How it started

We've been blown away by the response we've gotten after making our announcement! We've also gotten a lot of questions about our decision to serve on a boat. So I thought I would write out the story here for you who are interested. 

Thanks to an invitation from the Mano Church and the support of some incredibly generous people who helped buy our tickets, Jordan and I got the chance to go to Guinea during December/January 2012. We stayed a few extra weeks to spend time with my family and found ourselves in the capital of Conakry for a couple days before we returned home. Now, anyone who has been to Conakry can tell you that there is not just scads to do. So we arranged ahead of time for a tour of the Africa Mercy, the world's largest civilian hospital ship. We were both familiar with the organization and thought it would be a rare and cool opportunity to go on board. 

We did the regular tour and then the woman with us asked if we'd like to meet with the current carpenter. Jan, the head of the deck department, came to meet us. We were shown the shop on the ship and we met the carpenter (Rob) that was on board then. He was super friendly and showed us what a typical day looks like for him and what his responsibilities were.

Jan also took us to an empty cabin and we spent probably 45 minutes just standing there asking him questions. He was incredibly helpful; he even gave us his email and told us to email him first if we wanted to apply (he did add that we should pray about it first but he seemed fairly convinced that the Lord would be fine with it). 

Jordan and I left the ship and got back into my family's car, both of us thinking the same thing. I remember looking at each other and whispering, "I really want to do this." However, we decided that this was probably just a spirit of adventure and we should give it some time of prayer and thought. But over the next few days, the Africa Mercy was literally all we thought and talked about. We discussed it with my family and had their support and excitement. OK. So maybe this is more than just adventure talking. But surely when we get back to Ohio, we'll fit right back into life and forget about this.

We got back to Ohio and fit back into life but we did not forget about that boat. Over the next 2 or 3 weeks we thought and prayed and talked and still it was all that was on our minds. We finally admitted that this was something we genuinely felt was from God and that we needed to make the next step. 

We told Jordan's family and asked for their advice and prayer and of course had their support (although we all tried not to think about future goodbyes!). 

Next step: we wrote Jan, honestly not expecting him to reply for a few weeks, thereby giving us some more time to back out (not just super brave of us I know but there you have the truth). Jan wrote back in EIGHT hours, and his excitement that we were applying practically bubbled out of his email. He put us in touch with the recruitment office in TX and we started the application process. 

So, a very long and impatient story short, we have been accepted and have agreed to serve for 2 years! 

There you have it. We have been blown away by people's interest, encouragement, and support! Your excitement has made us even more excited.