Prayer Bear

Whilst the school onboard was closed for the summer, Mercy Ships organised a 'Summer School' to keep the kids occupied (and the parents sane). This involved all sorts of fun things but also gave the children more opportunities to take part in different ministries onboard and ashore. Here Nathaniel is on the ward showing one of our patients how to make a 'prayer bear'.

Liberian Chaos continues

According to The Analyst, 9 Liberian Immigration officers have died in the last two weeks. The article suggests that they have been part of a 'power struggle', though it also goes on to say that others think it was due to witchcraft or juju. Officially the cause of death hasn't been ascertained for any of them yet. I don't recognise any of the names as being people we delt with directly, but it is still very saddening to hear news of this kind from a country that we spent so long in.

Fishermen

'As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen."Come follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.'

Many families in Benin still rely on fishing for their survival, with one generation teaching the next the necessary skills. We see the small hand-made canoes going out past our ship every day. Some are propelled by a father and son paddling, some use sails made from old sacks, whilst other more prosperous boats have outboard motors bolted to the side. None of them look sea worthy enough to leave the harbour yet they go out every day to catch fish to feed their families and to sell in the local markets.

The differences between their lives and ours are as marked as the differences between their boats and the Africa Mercy, yet Christ loves us the same and died for all of us - we are all called to be fishers of men.

Pas Del Ure Onca Noo

Anne has been helping with some of the Summer Program Field trips (driving the landrovers) and has had a couple of adventures. One place the children went to necessitated a short trip by dug-out canoe. This was fine until too many people tried to get in at once and almost sank it. Thankfully sense prevailed and with a few less bodies onboard Anne was ferried out onto the water, only to get caught in a very heavy rain storm and ending up as wet as if she'd had to swim. Such fun!

Is Reception calling you?

24 hours a day, 7 days a week the reception area onboard has to be staffed. These wonderful people do far more than answer the phones , and I'm very grateful for the high quality people that God keeps sending our way. If you wonder what a receptionist could possibly do onboard the worlds largest non-governmental hospital ship then check out the mercy ships web site for details of job positions.

Summer Fun (Mercy Ships Style)

As part of the 'Summer Program' which is keeping our children occupied during the 8 week academy vacation, the older kids are visiting the Hospitality Centre one day a week. This gives them a chance to interact with the children (and adults) who are recovering from or waiting to have their life changing surgeries. Is there a cost involved in taking your children across the globe to live onboard a Mercy ship? Yes. It's Priceless.

School Photos

End of the school year onboard was 4 weeks ago - but here ( at last) are the school photos. Each child in our onboard Academy receives a certificate at the end of each school year highlighting one of their dominant (positive) character traits, together with a supporting verse of Scripture. The academy also got their own official logo and light blue t-shirts which they are proudly showing off in the group shot. Nathaniels stayed clean for 4 hours and then sported a nice ketchup stain!