
about 4 miles or so, and saw a lot. It is totally different here in Liberia you
defiantly
feel
the effects of the war here. It feels very oppressive and dark even
though the land itself is green and pretty. In
the afternoon 11 of us went to Cece beach. It’s a trip getting to and
from the anywhere here. It’s really hard to get a taxi and then since
we are white it’s hard to get a fair price and you can’t really fit 11
people in one taxi. So the 1st six got a taxi and the other
5 of us waited for the next taxi but as soon as on pulled up and
another guy offered us a ride for free in his really nice Jeep Grand
Cherokee. So about half way there he got pulled over and arrested but
paid his way out of it. Something about his car’s papers weren’t up to
date. But we got to the beach safely.The beaches are so nice here,
compared to Ghana.
They don’t use
them as huge toilets here. We swam and sat on the beach for a few hours
then we had to get back to harbor.The
only taxi’s at the beach where we were wanted more then twice what we
should pay so we started walking back to the main road to find some
more taxis. Some guys stopped and offered to take a few of us to the
main road to get some taxis which was great. We found out from the two
guys that went with them that they were diamond and gold miners and
really rich. So any way we made it back to the ship. The
best part of the day is now I’m really, really tan. Ok so maybe I was
just a touch burned but for being out in the sun all day I was pretty
happy I thought I had washed off all my sun block in the ocean.So
today, Monday, we kind of started working. Or at lest I was on my way
to help sort though some more of the CDS tools, when I was asked by the
security officer to go watch the barge and the end of our dock. He said
a swimmer had climbed aboard of it and was not leaving. So he was going
to arrest him. So I went to aft deck and watched, and watched, and
watched. Finely he showed up in the little zodiac boat that we have
with the port authority and they boarded the barge and found the guy
but when they got him back on the zodiac he got free and jumped back in
to the water.Then the UN guards came and it got
real
fun. They were threatening to shoot him. He ended up back on the barge
and they got him again. This time they put him in hand cuffs and he
didn’t get away.It was very exciting though. Then the rest of the morning I helped transportation get
the land rovers running.Most of the batteries are
dead so we’ve been jumping them and had to buy two new batteries.
So that was my weekend I hope yours was as fun and hot;)
its like 100-110here.
03-09-07
Tuesday, Moses, the head mechanic
from transportation
took a long lunch and went to town to just eat and hang out. Eating out
is way different in some ways and the same in other. Some of the ways
it is different is, you have to buy all your water here. The service
you get here is really “not good”, food is brought out when ever it is
ready which could be 5 minutes or 1 hour it just depends. The
restaurants here in Liberia seem to be a lot nicer then in Ghana, and
are all owned by Lebanese. We ordered pizza and it was really good; it
was about a 12 inch pizza and had at lest a pound of cheese among some
other toppings that were really good. That was about $13 US and then we
each had a can of coke that was $2 US each but it was a good meal. It
only took us 30 minutes to get back to the ship when taking over an
hour to get there. Its only about a 4-5 kilometer trip about 3-4 miles
each way, maybe just a little bit longer.
Tuesday evening a group of us from
the ship walked to
the UN base at the end of our dock and played Volleyball with them.
That was a lot of fun. When I got back and had eaten dinner and taken a
shower my friend Dorothy braided extensions into my beard so right now
my beard can almost most be tucked into my shirt. I love it, it looks
really cool I have lots of pictures to show you when I come home or if
I ever have hours of free time to up load them.
Wednesday evening after work a group
of us went to
the UN base to play football (soccer for all you Americans.) we play
Anastasis vs. the UN troops and won 2-1; that was a really awesome time.
Yesterday, Thursday, all morning we
had a briefing on
being here in Liberia. It was really good but sitting for four hours
just is not good for me at all. Then in the evening Jen Hol and I were
going to watch Spider-Man 2. So we started it and about a half hour
into it I realized that they weren’t there any more and since I was in
their room I decided to just go back to my room watch it a little
longer and go to bed. But sure enough 20 minutes later Holly knocked on
my door and asked me to come for a walk on the dock with them.
It turns out that Jen’s ex husband
had just emailed
her and it wasn’t too happy. I don’t know what all I should say but
just pray for her, she could really use it right now. This is one of
the things Jeni is really seeking God’s will about right now, its
really hard for her. So anyways we walked and prayed for an hour or so
then we went into the hospitality repasito and made nachos and Cookies
till like 1am.
So yea this morning we had another
four hour briefing
on Liberia now I’m ready to get back out and work a little before we
play ultimate Frisbee this evening .
So yea, I know it’s been almost a month, and I know haven’t
talked
to anyone really in that time. So I guess I ‘m sorry;) I just really
haven’t felt like writing. I still really don’t feel like writing much
but I’m forcing myself to. A lot has been happening and I have been
busy.
I’ve gotten to go to bong mines again. This time I explored
with a
few friends and found a 3rd lake and a bluff where you can see for 80
miles or so. It was really amazing. I also got the chance to drive up
almost 20 miles from the Ginny border, which is the country just north
of here. We were on a rabbit hunt for the women empowerment department.
It took us 4 hours to get there and only 3 to get back home and we
spent 4 or 5 hours there. It was a long day but the countryside is so
amazing here. We did find the two rabbits we needed so it was a good
day.
Ummm, I’v been fixing a lot around here too. I’ve had to fix
about
5 generators, the bobcat had a flat tire, the concrete mixer needed a
new air filter, (which was fun to try to find one that worked), I’ve
fixed 5 flat tires on wheel barrows, ummm and of course working on the
land rovers. Oh yea I had to get the earth compactors going also. Lots
of little things but I’m learning and having fun “sometimes” working on
these things. I’m also part of the emergency gangway team for when we
have a fire or fire drill, which is kind of cool, I get to run up the
deck when every one else is running off the ship J but it is the gang
way that they use to empty the ward. So I do feel pretty good about it.
So yea work has been busy and I am getting to learn a lot so that’s
been really cool.
So now for the real reason I feel like I have to write and
give you
all an update, now this is still all pretty new to me and I’m really
seeking God’s will and I would love it if you all would keep me in your
prayers about this. I have been invited to visit Germany and Poland in
the middle of August till the beginning of September. This would be for
about 2 - 3 weeks. The thing is right now I’m planning on leaving the
ship on July 13 which means I would have to find place to stay in
Europe for a month or so. I do have friends in England, Scotland,
Norway and the Ukraine to stay with but getting it all together and
getting the money may be a problem. But I am really excited about this
chance partly since my great grandpa came from Germany and I would love
to see where my family came from but I’m even more excited about the
chance to see my friend Martha again. Now yes Martha is a very close
friend that I met here on the ship and she is really amazing but I want
to stress that she is just a friend for the time being. So, yea,
anyway, that is my big news for now please keep this all in your
prayers and thanks for all your prayers they do mean a lot.
Well I should get to work I guess so I’ll write more later.
By the way you all can feel free to call me it is really nice
to
get phone calls and it is a local US # to call the ship here. Just ask
for me. The # is 1 954 538 4258 . Also it would be nice to get mail
from you. You have to ask my parents for the address though cause that
I don’t know.
Hope life is going well for all of you.
04-16-07
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
So
I just had a really amazing weekend. It started Friday evening when
Jeni, Holly and I drove to the airport to drop off four people and pick
up three people including our friend James from England. We got there
just fine and the four people we brought went in to the airport and we
had about four and a half hours to wait till the plane with people on
arrived so we climbed up on top of the land rover and sat around
talking and just enjoying the awesome view God provided for us. Then
this really intense storm blew in and we had to get back into the land
rover to stay dry. So then a guy came and told me I could have a really
awesome parking spot right in front of the exit door to wait on the
flight which was delayed. But I was in a parking lot that you had to
pay for so I paid him to get out of the lot and moved to the other
spot. After about 20 min a police man came up and asked me who told me
I could park there and after I told him, he asked me if I had paid him
any money so I said yes. Then I had to go talk to the boss man and they
brought the guy and ask if that was the man and I said yes. I guess the
man didn’t work for the airport and had just tried to steal 50 Liberian
Dollars which is like 85 us cents but they were not to happy with him.
But since I really hadn’t done anything wrong they let me go back to
the car and I still got the awesome spot. So that was cool. So the
plane was supposed to land at 8:30 and at 9 they told us that it had to
go back to Sierra León and would be at lest another hour and a
half.
Then finely at 11:30 they came and told us the flight was canceled. So
we headed back home to the ship. When we got back to the ship at 1:30
am I found out that the flight out was canceled also and they had to
send two other land rovers out to get the people. It was just a crazy
night but Jeni Holly and I had a really awesome time just hanging out
so that was good.
Then Saturday Jeni, Holly, and I walked to the supper market
to get
a birthday present for my friend Hannah. Then one of the Africans on
the ship made a few us a really good African meal for lunch. It was
really good and the best part she made it with no fish. J then in the
after noon I got to go play volleyball at the US embassy again. The
Irish UN team was there along with two other team of people from all
over the world. My team did lose every game but we had fun. Then on the
way back to the ship a group of people wanted to go out to dinner so we
went to a place called the Palm Hotel. I’m not sure if it is a hotel or
not but the restaurant there is called the Bamboo lounge and is on the
top floor (5 th) and has a roof but is open other then that. So you
have a really awesome view of Monrovia. The food is really good too, I
had half of a chili pizza, spicy beef, hot peppers, onions, and garlic.
They Sunday Ben and my friends, Wasam and Roger, took Ben,
Rebecca,
and I out to lunch at this farm about an hour from here. This farm was
built on extortion money from a man that was 2ed in charge under
Charles Taylor, the president here that is “responsible” for the war.
So why it is there is really sad but it is a very pretty place. They
have chickens, pig, cows, donkeys, horses, ect. I also got to hold a
little monkey, and we were attacked by an ostrich. The food there was
amazing also.
Then It was my friends Hannah’s birthday so a group of us took
her
out for dinner and they served cow brains there so I just had to try
some and it was pretty good, other then the texture and knowing what it
was.
So that was my weekend then I’ve had a pretty exciting week
also. It
started Tuesday morning when I was ask to go help bring back the land
rover that had caught on fire the night before. I was thinking it was a
little fire but nope, it basically had burned to the ground the body
had even melted off most of it. So I spent all morning with a few other
people getting it loaded up into the trailer African style (pretty much
any way you can think of to try)
Then Tuesday afternoon the bobcat stopped running, so 1st
thing
Wednesday morning I got to go out to Gaye Town where it is at and start
working on it. It turned out to be the fuel filter which I had just
replaced a month before so I just tried to clean it but after running
it for an hour or so I quite again so I had to go buy a new one. So I
pretty much just stay at the job site all day working on the bobcat and
then I got to drive it, moving cement blocks around. It was a lot of
fun.
Then Thursday I got the chance to go out with Ben to teach
farming.
On the way out we stopped at our friends Wasams store so Ben could buy
some tarps, and Penny our friend who was going with us offered to watch
the car so we didn’t roll up the window or lock it or anything like
that. Well Wasam came out to say hi to here and she stepped away from
the car for like 30 seconds and we were only like 4 feet from the car
but somebody stole my backpack right, and walked away with my camera,
my wallet, all my money my drinking bottle, my hat, and the book I was
reading. So my day didn’t start out all that great but God is pretty
awesome and after Ben had done his teaching and the class was putting
some it into practice one of his students wanted to show him his
pineapple farm so we drove to the next village and then had to walk
though the jungle for about a mile in the rain, which was worth it just
cause it was so wonderful then we got to see his farm. He had about
3000 plants and has only planted about one tenth of his land. It was
awesome to see. Then he picked three fresh pineapples right from the
plants and gave each one of us one of them.
Then back at been class farm they were making a nursery out of
bamboo and so I joking asked one of the guy to make me a bamboo cup to
drink out of and they did. So I really turned into an awesome day. God
really is good to me. Even though I am sad I don’t have any pictures of
the day to share with anyone God stilled blessed me as I hope He has
blessed you a little by reading this. None of this would be possible if
you guys wouldn’t have given. Thanks again.
04-30-07
So
last weekend Saturday Jeni, Holly, James, Andy, and I went to coppers
beach. The waves were about 5 foot high, so we played in the water for
a few hours and then went for like a 3-4 mile walk down the beach it
was such a nice afternoon. Then Sunday Ben and I went to Monrovia
Christian fellowship for church and out with his friend Simon from
Germany for lunch.
This
past week was quite a week. Monday I was back out at the Gaye Town site
to work on the bobcat. I ended up spending the whole day out there
helping. Then Tuesday ended up being a really slow relaxing day which
was really nice. Then Wednesday, Thursday, and Fridayit
was back out with Ben again. Thursday during his class some other
people were wheeling a lady through town in a wheel barrow when we
asked what was going on they told us she was very sick. So I jumped in
the land rover and we loaded her up and I took her to the main road
which is like 2-3 miles from where we were. I really wanted to take her
all the way to the hospital but because of bens planed on bringing his
class to the ship that day and all the guest that had came from the
ship I really just couldn’t leave for the 2 hours or so I would have
taken to get there and back. But on my way back to his class we pasted
the exec. Director , of the ships land rover, as she was out checking
out the CDS sites and I told her and her driver about what was going on
and they were able to take her the rest of the way. We found out
Wednesday that the lady’s appendix had ruptured and we most likely
saved her life. Isn’t God so amazing. This was the last day of Ben’s
Class out in Cheesmanburg where we were and the exec. Director just
happened to be out there that day.
Then
this last weekend Saturday Ben and I went to Simon’s house to hang out.
He lives right on the beach so we got to play in the ocean again and
this time the waves were from 8-12 feet it was really crazy. We also
went for a 2-3 mile walk and then Simon had made us home made German
pasta and goulash for dinner. It was again and awesome time of just
hanging out. Then Sunday was a nice slow relaxing day. And now starts a
new week I’m sure filled with lots of new and exciting things.
Thursday this week is our screening day for the
Africa mercy’s surgeries so keep that in your prays.You
can also be praying for my knee as it has been randomly giving out and
it keeps getting worse and the last week its really started getting
painful so I’m trying to get an appointment with the crew doctor this
week and have it check out.
Thanks again
for all your prays and support.It really means a
lot.
So last Monday and Tuesday I spent
all day driving
for the Gaye town work site picking up wood. So from 8 in the morning
till 6:30-7 at night. It makes for a long day but it is a lot of fun.
Just driving in Africa is an experience in itself, then you pile on top
of it wait for up to four hours in the hot sun for them to load the
wood and figure out the price and what ever else they do, then it
becomes a normal day here in Africa. So I’ve picked up all the door
frames, 50 2×6,5 2-8, and 200 2×4. Which took a total of 4
trips. I did
meet a fellow named Prince. He is really an awesome guy. He is from
here in Liberia and he just volunteers on the work site. Most of the
Liberian workers get paid $5 a day, but he just volunteers and he is
probably the most trustworthy person in the group. As we drive though
town he’ll tell me what different things should cost and he yells at
anybody that tries to take advantage of me for being the “white man.”
Thursday what the big screening day.
I got asked to
be midnight security at the football stadium (soccer) where we had the
screening. We sent out a team of 4 nurses to run though the line the
night before and try to weed out some of the cases that either we knew
we couldn’t help or that needed to go to the eye and dental clinics. So
when we got there at 12 am Thursday morning there were about 150 people
in the line already so I was in charge of watching the nurses as they
walked though the line talking to the people. It was hard to see all
the people we had to turn away. It seamed like for every 10 people we
talked to that we could only help 1 of them. It wasn’t all that bad,
but it was close. Out of 150 people we only had a line of about 30
after the nurses had done the pre screening. That being said God really
blessed us and showed us He had his hand on the whole screening. It was
raining the whole time we were there doing the pre screening, and we
were in a street with no roof over head. We were however up against a
wall, and with the way the wind was blowing everyone stayed dry. This
was awesome for two reasons, 1 we were dry and so were the people in
line, 2 it keep the line single file against the wall. Then we did have
to tell a lot of people that either we couldn’t help them or that they
needed to go to a different place and no one had a bad attitude about
it. There were some tears shed but every one seemed to understand. The
next problem we were faced with was everyone we had told we couldn’t
help didn’t want to go home at night because it wasn’t safe. ( oh yea I
should tell you the street we were on normally is not a safe place at
all after dark, but we had the Liberian police and UN all over the
place so we were very safe where we were.) so we had like 110-120
people we didn’t know what to do with and the only dry place on the
street was the wall where the line was and we really wanted to keep the
people separate so people didn’t get back into line. Then the stadium
security said that we could move those people into the stadium and they
found a dry place right by the exit so as soon as it was day light they
could send them home safely and quickly to keep them out of the way of
the rest of the screening. So just after we finished the prescreening
in the line it started raining harder and the people in the line were
now starting to get wet. We didn’t know wait to do. The stadium
security offered to move them inside also but we really did not want to
do that because, how do you keep them in order and what if other would
show up during the night how do they feel when this people come back
out and “jump” in front of them in line. So we prayed and the security
from the stadium insisted that we move them so we said ok and did our
best to explain what was going on. Again God showed us he was there
with us. Nobody showed up till about 5:45 when we were bring the line
of people back out and every one in line stayed in their spot and
nobody argued. Every body was dry and in their right spot, how cool is
that? Then once again God choose to bless those of us that had been
there all night and the few that showed up before the sun rose. As it
rose there was a huge beautiful rainbow coming right up out of the end
of the road we were on. All in all I believe the day went well we
didn’t have as many people as we thought but that was a blessing also
as it was never over whelming and I think we got most of the surgery
spots filled.
Saturday I got to go to the bong
mines again. I can’t
believe that God has chosen to bless me so much in such a short time. I
decided to just explore the whole time we were out there this time
instead of swimming. So I took 9 others and we went out. 2 hours later
we were looking over the “bush” from the top of a small mountain. It
was so amazing I really can’t put it into words. I think the best way
to describe it is that you would pay hundreds even thousand in the US
to see something like this.
Then Sunday was a relaxing day. Jeni,
Holly, James
and I did walk about 2mile to the Ducor Place, and old 5 star hotel now
inhabited with refugees, to go to the top to take pictures, but it was
fun and nice to get some exercise and get outside for a while.
Then Monday it was back to Gaye town
to get more wood
and this time cement. I moved about 8 tons of cement and 300 2×2,
and 5
2×6. I am a little sore today and its just about time to start
all over
again.
Thanks again for all your prays I had
my knee check
out and the doctor said he thinks it is just a strained tendon and
nothing to really worry about and it seams to be getting better.
05-30-07
Wow, what an exciting time. Since I’ve last written, the new
ship,
Africa Mercy, has arrived. The President of Liberia came to see
the
ship and address us as a crew, we passed the torch and cross from the
Anastasis to the Africa Mercy.
So, I guess I’ll start with the Africa Mercy coming. On May
23rd at
six a.m. I got up to get ready to board the tug boat to be one of the
1st to go out and greet the Africa Mercy, my new home till July, at sea
and I got the privilege of escorting her in to port and parking
her
right across the dock from the Anastasis. On our way out to greet her
we escorted a ship out to sea and it was in the way of us seeing her
for quite a while and we were really bummed till we noticed dolphins
off our starboard side. We were able to see them jumping in the water
as the reflection of the sun. Again I got some really good pictures and
maybe if the internet works better on the Africa Mercy I’ll try to post
some, if not I’ll show you all when I get home. Then, as we looked back
from the dolphins we got our 1st glance of her sailing toward us. Let
me tell you, from the front she is really ugly. Isn’t it awesome that
God doesn’t care how pretty it is as long as it brings glory to His
name.
Well, we pulled up beside her and the polit boarded her and we sailed
by her into the port.
Hundreds of people were on aft deck of the Anastasis and the dock to
greet her. It was such an amazing time.
Then, after she was all docked and tied and all that junk, we
all
got to board her for a meeting and a tour. She has 8 decks, floors. The
8th being the top of the ship all open air. Decks 1 and 2 are the
engine room and things like that. Deck 3 is the hospital and some
living quarters and the rest of the decks are for living and eating and
offices. It’s all really nice and new. It reminds me of a hotel that
smells like a hospital.
That’s a little overview of what she is like.
Then the President of Liberia visited the ship. I
got to take
pictures of her for communications. That was really cool. At one point
she walked 4 feet from me and said “Hi”. It’s kind of weird being so
close to the leader of a country. She then spoke to the whole crew, she
was moved so much by what Mercy Ships is doing that she did not give
the speech she had planned but opened up and shared from her heart.
There were also many VIPs on the ship for this. People that
had
given a lot to make this happen. I was asked to play bass for the
“African” praise band for the community service while they were all
here and after the service on of the senior partners of the world’s
largest law firm came up and shook my hand and I got to talk to him for
a little bit. He has set it up for his firm to represent Mercy Ships.
It was really cool to be around people like that and have them talk to
you.
Then came the passing of the torch from the Anastasis to
the Africa
Mercy. We, as a crew, formed a line from one ship to the other. They
started by passing the Cross that has been on the bow of the
Anastasis
through the line followed by a torch comprised of parts from the
different Mercy Ships that have severed over the years. It was a sad
time watching the cross and the torch leave the Anastasis, but an
exciting time seeing it reach the Africa Mercy.
So I thought I would try to bring you up to speed on what has
gone
on since the ship arrived. I’ve been really bad on posting lately and
I’m sorry. But here we go:
So last Sunday I got to be part of the certificating service
for the
Gaye Town Clinic that I helped build. The church involved
held it
during their Sunday morning service. The work leader from the ship,
Renee, handed out certificates to all the workers then the church gave
all of us a certificate of thanks for the help and then they gave those
of us from the ship that help out shirts. It was a really awesome time,
they brought us up front and put the shirt on each one of us.
Also, since the Africa Mercy has been here, I’ve been moved to
the
engineering department and have been helping to make a gravity drain
for the sterilizer and decontaminators. I’ve been mostly working in a
dry tank just off the engine room. It’s hot and stuffy in there but
I’ve been learning a lot about the ship and safety and how it is
different than it is on land. It has also given me a lot of
ownership
in this new ship as what I’m doing will effect the ship and the
operations the ship performs while it is in service with Mercy Ships.
Als,o last Thursday was my 27th Birthday. For the 1st
time in my
life I worked on my birthday, that was kind of strange but it was a lot
of fun. Then some friends of mine here on the ship took me out to
dinner and ice cream. I got some really cool presents, one being a
t-shirt with a windmill on the front. I know only a few of you will
understand that but it was really funny. Also on Saturday the
16th me
and some friends went out to Farmers Paradise, the farm that I had went
to earlier and got to hold the monkey and all that. This time we had a
guided tour and learned that you could let the ostriches bite you and
it didn’t hurt too much. We also went horseback riding. We spent the
whole day out there it was a really nice and relaxing day.
So, oh yea, also my trip to Europe has been shortened. I will
no
longer be going to Poland and I’m really not so sure about
Germany
right now as well, so if you all could pray about that I could
use it.
Thanks for reading all this, I know it was a long post and that its
been too long between posts but I’ve been really busy on the ship and
I’ve also had some pretty tough issues to deal with the past few weeks.
Thanks for all your prays and birthday cards and notes and all that
kind of stuff, it has really meant a lot to me.
So yea, another month has passed; and once again I feel
like I should blog anyways.
I finished the drain for the sterilizers, and it worked. I got to tour
the hospital on the ship right before they opened it up. It is really
amazing. As much as I complain about the new ship the hospital part of
it is really great and will be a huge blessing to Africa.
After finishing the drains I was able to finish up the last
few
things with my job, like checking out the bobcat and concrete mixer.
Then I helped put up the large canopy on deck 8. My last week on the
ship I had off from work and I got to go around and see something and
get all my paper work finished.
Saturday, June 30th, I planed a boat trip up the river in
Monrovia.
It was and interesting trip. I was told to bring 30 people and we could
go for about 3 hours; well when we got there and on the boat the boat
owners told us there was too many people so we had to divide in half. I
had to argue over a new price but once we got it all figured out it was
great. My friend Samuel made us potato greens and rice and we ate while
the 1st group went and then it was our turn. We went about 45 min up
the river though Monrovia. It was really sad to see all the trash along
the banks. From what I was told they build up the banks with
trash to
give them more land to build on. We did get to see the city from a
different side and that was really cool. They let me pilot the
boat on
the way back. I did pretty good but the rudder was not properly
attached and it was really hard work. We also stopped by Providence
Island which is where the 1st settlers lived when the USA sent the
slaves back. It is a really nice park with lots of little band stands
and things. Kelly and I danced in one of them. Yeah for salsa lessons.
For my last weekend on the ship I got to go to Sierra Leon. My
friends Moses, Ben, Kelly, Stacy and I went. It is about a 2 hour taxi
ride and we literally drove though like 6 rivers on the way. It was so
flooded from the rain. Sierra Leon, at least right on the border where
we were, is very similar to Liberia. We ate lunch and walked around, it
was a really nice afternoon. We also learned that a Mercy Ships
I.D.
is worth more then a USA passport.
Monday, July 16, was the big exciting yet sad day.
That is the day
I left the ship. It really was a lot harder then I had thought it
would be; I really have made some amazing friends and I will miss them
horribly. To all of them, thank you so much for blessing me with your
friendships and I hope to see you all soon and often.
Even through all the sadness I was still excited, one month in Europe,
and then its home to see friends and family I haven’t seen in almost 9
months. So yea, sad, yet exciting.
Tuesday morning the 17th I arrived in London were I was
picked up
along with my friend Joanna, by her father. Her family took me in for
the 1st string of my trip. They live in Catford but are in the
process
of moving to Cambridge where her father is pastoring Zion Baptist
Church. So, Tuesday afternoon they took me to Cambridge to show me
their new house, and church. The church is a Victorian style church,
huge and beautiful. I got to walk through the field where they say some
men met and came up with the modern rules of football (soccer).
Then we
went punting down the river behind some of the college. I did pretty
good at it. You use a really long stick to push the boar around the
river.
Wednesday we slept most the day but in the evening Jo took me
to
Greenwich where the world clock is and the prime meridian is located. I
got to stand between east and west.
Thursday I meet Jeni and Holly in London and we spent the day
walking around the city. God really blessed our day everywhere we went
we got in just in time to see something really amazing. We hit the
palace 1st and they were getting ready to change the guard from
Englishmen to some men from Jamaica. Then as we walked to Big Ben we
saw 3 or 4 parades of soldiers and guards. After Big Ben and
Westminster Abby we went to a cathedral that was having a concert. We
sat there and listened for about 30min. Then we walked to the
Golden
Globe Theater and Jeni and Holly got their 1st Starbucks Coffee in
one
year. That wasn’t a big deal to me but it was to them. Then we went to
another cathedral. Then I kind of left my battery charger for my camera
on the ship so we spent a hour finding a store that had one. But I
got
it.
Then Friday I slept a lot again. Then Jo’s dad, brother, Jo
and I
played tennis, then her brother tried to teach me more about cricket.
He said I was getting the batting down pretty good but I don’t think I
was that great. But it was a lot of fun. Then her family took me out to
dinner in Greenwich.
Finally, today I am on my way to Scotland. Her dad dropped us
off at
the train station a little late and she made the train cause she
already had her ticket but I had to pick mine up at the station so I
missed that train but I caught the next one 45 min later. Now I’m on
the train. We just stopped in York.