Freetown Journals: We Made It, Guys

Rainy skies, quirky old cars, and power lines.
For some reason this view captured my attention.

The months leading up to Christmas could feel long at times, but I always knew that when January came, I could blink and it would be over. It's true that this ship wasn't built just to stay in the "Equipping" phase forever, but all the same I'm going to remember this season fondly.

Whether fine-tuning a logistical puzzle in a focus group or spending the weekend ticking off another wonderful hike in the Anaga mountains, I feel we've done our best to use this time well.

After my last update, in early December, the Africa Mercy pulled in to moor beside the Global Mercy in the Port of Granadilla after completing a 10-month field service in Dakar, Senegal. This was the second time this year that the two ships have been side-by-side, but it didn't feel any less surreal than the first. The crews of both ships gathered on the sterns, national flags and hand-written banners in hand. Cheers and chants were exchanged, and when the AFM gangway was finally lowered, many hugs were shared.

On the inside, both ships were already decorated for Christmas, and we spent the next month sharing events across the two--Santa Lucia was sung on the Africa Mercy, gingerbread houses on the Global Mercy. The Africa Mercy hosted the Christmas Eve service, and the next morning, was Christmas worship on the Global Mercy. Sinterklaas visited the children (and children at heart) on both ships.

Worship and devotions with the deck department

After taking two weeks off to visit visit some dear friends in Benin, I returned to the Global Mercy in mid-January and hit the ground running with the rest of the crew... Well, as fast as we could run, but there was a slight problem. Granted, we had been praying throughout the Equipping phase that if there were problems that could affect the operation of the Hospital, that they would surface in Tenerife so that they could be dealt with before the Hospital welcomed its first patients. But what arose in January was something nobody could have anticipated.

What I can share here is that Mercy Ships detected a threat to our network, and our IT team quickly responded. It took some time to do a thorough assessment, ensure our network is safe, and bring our systems back online. We are making good progress, but suffice it to say that it was pretty disruptive, and as a result January did not look at all like the smooth runway into the field service that we had imagined.

Lots of goodbyes were said in December and January
leading up to our departure from Tenerife.

Among the more seasoned crew, there is a strong sense that there is more to the disturbance than just human evil. It's no surprise to us that the enemy of our souls would hate the "ships of help", as some patients in Senegal have called it. Just before we planned to bring the Global Mercy into service delivering hope and healing in a predominantly Muslim nation, there is bound to be unseen resistance.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

1 Peter 5:8

Nobody could have predicted that particular challenge, but the good news is that at every turn, and with no small amount of sweat, our rebound seems to have gone better than anticipated, and we feel God's blessing in that.

Life rings signed by both crews were
exchanged by the ships' Captains.

At long last, the crews celebrated one last night together with worship and prayers over each other, before departing our sweet island home and setting sail, both ships side by side, and headed south--the Global Mercy to Dakar, Senegal, and the Africa Mercy for shipyard in Durban, South Africa. The story of our startup is one for my next blog post, coming soon. :)

Thank you so much for reading and following along. Your prayers are heard and your support is felt tangibly!

Worship and prayer with the crew of the Africa Mercy,
the night before our departure. In this picture, the AFM
crew is in the center as the GLM crew prayed for them.