Everything Changes

Soon after my March “Jean’s Journeys” went out, all the Ghana plans changed! Because it was apparent that the Africa Mercy would not be completed by late May, Mercy Ships leadership decided to begin the Ghana field service with the Anastasis and finish with the Africa Mercy. On June 7, several of my team members and I will fly to Ghana to begin the transition as we prepare to serve the Lord in Ghana over the next nine months. A few people go to Liberia to join the Anastasis there this month and many others have been serving on the Anastasis and plan to stay and then move to the Africa Mercy in November. Perhaps you can imagine what the logistics of this transition will be like! Please pray for wisdom and grace throughout this phase. To be honest, it is disappointing for those of us on the Africa Mercy, that we are not all sailing down the Tyne together en route to Africa.  For those of us who are going to Ghana, we’re excited to be starting the Ghana field service, but disappointed that it is not on the Africa Mercy.

Commissioning

On April 6, 6 years after the naming ceremony, the Africa Mercy was commissioned for service. I spent the afternoon speaking to ten consecutive tours, talking about the hospital deck and equipment. It was exciting to listen to the exclamations as people walked into the recovery room and saw a room that more or less looks as it will when we open for service (the monitors were missing).

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Equipping the Ship

We’ve been blessed to receive donations of equipment and funds with which to purchase remaining equipment. Not too long ago, we wondered whether we would ever have everything we needed. Rejoice with us at God’s goodness to us, blessing us through the generosity of governments, foundations, and individuals. Over the past few weeks Terry Barrett has been installing the x-ray machine. Our bedpan washer/disinfectors arrived May 16 and our biological safety cabinet for the lab will arrive soon as well. It’s amazing how exciting one can get about such mundane equipment purchases!

BST

In April my housemate Alberta and I were among a group of Africa Mercy crew who traveled to our headquarters in Texas for a Coast Guard approved Basic Safety Training taught by Mercy Ships instructors. Course content included fire fighting, first aid, sea survival/ life raft basics, etc. While I have been a member of lifeboat teams in the past, this was my first exposure to firefighting. I wasn’t too sure how I would handle the breathing apparatus, but managed to do ok. The fact that I’m blind without my contact lenses/glasses probably made the blindfolded- rescue scenario a bit less intimidating as well! We were grateful for the cloud cover that day. Now I pray that the only occasions I have to employ this newfound knowledge is during drills!

Why did we do this in Texas? Believe it or not, it was less expensive to fly us to Texas for the course than to pay our tuition at a local college here in Newcastle. I enjoyed the opportunity to meet some future HealthCare crew who were also taking the course or working at our headquarters. I even had a weekend to visit relatives and delight in the arrival of two new calves as well. I didn’t have much free time during my visit! Next time I’ll need to stay a bit longer.

Elizabeth Ann

Many of you have graciously oohed and aahed over my ever-smiling nephew, Patrick, now 18 months old. His sister, Libby, arrived 5 ½ weeks early on May 13. She and Mom are both home and doing well. Patrick hasn’t quite figured out the new arrival who, admittedly, is sleeping a lot as she continues to grow.

Eloquent Lives

As we prepare to begin our field service in Ghana, I have been challenged anew by a statement from Bryant Myers' Walking with the Poor. He says that Christians must “live eloquent lives, the key to provoking questions to which the gospel is the answer…carrying out our Christian witness with a crucified mind, not a crusading mind.” Does my life look different enough that others would ask questions?  Not always, I must confess. Would you pray that each of us as crew members would live eloquently?

Itinerary