Hope is kind of a theme around here

If you read my last post, you know that about a month ago, a door had opened for me to potentially return to the AFM between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On Monday, I unpacked my bags. The door is closed again and I'm staying put until at least January. With current travel restrictions in place (for very good reasons) it wasn't a huge surprise. Even knowing this, the news brought a mixture of happy and sad feelings.

After 6 months away, I was pretty excited at the thought of returning to my job, celebrating Christmas on board, drinking tea together on deck 7, and even sleeping in my lil bunk space with my blue comforter!

The ship has become my second home. I haven't been away from it for this long since I joined Mercy Ships, but a little more waiting is okay.

So I sorted my belongings back into their place in my room and closed the empty suitcase. This helped me turn the page and look forward to a little more Minnesota chill (that's a positive thing, in case you couldn't tell), and a little more time with the amazing community at Hope Church, for whom I am so thankful. On November 22, I had the opportunity to share about Mercy Ships during the service.

Mercy Ships' mission statement is "Following the 2000-year-old model of Jesus, bringing hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor." Hope a definite theme in Mercy Ships circles.

There is a staff member named Stefan who visits the ship periodically, and always gives the most encouraging talks during the community gathering. Stefan says that the enemy of our faith, the devil, loves it when we are in a tough situation and we believe “things will always be this way.” In other words, he loves hopelessness, in all its forms.

To the patients we care for, hopelessness means resigning to the idea that they will always be blind from cataracts, they will always have a cleft lip, their burn scars will always inhibit their movement, or their legs will never hold them up properly.  

Mercy Ships invites patients in who thought their lives would always be one way, and it turns out that their life can actually be changed in ways they never imagined, through surgical care and being shown the love of Christ.

When they learn that their future can be better than their present, that’s what hope is. It's a gift from a loving father. 

To us in the United States, hopelessness in this pandemic might look like entertaining the belief that we'll never again get to hug our friends and family, we'll never be able to plan beyond the next week, we'll never be able to have a "normal" lunch with coworkers where we enjoy meaningless banter, and we'll never again be able to just hang out without the threat of serious illness on our minds.

I feel confident that these thoughts of "forever", in general, are just not true. In Minnesota we know (and we've already seen several times this year) that no matter how much snow falls, it always melts. The end may not be clearly in sight now, but one day it will be.

Having hope doesn’t mean acting like everything is fine right now for it to be true. Hope says, “This has been really hard, and it's STILL hard. But if we hold on, things will get better.” The Bible shows us this path from suffering to hope in one single sentence.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3-4

You can tell a tree by it's fruit. Hope is the fruit of those who walk through suffering with their eyes on God. And hope will not let us down, because it comes from God. Despite the challenges this year has brought, I've also seen a lot of reasons to be hopeful. Have you? Make sure to share those things when you talk to others. It’s a gift that just gets bigger the more we share it, and it has the power to change a whole lot.

Happy Thanksgiving, from our home to yours!

Thank you so much for following my blog updates! If you missed my recent webinar, the recording is available on YouTube!

I shared about Mercy Ships in general and how it operates, as well as how things went in the last field service, and what's on the horizon.

I also recently updated my fundraising page.

Neighborhood walks are still a priority. On this particular evening, I loved 
how the cloud make it look like we actually had mountains in Minnesota!

An Open Door (& not "should-ing" all over yourself)

Family dinners on the front porch was our summertime ritual before before the pandemic

As of November, 2020, I've been home in Minnesota for around 5 months, and it's been wonderful to have an extended break. I've written a few reflections below, but in case your time is short, I want to start with four important updates:

1.

The current plan is for the Africa Mercy to return to Senegal to wrap up our field service there. The return date will be no earlier than April, 2021, global health conditions permitting.

2.

The Africa Mercy is currently in the Canary Islands, undergoing an extended routine maintenance period. Below is a video update from Mercy Ships, featuring my friend Kees (from the Netherlands).

3.

Despite the delayed field service, a door has opened for me to return to my role as the Executive Assistant on the Africa Mercy in early December, to assist the newly appointed Managing Director. I've decided to take the opportunity, so I am preparing for an upcoming departure. However, the global travel situation is still pretty shaky, so I'm holding plans lightly!

4.

Before I go, you're invited to attend a virtual information session where I would love to share with you a bit about the past field service and what lies ahead. You can choose which time would suit you:

• Tuesday, November 17th @ 7:00-8:00pm CST
• Saturday, November 21st @ 10:00-11:00am CST

Click HERE to register for a virtual information session!

~ ~ ~

I first drafted this blog post in early March, and it's been haunting me ever since. At the time, Mercy Ships was already gearing up for a routine transition, from one field service to the next. But I don't think any of us yet anticipated the massive season transition that we actually got!

Back in March, my plan for the next 5 months looked very different, and looking back it's a bit hilarious to compare them with reality! I've returned to this blog post a couple of times since then, and each time, it's hard to not think in terms of how I thought 2020 should have gone.

Dinner out on deck 7 with friends in the port of Granadilla.

In April, I "should" have been visiting my alma mater in Michigan, but instead that visit was cancelled and Hope College's campus sat empty of students.

In June, I couldn't help but remember that I "should" have been headed to Liberia, but instead I was packing up to return to Minnesota for an undetermined amount of time.

But in the words of one of the ship's chaplains came to mind: "Stop 'should-ing' all over yourself!" In other words, dwelling on the "shoulds" is not helpful. They are worth nothing now. The only meaningful currency in this unpredictable season are adaptability and trust in the only One who doesn't change (James 1:17) and who can bend all things for our good if we stay close to Him (Romans 8:28).

Five years from now, we may see 2020 with 20-20 vision. Much of the uncertainty will make a lot more sense, and many of our current questions will have clear answers--but don't worry, I'm sure by then we'll have plenty of new questions to wonder about on this side of eternity. ^_~

Thank you for reading, and don't forget to register for a virtual information session!

Below are a few more highlights from my time home.

It was great to see friends in person at Hope Church's outdoor vespers in July!
They've opened up socially distant indoor services since then, and we've alternated
between attending online and in-person.

Hope Shores Bible Camp went remote this summer, but some former
staffers still got to take on the high school campers for some kickball!

Meeting up with Mercy Ships friends Kayla (left) and Christelle.

A later summer hiking trip on the North Shore with the family.

I love being able to attend a Bible study with friends while I am home!

On Being Exceptional Children of the King

My blogging perch for the evening

"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Deuteronomy 31:8

Happy Mother's Day!

We're still healthy on the Africa Mercy. I hope to go home in June and then return to the ship when it is possible, but it's not clear at this point when that will be. I may seek temporary employment and/or take an online class while I'm home. That's about all I have for an update, and this info is on the "Fundraising" page that is linked at the top of the page (or in the drop-down menu if you're on your phone). The rest of this post is thoughts and reflections since my last update. Don't hesitate to send me specific questions that you may have!

For better or for worse, there are a lot of new rules about how to function in the time of COVID-19. But most of these rules have exceptions. 

And when you have 200+ people between the ages of 0 and 72 who come from over 30 different countries and who are all basically in the same household because we live and work and eat practically on top of each other in the same 152-meter floating metal box that also sometimes doubles as a hospital, arriving from West Africa by sea to be welcomed by a country that none of us are from without any stamps in our passports--I guess something about that makes us "exceptional".

Sometimes being exceptional doesn't help. But other times, it works in our favor.

Impromptu worship on Deck 8 organized by a couple of crew

One of the highs of last week was Wednesday morning, when the Captain announced that the crew had received permission to go on the dock under the same Spanish laws that allow nationals to walk around their neighborhoods. After spending more than a month on the ship, what an awesome gift!

In Spain, specific times for walking outside are separated by age. So the children under 14 got to go outside first, from noon to 7pm. Other crew went up to the top decks to watch the "pioneers" descend the gangway, cheering as they explored the new territory. As for all the other adults, it was our turn at 8pm, and our faces say it all.

In Reception, counting down the seconds until 8pm!

It was lovely to stretch our legs for a few days! Unfortunately, early Saturday morning we learned that there had been a misunderstanding, and they needed us to stay off the dock again until further notice. In this instance, our exceptional circumstances aren't working in our favor, but we're praying that this privilege opens back up next week!

Walks on deck 8 will have to do for now. No complaints about the views here :)

But sometimes these exceptions mean that we're very lucky, like the fact that we get to be together, and that we're all healthy, and we're able to embrace each other, even if it's to say goodbye to members of our "ship family" as they go home. How many people get to do that right now?

The chaplain who delivered the teaching at this morning's service said, "You're a child of the King! Don't act like an orphan!" Her message was very thought-provoking as she encouraged us to embrace that identity, and I've been thinking all day about what that means.

God doesn't forget one of his children. He counts each of our hairs, for crying out loud! Knowing this, what business do we have living powerless lives, thinking that anything we do is meaningless? It not only makes me consider the activities I'm choosing to fill my time, but also the manner in which I pursue them. Are there things I'm doing that I believe to be meaningless? That could be a sign that something needs to be pruned from my schedule. But it could also be a sign that my heart towards that activity needs to change. Have I surrendered this activity to my Father's direction? Could that be what makes all the difference? From that perspective, even the smallest of deeds can move mountains.

Making cookies with the Youth Group. 

The other day, the youth group made cookies. As they shared them to crew around the ship, they also offered to pray for them. It was amazing to see how stress and pressure seemed to visibly melt off of crew members when they were shown such a small random act of kindness! And it was also amazing to see the youth gain momentum. At first, they were slightly nervous to pray for crew who they usually don't interact with. But they became increasingly excited to pray for each new person. Watching this act of encouragement was encouraging for me as well. Isn't it amazing how these things multiply?

Do any of us know what the coming months hold? Rather than fighting it, we're learning to relax into the "not knowing". It really does force me to lean hard on God, and I realized it's been a while since I've done so. Maybe you've experienced the same thing? I pray so.

Just to share a few other positive stories of amazing deeds and creativity. I just can't get enough of stuff like this!

• Some Good News with John Krasinski
• Rival gangs teaming up to help their community in South Africa
• $1 million in Mother's Day flower baskets for seniors
• I love hearing about celebrities who redirect their talents towards COVID-19 relief. Just wow :)
• Opera singing couple holds concerts in their driveway to bring their neighborhood together

This song was playing as I walked through the dining room the other day, and the line that says "I'll be patient one more month" made me smile. Life may be weird right now, but life is so much more than just right now. :)

This is a secular song about an earthly father contemplating his limits, and the kind of father he wants to be. But when I listen to it, somehow the focus on our human limits makes the reality of our heavenly father who numbers the hairs on our heads even sweeter.