South Africa Bound

After many delays, mechanical an tactical the ship is on the first leg of its journey to...... MADAGASCAR!

 

When I arrived back on the ship we were closely monitoring the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and realized that it was going to have a great impact not only on the people of the countries affected, but also on Mercy Ships as an organization and the way we conduct our screenings and provide care. At that time we still planned to go to Benin, but when Ebola emerged in Nigeria, everything changed. Plans for the ship were being changed on a weekly basis, and different options were being discussed. Finally, just a few days before we sailed, the final decision was made to go to Madagascar with a short stay in South Africa on the way.

During this same time period, the ship was also experiencing mechanical problems. By the time I rejoined the Africa Mercy, the ship had come out of dry dock, but the engineers quickly realized that something was wrong with our propulsion and steering. A couple of days after I arrived, we sailed from Las Palmas to Tenerife. During the sail, even the crew could feel that something was wrong. The ship shuddered and made sounds that I had not heard on my past sails. Eventually, the engineers thought that they had found the source of the problem. However, the repair could not be completed in Tenerife and we returned to Las Palmas to complete the repair. In the process, however, a second problem was discovered, one that will have to be addressed during our next shipyard phase, as it will require the ship to go back into dry dock.  Still, we were finally declared fit for sail.

 

Through all of this, I was so blessed to see the entire crew come together daily in prayer for our leaders and for the people of West Africa. We could see the Lord’s hand guiding us, and waited to see where he would take us. Through so much uncertainty, still there was peace. The mechanical issues delayed us by several weeks, and we realized later that if we had not been delayed we would have been in Benin, or halfway there, when Ebola was discovered just a few hundred miles across the border in Nigeria. As it was, the delay gave us time to reevaluate and change our plans. Our God is so good.

 

For a few weeks after I first arrived I was assigned to work in the galley, preparing food for the crew. I enjoyed seeing another part of ship life, and learned how difficult it can be to prepare meals when the ship is sailing and trying to throw food and/or cooking implements at you.­­ Soon however, I was transferred to the engineering department as they were in need of a few extra people. I have been doing odd plumbing jobs, cleaning and reassembling various components of the showers and toilets, painting, insulating, caulking, changing AC filters, etc., with the added difficulty that many of these jobs were completed while sailing. I can add a whole new set of skills to my resume now. I have actually really enjoyed this time, and it was fun to get to know the engineers better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Setting Sail