Walking on Water

Mercy Ships...One Chapter Closed, Another Beginning...:)

2011-03-24T15:53:00.001-07:00

Wow! I'm home and it's been almost three weeks since I stepped off the plane here in FL after my time with Mercy Ships. What an experience! It's hard to believe it's over. I will always treasure Everything I experienced along with every person God brought into my life through Mercy Ships. I've learned SO many things.

I would say, with no doubt this has been one of the most influential, if not THE most influential time in my life. I never imagined God would teach me SO much, and bring me into such incredible friendships that I believe will last a lifetime.

You've followed me in the many experiences I've had and the variety of different opportunities and work places I've been in. It has been simply incredible! I have come away with some very vivid realizations, and some extremely meaningful lessons. I feel like God used everything combined in this incredible 20+- months to shape me more into the woman he created me to be. He began by stripping me of myself, and showing me things I didn't even realize were there. One example of this is I found out through a co-worker and friend that I did not respect everyone as I thought I did. I did not give them the opportunity and freedom to grow and learn for themselves. Instead I would make them feel inferior simply by the tone I used and proceed to do something myself, because it was "just easier." This implied that I believed I was better and more qualified, smarter and just above another person. I realized I had some things to work on and went to the Lord. I asked him to forgive me for this attitude in my heart. And I asked him what caused it and what I should do to change it. I heard him say, "learn to love people with my love; love as I love." So I began to pray that prayer. Also I got the idea to pray against the spirit of 'Entitlement' in my life. I realized this attitude was a huge underlying reason for this high and mighty attitude. I felt things should be a certain way, people should be a certain way. People should act and treat me a certain way. And if things didn't turn out the way I expected or thought they should, for some reason I was entitled to be upset or disgruntled about it. But as I prayed about all this, I realized it was all a lie and it resulted in more disappointment and frustration anyway. I realized I wasn't in control of anything and the world in no way catered to me, nor should it.

As I prayed that God would take this spirit of entitlement from me, I began to gain an new understanding of a better way to live, and it was SO freeing! There was so much more joy and peace. If you don't live by expectations, and flexibility is the characteristic way you respond to situations, life is so much more enjoyable.

Next God began to teach me more about His love. He began to show me that he truly Does love me, no qualifications, no strings attached. And his love was overwhelmingly more deep and encompassing than I had ever understood before. And I knew it was just the beginning. At that point I began to ask God to show me how to love him more, and I felt prompted that it required I know him more. So I began to pray daily that God would show me himself. I wanted to Know HIM. Not just about him, or what he can do. But who he is, like a best friend that you know all about, what they like, how they think, what makes them laugh, cry, angry. How you get to the point you know them so well that you even end up gaining some of their characteristics, or quirks, or phrases, and you automatically know how they would respond to different situations or what they would want or choose. I asked God if he would help me to know him like that. Because I know there is SO MUCH to know about him that we can never stop growing to know him more. Through this process of getting to know God more, I began to love him more as a result. Because the very essence of who God is, provokes an incredibly deep love from us.

I began to ask God to reveal his truth to me in such a strong and deeply rooted way that I truly grasped it and fully believed it in the very depths of who I am, so that it would shape the way I live! I realized after going through a video teaching called The Truth Project, that I apparently did not fully believe all I thought I did about who God is and what he says he can do. The way I realized this was I suddenly saw that I didn't live as though I believed these things! If I truly believed them, my actions and living would naturally follow. And they did Not.

For example, God says he loves us and wants what is best for us, and that he is in control, and able to see everything, and he is ABLE, and trustworthy! If I really believed that, then why did I worry about things? Or get frustrated when things didn't turn out the way I planned or thought they should? I realized it was because I didn't fully believe that God loved me that much, maybe I loved myself a little more and would care a little more than him to look out for what's best for me. Maybe he really didn't Always know what was best for me, because I think this over here looks better...maybe I know a little better. And if things go "wrong" (in other words, differently than i planned or expected), I shouldn't get stressed or annoyed if I really believe God sees it all and the bigger picture for that matter and he has a purpose he's working out nomatter if it seems to make sense to me at the time or not. He's trustworthy and so much bigger than me, so I have no qualification to worry about anything! Nomatter what the circumstance. Now of course I did not master all this. But God just opened my eyes, so I saw it clearly. It was a revelation to me. And I began praying for God to help me truly believe and truly trust him and his truth claims about himself. And I began to see changes in my attitudes and responses to things. I wasn't as easily annoyed, or riled up by things. In fact it was really difficult to get me legitimately frustrated even if things seemed to totally go south, or the plans were completely changed around. I began to see life as an adventure, and the changes were just part of the ride to be enjoyed. Some new exciting path that my guide must know something important about, but I just don't see it. But I could enjoy it and not worry, because I knew my guide was in control and knew what was happening and where we were ultimately going, and I knew he loved me and cares deeply for me and would never let anything happen to me that he though would damage me in the big picture. So I learned to live in trust. And I really found freedom, excitement and joy in it!

I also learned that I definitely do Not have the strength to make it day to day on my own. I came to the point where I just cried one day and told God, I didn't understand why, but I was just tired, and so worn out, and I just felt like I could never catch up. And I just couldn't do it. And He reminded me that I was never meant to. So I realized and grabbed onto the understanding that I have to draw on him every day, to live it to the fullest the way he intended and to be the person he wants me to through everything. So I realized that spending time with him, talking to him, and drawing truth and strength from his word, was my lifeline. It wasn't an option, it was a necessity. Even if I thought I was ok, I need him, and I know I'm not ok without him. And I realize that is the best place to be. I had to go to him, in every thing that came up, any little concern. Instead of taking it and thinking and worrying about it, I began to give him my concerns and talk to him and ask him about them and ask for his mind, and thinking, and perspective on all the things that came my way. It was like for the first time I realized how I'm supposed to live. I'm supposed to let go of everything, and give it to him. None of it is supposed to stay pent up inside me. God created me to be in relationship with him and go through life WITH him. And in all honestly, he takes the brunt and weight of everything if I will live it with him the way He designed me to. It's incredible. Thank you Father for loving me like no one will ever fully grasp, and being everything you are. Thank you for all you've grown in me. Please continue to make me more like you and draw me in to know and love you more for the rest of my life. I know there is so much of you that I'll never get to the end of the depth I can know and love you. Thank you Lord for everything!!!! I love you Father.

So as this chapter of my life closes, I believe it has simply prepared me for the next. I pray that everything I've gained from this experience stays just as vivid and becomes the foundation for the rest of my life, and another stage of growth as the Lord sees fit.

Now that I am home, It seems I still have not stopped running. I'm actually thankful that I've had many things to preoccupy me, so I don't have time to get bored and wonder what to do with my life. God has moved me right on to the next adventure, and I'm extremely excited!! I came home and was blessed to spend time with my grandma and aunts from IN. The week after, a very special man in my life (Joey Waddell) came to visit for spring break.

This is where the next chapter begins...

I picked him up from the airport in the morning on Saturday, March 12th. We decided to drive straight to the beach to just spend some time together and catch up after not having seen each other for 10 months. When we got there we decided to take a walk on the beach together. It was wonderful. I absolutely love the beach, the beauty, the freedom, the smell of the water, the sound of the waves, the feel of the sand between my toes. All of that, and the Man I love was right beside me, walking with me, his arm wrapped around me. There couldn't be a more perfect moment.

After a while we stopped and just enjoyed watching the water, standing there in each other's arms, savoring the feeling of finally being together again. I felt like I was finally home. I realize all this may seem sappy and over dramatized, but I truly love this man, and there is nothing more wonderful to me in this world than being in his arms. I truly am home when I am with him. He is a gift that I feel God gave me, simply to show me the depth of his love in a way more special than I ever fully understood or realized.

Joey turned me to him and hugged me and said "Well, we're here!" I responded, "Yes were finally here together!" Then he told me how much he loved me and how he loved everything about me, my quirkiness, and goofiness, my heart, smile and laugh, and a bunch of other wonderful things. ;) Then he said, "In spite of all this, I haven't been totally honest with you..." That struck me as odd, but I wasn't gonna let my imagination run away with itself. He continued, "I don't want to get married in August." We had been talking about getting married in August, and it had seemed quite difficult to get to that decision for various reasons. Now I was a little nervous, and He paused long enough to read all of it on my face. ;) I think I said something like "ok...?" ;-p hehe Then after he let me be nervous for a bit, he got down on his knee and said, I want to marry you a lot sooner than that! Leah will you Marry me? And he pulled out an absolutely gorgeous ring! It was amazing. I was So surprised and I felt so spoiled! Half of me wishes I would have said something like "Maybe..." or "I'll have to ask my dad" or "I'll have to think about it" just to tease him a little for making me sweat, ;) But there was no question in my mind. I said Yes!!!! and hugged him around the neck, and of course gave him a big kiss. ;) and a little later I said it again "Yes! Yes! Yes!!" hehe finally he sat down in the sand, and pulled me down next to him and we began to discuss and plan and get excited about our future together! Oh and we started calling everyone! :)

So, I am engaged! And the best part is the man I'm engaged to. ;) I love you baby. You are the most precious thing on earth to me. I am so excited that you are the man God gave me to love and share the rest of my life with. I can't wait! I know we have so many adventures to look forward to. And We will experience them together! Finally!

So now we are planning a wedding! OUR Wedding! on June 25th. :) What an incredible God we have. Lord you are the best writer of love stories anywhere in History. I guess it's because you are the author of the first and ultimate love story, our love story, with you. Thank you for first loving, and pursuing us Lord. Thank you that you are the source of passion, love, and the depth of all the mystery you've made these to have. It is the most beautiful thing in eternity. Teach us more about your kind of Love. And draw us deeper into our love story with you.

*More Pictures on Facebook

Back on the Ship! :)

2011-01-11T00:43:00.001-08:00

Happy New year everyone! Wow, I can't believe it is 2011. And to think, I started with Mercy Ships in August 2009. That sounds like a long time! hehe It's been an incredible experience. We had a really fun New year's Eve. We had a wonderful Dinner and then a great fire works show by some of the guys. Then we had a fun family dance party until midnight. At that point the entire valley lit up with fireworks from everyone living there. It was a hearty welcome to the new year and a dignified exit to the old. :)

I've been living in Apples Bosch College, our land base here in South Africa. But I'm back on the ship now! I've been here 9 days now. It is still being worked on, but it's nice to be living here again. It's kinda cool having the experience living on a work in progress; we have no air-conditioning, which has been interesting, though not too bad. and there is no electricity in many places. and everything else is just in a general working state, wires, open portholes, deck heads down, lots of messes etc. I kinda like experiencing the difference of it all to the norm.

I'm working in Reception right now, helping to train some new girls that have just arrived. They are great and I've been enjoying it.

Please keep praying for the completion of the work here. Things are moving but there is still a lot to be done.

We also just went to a big Cricket match in the Moses Mabhida Stadium, where the World Cup was hosted. It was fun to be part of the crowd at this match as it was the largest Cricket match in the entire history of the continent of Africa. The crowd was around 30,000, where others have only been numbers like 5,000 I believe. It was a cool experience. I was a part of history! :) Congratulations India! (India vs. South Africa).

Other than that, there's not a whole lot new to report. Things are slowly moving back to normal here on the ship. It's fun to watch it happen. :)

Christmas Time!! and a random assortment of other adventures...

2010-12-18T02:47:00.000-08:00

Christmas!!

Hello everyone! Sadly it has been forever since I've updated my blog. But I'm catching up now! So your in for quite a lot of pictures. I've written the stories below the appropriate pictures. Enjoy! No, I haven't changed...;-p still my goofy self. hehe Me and my friend Shannon were putting up Christmas lights in her room and we happened to have some left over sticky tack. This was the result... :-p
Havin' fun. Who says you have to grow up ;)
Around Christmas time, we usually have some fun family events. This Christmas we've done Christmas tree decorating. making decorations from cookies and paper chains and popcorn chains etc.
We also made gingerbread houses and decorated them! this was ours. :)
This was our team. :) [Sharon, Gini, Shannon, Me] We were in a self-imposed competition with another team of our friends. At one point, we each got a big glob of icing and went over to our rivals nonchalantly, and THEN...We iced them! hehee it was fun. We had a good time. We all felt like kids again! I said, "this is the most awesome gingerbread house i've ever made in my whole life!" Gini was like, "Its prolly because were all in our twenties Leah..." lol

Yum! candy! sugar! We said, "So how long we gotta leave em before we eat em?" Gini was like, "I'm thinking, decorate, take a picture, and dig in!" hahah don't worry we didn't eat our masterpiece. We just did plenty of taste testing in the process of making it. :D

Somehow I got icing on my face. And then it just happened to be in the shape of a heart! What are the chances!
Aww I love them ;)
The various artistically sweet structures on display

Yay for Christmas Fun!! :)

Dental Adventures!
So this first adventure was something else! One Incredible Crazy day!

But it started out so normal....

...One day this was the place we were supposed to do a dental clinic. It was way up in the mountains.
We got there and there were probably 300 people there! We found out there was a cancer screening, and weren't even sure if we were expected. Comfort ended up speaking to all of them on dental hygiene and Jesus.

They still wanted us to set up and we all decided we might as well set up outside on the porch. After all it was a beautiful day and inside was packed with people!

I set up sterilization in the back of the landrover! Coolest set up ever! Now that's extreme.

Josh came out as a helper

yep, portable sterilization. That's right :-p

This was the most adorable baby! and again, I love how Africans hold their babies on their backs. So handy! (or hands free) ;)

This was our porch. And look at the beautiful sunny day. We had no idea what was brewing...

Suddenly the skys started to darken and it started raining and then hailing!

This is Gini showin a piece of hail. But we thought ah we'll just work through it.

This is quite comical in light of how things progressed...

It started pouring rain and hailing harder.

We were getting pelted and wet so we had to stop. we thought we'd just wait it out. Note our translator standing in the window sill :-p

it continued to rain and hail

then the rain started draining off the building and making a big pool at the edge of the concrete. and it looked like it was snowing outsided as you can see by the grass.

within minutes the water had flooded our little porch completely and our shoes were gettin soaked.

We had to try to move everything off the ground and Everything was muddy!

Then we all retreated to the top of chairs, making an obstacle course of walking across them grabbing stuff and bringing it inside. it only helped a little, not really at all in the end. we were soaked through. :D

Look at that river! it came all the way up to the building wall!

We couldn't believe it and it was so crazy that it was actually exciting!

So remember Gini's hail from earlier? Well this hail has already melted some. It got to the full size of ping pong balls!

Finally we got everything moved inside and tried to clean it off as best we could.

I set up my sterilization on some chairs ;-p

This is what outside looked like. Who knew this could happen in Africa!

Then the electricity went off! haha

But I still had stuff i needed to sterilize. Dryness was unfamiliar by this time...

Cold and wet and Still havin fun!

The building was full of people! and it was dark. We decided it was silly to try to work in the dark and wasn't very safe anyway.

So we left and got some warm drinks of hot chocolate and coffee at a quaint little coffee shop.

Me, Sandra, and Sieh

So as we were at the coffee shop the owner comes up and asks us if we take care of teeth. She then proceeds to ask if we can pull one of her employee's teeth, because the woman had been in pain for weeks. So Dag (our head dentist) looked at Kura (another dentist who was there for a couple months) and they both said, Sure! lol! So we got the local anasthetic and some forceps from the back of the land rover and Dag pulled her tooth in the back room of the coffee shop! :) What a day!

Me and sandra standing in front of Dag while he pulls the ladies tooth.

And that was the end of one of our greatest dental adventures ever!

We also went to many other locations which I have some photos of below:

I love getting baby duty ;)

another mountain clinic

We get distracted on the way sometimes cause the views just must be captured!

This is the kind of houses the Zulus make around here :)

One day after work we went to take a walk by a beach. Beautiful! It's always fun going places after work cause we look like a family of smurfs, all of us in our matching blue scrubs! It must be quite a comical thing to see.
Left: Deb (photographer), Sieh, Kura, Gini, Sandra, Me, Comfort, Lady who set up the clinic, Dag So something I've loved from the moment we got here, is that you will see cows and bulls just walking the streets. Its great. :)

Clinic to the homeless in Downtown Durban!

One of our clinics was in downtown durban to the homeless. This little girl got her tooth pulled and was really scared so I held her for a really long time and became friends with her. She tagged along with me the rest of the day. I later found out that her mother had just died not long ago.

This homeless clinic was held in a church! and one day they had a little worship service.

everyone really got into it. It was fun!

The patients would go up and take turns leading songs. Or share the mic. This church is where they all came for a meal every day.

I held her for probably an hour. It was sweet. I think she just missed being held by a woman.

There were some other little kids that came too! This little one and I colored for a while.

Yes I actually do work :) not just play with cute kids (though I like that part a lot!)

This woman's name was "Precious." And she was just that. She was this little patite pregnant woman. She was kinda scared but ended up being really brave. Holding hands and reasuring people is another thing I get to do sometimes.

This was our set up in the church for the homeless.

These two women gave out bread every day at the church.

Some of the team for this particular clinic.

One more quick story about this homeless clinic: We had security (a married couple who were both in the marines. we'll call them Bob and Sue) come with us, because it was just a rough area. In the middle of the day Bob was standing out at the entrance by the street and all of a sudden he got light headed and passed out and supposedly bumped his head. When he woke up he wasn't quite coherant. I ended up being an ambulence driver that day. Dag asked me if I could drive Bob and Sue to the hospital so everyone else could continue working. So I grabbed my bag and the keys and off we went. First we tried a government hospital but they wouldn't see us immediately so we went to a private one across town! Who know's what will happen when yer with Mercy Ships! Craziness! Quite a lot of excitement. He stayed over night but is now fine.

Random pictures from other clinics:

sterilizing at another clinic.

Comfort teaches dental hygiene to the patients as they wait and also gives a message about Jesus.

Patients waiting to be seen.

Team photos! :)

PARTY TIME!!

Linde Tvet, a highschooler from one of the families on board, had a birthday sleepover party, where we all had fun being girls and dressing up. I was one of the responsible adults. It was a good time. :)
kisses for the birthday girl!
left to right: Danae, Alana, Bess, Linde, Hannah, Rachel, Me
Charlie's Angels anyone? (Linde, Me, Rachel)

Getting makeovers! (Me, Danae, Christina)

PAINTING PROJECT:

One Saturday they had a project to help paint the parsonage for a little church across the street. They have a new pastor coming and needed help fixing up the house it was fun. :) At another time, we also helped to paint a preschool (called a "Creche" here) and put letters and shapes and other things on the walls to make it fun for the kids.

I wasn't tall enough, so I made do with my resources! hehe

ZIPLINING!! WOOHOO!
Ok so these pictures are out of order, but one Saturday we went ziplining! So fun. This picture was taken at the end of the day when we were leaving and Me and Angie decided to roll down a hill on the way to the cars :-p hehe oh to be kids!
I found a comfy spot on a vine while I waited for everyone else to finish the line. I'm very at home when i'm climbing around :-p

At one of the landings there was a really pretty waterfall. It is bigger than what you can see here.

Jesse, Me and Angie in the back of the truck on the way to the tree lines.

All suited up and ready to fly!

Our group picture at the end of the lines.

(from left to right: Tim, Me, clare, Rachel, Angie, Miriam, Gini (back), Steph, Jesse)

yay for friends :)
we had to slide, stop at the tree so we didn't hit it, pose and then swing on. haha
I'm comin in for a landing!
in the truck on the way to the beginning of the trail. I was so excited to get to ride in the back of a truck again! It's been too long!

THE GALLEY! MY SECOND JOB:

So most of my time here in South Africa, I've worked in the Galley because there wasn't a whole lot of work for me on the dental team since things run so differently here. I've really enjoyed the change of pace. And I love the people I work with. Good people, Good food. Can it get any better!?
We were making... uh, something with flour! haha and kinda had some fun. :)

Left: Linde, Jesse, Me, Marilyn

Marilyn, James, Bendic, Linde, Me, Jesse (Jesse is the head chef)

The galley is where I'm currently working. I'm enjoying it. As things constantly change here (which i like), I've been asked to go back to the ship in the first week of January, to work in Reception again, and help with the training of new team members. Life is definately an adventure! and I'm so glad God's taken me on this one!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!!! And a wonderful New Year!!

A little bit of Life

2010-10-17T23:43:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

the last couple months have been pretty uneventful. That's why I haven't written much. But I thought i'd just write anyway. I'm still working in the galley and learning lots there. I've gone out with Comfort, the woman who does hygiene teaching for the dental team. I drive her around to a bunch of schools and then keep statistics and time while she teaches. I've gotten to teach a little myself too. :) that was fun. The kids are adorable and its so fun being with locals and hearing the language. The drives to the school are quite the adrenaline rush too! i love it. lots of hills and mountains some sharp drops on the edge of steep dirt roads. Quite an adventure. I love it :)

My favorite school was called "something-I-can't-remember-or-pronounce primary school and preschool." hehe The teachers were interested in their students and it showed and the kids in turn were vibrant and responsive. Our first class was the preschoolers. That has been one of my favorite experience so far since being here in SA. it was a room full of about 28 preschool kids prolly only 4 years old and under. they were all sitting on the floor, so me and Comfort just joined the circle. As soon as we sat down one of the kids started crying. He was afraid we were there to give injections, because the district school nurse that takes us to these schools only goes to give injections (She does this in classes before or after we teach). But these ones were too young for the injections, still they were afraid it was So cute. So Comfort picked up the kid and sat him in her lap trying to calm him even though he didn't understand her words. He stopped crying quickly and sat contentedly in her lap. right after that one of the little boys to my right began to cry saying he didn't what "jovi" injections. I assured him in broken Zulu that there were no shots "Cha Jovi" (no injections). Then patted my lap and held out my hands to see if he wanted to come. Immediately he sat in my lap and stopped crying. We did the whole teaching each holding a child. It was so fun and these young ones were so interactive and bright. I just loved it. So that has been my favorite experience so far. :)

Besides that we've been excited to find that we are living 45 minutes from Angus Buckam, the farmer/evangelist that wrote Faith Like Potatoes. We've watched the movie here and it was so exciting to see so much we relate to, so much we are living! Several of our people here have visited the church in gray town and even gone to visit Angus' farm. They've met him and talked to him and others from the movie/book. He is headed to London soon for another speaking engagement I believe. We are hoping to have him here to speak to us at some point before we leave.

A couple weekends ago we did a small community service project. The church across the street from our campus is looking for a new pastor as it is growing so much. So we offered to help them fix up the parsonage if they could raise the money for paint and materials. So a couple Saturdays ago a few of us spent the morning painting. There is still a lot of work to do, but we used up all the paint they had. So perhaps we'll be back over there at some point. :) It was fun.

Life here is pretty chill. We are at least an hour and a half from the nearest large city, so there is not a whole lot to do outside of our campus. I've been doing a lot of reading, enjoying some great books like The Atonement Child -Francine Rivers; Tuesdays with Morrie (forget the authors name); and right now i'm reading a book by the author of Blue like Jazz, Can't remember the name of the book (something about a road trip). Also I've become addicted to gilmore girls :-p hehe. and besides that I've just been enjoying the beauty of nature around here, enjoying spending afternoons walking around campus or finding a nice spot to read in the sun. Though lately its been pretty cold and rainy for the most part, which is good I suppose because everyone has been praying for rain. The people need it. God is pretty awesome with all he's made and how much he loves us. :)

We've also been to the beach a few times, they have some beautiful beaches with these big rocks to climb around on in the surf. Very exciting :) I attached some random pictures below. Enjoy!

Enoch, Danae, and I at the beach. :)

Look at the view! :)

These circle houses are what the Zulus build around here. There is this superstition about a little man or spirit or something that hides in corners; so they believe it so strongly I guess it resulted in the tradition of building round houses so he has nowhere to hide.

This is looking in the direction of the road down to our campus where we live. The campus itself is seen if you look a little further than the picture to the left.

It is just So gorgeous here. It is definitely one of the most naturally beautiful and diverse places I've been to.

One of the beaches.

the edge of a tide pool. They are everywhere and so cool!

Me and Megan at the beach.

This is how foggy it gets sometimes here. And it gets as cold as it looks :S Buurrrr.

An afternoon in a tree....A good day :)

2010-09-12T07:53:00.000-07:00

Today was an absolutely wonderful day.

It was warm, sunny and absolutely gorgeous outside. I slept till I woke up this morning (no alarm clock yay!) and still managed to catch the last minutes of breakfast. Then Christina, Danae and I curled up in my room and watched Leap Year. Definitely one of my top favorite movies now. Absolutely fun, funny, cute and very clean. After that we put on more summery clothes (yay! Its been cold) and went for a walk to enjoy the sunshine. Then I came back and put on a tank top and some ball shorts cause I was still hot even after losing the normal sweatshirts we’ve gotten used to lately. Then I packed a small knapsack with a book, my Bible, journal, and my ipod in my pocket, put on my flip flops and went out to enjoy the day outside.

My first mission was to find food, so I stopped at the tuck shop and got french fries and a sausage roll plus some chocolate cookies J mmmm! Yummy. I ate my food sitting under a tree on the top step of the arena area out back of the gym accompanied by music from my ipod. Then, with my stomach full, I went on a hunt for a good place to set up camp for a while. I found it in a big old tree in an out-of-the-way corner at the front of the campus by the outside wall. So I climbed up and made myself comfy enjoying the breeze and the shade. I proceeded to spend the majority of the rest of my afternoon sitting in a tree J resting, napping, reading, talking to Jesus a little, and enjoying my music, switching every now and then to a new spot in the big tree. It was just wonderful. Absolutely perfect.

After about 2 hours or so I decided to see what else I might do till dinner. I met one of the guards as I was just getting down and we exchanged hellos and started a small conversation, then he pointed out one of the other female guards, Mpume, whom I’d met earlier, was waving and calling to me from the guard house, so we walked down to say hi. I visited there for a little bit and showed them pictures of my family and Joey from my ipod. They enjoyed the pictures and asked some questions about where they were and if I missed them.

After talking a little bit, I said goodbye and walked on, still having no plan, completely content with the beauty and leisure of the day, silently thanking God for the wonder and pleasure of his creation, singing to my ipod as I went. I picked a spot on a step shaded all except my legs and sat there for a few minutes just listening and singing with my music, then got up and wondered around still singing and enjoying the warmth of the sun. I found myself on the walkway leading to the school with big blue pillars on either side. So I picked one off to the side with a view of the hills and sat down on the side with some shade enjoying my music and drifting off for a few seconds here and there. It was a wonderful day. I spent all day outside, in a tree, on a step, singing songs, warmed by the sun. Thank you God for a special day. I loved it. J

Applesbosch! Home sweet land! :)

2010-09-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

We are here! Woohoo! And for those of you who think that all of Africa is hot and sunny. I have news for you. It is very cold right now! We are coming out of South Africa's winter. So we've been all pants (trousers for the Brits ;-p *pants mean underwear to them lol) and sweatshirts! But yes it is beautiful! and the campus we are staying on is an absolute blessing. God is so good. He really loves us. So here are some pictures. right now I'm working in the galley until we see what happens with the dental team. enjoy the pictures! I miss all of you my family and friends!

My room on the ship was completely empty after I was done packing up to move to Applesbosch.

Like i said, Hoodies! yay!

This is a sitting area behind the gym, next to the tuck shop (its like a concession stand on steroids! hehe its awesome!)where we can get internet (They are still working out a lot of details for it to be stable and perminant)

Here's the tuck shop. They have all kinds of good stuff. And that is Clare, who helps run it. The staff here running the campus for us is amazing! I'm so thankful for them!

We have a full size gym!!! I've been able to play basketball most evenings. I'm loving it.

That's my dorm building on the left, B block, and that is the dining hall on the right. like i said, beautiful!

The view from my room. That is the gym on the left and you can see just the beginning of the school for the kids on the right

This is my room! I get my own! and it has 3 beds in it, which is really funny. No I don't switch back and forth every third night. I sleep in the pink one.

The bus ride to Applesbosch from the ship. So fun and exciting!

The massive pile of crew luggage before it was all loaded on trucks to be taken to Applesbosch. The first two days were major unpacking, complete with a people chain all the way from the trucks to the gym to get the luggage in as quickly and easily as possible. :)

well thats all I have for now. I hope you are all doing well!

Land! Land! It's South Africa ;-D Yay!

2010-09-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

After Sailing for 17 days, we have just arrived in Durban, South Africa!

I’m so excited to be here. J We got in this morning after the pilot boarded our ship by helicopter! Quite exciting. It was so refreshing to see the first sights of the coast line. Land! Yay!Durban looks beautiful. This is the 3^rd largest port in the southern hemisphere. As we came into port it reminded me of a big city in FL. Palm trees, big buildings, it looks just like home. J I can’t wait to be able to run around on land. ;-p I feel like a little kid that’s been cooped up too long. We are just waiting on things to get all finished up with immigration before we are allowed to set foot on land. Please pray that God will pave the way and things will fall into place smoothly and quickly.

Tomorrow we will be loading up trucks and caravanning about 2 hours up to ApplesBosch, the campus we will be living on for the next 6 months. It is an un-used college campus, with open spaces, that I’m sure we will all enjoy after living on a ship for over a year. :-D As soon as we get off the ship, the technical crew remaining, and other workers from the shipyard will begin work in earnest to refit the ship and making all the changes and improvements needed.

I still have some packing to finish up before tomorrow morning, and I’m very excited about all the changes happening. I think I will continue working in crew services (dining room or galley) for then next 2 weeks or so at Applesbosch (or wherever they tell me I’m working ;-p), then we will start work with the dental clinic again and I’ll go back to my job as sterilizer. I’m so excited to see everything unfold here. I know God has a plan and I’m excited to be a part of it. I’ll write more once our internet and phone services get set up in Applesbosch, which could be over a week or so. I hope you are all well! Enjoy a few of the pictures below that I took this morning as we came into port as well as some pictures of the fun we had on the sail.

I enjoyed going up on deck 7 some mornings to enjoy God's creation and spend some time with Him. :)

During the sail we plan some fun activities to keep everyone from going crazy ;-p hehe

This was our team for the game day. Jeff and Megan Howard and their kids Max and Emma. Love this family. They have been such a blessing to me!

We also had a pirate day, where everyone dressed up and they had a treasure hunt and some other stuff for the kids. this is me with Emma and Max again :)

Obviously some sort of throwing game. ;-p I think it was one where you had to throw these little empty cookie boxes as far as you could. More difficult than you'd imagine ;-p lol

This just looks dangerous :-p

We had a carnival with lots of games and other fun things. Hahah so much fun. It's the Murr man!

The carnival also did stick-on tattoos! me and Becca decided to model ours :-p

And we got to make magnetic picture frames!

This is the dock in Durban! The view looking to the front of the ship.

This is the port looking to the back of the ship.

the dock right below our ship! :)

Those people are our advance team, who have been there for months sorting out details and waiting for their big white ship to arrive. This is always a fun reunion :)

Me, Heather, and Becca on deck 8 watching as we came into port! We're here!! WooHoo! Me and Becca took turns bubbling, "I'm so excited!" at random times with little dances of excitement :) hehe

Oh ya! I've already seen a Cheetah! ahahahhaa We were all laughing about this as we came into port.

We also saw our first piece of South African abstract art.... lol hahah we weren't exactly sure what it was, but that sounds nicer than "gigantic pile of junk"

Isn't it beautiful! :)

We're here!

just coming in.

The coastline getting closer! Yay South Africa!

There's the coastline of Durban, South Africa! Land! Woohoo! God is so good. What an adventure! :)

Packed up!

2010-08-08T04:32:00.000-07:00

The Dental clinic is officially packed up! The building is cleaned and locked and everything thing is packed in a big blue container. We will be sailing in about a week! Pack-up and cleanup went quicker than we thought it would and it was really a lot of fun. Here are some random pictures of us being silly in the process and then also some from the last days we were open. Please keep us in prayer as we prepare for the sail. Pray that it will be smooth sailing and we won't hit really ruff water. Also please pray that I won't get sea sick! Thanks! hope you are all well. :)

Dodgi decided that mop head is the new best hair style :-p hehe

This is my room after everything is packed up. Now just fold up the tables and CLEAN! :)

Everything is packed--To the ceiling! It was quite the puzzle fitting it all in. But We are done! After this picture we closed the doors and locked it until South Africa.

One of the pictures we took at our goodbye part for the day volunteers. Gado, Me, and Feda

I'm Togalese! :-p hehe That's using your head.

Practicing...

and again... ;-p

I got distracted from packing up. We weren't using this plastic so I saw an opportunity for fun ;-p hehe

Having fun

Weekend in Ghana

2010-07-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

Me and three of my friends spent the past weekend in Ghana! It was a fun trip. We made some memories. I just figured it was a shame to be that close to another country and never go. So we made a trip. :) We began our trip on Friday night. At the border we met a friend of Lydia's, an Liberian guy named JR. He ended up going with us the whole weekend. It was kinda nice having an African to help us navigate our way through Ghana. :)

So the five of us left the border in a taxi for four passengers on a four hour drive to Accra Ghana. That was an experience in itself. We'll just say we did some very close bonding during those four hours. hehe Go through the pictures to get the rest of the story...

After the four hour drive we very relieved to get to the motel. We climbed out of the car sore backsides, numb legs, feet asleep and all. hehe :-p this was the bed all four of us girls shared that first night in our little room :) hehe I slept like a baby...some of the other girls weren't so lucky.

The next day we found a tro tro (passenger van taxi) at the busy bus station.

Window shopping is one of the fun parts of Africa. You can pretty much get anything you need food or drink wise right from the comfort of your vehicle without even pulling off the road. As soon as you stop you are surrounded by venders all carying baskets of goods on their heads. Here you can see we are enjoying some plantain chips we bought. So yummy!

We finally reached Cape Coast after a three or four hour drive in the Tro Tro.

We went to do a canapy walk! I heard there are only three in the world and this is the biggest. Its basically a bunch of rope bridges hung above the trees.

Hiking to the beginning of the bridges.

Up in that little building is where the walk begins!

Climbing the stairs. Almost there!

waiting our turn

Here we go!

notice the mud squishing between my toes and all over my flip flops. Note to self, wrong choice of shoes! it had been raining so the trail up was pretty muddy. :)

Hello! ;-p

Really big tree!! JR said, "we don't call that a tree, its a Log!" haha

Don't slip!

All done. this way out of the jungle.

A trail of ants. they were all over. and are supposedly pretty bad ones.

This little station was on the way out, they were selling coconuts and other refreshments :)

Next we went to the place we were staying Saturday night called Han's Cottage. This was my bed! :) we were all pretty excited to have our own after the previous night. Hahahah!

Hangin out eating some snacks we'd packed

So Hans' Cottage is pretty cool! its a hotel, hostel, restaraunt, gift shop, pool etc. and kind of all built over this water!

waiting to eat dinner in the restaurant.

So they had aligators! and we got to touch them! I know, it doesn't sound safe, prolly wasn't all that much, but don't worry, nobody lost any limbs or anything. ;-p

the pool

Cheese!

Lydia being goofy on her bed :) wait maybe it was my bed, which became Carmen's bed (we switched later)

So Carmen and Karen decided to brush their hair up so it would be crazy and poofy. So funny.

On Sunday we drove another 4 hours back to Tema to visit the Logos Hope, Operation Mobilization.

Their main focus is to bring books to people all over the world so people can have the opportunity to learn and obtain books at extremely cheap prices, whereas otherwise books are only affordable by the rich.

Eating some ice cream at the coffee/snack bar on the Logos Hope.

Carmen...being Carmen. She was so fun, we all found her our greatest entertainment I think. Thanks Carmen!

Driving home in another Tro Tro. Everyone was tired. We had fun but we were ready to be back onboard our floating home.

*Sigh* It's so nice to be home.

the sight of the port and then that big white boxy ship makes us all breath a sigh of relief and comfort that only home brings. It's crazy to think that this familiar gangway is the walkway to my home. ;) I was so excited to get back to my room and my little bunk bed. :) And I'll tell you a shower never felt so good. (Well ok, there have been other times)

A nice ending to a great adventure.

Fire Drill :)

2010-07-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

So every other week or so on Thursday, we have fire drills. When we are in port, everyone has to leave the ship and go out onto the dock to their muster station. This past Thursday is one of the few that I happened to be onboard for. Usually the dental team is still off the ship during the fire drills. So these are just some pictures on the dock. Everyone checks into their station, crew and dayvolunteers and even patients (to some extent, depending on the drill, and the seriousness of each patients condition), and then we all just hang out and pretty much sit for an hour or two while the emergancy teams finish everything up inside the ship. hehe enjoy the pictures.

This little girl and her sister kept running around together playing on these wooden steps almost like it was a slide. ;-p it was funny.

That fenced in area is a waiting area for patients. It is used for other things as well as you can see. People are just chilling till we get the ok to go back onship.
Kelly and Jo! My friends AND my Muster takers at my muster station! :)
They are great. :) Kelly is also my roomie and Jo is pretty much an honorary roomie, she is in our room more than her own I think :) Every day definately, more than once hehe
Melissa and Karen, the dental team just claimed a spot on the dock and plopped down right on the ground hehe.
Gini and Me. Best way to sit! back rests. Yes!

Ok so this fire drill something hillarious happened. As I went down the gangway I saw Paul, our hair dressor carrying his stool, I yelled, "Paul you saving your chair?" hehe he was like yup.

after checking into my station, i started wondering around, and found him set up next to the portapottys cutting Theo (one of the kids onboard) and Mareijke (one of our dentists) hair!! hahaha it was the most hillarious thing ever. He was like, well I gave them the choice and they said just do it on the dock! otherwise it would have been built up with people wanting me to squeez them in after the drill. This was the best drill ever :)

Thank God for sanitizer, (that little stand) though i'm not sure how much good its going to do, as you can see i think that portapotty is leaking ;-p Yuck! haha

Babies! Love them! :)

2010-07-15T14:52:00.000-07:00

So at work, there is a little local resteraunt right beside our building inside the compound at the clinic. The woman there makes food for our dayvolunteers. Her girls always bring it over. Half the time they have this adorable little one with them. Her name is Gracia. When we first started, she was absolutely terrified of us! She wouldn't even let us come near her, much less touch or hold her. I think it was the combination of us being white and all wearing the same uniform. ;-p hehe Anyway I was determined to have her like me by the end. hehe Little by little she let me get close to her, and then touch her, and she finally let me hold her a couple weeks ago! I haven't seen her much since, so i've probably lost some ground again, but ya its kinda funny. She is adorable!

Oh and you know how I talked about women carrying babies on their backs? well I never mentioned the fact that sometimes they don't use cloth; sometimes for short distances, they will just put them on their back and put their hands like under their arms and kinda clamp them down, and the kid just hangs on. It's kind of amazing! and really cool :)

She let me hold her!! She didn't struggle, but her face says she's still unsure :-p hehe She'll smile at me as long as I'm not too close or threatening to try and hold her :-p haha
Ok so I got baby duty! and isn't this little one the most adorable thing ever!?

I had so much fun cuddling her. I think she was only a few weeks old. We were doing her momma's teeth.

"I now can be counted among the other women"

2010-06-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday I went to Ward church (a church service held in the hospital with the patients and translated for them). Right now the vast majority of our patients are VVF ladies. These are women who have Vesico Vaginal Fistula.

Ok, for those of you like me who don't speak "doctor," this is a condition caused by abstructed labor, the the circulation is cut off in the blatter tissue causing it to rot away. This results in holes in the blatter, and constant leaking for the woman. Women who have VVF are treated as outcasts here. They cannot associate in regular society, because of their smell and the humiliation of being unable to control themselves. Many of their husbands leave them as well as family and they end up alone, hiding away. These women are barely considered women.

So, I was sitting in the ward for the service with these women patients and many crew also. We enjoyed african style worship with drums and local songs, and one of the day volunteers (togalese that hire on to help in different departments) gave a message. Then at the end, unexpectedly, they decided to have about six of the women who had been treated give their testimonies.

So for the next 45 minutes, I sat listening to their stories, with tears welling in my eyes and running down my face. In my mind I was seeing a picture of God's love play over and over.

These women had all been suffering for at least 6 to 8 years, living as outcasts, and now were praising God for healing them and allowing them to be women again.

One woman, I believe the last one to speak, got up to share her story. Hers stood out dramatically and again my tears came. This precious woman had been suffering from VVF for 35 years. Thirty-Five years! I heard myself quietly gasp at hearing this. She had tried many doctors to no avail. Finally, her husband left her. She continued looking for help until she had spent all her money in hopes of being healed. As I listened, I couldn't help but remember the story of the woman who had been bleeding, whom Jesus healed when she reached out to him.

So in the end this precious woman was living in a room in her father's house, he the only one providing or caring for her. She would rarely leave the house because of the humiliation. She had nothing left. Not even her womanhood.

Then she heard of Mercy Ships and there was hope again. She came to this big hospital ship as a last resort. There was nothing else she could try, she had resigned herself to living this way the rest of her life alone.

Now she has had the operation and it was a success. She is no longer leaking, smelling, or hiding. You could see the joy on her face, as well as the other women. She thanked everyone on the ship. and gave glory to God as they all did. She ended as many of them did, saying "I am so grateful! Now I have been healed. Now I can be counted among the rest of the women."

What a God we serve. He is a healer, a restorer, a giver of hope. I just keep thinking what an incredible love this is! How much he cares for these precious women. And what joy it brings him to see their lives and dignity restored. Just like the bleeding woman, Jesus' love and compassion has fallen again, on this VVF woman. And I can't help feeling such joy at how this time, He reached out for her. She couldn't reach anymore. Thank you for your love Lord!

Home and back again! :)

2010-06-18T22:48:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!

Ok wow, it has been way too long since I've blogged. So I apologize for the flood of news you will be getting. And I also apologize for how unorganized it may be. I just decided to give you a bunch of visuals and then explain stuff based off them. unfortunately I still don't know how to get this thing to load pictures in the order i want, its always a surprise how they come up. so it may be a little disjointed :-p hehe but I had fun with it so i hope you will too.

So just a quick overview,

I was able to go home for a three week vacation about a month ago (wow! it's already a month ago!). :) It was wonderful. I so enjoyed spending time with my family and friends and my wonderful man, Joey. ;) For those of you that may not be aware I am in a relationship, Joey is the incredible man God has put in my life. We have known each other for 6 years (met him on a mission trip to guatemala for 3 months) we have been dating for about 2 or 3 years, and we will be getting married. ;) Anyway my time home was very refreshing and relaxing, much needed. Now I am back on the ship! and right back in the swing of things, working with the dental team, and many other things. ;) It's been great to get back and see all my friends here again.

Okay, now for the pictures.....Enjoy! :D

Me and my sister, heather when I was home. I guess we were kinda cold ;-p

The family eating dinner out on the patio, dad must be taking the picture.

Dropping Alecia off at the airport. She was leaving for her 3 month mission trip to South Africa like the week before I came back here to the ship.

I love my sisters ;)

This is the view from the top floor of our dental clinic. That little tin roof awning is a little restaurant owned by a local lady. She and her nieces and daughters provide food for our day volunteers. They are the sweetest family.

This is where I work every day! Welcome to Round Point Clinic (it is right of of a roundabout, thats where the name comes from)

Loading up to go out for the day!

So last week a bunch of girls and I went away for a little self-created weekend retreat. It was a really great time. This is the first leg of our journey, 8 people in a 4 or 5 passenger car! ;D Me and Becca took our traditional place squished together in the hatch back. It's a tradition we started in the Dominican Republic ;) hehe

They definitely have rainy season here!

More rain! and that view you are seeing, all the cranes and stuff, is home to me. Its the port!

This is the gas station, I mean lake ;-p hehe

driving out of the port, we were not driving on road, we couldn't even see it. It was just rivers almost as high as the curb all around.

so me and my friend Karen from work, went to a birthday party for Dodgi's mom. He is one of our day volunteers at the dental clinic. There is a picture of him further down.

The party was so fun! Everyone was there, sisters brothers, husbands, aunts uncles, cousins, etc.! It was just great :D

This is Dodgies mom and dad along with a couple of the kids ;)

his mom's sister

so the women kept passing this cute little chunk around and I finally went over and asked to hold her :)

Eventually she fell asleep in my arms.

The Birthday girl! and the wonderful cook!

This is Gini our awesome coordinator for the dental team. She also double as babysitter for all the moms that come in with their kids :)

Marianne and Sandra (my roomy!) beautiful ladies!

me and the girls. The only two girl translators, Delali and Gado. They are awesome!

This is Justin and Dag. Dag is our head dentist from Norway.

Karen and one of the other dentists we had for a few weeks ;)

The screening lines every Monday and Thursday.

Making sandwiches for the patients! we have our own little factory ;) (Gado-left, Comfort-right)

I told you I carry water like an African! hehe Mowuli insisted on the towel, I usually do it without :-p

That's how you do it ;)

Never send me and Mawuli to get water.... ;-p

Our sandwich making factory!

The girls from the restaurant that bring food for our day volunteers everyday.

Gado. Isn't she just gorgeous!

Togo's independance day! Gado made me togalese :-p

So sometimes I get bored and just start playing with our colored tape (we use it to color code the instruments ;-p hehe) I wore this all day. :D

This is Dodgi! who's mother's birthday party we attended.

Me and the love of my life ;)

on the ferry at downtown disney.

All ready to go out! ;D Somebody cleans up good! hehe

"You don't walk like a white person"

2010-05-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Saturday. At 10 o'clock my day began. I met Gado, my friend and coworker at the gangway. She had told me a week or two ago at work that she wanted to take me and show me around Lome, and today was the day. so we walked down the gangway and through the port. Outside the Port gate we walked to the traffic roundabout five minutes further. Then we got some Zimmy jons (which she later informed me the locals call "Olea") and we were off. I had the whole day and she was my guide. ;)
First we went to a village where one of her friends lived and saw his house and met his sister and hung out there for a while. Of course we were given soda's and some snacks. Then onto another Zimmy that took us to Togo's independance memorial. A concrete structure with the cutout of a man showing strength, and pictures of all the presidents. The rest of the day was a wonderful time of walking the streets of Lome, talking, riding in taxis and oleas, walking the beach, and meeting up with friends.
We met with another one of our friends from work, Dodgi. He took us to his village, and showed us where he lived, though we couldn't go inside because he had locked himself out and his brother was not back yet. :) then we sat under a palm tree and talked to some of his friends for a while. after that we went to his mother's restaraunt and relaxed and talked with his mother, sister, aunt, and little niece who was deathly afraid of me and my white skin. By the time we left. She had watched me long enough that I could see she was less terrified but still quite wary. :) I so enjoy my african friends God has blessed me with. And I loved spending a day letting Gado show me around her world.
At one point as we were walking, we were talking about our other friends from work and all the fun we have. As we talked and joked, Gado told me with a smile, "Feda said, you are not really white. He said, Leah is white on the outside, but on the inside she is African like us. No one else does things like us." What he meant is that I have enjoyed trying the things they do. I've learned to carry a bucket of water on my head (though I still have to steady it with one hand;-p), as the water in our clinic has not been working for about 2 or 3 weeks, and may not for the rest of the time here. So every day in the morning we go get our water from a spicket downstairs. And throughout the day we go and refill our bucket. I realized that if you can learn to balence, it is actually lighter to carry it on your head as your whole body is supporting the weight instead of just your arm.
I've also had Gado show me how to carry a baby on my back with a big piece of cloth like all the women do (I think I mentioned this earlier in my blog). I enjoy trying to learn words in their language (Ewei) and French and greet with the typical hand shake/snap. Also I learned that everyone in Togo, and other African countries as well, give everyone a name for the day of the week they are born on. So they figured out that I was born on a Monday. When they asked me, I didn't know, which made them all burst out laughing. It's like not knowing your birthday in the US. :) They figured it out by asking the year I was born and looking at the calenders on their phones. So my name is Adjo, Monday, or Adjovi, Little Monday. Pastor Arnold, who gives the patients instructions before and after their treatment, always calls me Adjo, to which I respond, "Kodjo." That is the male name for Monday, because Pastor Arnold was also born on Monday. After he says my name, he often tells the patients, as I come up and down the stairs during work, "elle s 'apel Adjo." (pardon my french and my spelling ;-p) "her name is Adjo." He has told me, you are not American Leah, now you are Togalese Adjo.
I just enjoy really getting to know my african brothers and sisters, and for me part of the fun is learning and trying things that are part of them and their culture. I was touched to hear how much they felt I was a part of them. I thanked God that he would allow me to have such a close bond with people that live so far from where I do, and live so differently than me, and yet God has given us a love and friendship with eachother where we truly can see and accept eachother as brothers and sisters. Like Feda said, our skin may be different but in our hearts God made us all related.
As she told me this I laughed and said "well thank you." And she laughed, and said "yes, so you are half black."
And at the end of our Saturda, around 3:30pm, Gado, Dodgi, and I were walking along the edge of the beach and Gado and Dodgi were talking to eachother in French. Then Gado said, Dodgi says you don't walk like a white person. I laughed and said "what!? How does a white person walk?" Dodgi laughed and said, "we have a joke that white people maybe from England or other places, have dancing in their walking." And he demonstrated. It was so funny. And we all started laughing. I so enjoyed the day. It was a blessing. And I am realizing more and more, how much I will miss these special friends I've made here when I leave. But as everyone says here, "God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good." I pray he blesses my friends here and leads them to great things and I pray he blesses me in whatever he leads me to next.
I know that we have touched eachothers hearts. And even if we only see eachother again in heaven, I know I will remember them, and I'll still laugh and smile as I think back on the memories we've made, and I believe they will remember me as well. Even if it is only for a short time, I am so thankful God blessed me to know them, love them, laugh with them, work with them, and learn from them. God knows everything and he knew we would make a mark on eachothers lives; and they, like every other significant person God brings across my path, is part of his plan to mold me to be all he created me to be. Thank you Gado, Mouwli, Dodgi, Tekko, Feda, Simiou, Sosou, Delali, Emanuel, and Pastor Arnold (you guys can help me with all the spelling ;-p) for your friendship, I feel so blessed to know you all. :)

My African brothers and sisters

2010-04-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday. And I went to church. When we first arrived in Togo I tried two different churches. The second one has become my church home while I'm here. It is called the fisherman village church. This is because it is literally in a village of fishermen. This is how they make their living in this village. This village is at the edge of the water and the church is situated a way back in it. I still find it quite comical every sunday as we drive back into this village with our convoy of 3 or 4 big white mercy ship land rover's full of "Yovos" (whites). As we go we are accompanied by many waves and shouts from the people and children of the village. At one point their are some sort of electical lines that are too low for us to cross under so one of the men from the village always finds some sort of long pole or piece of wood to lift it for us to come in. And after a short drive we arrive at the church.
This beautiful body of believers is different somehow. This church was started by one of the African crew onboard named Lawrence Adje. Lawrence and his family, his wife Gena and their adopted son Daniel, are from Ghana. They started this church when the ship was in Togo years ago. At that time, Lawrence felt God leading him to transfer leadership of the church to a Togalese man who worked as a dayvolunteer on the ship. This man had no special qualifications but Lawrence saw something in him and God led Lawrence to approach this man. His name is James. He is the man who now pastors at the church.
Pastor James, is an anointed and humble man of God that is again a dayvolunteer on the ship this outreach. He works on the deck crew doing one of the lowest jobs. Though he could have moved to something a little more prominant, He manages the paint locker. I've talked to other deck workers who have been surprised and then touched when they find out his job. And they tell me that he is one of the most joyful workers they have come into contact with and they have never heard him complain, even in this lowly job. He truly shows the face of Jesus in his daily life.
This church has been such a blessing to me. I love the African heart of worship. They are worshipping in a half finished church building with no roof and three walls. In the middle they have constructed a temeraray structure, a simple tin covering supported by rough wooden poles and plastic chairs set up for the congregation in the sand. They have a simple sound system to support a few mics, that are constantly out of EQ and feeding back. ;-p
This church building was once fully built and thriving. But a horrible storm completely destroyed it. Now they are faithfully rebuilding it as they have the resources, little by little. It is so encouraging to go every week and see noticeable improvement. When I first went, I think there was one wall up. Now there are three! God is so good.
Every Sunday we worship God with african songs, several of which I have come to know well. the singing is accompanied by drums and shakers. I have come to love the freedom I see in their worship as they lift their hands and dance for Jesus. What beauty God has made in the diversity of his people around the world. I wish that every American or European or any westernized person could experience an African worship service. I have learned (though I'm sure I still look like a "Yovo" or white person, trying to dance like an African :) their dances and I love jumping into the dance lines that form during the worship. First the women will dance up into a circle and then dance back to their seats. A little later the men will form their line and wow can they dance! :) It is so much fun to worship God in this culture. Shouldn't it be this way everywhere? Then the children will go up with some coaxing from the lady who is in charge of them. It is such a joy to watch them. I think Africans are born with rythm haha :). I came to decide this must be the case as I watched a 2 or 3 year old dancing his heart out and clapping on beat.
And this church is so welcoming. Pastor James sees us not as just whites, but as brother's and sister's. And every Sunday he makes it a point to have one of his own congregation or himself pray for us crew on the ship before we leave.
He says things like, "This week one of the men I work with on the ship came to me and said 'God is so good James! I didn't know what I was going to do, I didn't have money to pay my crew fees. But then my dad sent me money to pay! Isn't God good!' And then," pastor James will say, "I knew white men have troubles too, they do not always have money, they have struggles, or miss their families... they need our prayers just like we need theirs." And then they will pray for us. And they really pray. I am so blessed by their prayers. This is the first African church that has taken on a responsibility to lift us up in prayer as they ask us to do for them. It is humbling and I feel the love of God through them. I truly feel they are my brothers and sisters.
I am so glad that the family of God is so big and diverse and that we are all connected by his love wherever we are from. This is something I hope to experience for the rest of my life. getting to know my brother's and sisters throughout the world, learning their culture, seeing another facet of our majestic, breathtaking God, his creativity, his incredible and beautiful artwork of diversity infused with his love....his people, his children, my brothers and sisters.

My girl, Gado :)

2010-03-14T13:57:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! So I wanted to put a couple more pictures up on here of my coworker and friend, Gado. This is her below. She is the dayvolunteer that helps me every day on the dental team. She is just such a blessing and so much fun. She has picked everything up so quickly and already could easily do it all without me. ;) I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to work closely with some of the Togalese people and build relationships. I am having so much fun. I am also learning a little bit of french. Gado is a wonderful teacher! We started by playing hangman with french and english words to pass the time when we were waiting for more instruments to clean. Then I found a french New Testament in the library onboard so now we've been reading out of that throughout the day when we can find time, using my english Bible for cross reference if she is unsure of an english translation to a word. I'm really enjoying it. And all the day vollunteers love it that I'm trying to learn ;) They are also trying to teach me words of Ewei and Mina (I'm pretty sure neither of those are spelled right); it's quite a funny process, there is a lot of laughing involved-- at my expense ;). I just love how God has so many children everywhere and there is such beautiful diversity. I'm falling in love with the people of Togo...

Gado holding a little baby whos mother was one of our patients. We took the liberty of babysitting while she was being treated ;-D Gado also helped me carry this little one on my back all wrapped up with a big piece of cloth, african style. I loved it. I'm determined to master it before I leave. It is so handy, literally-both hands are free to work! I might have to keep this in mind for my own babies some day. ;-p
This is most of the team ;) our African brothers and sisters. from left to right, back to front: Tekko, Dodgie, Delali, Gado, Koffi, Feda, Arnold, Mewoli

Togo! I wear scrubs now... ;-)

2010-02-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

We are here! We are now docked in Lome, Togo. We've been here for about two weeks now. I already love it. The feel here is lighter than in Benin. I don't know that I noticed it as much when we were there, but now being here, It seems like there was just a more oppressive feel there. Anyway things are going great, and the hospital is about to start their first day of surgery on Thursday. Because of elections here about to happen here on the 28th, we've had to do our screening differently than normal. They have set up various locations where people come to be screened as potential patients.

I have officially started in my position as dental sterilizer! The first few days here we couldn't do anything because of procedures and all. Then the first monday we went out to the clinic for the first time, to start setting up. It was SOO exciting. Yesterday was our first day of screening for patients. It went really well. And now today was our first day of actually seeing patients, and my first official day of sterilizing. :) It went well. Gado, my assistant, a day volunteer from Togo, is great and we have a lot of fun together. She is a fast learner and we're learning together. ;-D

Here are some pictures. I'll tell about other stories in the picture descriptions...

So the first day Gini, our Dental coordinator went out to see the clinic with Dag, our Team leader and head dentist, They just got done talking about how they would need benches for the patients to sit on while they wait to be seen; a minute later they saw a man walking by carrying two benches! They stopped him and asked if he could make 15 benches for us just like the ones he had. He took the order right then, and here is a picture of our lovely benches now! Isn't it amazing how God provides!
Bugs...there are quite a few of them running around our clinic, especially in the bathrooms. Yuck!

So I am now a ship driver. Type of vehicle: Land Rover, Manual. My first time driving in Africa (and for about 8 months period!) This is pretty much what I drove... except mine was not a truck bed. The back was filled to the roof, and I had about 15 chairs strapped to the rack up top, and 4 passangers. It went surprisingly well! Haha :-D

What? I was just focused....And just SLightly nervous. But I used it constructively! ;-p Nobody died. It's actually kinda fun dodging potholes and motorcycles and squeezing past big trucks. No way to fall asleep! That's for sure. And every trip to work is like an obstacle course! It's great!

I think I'll be bored when I go back to driving in the states. ;-p lol

So we had to get the generators and compressors up to the 3rd floor...generator number 1...of 4!

compressor number 1 of 2. Man those things are heavy!!!

Team on the second floor where the pully was rigged. We got them up that far and then the guys carried them up the stairs inside to the 3rd floor. Don't know how they did it. (there was nowhere to rig the pully on the 3rd floor.)

Lunch time! yay!

I was so thankful to have Rosean the previous Sterilizer come one day to help me set up my room!

That's where we eat lunch...and leave our stuff.

Excitement! Everything is ready!

This is my sterilization room! Isn't it beautiful!

Screening on Monday. The security guard told us people started coming at 2:00 in the morning! We ended up screening about 300 people. We screen every Monday and Thursday. We check to see who is the worst and give them an appointment card for a certain day. When we run out of appointment slots, they can come back for the next screening day. We try to see about 50 people per day.

It's been good so far, I'm excited for the rest of the time. :)

Catching Up

2010-02-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been quite a while since I've blogged. Now I'm gonna try to catch you up on the highlights. As of right now, I am rocking back and forth in my stationary chair. We are sailing! And we've hit the rough water right off the bat this time. Thankfully I've been able to keep all my cookies inside me. :) There have been quite a few people who haven't dealt with the movement so well. As we are just beginning the sail, there hasn't been to many eventful happenings yet to speak of. I'll try to keep you updated if there are later on.

So the past six weeks, we have been docked in Santa Cruz, Tenerife in the Canary Islands. In this time the crew has enjoyed some rest and recuperation. Also the ship has undergone some repairs, refitting, cleaning, and inspection. During this time I had the opportunity to volunteer in the engine room cleaning oil tanks! It's a dirty job, but our team had a blast! We broke out with dance party's and singing worship songs randomly throughout the days and pretended our huge ear muffs were head phones, rockin out to the music in our heads. :-p So all the tanks were cleaned and we hoped they were ready for inspection. Everyone was so excited when we passed! The inspector told some of the engineers, "That is the first time I've ever had to chase women out of the tanks to inspect them." Everyone was surprised when a good number, if not the majority of the volunteers for this long dirty job, turned out to be women. :) This experience was one of my highlights.

Also in Tenerife I had the opportunity to do some hiking. Me and a group of friends were able to summit mount Teide, apparently the 3rd highest volcano in the world. We hiked 37,000 meters. It took us a total of 7 hours to hike up and down. We could smell and see the sulfer, as well as feel the heat of the volcano at the top. Also me and my friend Becca went out on our own little adventure one day and made our own way up a very small mountain, (Coloradans would call it a big hill ;-p) but that was fun as it was more climbing than hiking. I much prefer that to walking a pre-made path with few obstacles. :) We also got to enjoy a couple days at a beach, which gave me a little taste of home, making me realize how much I miss my Florida beaches and just chillin, taking in the peaceful beauty of God's creation. It just makes me happy :-D

Lastly, God has really been drawing me closer to himself throughout our time in Tenerife. I had begun to pray that he would help me to know him more and in turn love him more. I'm not satisfied to know about Him, I really want to know who my God is, his heart, his character, how he feels about me; I want to know his voice and enjoy spending time with him as I do with a close friend or family member, to the point that I miss Him if I'm away from Him. So God began to feed that hunger in me and my times with him became more enjoyable, and I felt his little nudges, telling me he loved me, missed me and wanted to spend time with me. I started doing things with him that I simply enjoyed, playing music, singing, reading books I enjoyed, and He spoke to me through those things. It's all still a work in progress, but I feel I've experienced an extra sweetness in our relationship lately which drives me to a strong desire to seek him more. I've just realized a little more how deeply he loves me and how desperately He desires me to love him back and try to match him in it (though he knows I never can). He wants us to enjoy spending time together, and He Absolutely Loves revealing more of himself to me. He just has to wait until I will notice him, give him my open heart and the time to Woo me. God is so much more personal than I will ever be able to grasp; its an endless depth of meaning and perfect relationship, that he is constantly inviting me to dive into as deeply, and with as much vulnerability, abandon and desire as I will through my life. And he is hoping against hope that I will dive with everything in me because he knows the wonder of all he has to reveal.

Tank Cleaning!!

They say Oil is good for the skin ;-p (that outfit used to be white by the way)

So this what the entrances to the tanks look like. Lot's of fun to climb through. :) this is my Dutch friend Johan. If you need some laughs just hang around with him :-p

starting from top left: Dag(Norwegian), Laura, Becca (Both USA), Johan (Dutch), Me(USA).

We are completely normal, this was just an off day... ok so maybe thats not 100% true... lol ;-p

I can't tell if this is me or not
Inside the largest tank

Dumping the sludge

Waiting for more sludge to dump

Team Photo! Eunike (German), Siah (Liberian), Abraham (Ghanain), Me (US), Dag (Norwegian), Laura (US), Johan(Dutch).

Tired, Dirty, and Happy!Mountain climbing adventure with Becca! :) view from the top.

It was so much fun climbin over these big rocks. We found a bunch of little caves too! I think this was another opening out of one i'd found below me. :-p

Mount Teide

At the check point 500 meters from the top.

I've conquered!

The last stretch to the top

Bike trip to the beach! So fun! I love these girls :) (From left: Haley, Kelly-my new roomy, I did my gateway training with her though, so she's not a new friend. then me :)

We're Here! Look! There's Tene Rife!!!

2009-12-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

Hurray!!!!

We've arrived!

About 3 hours ago, around 8am, we sailed into port at Tene Rife. This morning I woke up and realized my bed was not rolling. It was odd, I was thinking, "are we here?!" Last night about 10 o'clock we could see the little lights of the canary islands off in the distance. It was an odd paradox, the pitch black sky with its gorgeous stars like you can only see in the open sea...and then the glow of the islands-Land! off in the distance. It was exciting.

So this morning around 6:30 as I woke up to the odd stillness of my bed (as I've become used to pitching side to side), I heard my roomies scurrying around, getting ready to go up to deck 8 to watch the sunrise and then watch us sail into port :-D we all grabbed our sweatshirts and our fold up camping chairs from the ship shop, and scrambled up the few decks from our cabin on deck 4 to our top deck 8. It was still dark and we were anchored right off shore of Tene Rife; the lights were beautiful! So much excitement!! Then on the other side the rising sun.

It came up with soft pink hues, not a bold sunrise but a soft gentle one. I love God's variety.

As the light grew we could see the island we will be docked at for the next 6 weeks. There are Mountains! Everywhere! Its gorgeous! It's actually a volcano (which I will be climbing with 9 other girls tomorrow! :-D). And then modern buildings. We are off of spain! Yay! I get to speak spanish!! The crew began to gather at the Port side railings of decks 7 and 8. The Pilote boat was coming out to meet us. Everyone waved, and the pilote boarded. Yay! we could start sailing into port. As we came close we heard the sound of a trumpet playing hymns. Our Trumpeteer was a quaint white haired man, whom I later learned trumpets us in and out of port every time Mercy Ships come to Tene Rife. I heard his name is something like Theodoro and he owns a small buisness like a pizza shop in town. It was such a warm welcome, he continued to play songs like "I have decided to follow Jesus" and "when the saints come marching in." I wonder when he's last had such a large audience. In between songs we would clap and cheer and wave :)

finally we were tied up and docked in port. We made it!! solid ground! I thank God for a wonderful voyage, a great experience, His awe-inspiring creation, and the variety of it all. I'm so excited to have arrived in a new place, I can't wait to begin exploring!! Who know's what new adventures are to be had!

We're sailing!

2009-12-11T00:23:00.000-08:00

Somehow it seems that the intensely wild things, with awesome potential danger are the most breathtaking, beautiful, intriguing and entrancing...

such is the sea...such is God...

Wow! I love sailing!! God is incredible! We've had really great weather. nothing too harsh. It's amazing to go up on deck or to the bow and just watch the water and the sky and the flying fish (they seriously jump and glide over the top of the water forever! its awesome!) and feel the wind and sun in your face. Almost nothing more incredible. I feel so blessed with all we've experienced and we've only been sailing for 3 and a half day's. Today is the 4th. We've gotten to see flying fish like a said, as well as spirm whales, a water spout (like a tornado or huricane-pictures below). and this morning I got to see dolphins! Take a look through the pictures of the sail so far...

I slept outside on deck 8 under the stars last night. It was amazing. I think i'm gonna do it every night I can! :-D

On the bow, It feels so amazing standing there, taking it all in...

One of the gorgeous sunsets we get to watch.

This is the water spout we saw! it was only like 100 feet from the ship. Very close! It was small and wouldn't have been able to sink us or anything :-p but wow! was it awesome!

This is what was left in the sky when it discipated

Woo hoo! we're sailing!

My friend D was taking pictures at sundown, and got me. :)

Thats me and my Becca! :-D yes i know we look rediculous...its normal... ;-p ahhaha

Sunrise...

Our path away from Benin

The tugs pulling us away from the dock so we could begin our journey into the open seas... :)

Wrappin up Benin, lookin back...

2009-12-04T16:14:00.000-08:00

So as this outreach in Benin has come to a close and we are preparing to sail, I wanted to reflect back and give you a look at a couple things I've been able to experience. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here and feel extremely blessed with the opportunities I've had and the relationships I've made. I hope you will enjoy the pictures as I tell you a little about, the Jesus film, hospitality center, and some more recent activities. Hopefully the pictures will be a window into the stories for you! :)

A couple weekends ago, the whole ship had a black out, where they turned off all electricity so they could work on some things to ready the ship for sail. Almost everyone decided to spend the day out enjoying some relaxation. We went to a place called Bab's Dock. It was great to relax and have fun. They have a monkey in a cage and donkeys. So of course i had to take pictures :-D

He had already grabbed my hand before this picture, and was trying to do it again. a little scary, but kinda cool!

They had donkeys!!

This is a fruit delivery. Every week we get fruits and vegetibles delivered. It's a lot of stuff!!

It all gets brought right in the gangway and put on the floor in front of the reception desk. (the desk is to the left of this picture

This is a zimidjon. These are the motoconcho's that taxi people around. You will find stranger things than this goat balenced on them! we've seen whole families of four, and a whole table set being carried on them! quite a funny sight ;-p

This is Chitra! One of our Guhrka guards. He is the one who was hit by a zimidjon. He is doing well now pretty much fully recovered with a few scars. Our Guhrkas are the sweetest little men ever! :) No one would guess they can be deadly when necessary.

This is Mary, one of the hospital translators that I got to know and became friends with. She is adorable, the sweetest girl. So young, so bright, I know she'll go far. She's trying to go to school now that the ship is leaving.

Me and Hannah, keeping reception alive. ;-p Goofiness is a necessary part of life. ;-D

This is Therise, one of the dental team day workers. The team through a wedding shower for her, which I unfortunately could not attend.

This is Midokpe, another dental team day worker. She is the one we through a baby shower for. It was So much fun. She was blown away and SO thankful! She kept saying, "What is a word that you have bigger than Thank You?!"

Some of the Dental team. Doug, on top, is the main dentist. He and his family are long term on the ship. They are great! :)

Carrying boxes of Generator chords to be packed up.

Helping to pack up and clean the dental clinic at the end of our time here. (from left to right: Smith, Midokpe, me, Therese

This is Maria, one of the most well known patients in our hospital. She had a massive tumor removed. She spent quite a long time with us and she became familiar and endeared to everyone. I believe she is from Nigeria or Liberia, because she speaks English.

at the Hospitality Center

Havin fun with the kids.

This little one has received a cleft palet/lip surgery. Beautiful.

This is Anasette, a smaller patient who is also known all over the ship. She spent at least 6 months or longer with us, trying to gain weight so that we could give here the cleft palet/lip surgery she needed...

This was her and her mom (also named Anasette) before the surgery, when she was malnurished and unable to gain weight. I took this at the beginning of my time here.

This is Anasette about a month ago, completely changed. She has gained weight even gettin a cute little baby belly, and her mouth looks wonderful. Now everyone will recognize what a beautiful baby girl she is, instead of thinking she is some sort of devil child or under some curse.

Me with Anasette and her mom about a month ago.

We had a game day at the hospitality center and there was a relay water race. It was so much fun! The adults and older people were just as into it as the kids! I loved it :)

The boy with the patch is also well known among a lot of the crew. I can't remember for sure, but I think his name is jon.

I love this little boy; he kinda adopted me as his playmate. They seem to love on us just as much if not more than we love on them. There are many times I feel I am being blessed more than I am blessing... God is amazing.

This is at a Jesus film showing. the man next to me is the pastor of the church next to where we showed it. And the next guy is the pastor who organized the showings for us and showed us which villages to go to.

Putting up the screen...

Finished! The movie is played out of the back of the landrover, we take portable sound equipment and the projector is set on top of the rover.

A bunch of the kids that showed up :)

Before showing the film, they always having singing. The kids and adults too enjoy dancing to the music. We were doing a dance back and forth with the kids...dance in together, dance out...

At this particular location their was a church right beside where we showed the film. So afterward they were having church, so we joined in for the music. They pushed us all toward the front, men first, then women and we all danced, African Style!! :)

From behind as the people watched.

Well thats it for now! Sorry it's taken me so long to catch you up on things. I hope you've enjoyed the last reflections on Benin. Please pray for the crew and captain as we prepare to sail, that all the details and technicalities would come together in every way and we would be able to sail on time! thank you!! Love you all. You are such an encouragement to me! I could not be successful without all of your support and prayers! Thank you!

God is good

2009-10-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! :)

I haven't written in a while! and for that I appologize! I'm not sure where the last few weeks have gone. I've kept pretty busy. The past couple days (today and yesterday), I've had off, so I have had the opportunity to go out with the dental clinic. This is an offship ministry. They drive out every week Mon. through Fri. and set up in a village. There was a brand new building that no one was using so that became their clinic. It is such a blessing!

I found out that their sterilizer position is opening up next outreach in Togo. I thought it would be something I might enjoy, so I decided to go out with them and see what it was like. So the past two days from 8:30am to 3pm I have been a dental sterilizer! Rosean, the current sterilizer, has been teaching me the ropes. And Simon, one of the Dentists was very kind and asked if I would stay around and watch him work today so I could see the instruments in use and get to know them better. So I was able to watch everything from pulling teeth, to fillings, drillings, the whole bit! I Absolutely Loved all of it! I'm really praying that God will work it out that I can change to Dental Sterilizer in Togo. There are just a few things that would have to fall into place; my job would have to be covered by someone else, and the switch would have to be approved by the right people. I will be moving up to the position of team leader of reception for a few months while we are in the Canaries. The dentist sterilizing position would start around Jan. or Feb.

Besides that,

I've been enjoying our weekly sports, (volleyball, ultimate frizbee, and soccar--which I like more and more as I get better! I really LOVE my sports:D). We had a shipwide costume dance party this past Sat. night which was hillarious and loads of fun. Me and my friend Becca were part of the "revenge of the Nerds." Yes. I know what your thinking. But you would never imagine how much fun being a nerd could be!!! We could do whatever we want, dance as badly as we wanted and it was perfect! Everyone just thought it was funny :) I'll never tell them thats how I really dance....Just kidding! ;-p

Also I've been quite involved in the worship teams here onboard.

So I've been helping to sing in some of the bands for Thur. night community meetings and Sun. night church. I've really enjoyed it :) On Nov. 10th we will be having a night just for music and prayer. Some of my friends are organizing it and I'll be participating in the band. We had one of these nights a couple weeks ago and it turned out to be a really powerful time. I think God really just used it for people to be able to finally slow down enough to realize his presence in a new and fresh way and deal with stuff that may have been pressed below the surface by the responsibilities and rutines of daily life and ministry. God is awesome and I love how he reminds us how much he loves us and how much he cares about every part of us and all that affects us and how much a part of our lives he is; and how much he wants us to share it freely and willingly with him and recognize him with us in it. We are SO precious to him!

On a little more difficult note. Though I've been experiencing all these amazing things and it seems I've been so busy and would have had no time for thinking about people back home, It's actually been a rather rough time for me on and off throughout the past couple weeks. I've actually been quite homesick at times, really missing the special love and bond that is only there with those special few. Your family just cannot be replaced. And for me, neither can a very special man in my life ;). There are just those special moments I miss...randomly deciding to take a late night drive to find food to satisfy a common craving with my sisters. Late night movies, or rare mornings when all three of us end up talking in one bed. Sitting on the couch with Mom, or taking walks and just talking. Dad's hugs, that only he can give just that way, and going out with him, talking about life. My brothers coming to find me, excited to show me a new song they've written or how well they are doing practicing. Playing ball out in the driveway, trying to pretend that I am still bigger than Justin and "If I really tried, I could beat him every time, no sweat! ;)." And Micah, I hope you still have the dot game, because were definately finishing it! :) Family nights, watching movies or just hanging out after supper on the patio...and Joey, I just miss hanging out and spending time with my best friend, and the love of my life. I will never fit more perfectly in anyones arms.

I have no doubt or wonder that I am to be here--I am sure of this and thank God that he's put me here; I know this is where he wants me now, so I am content to be here and would not want to be anywhere else. Of all this, I am firmly sure. Even so, as one would naturally expect at times homesickness still finds a way into it all, so I've just done a bit of crying to God here and there, and it really is amazing what a wonderful, loving Father he is. When I'm feeling like a little girl who is so small and far away from all the familiar comforts of home, He will choose just the right moments to show me in some bigger than normal way, just how close he is to me. He's bigger than everything and he's got me. I may be sad for a bit or need to cry a little and thats ok, he's there and everything will be ok.

It happened after a band practice the other night.

As we were finishing up, Christina got everyones attention, "Look at the sunset everyone!" It was breathtaking. It was one of the most beautiful skies I've ever seen. So we all ran up to decks 7 and 8 to take it in. As I soaked in the beauty, I just felt inside me that God painted this sunset for me. Such a magnificent masterpiece just to take my breath away and bring me joy at the marvel. And it was so simple for him, and there was no other reason for it than my enjoyment and that of all his other precious children. That's how much he loves me I thought. He's so big, and the colors and brilliance of a sunset weren't necessary, but he cares about us, me... He wants to see our excitement and he cares about our joy. A God that big, and sensitive had me in his hands, and in that moment I just felt so strongly the love and comfort of my heavenly father. He was there; he did see me; nothing I felt was escaping him, and he wasn't intimidated or worried about it. He was strong enough to handle my emotions and hold me as long as I needed him to. That's the God I serve.

The Agriculture school

2009-10-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

One of the programs the ship does is an agriculture school. This program is run by an African man named Jean Claude. He is part of the crew and lives on the ship, but his job is off ship. He has set up a training program where people come and live for a couple months while they learn about agriculture and the best ways to farm. Jean Claude has a degree in Agriculture and it is his passion. He has trained men from Benin to take over teaching when the ship leaves. This way the school will continue after we are gone and the people will continue to learn!

The following pictures are of the training center that Mercy Ships helped build while the ship has been here. There is a picture of the courtyard inside with the dorm rooms all around the perimeter. Also there is one of the class room where the students have class every morning before going to the fields for hands on training.

This is out in the huge garden or field that the students have helped to start and care for. These are me and some of the students. They also harvested the corn behind me and the girl in the picture that day. The African men can be pretty forward with javo (white) women. So in the picture with four of us, the guy next to me grabbed my hand right as the picture was taken. I pulled away fast and everyone thought it was funny. As he walked back toward the workers I made a kicking motion at him from behind and everyone just roared. It was pretty funny.

This is the water hole where they get all the water they use for watering the entire garden...with watering cans!

Jean Claude caught me offguard in this picture ;-p heheIn the picture where I'm talking to one of the students as we carry watering cans, the student's name is Bien Venue ("Welcome" in English!). He knew a little english and we enjoyed trying to talk back and forth. I tried out the few french words I know.

Me and Jean Claude! He is amazing the passion he has for his ministry here in agriculture!
Me and 2 of the 3 girls in the group.

This was the main project of the day. Turning the compost pile. It was an all day job.

Here are some old pineapple skins that they chopped up and through in as we mixed the compost

Just a few days before, Jean Claude had shown the students how to plant cabbages. They had already started growing and the students were very excited. Jean Claude teaches as they go. Here they are all gathered as he teaches them while they look at what they have created. They start by planting the seeds in this shollow bed under this hut, and once they grow a little bigger and stronger they transplant them into the big garden.

They are also learning how to raise livestock: pigs, sheep, chickens etc.
This is the garden of a former student. He is now implimenting what he learned on his own with his family to help them make a living and provide food for themselves.

Here they are planting something. I can't remember what. But it was so interesting the whole process. The had holes all spaced out and dug. Then they would go get some more fertile dirt from a pile they had made from somewhere which they placed inside each hole. Then they would put a spoonful of ashes in each whole to lower the acidity level in the dirt because the dirt is very acid here.

Its amazing how everyone gets involved. It's really exciting. They loved it when I jumped in and started helping. They showed me what to do, it was a lot of fun :)

This is the fertil soil they would carry over. Everyone in the family helped.

Jean Claude, the father, and another neighbor that came over. They are just checking out the progress together.

Their youngest was absolutely adorable!

He wanted to help too!

So daddy showed him how and let him do it :)

Jean Claude is so proud of what they have learned and the success they are having!

The garden and a little shack at the top. I'm not sure if that is where they live or just a place for storage. My guess would be that is their home.

It was a great day. Such an awesome experience! I love seeing these people learning how to make better lives for themselves and being able to learn and work alongside them for a day. :)

Hospitality Center...playing memory :)

2009-09-30T10:06:00.000-07:00

On one of my days off, I decided to go spend some time at the Hospitality Center, where patients stay as they wait to get surgery or post-ops if they live far away and can't make it back frequently, or on short notice. I went thinking i'd only be there a little while and when i left it had been several hours! here are some pictures with explainations...

The boys kept takin pictures of me so i gave them something to take a picture of ;-p hehe Later they had so much fun with my camara and taking pictures of themselves that they wouldn't hardly give it back to me!

Some of the boys wanted in on the pictures :)

I got to steal the cook's baby and carry him around for a while. He was SO adorable!

This is Jean, one of the boys i played with at the hospitality center. He had a surgery on the tumor on his head.

I also got to play with some of the boys who were there. We played memory and played with my camara for at least an hour! they love taking pictures with it themselves. we got kinda goofy :-p

This is a little baby that needs a cleft lip/palet surgery. The hospital has been helping her mom try to get her weight up so they can perform the surgery. She is very malnurished and cannot seem to gain wait. It would not be safe for her to have the surgery yet. (below

Mom and baby

More memory

Even the Adults got into it :)

my memory game players

Random ;-)

2009-09-14T11:55:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've written! So here are some random photos and then if you keep scrolling down I made about 3-4 new posts today of things that i've been up to. In general, I finished my first set of night shifts last week. Everything went well and I stayed awake just fine :). My "adopt a patient" girl is doing well. Her name is Emacule, She got her bandage off of her leg and her hand and arm are healing well. We've had fun, playing games, laughing at eachother because we can't understand what the other is saying. I've painted her nails (which ended up being a painting party: her, her sister, and several other lady's! it was fun :) I've enjoyed playing some sports, volleyball and Ultimate frizbee. I've enjoyed getting to know so many new people from all different places. A few of us went to the beach to have church last week. It was a really neat experience. I have enjoyed some good times with close friends just sitting up on deck 8, doing devos, listening to ipods, or just having good chats.

We had an 80's dance party with the whole crew (Upper right: me and my roomies- Suie, Stacey, Sandra ). It was crazy and goofy but lots of fun. A few pictures in the land rovers (lower left). One Sat. we went on a day trip to a little island. it was a nice little boat ride then we just relaxed (lower right).

Waiting for the boat and then riding in the boat (above).

Me, Becca, and Kelly

Oida "The Gate of No Return"

2009-09-14T11:07:00.000-07:00

We did a day trip to Oida, "The Gate of no return. This is a monument where the africans were taken as slaves.

These are just some buildings we saw.
Then we went to another monument for the first Priest to Benin. This was the side we came up on first as we walked from the "Gate of no return" up the beach to this on. It is the country of Benin with a cross in the center.

To our surprise and delight this was what was on the other side of the memorial!

Me and Becca

We also went to a slave museum inside one of the old mission camps. A beninese man did our tour. He surprised us being very good at english. The museum told of the wars between tribes, the ways of chiefs and villages, the conditions of slaves being transported and things they made. etc. It was sad but very interesting to learn the history. Our guide told us that we should go see the tree of return. This is a picture of that. It has things carved in it from people that were able to come back.

Fishing!

2009-09-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

One of the resources here on the coast is fishing. Here are pictures of how they pull in their massive nets!

It seems to be a community event to pull in the net. There were people lined up at differnt places all along the beach. They would literally come all the way from the edge of the water up to the road and across. Prolly 50 people, men and kids, possibly even some woman. Then after, i would see a big gathering maybe to get all the fish out.

These are the kinds of nets they would use. I think this is all one net.

These are the kinds of huts we see along the beach. We see kids playing, people selling things, etc.

The View from deck 7

2009-09-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures from the portside of deck 7 This picture is not from deck 7. This is the view coming down the gangway to the dock. Sometimes the people sitting at the bottom are patients waiting to be transported to the Hospitality Center. The gangway comes off of deck 5 where I work in reception. I see the entrance from the reception desk :)

Standing at the railing of deck 7 looking down at the divers below.
These are what the deckies and day workers used to paint the side of the ship. They have to paint regularly to prevent rust.

view of the port. There are ships up to the left as far as you can see as shown above and below.

These are All fishing boats. This is where they are docked. Sometimes mornings they are all out on the water at once. it's quite a sight!

A fishing boat going out to work. They are almost all wooden handmade.

the dive team

2009-09-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I got the opportunity to watch the dive team. I was also asked to take some pictures for them. It was really fun. I would love to be able to be on the dive team at some point. There is a slight chance I would be able to be trained when we sail to Tenerife, Spain in Dec. The ship needs divers to go down and inspect the bottom of the ship, clean out AC vents, and look at other things. So they go down into the dirty, trash filled water and take care of things. :)

The nasty water around the dock and ship

Jumpin' in

Michael, shawna, & Ollie

Spending time with the patients

2009-09-02T00:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day I got to spend time with the patients outside of Ward church. It was so much fun. I went to the hospitality centre and played with the kids and tried to learn a little more french from one of the guards who knew a little English. I learned how to say "what is that" or "how do you say" in French! I'm so excited. I'm also planning to start practicing French with the Rosetta Stone program the ship has.

The Hospitality Centre is a building set up for patients that live far away and are either waiting for a surgery or have finished their surgery and are waiting for post ops. The Hospitality Centre houses and feeds them. The crew can go there any time to visit.

I also adopted a patient (this is a program on the ship where the non-medical crew can "adopt" a patient to visit through their stay on ship for surgery. usually 7-10 days). She is a 17 year old girl who just had a contracture surgery yesterday on one of her hands that was burned. I went yesterday evening to see her for the first time. It is so frusterating not knowing the language. Like many other Beninese, she speaks Fon, the local language. So even if you know french you are still cut off. So basically I just sat with her on her bed for a while. I was able to tell her my name and ask hers in french. she understood enough to answer that. And thankfully 2 of the patients beside her understood some english. One was from Nigeria where the national language is English. The other guy also spoke french and fon. so he was able to help me ask her age. At the end of the time I had him tell her that i would visit her again tomarrow. Though as I said it I was thinking I don't know what I will do or if it is even worth it if we can't even communicate and all i do is sit there and smile. It was probably just as awkward for her as it was for me. A little to my surprise her eyes lit up and he translated, "she wants to know if it will be in the morning or at night." I told him probably at night because I work in the morning. He translated and she smiled and shook her head in understanding. Then i left processing her response which i somehow did not expect... God has put such love and acceptance in some people. And that translates beyond the barriers of culture, or language.

So today I will go again. And maybe we will just sit. But maybe that's ok..

Today in reception I got to go around with Tim (the assistant purser or one of my superiors) to put up the Muster lists (these are the lists of emergancy teams for all the crew). I got to see all the places, I don't normally get to go: the bridge, the generator room, the fire lockers, etc. The only place I have yet to go is the bottom of the ship, all the greasy, hot dirty jobs. The whole reception team will take a tour down there with one of the engineers soon.

So that is whats new! Sorry I don't have more pictures of the patients or other things. I'm still learning when it's ok to take pictures, the best rule of thumb is if you don't know don't take. We have to be respectful of privacy. I always try to think how I would feel if there were a bunch of strangers from somewhere else always snapping their camara's in my and my friends and families faces. No one is a circus, everyone is a person. Also if you're not careful some people will want you to pay them for taking their picture. :-o But I will have pictures when I can ;)

Signing off for now!

Pictures

2009-08-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures of the ship, dock, and road to town.

This is my home :)

Me in my driveway (the gangway) :-p
Ta Da!!
This is the view down the dock toward the road. The ship was right behind me as i took this pic.

This is coming out of the dock gate

Up close picture of the shanty town that greets us outside the dock.

this is turning left. from the shanty town. the road to town.
this is the way I run in the mornings with a group of ppl. it actually gets paved with pavers a little further ahead and around a turn. ;-p
This is the galley or cafeteria where we eat.
thats me by the toaster oven and fruit punch.

this is the crew dining. where i was standing in the previous picture with the food line and all, is directly outside the left bottom corner of this picture. The dining area is again as big as what you see if you keep going to the right.

Thats all for now!

Jesus Film

2009-08-26T15:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my first day alone on the job at reception. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me! It went really well. :) i was very happy.

Tuesday night I went with a team to a Jesus film showing in a village an hour away called Gboje. It was a really neat experience. The team was mostly African, which is awesome! They speak the language, understand the cuture, and will be the ones to follow up and carry on once Mercy Ships leaves. So after the interesting ride there in the mercy ships jeeps, (The traffic is hillariously chaotic!)

As it got closer to dark, the team set up he screen and the African pastor and some others began singing. Everyone got into it and the kids all started dancing. Chris, a big southern guy from our team, joined in with them. SO funny! Then we played the movie. I think it was in Fon, the local language. As it went, the crowd grew until by the end i'd say with everyone standing behind us in the streets and other dark areads watching, the number probably reached well over 100 if not 2.

Through the movie I made little friend. A little girl was lookin for a place to sit so I offered my lap. shyly she took my hand and came to sit with me. After a while she fell asleep. later I learned her name is Claudia.

After the movie they did a little preaching or explanation and gave an invitation for people to come forward. Many did. Then the pastor and some others prayed, with response from those who came. Afterward there was more singing and me and another girl danced with little girls who would grab our hands giggling. Then it was time to pack up.

On the drive back I was surprisingly much more awake than i had been coming. And then one of the african men in the back of the jeep began playing his guitar that he had brought. And another joined him in singing. They worshipped jesus together all the way back to the base. I joined in as much as i could follow. It is such an encouragement to see the love of God in brother's and sisters all over the world!

Ward Church!

2009-08-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

Today we went to ward church. This is where we have a church service in the ward with the patients. The crew sits on their beds with them and the service is mostly led by Beninese. They also did music African style! it is so much fun! I sat with a mother and her six month old little girl. The little girl is here for cleft palet surgery. Right now they are trying to get her weight up before they do the surgery. She is absolutely adorable.
Yesterday Me and the Jacobsons family went on a walk around town. It was really fun! Tons of scooters, Brightly colored african clothing, people selling Fan Ice (a popsickle/icecream treat) and other things. "Gas stations" consisting of a little set up on the side of the road with a bunch of different sized bottles and containers (coke bottles and whatever else) filled with with different gases. It was quite comical :)
Today is my last day of training. I'll be on my own at reception on Wed. I have a couple days off Mon. and Tue. I'll do some more exploring and hopefully go out with some mercy teams on different projects. life is a funny thing...one day your living in Florida going to school and working at a restraunt, and the next your living and working on a Ship in Benin, Africa! What?! crazy! I love it! I'm so glad God has an adventurous character :oD

I've arrived on board the Africa Mercy!!

2009-08-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

I am finally here!!! I can't hardley believe it. We arrived about 9:30pm on the 19th. We arrived at reception and filled out embarkation paperwork first thing. Then we went to the cafeteria to eat a late supper. Then we were shown to our cabins. I'm in a 4 birth (meaning 4 persons). My roomies are great! Suzanne, Sandra, Stacey. Then the very next day I began training at 2pm-9pm in reception. I'm so excited and learning a ton. I really enjoy the job. Today was the second day. I am feeling much more comfortable now with all the duties. This morning I was trained on fire panel with some other people. This is the alarm system for the ship in case of emergancies. This is Receptions most important responsibility. I've enjoyed the meals in the cafeteria and finding my way around the ship getting familiar with everything. I've already hunted down a piano and enjoyed that several times. The community on board is so great. it's like a little community. there is always something to do or someone to hang out with. And there are tons of opportunities to go offship on mercy teams. This weekend I am hoping to go to a Psych clinic to visit the patients. And then Tuesday i'm planning to go help with a Jesus film showing. I'm very excited at how this adventure is beginning. And i'm already getting used to a home that rocks constantly. It is so weird to feel yourself always swaying slightly back and forth and looking out the window to see the water come and go with the sway of the ship :) It is all so exciting! I can't believe i live on a ship!!

On arrival abourd ship, we were greeted by Christina, Danae, Jamie, and Kelly screaming and running down the gangway to meet us! I was reunited with all my "Gates Family"! the people I trained with (this is me and Danae). Such a blessing :)
This is me and my room (cabin)

This is what you see on entering our cabin. There are two rooms on the right, each with a bunkbed. I'm in the first. then at the end is a little living area.

Here's the living area...

And from a different angle ;-p

Here is our bathroom (washroom). from left: the white curtain is the shower, toilet, sink. and thats it :D hehe

My room (birth). I'm top bunk :)

my bed

some of the reception crew! I'm already on day two of training!

From left: Heather, James, Me, James (yes another one), Hannah. Such a great team! One of my favorite practices in reception is at the end of each shift. The receptionist who is going off duty prays in the receptionist going on duty. It is so neat!

Pictures of Europe adventure!

2009-08-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

The Eiffel tower in Paris!
From left: Christina, Heather, Elliot, Julle, Becca, Me

The Alphs in Switzerland! The most amazing thing i've ever seen or experienced! God's creation is unbelievable!

I actually got to touch snow in August!!

Breathtaking...!

This was the map of our hike in the Alphs. We are in our hostel. So cute!

Gotta have goofy fun!

On the road with all our baggage.

The view from under the Eiffel Tower. with a paper flower ;)

Notre Dame!

It is gorgeous! the buildings and archetecture are incredible!

Europe road trip! planning loosely!

2009-08-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I haven't written in a while. Well let me fill you in on what has been going on. God gave us a blessing in disguise by putting us under quarentine for 2 weeks after training in the Dominican. With the swine flew scare, Benin will not let us in until after "quarentine." At first we were all really bummed and frusterated. Then we ended up deciding to spend 8 days of that time in Europe, going as cheap as possible and using our own money.

What an adventure!! We started in paris, after great flights thanks to everyones prayers except for the one we almost missed due to an intense game of phase 10. :-p when we got to paris we met some friends who are now on the ship, Kelly and Jamie and her friend Doug from south africa. Then me and my traveling buddies, Becca and Christina took off to see as much as we could in four hours. We did pretty good! we saw Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower. We quickly realized that Europe is Incredibly expensive!!! So instead of paying for buses, we decided to rent a car and drive to Germany, Switzerland, and back to Paris where we fly out to Africa. For our entire Trip . We had so much fun making things cheap as possible. we walked places as much as possible and never went out to eat. We found grocery stores and proceded to live on PB&J, and water for the most part. Every Hostel that served free breakfast was an opportunity to collect some more crasants for then next day ;-p

In Germany, we stayed in Munich and saw Dachau the first concentration camp. It was so interesting. totally worth it. it was quite heavy but i am so thankful for the experience and opportunity to learn some amazing history. We also met some great girls who roomed with us in our hostel. We had some great conversations. I have become very thankful for free bathrooms, as we quickly learned that you have to pay for the restroom in Germany and in many parts of Europe! hahah

So we continued on in our little French car driving through places where no one speaks english making all kinds of hillarious memories as we tried to communicate. As we drove we came by a sign that said Aus Faurt. We all had a huge laugh as we realized it came regularly and realized it meant exit!! We decided to name our car Aus Faurt :-D

the night before leaving Germany we decided to switch our plans and drive to Interlaken, Switzerland, where we spent a whole day hiking 7 hours in the Swiss Alphs!!! It was Incredible. I believe it may be the most beautiful thing i've ever seen! Talk about bein in awe of God! we got to touch snow too!

On our way to the Aphs we were snapping pictures every minute, and decided to stop once on the side of the road for some good shots of this amazing view over a lake. So we pulled the car off into a little open space on the side of the road, unsure it was legal but noting it was big enough ;-p then Christina got the idea that she could get an awesome picture of us if she climbed on top of the car. So she did and after Becca climbed up to get a pic of Christina and I. In the middle of this completely normal happening, a police car pulls up... we all start to freak a bit. when renting the car, Becca found that her license had expired on her birthday just a couple weeks ago. This forced Christina to become the driver. Well Becca had been driving, so they were both making sure the story was that Christina was driving and Becca slowly got off the top of the car as we all turned to meet the policeman expecting some repremand. Instead he said "I take a photo for you?" :-D We all Died laughing! and then made him get in the picture with us. we were all relieved.

After the alphs we went to Stay with some friends of Christina in Geneva. This time was such a blessing!! The Bensons are an incredible family and generous beyond measure! Mrs. Benson cooked us meals fit for royalty and we couldn't have been more excited to have real food and live in a home again with a family. We had a blast playing Dutch blitz and taking a walk around town that night seeing the sights. We quickly felt like family and when we had to leave we were actually sad. It is amazing how God places such incredible people in our lives in the most random ways in all kinds of places!

Now we are back in Paris with more mercy ship friends. Today we got bikes and went riding through the city seeing all the incredible buildings, and then stopping at the Eiffel tower for the second time later. Tomarrow I'm not sure of the plan, but as we have come to see, plans must be made in jello and that is just fine.

What an adventure already and an incomprehendable blessing. On this trip, I have become so close to Becca and Christina, we have shared some great talks and had some awesome time learning more about the Lord together. We chose to fast one day, partly so we didn't have to buy food and partly for the ship and all that is happing. On that day we began reading a book we were given in training called Practicing His Presence by brother Lawrence and another guy. It is the story of how this man decided to try and experiment where he determined to think of God every hour, then every 30 min. then every 15, 5 all the way till he was trying to bring the Lord back to mind every minute, so He would be with him every minute. It inspired us girls to try. So being conveniently stuck in the car, we began trying to think of the lord or say a little sentence to him every 15 min. but soon became anxious and lowered it to every 5. Now the rest of our trip, someone has their watch set for every hour and when it beeps we all know its time to bring God back to mind. It has been an incredible book, awesome excersise. In adition to that, God drew us to aswesoem people everywhere. and some of our conversations where so interesting. God has really gone with us on this trip and surprised us in incredible ways. He is so good to us! I'll try to post pictures later. Love you guys! sorry for the book this update turned out to be. I hope somehow God will speak to you through our experiences and your own. I love all of you. I'm beginning to fall asleep even as I write this, so i better sign off. Pictures are to come soon hopefully. Once on ship we will have training and have to get acclimated to the ship. in the mean time I'll be thinking of you. And i thank you SOO much for all your prayers!! Please continue to pray for health and safe travel and then just our focus on Ship to stay strong and God centured. Thank you!!

more dominican pics!

2009-08-17T17:31:00.001-07:00

The Girls club helped paint several houses. they looked great!!
These are two of the teachers, both named francis :-D I worked with them a lot organizing the school rooms, sorting through piles of stuff.

This is our absolutely darling cook. She is Sandra's mom and this is her tiny little kitchen. She does miracles there!! It was fun helping her several times with her cooking. She would let me help cut things for her ;)

This is where we ate our meals. It was a childs classroom table. So it was the most hillarious things seeing the guys in these tine chairs trying to fit under this tiny table. It worked though!!

So our hotel room toilet had no seat! So we got really good at squating and by the end we just sat right there.

There is so much more but there wouldn't be room here for it all. I hope you enjoy these pictures. Stay tuned for more pics from Europe.

Pictures to the stories!

2009-08-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Here are the pics i promised of the DR. I only have like 15 minutes before we leave to fly out for Europe! WOOT! hehe The trip was amazing! God taught me that Relationships are by far the most important part of anything! whether there is a job to be done or not, people are the first priority. Also He stretched me to learn a new culture and the way they work, totally different than Western culture! we are task oriented, they get it done but when is very tenetive ;-p He taught me lots of patience too. and to love through frusteration and confusion. I was also very blessed with and incredible team which God has molded into family. Most of all, I learned God is bigger than me or anyone or anything and he is in control. He know's what he is doing ;)

Sorry if these pics are a little scattered. I'll try to give you a description or short recap of the story behind each.

we helped with a feeding program for elderly and children in Villa Ascension. Mostly Haitian's. There is quite a bit of racism from the dominicans against them.
This is Susanita. the most beautiful little 2 year old Haitain girl. I wanted to take her home with me. The missionaries who work in villa Ascension with the feeding program also have a baby ministry. This little girl is one of five children, the oldest of whom is only 13. There mom is not around and their dad works all the time, so basically the 13 year old takes care of the family. When the missionaries, Jim and Sue, found susa(nickname) she was skin and bones and a total blank wall. they nursed her back to health at their home. she came around and was bright, and happy and smart playing like any child shouls and lining up her toys just so. it broke my heart to see that after I knew she had been a normal happy child at jim and sue's, now back with her family, she may be physically healthy, but for lack of love, or attention or stimulation she barely responds to you. I never did get her to smile. I wanted to adopt her and give her all the love she needs.

on the bus with the team and the boys club on our way to the mountain hiking trip! so fun and LOUD!! hahaha

This is No,No. yes you read right and for good reason. i've never seen a little kid get into so much trouble! but he is the sweetest thing ever. his mom isn't around and by the end he was calling me and another girl momma ;)

Me and Becca in our room on our First day in the DR!

There is so much more. this isn't even a start. but my ride is here. love you all!

17 days in the Dominican Republic

2009-08-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!
I´m sorry i havent been able to write sooner. We have been quite busy. Im still here in the Dominican Republic. We leave at 1pm on Wed. We will get back to the IOC late that night. So what have we been doing? I dont think i have a whole lot of time(im at an internet cafe at the moment) but ill try to fill you in. there are 11 of us on the team. I absolutely love our team. we get along great and work well with eachother. we have become like family and have had a lot of fun together. weve been working in a couple different villages. one named aguas negras(black water). There we are working with a dominican lady named sandra. She has a school, church, boys and girls club, clinic, etc. she is amazing. the boys and girls have been helping us build walls in the girls club, take one out of the boys club, build some shelves for the class rooms in the school, etc. We´ve also done some different painting projects. Sandra´s mom has been cooking our meals for us. she is the sweetest funniest old lady. shes one of those cute ones that still acts young. we have also helped her fix up her tiny kitchen. weve also worked in another village called villa ascension. weve helped with a feeding program where they serve a meal for kids and elderly 4 times a week. we helped serve, feed the little ones and clean up. it was chaotic but fun. we also helped deliver rabbits to certain families for this program for them to raise rabbits to sell, eat, etc. I had the experience of riding a motoconcio (motorcycle) while holding this guys rabbit to help him take it home. It was So much fun! and quite the experience navegating the dirt and rock roads and then going through a shallow river. Last weekend we went on this crazy hike up a huge mountain with the boys club from the other village. it was quite an adventure. we got lost and it ended up taking about 3 hours. Several people ended up getting stung by nettle and other plants. By some miracle I didn´t end up with more than a couple scratches from the rocks and roots. several times we climbe completely strait up on the mountain and the tree roots sticking out. Besides the frusteration of the situation it was So much fun. I love that kind of stuff. it was a challenge. but it was rewarding to finally get to the top. This weekend we went to the beach and me, Becca and Elliote swam out to a reef and took turns with beccas goggles looking at awesome fish and sea urchins. Then a managed to get extremely burnt. :( so i am cherry red but doing ok ;-p it doesnt hurt as much as it could. today we went on a nice little walk up another mountain, crossing a couple rivers and then swimming at the top after having a little service. It was very fun and relaxing. I joined the dominican kids and some of the team jumping off rocks into the river. and i made a nice jump from about 20 feet up a rock or more. So much fun! so tomarrow we go back to work and will work thru Tue. then its pack up time and we´ll say goodby to all our new friends and the dominican republic. It has been a great trip and God has stretched me and taught me. I feel very blessed to have had this opportunity. I feel it is also extremely relevant in preparing me for work in africa with mercyships. I will write when again when i get back summing up what i´ve learned from this trip. Hope everyone is well! missing you all :)

Leaving at 2:45am Zzzzzz

2009-07-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

Now that BST is over, that is the last of the gateway training here at the IOC campus in Texas. Now I'll be leaving in 4 1/2 hours for the Dominican field service. I'm so excited. Pray for safety and that God does his work and use us in every way possible. I'm praying for a servants heart and a love like Jesus' for everyone I encounter. I'll probably update once while i'm there when we can get to an internet cafe. :) love you all!

Me and one of the girls, Heather :)

Fire Training!

2009-07-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

We had fire fighting drills and learned to use the Self Contained Breathing Apparatis (SCBA: the masks in the picture). We learned about type A, B, C, & D fires. Different types of extinguishers used, how to put on the gear how to use the hose and how to actually go into a burning building and put a fire out (it was a real simulated exercise). Also other dynamics of fire and fire safetyThen we also had water safety training. We learned about life rafts, how to flip one. how to huddle up if you have to abandon ship. we learned to put on a "Gumby" suit. Its a full body insulation suit that looks rediculous :-p but may save yer life. we learned to jump in with it on, and swim and climb in a life raft. It was all so much fun! I am now BST certified by the coast guard! There are more pictures on facebook for anyone who has it and would like to look.

The gear before i'm sweating in it :-p
The oxygen for the AED

The AED masks. arent they flattering!! haha

CPR, 1st Aid, AED

2009-07-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Alright! Basic Safety Training is successfully complete. We learned Adult CPR and also basic first aid, different kinds of splints and wounds and what to do for them. We also learned how to use an Automatic external defibrilator. It was a lot of fun. We each got our own manaquin.

two rescue breaths, 30 compressions, and repeat...

Here is Susy hehehe :PPracticing different kinds of carries. It was hillarious everyone started running around the room like that. :-p

Canoeing!

2009-07-12T20:37:00.001-07:00

Church went great this morning. It was a really neat time. Canoeing was a blast! Here is the photo record :) i'll take you through the day with me....

Before we started. My team, Noah(middle: South Korean) and Murray (on right: south african)

And we're off!

Out on the great wide river!

Smile ;-p

A dragon fly wanted to join our team...

More of the group (I guess the sun was in my eyes :-p haha)

More of our group
Paddle harder!!
There they all go! (we had 7 canoes full)
We stopped at a little bank beside the swamp for lunch: chicken salad sandwhiches, chips, cookies, and peaches. Mmm!

This is what we got to look at and float through! it was gorgeous!

After. Hot, sweaty, sungreased/sunburned! It was a great 4 hour ride.

Then we went and found a little local icecream, antique, everything store! The ice cream was awesome. Completely hit the spot!

The lady running the store was named Shelly. She showed us around. This was where they do parties for little girls. they get to dress up and learn tea manners etc. She let us have a little fun ;)

On the way home. Danae and Christina (driving). Me and britaney were in the back. very fun day! Please pray for me now, as I take basic safety training this week. I have to take some tests on what we learn and i am required to pass them. Please pray all goes well. Thanks!

African Lunch!

2009-07-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone! Today was our last day of classroom!! It was great. We had a speaker from Sierra Leone. We talked about some really crucial and interesting things about going into other cultures, such as body language. Some of the points we discussed were as follows. Go in as a learner; Look for common interests; Learn to know something about their culture; seek God in every relationship; Share about your own culture; find ways to serve them; and find ways to connect with the whole family (Ex: attend weddings/funerals etc.);

Edward brought up a sad but true statement. As missionaries, "we tend to use people as projects, not relationships." basically the lesson could be summed up in this saying: "People don't care how much you know untill they see how much you care."

So now that the classroom phase is over, We will have a whole week of Basic Safety Training (BST) starting Monday. I am so excited! We will learn basic CPR, fire and water safety, etc. Tomarrow we are having our own small church service in a chapel here on campus. Mike one of our Gateway team members is a pastor and will be speaking. Myself and a couple other girls are going to help with worship. It will be early 7:15am. Then at 8:15am almost the entire team is loading up and driving an hour and a half to go canoeing! It should be fun. Today I finally finished my shopping for the dominican and the ship. I was able to find the clothes i need for my uniform as receptionist, as well as other things like water bottle, bug spray, work gloves, etc. for the Dominican.

After BST this week, 9 of us will leave around 3am for the Dominican. We will be working with a school there; helping the local boys put a wall up for a boys and girls club. We will also help the local people continue to build a rabbit buisness begun earlier. We will help them build more cages as well as buy some other rabbits to distribute (these rabbits will come from a local man who made good of this program himself earlier and now has rabbits to sell to support himself!). We will spend time with some shoeshine boys as well as other kids and families. I'm so excited. Please pray for health, spiritual protection, team unity, divine appointments, and that God will be glorified.

This is Edmond, the son of our speaker, Edward Davis from Sierra Leone.

We had an African lunch today after Edward spoke in our class! It was Yummy! :)
Pineapple Pie. Mmmmm!

Plantain and blackeyed peas; chicken, beef and rice curry, eggs. Very Good!

4th of July!

2009-07-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

The gang out bowling
Girl pose ;-p
danae, Christina O, me, Christina K. havin a blast!

Me and some friends went to the store and out for a snack, this goat was in the lobby :-p

after doing the obstacle course!

Eating at Texas Burger

Hey everyone! Training is still going well. We've been learning about spiritual warfare, conflict resolution, and community living. It's been very interesting and relevent. I am more excited than ever :) I am also getting very excited about our field service trip to the Dominican. We will be helping put a wall up in a room they will be using for boy's and girls club. We will also be helping with a school, and building rabbit hutches for raising rabbits. This way they can have a small buisness.

Besides class, we have enjoyed playing some wally ball and other sports. One of the guys had a birthday this week, so the whole group went out to the Texas Burger and bowling. It was a lot of fun. Then on Saturday we went to a 4th of July celebration with fireworks, a blow-up obstacle course, rock wall etc. It was a blast :) the rock wall and fireworks were my favorite. So its been a good week and I've really enjoyed relaxing and refreshing over the weekend. Now i'm looking forward to seeing what this week holds!

The Western 2 step!

2009-06-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since i've written. Let me fill you in... The silent retreat on Saturday was a really neat experience. We all piled in vans and went to the state park (which was gorgeous!). We got there at 10am and everyone dispersed to find his/her own place to get away and try to listen for God. When we gathered together again at 1:30, I was so blessed to hear stories of how God spoke so personally to each. It actually moved me to tears as I listened, because I was just overwhelmed with the realization of just how precious we are to God. I was just struck with how anxiously he is waiting for us to get quiet so he can come and talk with us intimately. And he talks to each person according to the details of how he created us! He knows us so well and loves us so passionately! It was an awesome time for everyone.

Then Saturday night, we all let loose and got off campus to have some fun. About 20 of us loaded up in 4 cars and drove 45 minutes to a Big Sandy's Dance Hall, where a crowd of older people regularly cut loose. It was SO much fun! Some feisty little old ladys taught us all some great Country line dances, and we spent the night learning the western 2 step with sweet old men my grandpa's age :) It was a blast and we all want to go back!

Sunday was church and a nice loooong nap :D. Now today we're back to the normal schedule, in class at 8. Today we learned about conflict resolution: between us and God, us and other people etc. It was very helpful and I think well needed in preparation for living in a big tin can (ie. the ship ;P) with about 450 people. hehe After class we took a team photo of the whole Gateway class and the staff. It's been fun. looking forward to another week and what God has planned for the rest of the time!

At the Barbeque

Sunflowers!

Tracey (my small group leader) and her husband

More sweaty fun!!

Girls photo! at BBQ

Coolest plates ever!

Prayer

2009-06-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

In class today we learned about prayer and how powerful it really is. Also how we CAN hear from God and he wants to speak to us. We just have to be willing to deal with the things in between us and then ask him. Then we actually have to wait and let there be silence so he is able to answer. It's been really a great topic, and i'm being challenged to re-evaluate my prayer life and get more serious about it and actually listening.
Besides that there's not a whole lot new to report. We've been playing lots of sports which has been great. I found a piano I can get away and play which was such a blessing. God knew i missed it :) Last night was our first Dominican republic field service meeting. There are 7 of us going. It went really well. we just got filled in on some of the background of mercy ships relationship with the place were going to work. We just got back from a barbeque at one of the staff's houses. It was very yummy and lots of fun! tomarrow we are having a silent retreat. We will be going to a park at 9am and staying until 3pm. I'll write later to tell how it went :)

Hot+Sweaty=Swimming...

2009-06-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's the end of our first Monday in Gateway, and I am happily tired and ready for bed. Today we had our first full class session. This first couple days will be about learning to know ourselves. It was so interesting and I absolutely loved it. We talked about our intrinsic value as children of God. This example was used: A hundred dollar bill all crumpled, torn, and ripped is still a hundred dollar bill! Just as it's value doesn't change even then, neither does ours! We also each completed a DISC personality profile before Gateway and we went over those. It was so interesting and helpful in understanding myself as well as others and why they act or do or see things the way they do. At Lunch, a group of us got to eat with the speaker, Doctor Andrew Clark. He is on the Mercy Ship staff and lives here on campus. He is originally from South Africa but has lived in New Zealand for a long while. He is an incredible speaker that I could listen to forever. After class me and one of my roomies, Becca, went for a run on a circle path through the woods back around to campus. It was Extremely hot (in Texas, it apparently just gets hotter as the day goes to where 5 or 6 is the hottest time of the day!) and as we were walking by the pool all hot and sweaty we just decided to jump in fully clothed! It was fun. Then later we went and played wally ball and soccar with other gatewayers and again people wanted to go in the pool. So we went in the pool again, me and Becca fully clothed for the second time today!! now we have run out of clothes... :-p JUST KIDDING! haha but we found the whole thing funny. So now I'm off to bed. Up at 6 tomarrow, hopefully run at 7, and class at 8. Nothing like jump startin the day!

Lunch with Doctor Clark

(Me, Gemma, Murrey, Doc. Clark, Christina, Noah Son or Young Pyo, & Hayley)

Soccar!!!
More Soccar...
from left: Micah (Holand), Elliot (Canada), Me

Hot and Sweaty after playing! front: Becca & Micah Back: me, Elliot, Christina, Murry

Swimming to cool off. Me, Christina, and Becca (taking picture) Were fully clothed :-p hehe

Texas has scorpions! I've seen 3 so far. They are quit small tho.

Pictures!!

2009-06-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

from left: Estelle (South Africa), Becca, Haley My amazing Roomates!!

Roomies :)

Movie night!!! we watched "Win a Date with Todd Hamelton" hahah :D

Don't be fooled, I CANNOT play guitar! I only wish i could very badly! :)

about 7 of us had a little time of worship and prayer one night.

Church, Happy Fathers Day!

2009-06-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

Today we all went to church. We filled up two rows. It was a really neat time of worship. Both the singing and preaching were powerful. The singing was about God as our father and I so enjoyed it. To me there is just nothing quite the same as worshiping God through music and song. There is just a special connection for me there. The speaking was about living unselfishly and a clip from fireproof was shown. Very touching and convicting.
After church we made our sack lunches and then went to class for orientation. Yesterday we began going around and having everyone share the story of how they came to be here now with mercy ships and also whatever background they deemed relevent. Today we continued that as we sat in a circle passing a little purple bean man across the circle. whoever catches it shares their story then throws it to someone else :) It has been so neat and a real blessing to learn where people come from, their struggles, miracles and just their stories. I haven't gone yet. I still am not exactly sure what i'll say or where i'll start hehe, but I'm just praying God tells the story how he sees it thru me.
Though it is all exciting and very beneficial I am also beginning to find it exausting. It is a different and very full schedule. I'm sure It will mellow out as I get used to it all and find my rutine :) I'm very expectant to experience what God has for me in the next couple months. Pray that I am aware and receptive. Pray that in this time God will teach me to hear his voice more clearly than ever before so I can follow Him like never before. And then that I will retain all that I learn and continue to live it out...

Last Day of IMS

2009-06-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of IMS. A lot of people are leaving to go back home now because they are doing the rest of training at different times. It is kind of sad and yet exciting to know that in a few months I will see many of them on the ship! Also new people are arriving for Gateway training; we got another roomate. She's from South Africa.
Today we had sack lunches and a bunch of us went down by a little lake and sat on an old (unstable) pier. Lots of goofiness! it was fun. ;-p Tonight we went swimming and will probably watch a movie because tomarrow is Saturday and the first day we get to SLEEP IN!!!!! :-D

Prepare the Way...

2009-06-18T16:45:00.000-07:00

There's only one more day of IMS. Saturday I register for Gateway. I'll keep you updated on what it's like! I can't wait. I feel like every stage progresses with more excitment and challenge. I feel that with every day I am driven more strongly to an awareness of my need to depend on God and open all of myself up for him to work in every way. I know there is a lot of work He wants to do in me.

I have been doing well. Today and tomarrow are the financial part of IMS. I learned a lot today and it has been very helpful. I found out that with crew fees (room and board), and other necessities, and a little for incidentals I will need about $700 per month. I am well on my way. I will make specific needs known as they arise. Thank you so much to all of you who have been Such a blessing with each of your financial gifts! I feel so blessed with the support I have with all of your prayers! Again I consider that detrimentally important!

I would greatly appreciate specific prayer in these areas right now:

*That God would specifically prepare the way for our field service trip to the Dominican Republic, as well as preparing us! (I think we leave July 16th)

*Secondly, Please begin praying for the spiritual warfare we will encounter both in the DR and in Africa.

I am praying for you as well, for needs I am aware of! Please let me know how I can pray for you! I'm thinking of all of you!

Welcome to Mercy Ships! From left front: Rebecca, Haley, Gema (UK), Me

New friends from South Korea: Hyo-Jin(sitting) & Youngpyo(behind)
Hyo-Jin (pronounced: Q-tseen) & I

The girls outside dinner :)

Our IMS group

It's Only the Beginning...

2009-06-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone!
This is the Beginning of my adventure with Mercy Ships on the Africa Mercy. I Just arrived at the Mercy Ships training center in Tyler, TX on Mon, 15. We just started classroom today. It has been so exciting. I'm in the intro to mercy ships faze. Next week Gateway will start (Gateway is the specialized training for being on the Mercy Ship and hands on training for things we will experience). I have already met tons of amazing people and learned so much. I am extremely excited! I'm sensing so strongly that God is present and I am so expectant to see what he's going to do and teach me. He's outside the boat and motioning for me to step out with Him; this is the beginning....He's teaching me to walk on water!

here are some picutures...

Me and some of the girls in front of our dorm

My room

My Bed: Bottom :)

Dinner the first night :)

Our Table (I don't know what i'm doing:-p)
Our Classroom

In Classroom

(from left: Haley, Danae, Christina, me, Heather, Annie and Blake standing)
Haley is my roomie