2013

As I sit here, the last hour of 2013 ticking steadily, impossibly by, I am once again overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness. For all we can do, all we could do, in the end we have very little to say on the subject that is our life. We make decisions sure, and I'm not belittling those in the slightest, but for as much as we want to be in control, as much as we think we are, we are but dust. We each have our unique role in this world, and a duty to play it but it makes me think deeper, higher, to Him who is at the helm.

So as this difficult year passes and I look afresh at the possibilities, the hopes, the aspirations - even the wonder - of what this coming year holds, it is my prayer that this sense of smallness that encompasses me now might remain. That I would not forget my size, being overcome with pride. 

As 2014 arrives, my heart is moved:

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve, I'll serve
I will follow you.

Braii

What better way to spend New Year's Eve than with the crazy (but awesome) South Africans on the ship?

And of course an amazing braii!

Holiday from the holiday

Or is that vacation from my vacation? I can't remember anymore - but you get the idea. This past week, off work celebrating Christ's birth and why we're here in Congo in the first place, has been a much needed staycation for me. The recent world travels were good but long. This was sleep in, play games, watch a movie 'till 4am, tweak that sensor on the helicopter, eat Christmas yummies until your stomach hurts kind of good. It's been great and refreshing but I'm definitely feeling the urge/need for a routine again. So back to work! Pray for our team to not be overwhelmed as we jump in to the exceedingly-large-but-not-growing-as-fast-as-it-once-was pile of work ahead of us in this (almost) new year!

To all those who so graciously hosted us on our world adventures...

THANK YOU!

And Merry Christmas from the not-so-northern-hemisphere-Christmas-cold Republic of Congo:

Made it to Ethiopia

Ethiopia you say? That's not where I'm supposed to be. It's on the wrong side of the continent!

Unfortunately our plane in Germany had issues with its de-icing system (discovered during taxi) and the flight was cancelled - /after/ sitting on the aircraft for 5 hours during the attempted fix. So it was either sleep in the terminal (Immigration wouldn't grant a transit visa for Penn so we could leave on another flight the following day) or route through Ethiopia. All in all, a 17-hour addition to the 38 planned.

But we /did/ arrive just in time for the sunrise:

Almost makes it worth it...

Almost.

WOTD

"Just now" (South African English): is going to happen imminently

Very confusing when compared with the other (non-South African) meaning: "just happened".

Mr. Bones

Sharing my breakfast with Penelope's dad's African Grey, Mr. Bones:

Pretoria

We visited Penn's sister Andi at her university in Pretoria. Beautiful campus:

And sunset:

The trip

For those curious, here is the planned itinerary by major city:

Pointe Noire (Congo)

Johannesburg (South Africa)

Pretoria

Durban

Port Elizabeth

Cape Town

Johannesburg

New York, NY (United States)

Los Angeles, CA

San Luis Obispo, CA

Mammoth Lakes, CA

Sacramento, CA

San Francisco, CA

San Luis Obispo, CA

San Diego, CA

Escondido, CA

Albuquerque, NM

Tyler, TX

Louisville, KY

Lancaster, OH

Columbus, OH

New York , NY

Frankfurt (Germany)

Pointe Noire (Congo)

Believe it or not this is the reduced list with the notable deletions of London, England and Perth, Australia.

11 weeks.

A mix of fun and work.

Over 4000 km via car.

Over 18,000 miles via air. 

Pray for rest (and sanity). 

South Africa

For those of you who know about my trip, we made it to South Africa. For those of you who don't know about the trip, you do now. More details to follow but for now I'll leave you with a picture of Pointe Noire from our ascent earlier today:

If you look /very/ closely just above the winglet you can see the ship at the leftmost part of the harbor:

Pointe Noire harbor

Some days I'm amazed at where I get to live. 

Assessment Day

Assessment day was yesterday and it went very well.

Smooth, orderly, and calm.

The weather even cooperated.

It was our largest screening day to date with over 7300 people evaluated for whether we could help them via surgery. Those that we couldn't (as well as those we could) were offered prayer. All in all we handed out over 4200 cards to people for surgery or further evaluation. A successful (and extremely tiring) day! 

For the full story of what screening was and more importantly why Mercy Ships - why I - am here in Africa, read Jay's account.

Dana Perino also wrote a piece on her blog which offers a more nuts-and-bolts description of the day.

Both are worth the read.

The cake is not a lie - really

Birthday + nerdy GF = WIN (for science)

Broadcast-ed

Success! All the tech worked and the segment went well. Estimated 3 million viewers. Here's the glamor shot afterward with all of us "McGyver techies" as she called us. 

Broadcast-ing

We're setting up for Dana Perino's segment on Fox News, broadcast live from the AFM.

No pressure...

Manioc

I found a new local street food wrapped in banana leaves that was not immediately identifiable (by me at least) so I bought one:

500 CFA (~1 USD)

What's in the box?! err...leaves?

Cassava of course! Made with lemon and roasted over coals. It had a nice aftertaste and would definitely be filling if one ate the entire thing. 

The cake is not a lie - mostly

So...this showed up on my desk today:

After some questioning from my colleagues as to what I'd been doing in my off hours and some postulations that my French was, perhaps, not quite as good as I'd thought, I realized that it said "Wifi".

Congo sunset

It looks like we're in for some spectacular sunsets in Congo!

T-Rex herd

The local T-Rex population in Congo is much more organized than in other parts of Africa. Scientists postulate that by working together the herd can more easily meet the needs of the entire group, giving them an advantage over more single-focused species.

Paperwork

Want to know what the paperwork looks like each time the Africa Mercy calls on new port? How about 300+ passports?

Congo

We've arrived in Congo.

There was quite the reception waiting for us on the dock!

Royal Diamond Shellback

We had to divert south to avoid a buoy but came back directly over 0'0" N 0'0" E. A few blasts of the ship's horn and we're all Royal Diamond Shellbacks. Woohoo!

Word of the day #7

Frigorífico (español): refrigerator

It sounds so amazingling-rific!

Octo-copter

It's not too often that my robotics engineering background comes in to play around here but today my engineering itch gets to be scratched. A drone pilot just arrived with his octo-copter which will be taking some incredible footage as we sail. Good times!

Roque Nublo

The top of Gran Canaria. Look closely and you can see Tenerife in the distance. 

Word of the Day #6

Liegeois (french) - a type of (extremely yummy) waffle (with nuggets of molten sugar inside) from the city of Liege in Belgium. Did I mention that they're really (really) yummy?

The old and the new

As previously mentioned I am currently in London. I am visiting my pastor from California who moved here with several others a few years back to plant a church and show the crazy people of Camden God's love. Being around so much that is familiar yet so foreign is quite an oddly overwhelming experience. The above pic is inside the Anglican Church that houses Calvary Chapel North London twice a week. Adding to the strangeness, much of the sound equipment being used is the same gear I worked with at Shoreline Calvary Chapel for many years on the central coast of California.

Small world indeed.

Missing west Africa

Cheap travel

I am currently traveling from Newcastle to London by bus, enjoying the British countryside.

I have my own seat.

It has a seatbelt.

There are no animals tied to the roof.

...or hood.

...or trunk.

There is climate control.

The bathroom isn't the side of the road when the vehicle breaks down.

The vehicle hasn't broken down.

There are rest stops but they are for the driver, not the passengers.

There are posted speed limits.

...which are obeyed.

There has been no notable traffic.
The cars on the other side of the road are traveling the opposite direction.

There is no distorted music.

In fact, there is no music save the occasional emanation from nearby earphones. 

Everyone speaks English.

We left on time.

I have the expectation of arriving on time.

There was a posted schedule of departure and arrival times.

...on the Internet.

I paid for the ticket with a credit card.

...via the Internet.

...via my phone.

My receipt was texted to my phone.

That text was also my boarding pass.

There is even free wifi!

And what did all this luxury cost?

£5.

Yes, I am still very much in culture shock.

Word of the day #5

Toon (geordie english): town

UK

I'm currently visiting friends in the UK. This is the first time in 2 years that I've been in an English speaking country and it feels quite odd. Ignoring the reverse culture shock though, I'm having a great time. Above is a view of the North Sea just outside Newcastle upon Tyne. Beautiful. 

Word of the day #4

Confundido (español): confused

 Are you?

Full service bank

I don't know too many banks that I can walk in to and leave with US dollars, euros, and British pounds. One more benefit of the Africa Mercy Assisted Living Facility!

Word of the day #3

Llegados (español): arrivals

Can you guess where I was recently?

How to tell that you're not in west Africa...

Word of the day #2

Descafeinado (español): decaffeinated

Note that this is not pronounced the same as décaféiné (français). A very important distinction I, once and only once, failed to realize.

Word of the day #1

Prepago (español): prepaid

Dolphins

Dolphins, as always, having a bit of fun.

Au revoir Guinée

Thank you Guinea for being so hospitable as we made you our home for the past 10 months. I pray that even though we go, the hard ground that was broken would prove fertile for God's truths in the coming years. 

Rainy season

Rainy season is officially here!

Academy Graduation

Three of our Academy seniors graduated today. Carys has lived on mercy ships since she was two months old! It was great to celebrate such quality people in our community take the next big step in life.

Les Îsles

Kassa island. The name was transliterated from "casa" in Portuguese meaning "house". It's one of the three main volcanic islands just off the coast of Guinea near Conakry. Fortoba island is in the background (right) and Roume island in the center - the place said to have inspired Robert L. Stevenson's novel, Treasure Island.

Sunset over Guinea

Another amazing sunset tonight.

This part of Guinea will definitely be missed.

Mangos!

Look what showed up in reception today.
So colorful!

Happy Easter from west Africa!

Gethsemane in Africa

We transformed our main meeting room into the "Garden of Gethsemane" as a place of prayer leading up to Easter. Matthew 26:36-46.

Disconcerting

I'm used to driving on the right side of the road. I've lived outside the US long enough now that I'm also used to driving on the left side of the road. I am not, however, used to cars driving the same direction on *both* sides of the road.

Go fret?

I picked these wafer cookies up in a local shop today. The title, when read in English, seems contrary to the relaxing nature of tea drinking, pictured on the package. (I thought it was funny, ymmv...)

...this one too

It's a trap! ...?

My faith grows a little bit every time I see this boat return to the harbor.
(and also my anxiety for the people on it)

Walking blood bank

Today I learnt that I have a new ability: turning Coke into blood! Well, hopefully. The blood went away before I got the Coke...

Ice Cream Thursday

Bowl and spoon: USA
Ice cream: Holland
Chocolate: Spain
Peanuts: Togo
Banana: Guinea
International treat: Priceless

Trying something new

So I've been abysmal at keeping this blog up to date so I'm going to try something new - PICTURES! I'm targeting a few a week with (hopefully) witty commentary as an attempt to capture a small slice of (the sometimes? crazy *sheepish shrug*) life here in Mercy Ships. Bon appétit!