God of Wonders

Lord of all creation.
Of water earth and sky

The heavens are your tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on high.

God of wonders
Beyond our galaxy
you are holy, holy.

The Universe declares your majesty
You are holy, holy
Lord of heaven on earth
Lord of heaven on earth

Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light

When I stumble in the darkness
I will call your name by night

God of wonders beyond our galaxy

You are holy, holy.

Precious Lord reveal Your heart to me

you are holy, holy.

The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy

~Song by: Caedmon's Call

A Day at Sea

This morning I woke up to the gentle rocking of the ship. My room is near the bow (the front end), so I can feel almost every little movement. No nausea- no seasickness. Wonderful.

~~~

Breakfast outside on Promenade deck was such a great way to start the morning. The first thing I noticed was the absence of the fish smell from the port :)

By 8am the Fuel Bunker was along side us and we got ready for fueling. God continued to show us His provision today as we worked through the legistics that were to follow. Due to the fact that we were delayed in Tema, we had also delayed the fuel ship. Needless to say, that's not good. Our engineers had been up for over 26 hours and they needed sleep before working. There were moments when we were not sure they were going to stay. No ship. No fuel. We started to pray.



Our safety officer started to explain the ministry of Mercy Ships, and about the volunteers on board. When the captain found out we were all volunteers, he decided to stay. They waited patiently, bunkered along side us until our engineers rested and were ready to help with the fuel. Again God was faithful.


The sight here is so serene and beautiful. We saw dolphins today. They were just hanging out with us as we were bunkering. The feeling on the Anastasis is great. Everyone is enjoying the time together, and the time to rest and reflect. This morning we learned the Liberia national anthem, and are making preparations for ministry there. During the day I am working on nursing protocols, power point presentations and thank-you's for the different departments that helped us during the Ghana outreach.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for He made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

~Psalm 95: 3-6

Farewell Dear Ghana

6:30 am. I got up and put on my running shoes. Lauren, Ruthie and I were going to the lighthouse for the last time. As we took some time to sit and reflect on the rocks by the water, I could not believe that this was our last morning in Ghana. I thanked the Lord for His faithfulness... for His mercies that are new every morning... and we started back to the ship.








Activies abound as we finish securing the ship for sail. People started coming to dockside to say goodbye. Preparations were underway to lift the gangway.

(Goodbyes and prayers)

4pm came. Everyone was along the Promenade Deck to wave goodbye to those on the dock. The Tema pilot was on board. Those below were ready for the go ahead to lift the gangway. Engines started- to no avail. Problem?? We didn't know. There was no time frame given for when we would sail.

So we waited.

At 6pm there was a call for all of Mercy Ships to pray. The problem? Possibly a valve, but we didn't know. All the crew met in the International Lounge to pray for the ship and engineers. The 7:30 Celebration Service for end of outreach went on as planned. We were thankful for God's provision that this problem could be resolved while at shore and not at sea.

At 2am that next morning we woke up to the news- we were ready to sail!! Pilot from Tema port on board, gangway lifted, ropes loosened, tugboats ready. For the next 1.5 hours we drifted and were pulled by the tug boats away from the port Mercy Ships has called home for the last 9 months. When finally out past the rock wall, the Tema pilot jumped back into his own boat, whistles blown and farewell waves given from all the Ghanians on the boats. Great way to leave- even if now at 3:30 am. :)

Ghana- you are the country I have called home for the last 3 months. You have opened your arms and hearts to us to share your people, your land and your lives. Because of that, I will never be the same. Our prayers go with you.

The Ghanaian National Anthem

God bless our homeland Ghana,
And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right.
Fill our hearts with true humility
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors' rule
With all our will and might evermore.
Hail to thy name, O Ghana
To thee we make our solemn vow;
Steadfast to build together
A nation strong in Unity;
With our gifts of mind and strength of arm,
Whether night or day, in the midst of storm,
In every need whate'er the call may be,
To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore.
Raise high the flag of Ghana,
And one with Africa advance;
Black star of hope and honor,
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana free flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghanaland,
And under God march on forevermore.

A Night Out

(Nursing staff and friends)

(Kat and I in our African attire)

The Minister of Health of Ghana invited all of us to Accra for an evening of festivities- as a 'thank you' on behalf of Ghana. We were picked up my buses (by far the nicest I've seen since my time in Ghana) and escorted by police to the capital.

Once there, we were escorted up to a banquet hall where there was a band and appetizers for all of the crew. Speeches and testimonies made by Mercy Ships executives and Ghana representitives, then the music started and the fun began. The Minister of Health himself played for us on the drums- so much fun...

When we left, we were given 200+ boxes of plaintain chips and 200+ bags of Ghana 50th yr celebration tee-shirts and hats. Needless to say, our arms were full.

A Birthday to Remember

What a birthday to remember. On February 22, I turned 25- yes... a quarter of a century. I can't tell you how many times I heard that :) I never could have imagined what that day would hold... it exceeded my expectations~




The day started out with being woken up at 6:30 with balloons and presents, one of which was my Ghana soccer shirt I am proudly displaying. Then off to breakfast with close friends and being sung to by 150+ of my dear crew mates... oh dear...

(Raleigh and me- He was the one that picked me up from the airport when I arrived)

~~

Morning devos with the nursing staff- and a suprise birthday cake (chocolate- my fav). When I went to work that morning I found out that Kat had worked it out that we both had the morning off- so we headed off to Accra. Of course with every taxi ride, there is always an adventure. Today we lost our muffler and had to go get a new one. Below is Kat trying to hold the back in as we are driving. Good job Kat.

These guys were working on our car as Kat and I waited. They also got festive and sang Happy Birthday. I recieved a marriage proposal from the one on the left. But don't worry Mom and Dad, I turned him down nicely.

After our detour we went downtown and got to see where how the African drums are made. Once I was home, one of my dear friends here left a suprise on my bed... how kind...

Then, we were all surpised when we found out that the President of Ghana was coming!! Alot of activity began onboard as we prepared for his arrival. I was able to sit in on his speech, and it was phenominal. I wish I had a tape to share with you all, but just take my word for it. He was speechless. He said he expected just a couple medics to be onboard that help do some basic care; he did not expect the spiritual environment that this hospital is. He was moved as he mets patients who had been treated and had the same condition as that of his granddaughter. He was challenged by the faith shown and was deeply grateful.

The President is a very kind and humble man. I was very impressed. He offered for us to stay for Ghana's 50th celebration service- but because of when we needed to be in Liberia- our founder and executive director will fly back to be his guests for the celebration. God truly is faithful.

After, the President returned to Accra, we had a barbecue to celebrate the day and all the Lord had done. A great time with dear friends here on board. I was thoroughly touched by everyone's kindness and thoughfulness. It was definately a day I will not forget...

For You formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, my soul knows it very well. ~Psalm 139:13-14

Grime Fighters

Well it's the last week before sailing... and that means I get to broaden my horizons... experience new skills ... perfect ones I already hold...

THAT MEANS SCRUBBING TOILETS!

(Just remember that yes, this is an old ship, but yes... the toilet is in the floor of the shower. hmm...)

My counterpart, Kat, was not too happy when I signed both of us up to get personal with the patient bathrooms. "What was I thinking?" she said. "Ahh Kat, it'll be fun. Put some good music on, and we'll be fine!". She didn't look too sure of the idea at first.

(FYI- this is it clean- after three days of hard work)

But I held firm. I figured, if I just had a good pair of rubber gloves and some strong cleaner, I was golden and could tackle anything that came at us. But I must let you know, that these bathrooms have a reputation of being foul... We basically help escort our patients up there, then let them fend for themselves!

So after multiple buckets of water... scrub brushes of all shapes and sizes... bleach tablets and AJAX...full garbage bags...sweat, blood and tears... we had put in three days of hard work and we were done!

We were grime fighters!

Packing Up!

(Don't we look like a lively bunch? Kallie-in the back- is contemplating her future if we do go overboard!)

Back to My Pennsylvania Roots

With the ward closed, there are still other ministries on the ship that need assistance before we finish. Last week I was able to go with Ben Cubbage to help teach local farmers about agriculture. These men and women have been farming for years, so they already had much to teach us. What Ben and the team have been enforcing is how to use the local affordable resources to help in furthering their farming practice. The topic for this week? Manure Tea and Roof Top Farming!! Yeah!! But as is well known, you can't feed the mind without feeding the stomach... so we had a fufu feast before we started :)

This was my first time trying fufu- definately tasted a little different than I anticipated :) Maybe it was just the texture! But I was so thankful for it-. Casava and plantain are boiled for a couple minutes then taken off the fire and beaten (literally) with big sticks especially made for this process. It makes a doughy consistency, very similar to bread dough. A spicy soup, usually with fish, is served to accompany.

Believe it or not, there is a whole technique to this thing. One of which took a while to get a handle on. :) I made alot of friends in the process!! :) And for every mess up, I needed to try again- needless to say...I ate alot of fufu. It was a regular Thanksgiving feast~

If any of you have a deep desire for me to explain how to make Manure tea- just email me... I'll let you know! :) The course is set up so that we are able to explain the creation process and the concept of us as stewards of the land. The farmers are taken through basic biology and given resources that they can keep and use to teach others in their community and look back to for themselves. On a more personal note, Lauren and I shared how we came to know the Lord before we started class that afternoon.

Here Ben and Jean Claude are showing how to make the liquid compost. This is enough to make a concentrate- and then would be used to make solution for multiple gardens.

Roof top gardening covered how to use tires, buckets, bamboo, and garbage many people dispose of to make transportable gardens. Other possibilities of soil were discussed as well. This week was the last week of class for these farmers. Graduation was on Friday :)