Shipyard Round Two

We are back in shipyard! It seems like we just got through wearing hard hats and closed-toe shoes and seeing our home out of the water. Our time in Madagascar flew by, which seems to be no exception to our time with Mercy Ships! Last year this time found us at the almost very north of the African continent; this year finds us in the almost very south. 

We are the purple dot--Durban! 

It’s winter in the southern hemisphere, which looks different all over the continent. In Madagascar, it’s still a very tropical country so the “winter” just means that the rainy season and dry season are flipped from the northern hemisphere. South Africa is southern enough that it does get fairly chilly. Durban stays warm during the day though because it is right on an ocean channel that has warm water. The temps are anywhere in 70s during the day to down to the 50s at night. It’s been beautiful and fun to pull out the few sweaters and warm clothes that we brought! 

The sail over here went very well. The first two days were a little rough but the last three days were so smooth that it was hardly noticeable! I actually really enjoyed the sail this time around which was a huge blessing. There were some beautiful sunsets and views.          

                                                                                                   

                                 
                                 

Photos: Sunset over the Indian Ocean; Jordan and our good friend Robert watching the sunset. 

Shipyard life started pretty fast once we arrived in Durban and it hasn’t slowed down much since. There has been so much different stuff going on that the whole time has just flown by. We arrived on 15 June and can't believe that it's August already! 

One of the things Jordan got to do was to take an advanced firefighting class. He has been the leader for one of the three fire teams on the ship since last fall so he was glad to get to learn some more about how to lead a team while fighting a fire. We have fire drills every other week on the ship and on the off weeks, the fire teams themselves have training/drills so there is always some sort of training going on. Because Durban is a big port city, there are lots of trainings geared toward ship life. He and four others from the ship got to go to participate in this particular training.

He has also been made the dive team leader. The dive team goes under the ship every other week to inspect and clean the grates. There are 26 steel intakes about 20 inches in diameter that bring in seawater to cool engines and air conditioning systems. These intakes get plugged with marine growth and garbage so they need cleaned periodically. Here in Durban, he has been working on getting the equipment serviced and ready to go for the new field service. While we are in dry dock, there isn’t much of a need for diving under the ship. :) 

And some days he even gets to be a carpenter! This time of the year is actually busier than normal for him with carpentry work; as the focus changes to maintenance he gets called on a lot. There are lots of improvement projects, big and little, that go on all around. 

One project in particular that Jordan was involved in was the refinishing of the cafe floor. All the tables were taken out and he and a friend, Larry Mast, got to work. The area around the cafe was covered with plastic to keep the dust in but it also served as a cool drop cloth to reveal the finished bit. The whole project took about 9 days.

Lots and lots of sanding.

The finished product is absolutely beautiful!

Sorry for the major glare! Phone picture.

We also had the huge blessing of Luke coming to join as crew for the month of July. It was so good to have some family on the ship! He helped Jordan a lot—they put up handrails all over the ship to make it safer when we sail. They also did some work on the gangway and the gangway doors. 

Jordan and Luke working on the dry dock gangway.

Working on the gangway doors.

While Luke was here, the ship went into dry dock as well. You may remember that last year we went into dry dock and said that this only happens every other year. That's usually the case but there were some big projects that needed to happen this year that necessitated us going back into dry dock. Last year the whole ship was put onto a huge platform that was then lifted out of the water. This year, we floated into a full bathtub basically (the biggest bathtub in the world I think), the way out was blocked, and then the water was drained. 

The "door" getting closed by two tug boats. The whole dry dock process took about 8 hours.

Cement all around us! 

Also while Luke was here we took the opportunity to see a bit of the country. We drove three hours north to Hluhluwe game reserve (it’s pronounced Shushluwe, which took me about 2 weeks to figure out) and spent the day driving through and keeping our eyes peeled for wildlife. The reserve was huge and it was awesome to see the animals in their natural environment—absolutely nothing stopping them from going wherever they pleased! We saw elephants, water buffalo, a wildebeest, rhinos, zebra, giraffes, wart hogs, impala and lions. The next day we went horseback riding and saw crocodiles and hippos. The third day we went shark diving further south. I was pretty animal-ed out by the time we got home. It was a great weekend though and so fun to see the country. Durban is a fun city and beautiful in it’s own way but being in the shipyard is pretty much like living in a construction zone. It was fabulous to get out, breathe the fresh air and enjoy God’s beautiful creation! Just the break we needed. We had spent one night off the ship since Christmas so it was very refreshing to get off for three days. 

Pumba!

Impala, so numerous they are known as the "McDonalds" of the land--note the "M" on their hind quarters!

Horse riding on the beach was spectacular!

Hippos. They are crazy! Did you know they can run 40 km/hr on land??
Pretty fast for looking like a bunch of boulders!

Shark diving.

From my side, I have changed jobs a bit; in June I accepted the Chief Steward position. Basically I added the Food Services areas to my responsibilities as well as the Crew and Guest Services areas that I was responsible for last year. I was hesitant to accept as I knew the job would be a stressful one and I wasn’t sure I was up for it; I have really enjoyed this last year as the Crew & Guest Services Manager and would have been just fine staying there. After a lot of doubt on my part and some pushing on God's part, I really felt like He was leading me forward. I was absolutely right though; it has been very hectic so far and I have definitely been stretched! Most of the stress has to do with shipyard though and not actual “normal” job stuff. Because we are in shipyard, water and electricity are limited which makes feeding 150—250 crew a little challenging. Thankfully I have FABULOUS team leaders that are much more familiar with the job and have been great in helping me get more familiar with the job. It's getting easier day by day and I am enjoying the challenge. I've seen my relationship with God grow a lot even in these short 6 weeks and I'm excited to see what the next year holds. 

And now forward and onward to Madagascar! We were scheduled to set sail tomorrow (3 August)  but there have been a few delays due to some of the maintenance work going on. Since when does fixing something ever go completely according to plan?? :) Please join us in praying that all of the projects can be finished up with good time so we can be on our way. We love Madagascar and its people and are so ready to get back there. 

To God be the glory! 

A Long Way Home!

A trip I will never forget!

By the time you are finished reading this post, you probably are going to have noticed an absence of the beautiful writing style and story telling abilities that you are used to from Kate. If you make that observation, you will be correct. These are the first three sentences I (Jordan) have ever written on this blog. Writing is near the top of the list when it comes to things I dislike. Almost equal to poison ivy or smashing my thumb in the door! Why am I writing then? Mainly to satisfy all the people who say I must finally write a post. Secondly, I guess I would like to share the story of a trip I was honored to be a part of. My goal through this post is to tell a story that has a thread of God’s undeniable goodness to his children woven through it. For those of you like me, who prefer to read a story through pictures, you can read it that way. For those of you who are truly curious and have nothing better to do, I hope you enjoy reading the narrative. I do apologize for the length, but I just didn’t know what to leave out.

Most of you I’m sure have read the story of, or at least heard of a man named Sambany. If you don’t know about him, you can read the beginning of his story with Mercy Ships here.

In short, Sambany came to the ship with a 16.45 lb tumor clinging to the left side of his face. While on the ship, he found healing in the form of surgery and lots of love from so many people who cared for him and prayed for him. He spent nearly five months with us until he was fully healed and ready to return to his home in his village. With his permission, Mercy Ships used his story quite a bit to help spread the word about what we do. Because of this, they wanted to honor him by helping him return to his village.

This is Sambany and his grandson Flavy on their first day on the Africa Mercy.

This is Sambany on the morning we picked him up. Happy and ready to roll!!

I was asked to be a part of the team commissioned with the task of bringing Sambany home. My primary job in carpentry doesn’t afford me much opportunity to work closely with the patients in the hospital so when I was asked to go along I was incredibly excited!!

The team consisted of Me, Josh Callow, Eunice Hiew, Laurin Avara, Scott Reed and our translator Tsoa. This is the team that I spent 5 days with, hiked 33 miles and gained 2500 of                                 elevation with and loved every minute of it.

Starting from the left Laurin Avara, Sambany, Scott Reed, Josh Callow,
Eunice Hiew, Tsoa, Flavy, and Myself.

I was informed of this trip on a Tuesday afternoon. Having an idea of what we might be getting in to, I started to pray and prepare. We left the ship on Thursday at 6:30 am. Our first stop was at the Hope Center where Sambany and his nephew Flavy had been staying for the last few months while Sambany healed. After picking them up we pointed our two Toyota Landcruisers straight South for about six and a half hours. Just shy of the town of Mahanoro is where we were supposed to turn straight west and hopefully drive as close as we could to his village. We had been told by locals that as soon as we turned off of the pavement, there would be a bridge to cross. We were also told that the bridge was in good shape and that we shouldn’t have any trouble crossing. We spent about two hours trying several different cow paths to find the bridge. Each time we would ask a local which was the right path, we would get a different answer. Now we know that each person we asked knew the bridge was completely washed away and has been for a long time but culturally they have a hard time telling you something that you don’t want to hear. 

This is the birdge we were supposed to cross.

Instead they happily point you in a direction with a smile and a wave. That's not real helpful when you have somewhere you're trying to go. When we finally found the completely washed out bridge, we went on into the town of Mahanoro and spent the night. The next morning, we set out at 5:30 and drove to a village a little north of the bridge where we thought we would start walking. Someone told us that we could keep driving for another 3 miles on that trail and park at a school. Once parked, we started hiking. Earlier we had bought 110 lbs of rice as a gift for Sambany's village. I was not real keen on adding it to the 35 lbs I was already carrying and nobody else in the team was either so we paid three local musclemen in the first village we came across to carry it for us. Also as we were walking out of that village, we noticed Sambany talking to a woman who seemed elated to see him. Tsoa told us it was Sambany’s wife. Her name is Barazophy and she was beside herself with excitement! We later learned that she and her village had been told that Sambany and Flavy were dead. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that someone who knew the truth passed through her village and corrected that myth. Still the reunion between the two was very heartwarming. Her excitement over Sambany's presence and new face was apparent. We still don’t know what she was doing in that village but she abandoned whatever her purpose was and walked with us.

Sambany and his wife Barazophy happy to be together again!

About seven and a half hours of walking later, we all agreed that our legs were gonna come unhooked and fall off if we didn’t stop. We spent the night in a village where our team of six shared a one room house with Sambany, his wife, his nephew and our three rice carrier buddies. The house was completely void of any accommodations except a floor and a whole host of Lord of the Rings sized spiders in the ceiling. To our weary bodies though it was a five star resort. After a huge bowl of plain rice with a few noodles on top was safely in our bellies we snuggled down on the wood floor and slept. Our sleep was far from deep though as Sambany in his excitement to get home did not stop talking the entire night!! He had also purchased two radios while here in Tamatave. Somewhere he had gotten his hands on an SD card with about 15 songs on it. This he played on his radio THE ENTIRE WAY to his village at full volume. He also played it all night long. It exercised every single ounce of tolerance our team possessed as we all reviewed in our minds the different ways there would be to silence a radio. Morning came though and we strapped on our packs, shook the fuzzies out of our eyes and headed out.

Barazophy with her radio.

As you can see, the trail was beautiful! It was pretty well solid mud the entire way and very narrow. It took us through rice fields, villages, across streams, one river that we had to wade across and up what felt like about ten Mount Everests. One of the things I meditated on much of the way was the diversity and individuality of our God. No matter where you are in the world, all the diverse beauty that we see around us points us to one place. GOD the creator! Madagascar is no exception! We stood on mountain top after mountain top with breathtaking panoramas. 

I found a buddy!

As we neared the end of the day, it became clear that we were running out of water. There was no place to buy water out as far as we were and there wouldn’t be until we got almost back to our cars. We passed through a village that had a few coconut palms so we bought 24 of them and came away with 5 liters of coconut milk. The milk didn’t spend much time in the bottle though as we were all pretty thirsty. Finally after about eight hours of walking, Sambany said we would be to his village very soon. This put a little extra wind in our sails and we got to his village at about 4 pm. He was like a little kid on the last day of school! He couldn’t wait to be home! He stopped and put on a long white shirt type thing and we crossed one last stream and entered his village. He went straight to the center of town where they have a flag pole with no flag on it and he stood there and prayed. 

Sambany gives all the credit and glory to God for his healing! I don’t know what his knowledge or belief in God was like when he came to the ship, but through his time on the ship he met God in a real and personal way! As he then proceeded to his house, the village people began to come out of the woodwork and gather around. To them Sambany’s whole identity no doubt had been the huge tumor that he had carried around. Now it was gone and their reactions were very moving. Even though I understand surgery and the healing process to a degree, even I still stared at his face in wonder at the fact that something like that can be removed and healed. So it’s no wonder that these village people who have no idea what surgery on a ship is, stared at him in wonder. One of my favorite parts of the Bible is when Jesus combines physical healing with spiritual and emotional healing. Sambany is proof that Jesus is STILL healing through the hands of Doctors and Nurses and people like you who pray. Now for as long as Sambany lives, he will serve as a testimony in his region to the love of God. Our prayer is that he will be able to communicate that to his village in the days and years to come. One truth that sank a little bit deeper into my heart on this trip was how God loves us all equally! As we got to know Sambany and his wife a little, we learned to love them and enjoy their company. A few times I met someone along the way whose personality would remind me of someone back home. As I watched Sambany and found myself in a place completely different than the world that I live in, I was forced to look into how God transcends all the differences and loves us not for what we have or who we think we are but because of the way HE see us. He made us with such individuality and He knows that thing which makes each of us unique from each other. He loves us equally and deeply. Therefore he sees me and Sambany the SAME. If he didn’t prevent that tumor in Sambany, He wouldn’t necessarily prevent it in me either. That realization of truth for me brings a whole new level of compassion and urgency to the hurting people of this world. God loves every single one and nobody in 2015 should be living with 16lb tumors on their face.

This is outside Sambany's house. Some of the people you see here are checking out Sambany and some of them are checking out the weird white people.

Inside his house, he told his story to the village elders.

While Josh and Eunice started interviewing people and capturing the whole reunion on camera, Scott watched all of our bags. Laurin and I set about to solving our water shortage issue. We were completely out and all of us were dealing with early symptoms of dehydration. As some of you reading this know me well, you know that I’m a recovering germaphobe. Acting out of that paradigm, I set myself to make sure the water we were to acquire would be as free of little bugs as possible. We got water from the nearby river and put in on a fire to boil. Four hours later, we had boiled, cooled and UV penned 25 liters of river water. Once we got past the smoky earthy taste and the cloudy, floaty filled texture, it tasted great! The important thing was that it rehydrated us.

We spent the night in Sambany’s village once again on the floor of a house. We dined on the rice we had brought with us and again some noodles on the top. They also brought us some bananas and a little later on, some chicken which we ate for breakfast the next morning along with some cold rice.

After saying our goodbyes and receiving a gift from the village of three live chickens and some rice, we took the same trail we had brought and set out for our cars.

Before we left the whole village got together for a photo.

The way back had a lot more downhill in it which helped us make better time. Ten hours of grueling hiking later, we were within about four miles of our cars. We decided to stop for the night as it was getting dark and this was the first village we could actually buy water at again. After we ate one of our chickens with some rice, we sat around waiting to collapse on the wood floor. At this point God did something really cool. Eunice wanted to sing a song so we did. This led to about an hours worth of song. We were tired, we stank really bad, we each had sores and blisters but our hearts were bursting with the joy of the Lord!! Any song we could think of, we belted out. When we were pretty sure our cobbled together melodies had driven out all the spiders in the ceiling, we finished with a time of prayer thanking God for taking care of us to that point and trusting Him for the rest of the way. One of things that had me nervous was how remote we were. If someone would have got sick or injured, it would have changed our trip greatly. In the end, no one got sick or injured at all. THANK YOU all for your prayers!

Dinner of chicken and rice.

Our singing could be heard through the whole village!

 The next morning, we all put on our wet muddy clothes for the last time and headed to the river where we were delighted to learn that we could take dugout canoes all the way to the cars! All of our blisters joined together in a chorus of thanksgiving that we were DONE hiking! We piled in two canoes and enjoyed the river as yet another part of God’s creation. The canoes had zero stability and we all held our breaths and barely blinked for fear of tipping. Somehow neither canoe tipped and at last the cars came into sight.

The Toyota symbol has never looked prettier! After changing into clean clothes, we pointed our cars back North, and arrived back to the ship just in time for dinner.

Toyota Landcruisers have never looked so good!

It's a Pleasure

One of my favorite things about living with people from all over the world is the different sayings and phrases that are tossed around. Most of them make for a great cultural lesson; the first time I heard a Brit say he was “absolutely knackered” I nearly choked on the water I was sipping. Today a South African came to my office looking for a coworker; when I said she wasn’t there he said, “Oh she was here now-now.” Huh? “Oh I’m sorry; I mean she was here just now.” (Once I heard him properly I decided I really like that phrase.)

But I think one of my absolute favorites has to be every time I get off the phone or leave the office of Mr. Henry Gwani, our HR Director on board. He’s from Nigeria. As I was leaving his office after a meeting today I thanked him for his time and he responded with his usual: “Pleasure.” Whereas I was would say, "You're welcome" he says "Pleasure" and it's downright melodious. 

It’s also how I’ve felt for the last month or so. I’ve walked away from so many moments and conversations and thought, “That was a pleasure!” We recently shared on Facebook that we are extending for two more years; through November 2017. That decision was not an easy one to make, because we felt very strongly both ways (staying or leaving) and it seemed like God just would not make it clear what we should do! But he took us on an awesome journey that perfectly wound our personal lives and our marriage tightly together and made HIS plan clear. That's a story for another day but as we've made this decision and gotten used to the idea of being here longer, I have been overawed by the people we serve with--beautiful, called, talented people. No one's perfect which means that Mercy Ships is by no means perfect but it really is a pleasure to serve here alongside these hearts. 

On this floating white box are every kind of social circle: work, friends, church, school, small group, etc. I love the random interaction with people with vastly different jobs and backgrounds than mine. The people on this ship are really something special and I thought I would share some of them with you. I’ve put a picture up with a short caption and that person’s name linked with their blog. There are few stories I wanted to share that are just stories. There are not even 10 links here, which is literally about 2% of this crew. There are so many amazing testimonies out there; these are just the ones that have been swirling around my head the last few days.

Marie from Norway (my former Head Hostess; she has gone home now) plays with Marie from Madagascar down in the ward. Marie (Madagascar) fell into a pot of boiling water when she was 2 years old. Medical care was not available so her arm healed incorrectly, making her lose much of its use. Read her story here. 

Tom plays with Prisca, a little girl he met in the market one day who needed surgery. In case you can’t tell, she has him wrapped around her little finger. :) Tom does the maintenance for all the off-ships sites and his wife Ann-Marie is the crew nurse. We have been attending a couple’s Bible study with them for the past 3 months and have so appreciated their wisdom!

I don’t know what I would do without this team. They are some of the most joyful people I know—even without the cut-out smiles. This week I’ve been meeting with them all individually to discuss our plans for next year and I’ve come out of every single conversation blessed. They sing and pray every morning and evening—the best bookends to a work day that I’ve ever heard. 

Last week I had one of the funnest interactions I've had; I played the mimicking game with a patient in the hospital hallway. She was adorable and so full of spunk but I knew what a long way she had come because of Heather's blog post (you might want to grab a kleenex) describing this little girl's journey. 

Our Sales Manager (KJ). I count myself incredibly blessed to call KJ friend; she will rise to any occasion to encourage anyone. We share a love for monster cookies, Jack Bauer, cute dresses, and we recently trained for a 5k together! I stop by her office at least once a day to get some unofficial therapy from her and her bouncy exercise ball and a laugh. She inspires me by keeping a list of gifts and blogging about it. It's so encouraging to see someone purposefully looking for the good in each day. 

This woman with a dry skirt and new life who shines joy. Even with just a snapshot you can tell this woman's got the moves. This was at the Dress Ceremony that Jordan, Tyrel, and I attended just a few weeks ago. 

I have all respect for the moms on board the Africa Mercy; raising children on this floating white box would certainly be unique! Tracey and Dianna both have blogs that I shamelessly stalked before we arrived! Your blogs were so full of HELPFUL information! :) I love how they share life--this IS their life! It's not a short trip; two minute showers and cafeteria dining 24/7 are how their kids will remember growing up and I love watching them raise their families! It is really special to see kids running around :) 

Marris and Yfke, who visit chronically or terminally ill patients every day and offer friendship and hope. Read Marris's farewell blog here; it has some really amazing patient stories. 

Amy and Krissy, along with their teams, and the surgeons who provide education for local health professionals, leaving behind a lasting footprint. 

Jenny who made my first blood-donating experience as pleasant as possible. :) 

Jordan loves diving with these guys (and a few others) for ship maintenance every other Friday. From left to right: Derek (electrician), Justin (electrician), Jordan, and Dave (Academy Principal). 

There are lots of hellos ... 

... and way too many goodbyes (although I guess technically that number should all be even) ... 

... But it's a pleasure to serve alongside this crew. 

Second Fiddle

When we signed up to join the Africa Mercy, you would not believe how many people asked if I was a nurse or if Jordan was a doctor.

Um... no.

I didn't really blame anyone for thinking that though; I grew up knowing about Mercy Ships because their first ship to Africa, the Anastasis, had come to Guinea a few times when I was a kid. But I had never stopped to think about joining up because I wasn't medical. It wasn't until Jordan and I were visiting my parents in N'Zao and an electrician from the ship was there at the same time and told us that support positions are needed. (Now that we're here, that seems so obvious. It's actually split pretty evenly between strictly "medical" and "non-medical" as far as numbers go.) He told us they needed a carpenter and so, long story short, we came!

I don't really remember what I thought I would apply for at first but at one point I noticed that a hostess was needed and the job description fit exactly into my likes/dislikes so it seemed perfect! In the back of my mind though, I wondered if I would struggle working behind-the-scenes. I'll confess, sometimes I wonder how in the world our friends back home are still interested in what we're doing when I don't post a whole lot about life-changing medical surgeries. My first day on the ship, I remember being spiritually attacked. I was making up a bed for an incoming couple and it hit me that I was BEHIND THE SCENES in every sense of the phrase. Holed up in a cabin making up a bed that no one but that new crew would ever see seemed a bit anti-climatic for my first day on the mission field. Ugly but true thought there.

Then, I made my way down a few days to make up another bed, this time in a 6-berth. As I was struggling with the top-bunk mattress (the only reason for any upper arm strength I may have gained since arriving) something on the wall caught my eye. It was a quote I'd never seen before and it was one of those moments were God tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that He cares about what's on my mind. It hit me like a ton of bricks so of course I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture.

And please don't take this as me trying to somehow brag about being the second fiddle--that's not it at all. But ever since that first day, I really have had no insecurities about the role that I'm in. The fact is that my personal day does often mix with the hospital but for the most part the divine moments I see are of another kind. But this past week, I had an extra special moment that happened to involve the hospital and it gave me a renewed vision for my purpose here. I want to share it with you and I hope you enjoy!

This is my housekeeping team--or at least, 14 of the 24. They are phenomenal. Each morning as I walk into my office they are either singing, praying, or encouraging each other before they start the day. They check back into the laundry room all throughout the day so we see and greet each other all the time. They are the most friendly and welcoming people I know and I count it a privilege to have met each and every one of them.  

On Thursday, I got a call from the hospital laundry room. It was one of my housekeeping supervisors and he asked me to come down as Sarah (name changed), one of my Malagasy day crew, had fallen down. I quickly went down the three flights of stairs and into the hospital, with all the sights, smells, and sounds that accompany a hospital. Sure enough, Sarah had fallen off of a small step ladder and couldn't put any weight on her foot. I walked down the corridor to the crew clinic and asked if there was any way they could come check her out but unfortunately the crew nurse and doctor were in the middle of seeing another patient and couldn't come--was there any way I could find two men to carry her down? At that suggestion, another crew member who was himself waiting to be seen by the crew nurse jumped up and told me that he could help! So together we went and found a wheel chair, got her in it, and brought her down to the crew clinic. It was lunchtime then so I told the administrative assistant to page me as soon as they knew anything and I would drive her home. Then I turned to explain Sarah in French that as soon as the doctor had finished seeing her, they would call me and I would take her home. I love Sarah; she has spunk. As soon as I said that she goes, "DOCTOR? My foot just hurts, I don't need a doctor!"

So you can imagine my surprise when I was paged an hour later and told she was getting her foot x-rayed... 

... and then again another hour later when I was paged and was told that her foot was broken and she was with the rehab team getting it casted. I went down to the outpatient rehab room and watched them finish up putting her cast on. Then she was handed a pair of crutches and she made her slow way down the hall. I signed out a car to take her home and after very carefully making her hobbled way down the gangway, we were on our way. When we got to her house, we sat down in her living room and I addressed the question that I knew she didn't want to ask: missing work. I reassured her to not worry about it; that we would of course compensate for the days she would be missing. Then it occurred to me that she might be worried about hospital bills although that seemed a bit far-fetched since she works in the hospital and knows that all of the surgeries and procedures are done for free. I decided to mention it to her anyways though and at that she burst into tears. 

I hastily asked what in the world was wrong and she simply said, "The doctors here in Madagascar would never treat me like this. I can't believe how I've been treated today. You all have been so kind." Of course that turned on the waterworks in me and I started trying to think of what to say in French and finally managed to blubber out, "It's the love of Jesus. That's how we can treat you that way." To which she grabbed the bottom of her shirt to wipe her eyes and nodded and said, "Today, I've seen that. I know. You have no idea how much this has touched me." 

I really care about Sarah. She brings a quiet but joyful steadiness to the team that I've come to respect. When I saw her hurting I wanted her to be helped and I was so grateful for the hospital staff that jumped to fit in an unexpected patient. To see her reaction was absolutely priceless. To see someone so in awe of a gift that had been given to them--just because it's what we do, not anything calculated--is what this ship is here to do. I thought about her that whole afternoon and then the next day and then all weekend and now today as I'm writing this post it's just hitting me that that's why we do what we do. Yes, we do surgeries because they are needed and the patients just 1 deck below my feet would have no future without surgery. But we also do surgeries for the love of Jesus that act of kindness reveals. It's real, it's genuine, it's the end goal and there's no way this whole ship would work without Him in it. So really, no matter what I do (and the fact is that I actually LOVE my job) it's His love that's doing the work. 

There & Back Again: A Vacation Trip by the Stulls

Hello and bonus points to you if got the title reference. :)

I’m not so good at the beginning or endings of things. I’d really like to avoid awkward introductions and I’d much rather skip saying goodbye and those awful tears and simply head to the airport. But the middle part? I can do that just fine. So here’s me skipping an intro and going right into this long overdue--ahh, who am I kidding? Every update is overdue so I’m right on schedule. 

Anyways, how in THE world is it February already?? I guess the holiday season goes pretty fast but it seemed to fly by with extra speed this year. Ever since we were accepted to serve with Mercy Ships, we’ve known that we would go back to Ohio for Christmas so we’ve been looking forward to it for a while. It’s hard to believe that visit has come and gone! We had a fabulous time and saw God’s hand in so many little ways throughout our stay. 

Back in October, we sat down and looked at the calendar to decide how long we would like to take for our PTO (Mercy Ships lingo for vacation). We knew that my brother’s graduation was going to be on December 13 and that Jordan’s sister’s wedding was on January 10. We thought it would be nice to have a week on either side of those dates since Katie’s parents were going to also be in the States for Matthew’s graduation and to have a bit of down time after the wedding. Six and a half weeks seemed like a long time but we wrote to the human resources department on board and asked them how many vacation days we had available (we accrue a certain amount of days per month). When the reply came back, it was exactly the number that we thought would be ideal! So we booked our tickets and before we knew it, it was time to start the 10,000 mile journey home. 

We started with a bus that Mercy Ships has hired for the year to take crew from Toamasina (where the ship is docked) to Antananarivo (the capital and where the major airport is; also known as Tana for the obvious reason of 2 syllables versus 6). It’s a 250 mile trip over the windiest roads I’ve ever seen.  We got stuck in traffic and rain and were on the bus for 11 hours. The countryside was beautiful though and we really enjoyed getting to see it. 

Lots of beautiful rice fields & rain clouds.

We enjoyed a day of rest in Tana before getting on our plane at 1:50 am. All of our flights were as perfect as flights can get--we slept over the entire continent of Africa and woke up to the Alps peaking out from under clouds beneath us as we ate breakfast. In Paris we enjoyed the free wifi and used up the remainder of our Euro coins from Gran Canaria, much to the dismay of the cashier who served us our coffee. Then on to Atlanta where we were swooped down upon by that sweet Southern drawl if we looked confused for even 10 seconds. Seriously, I’ve never been in a more friendly airport. My grandparents and aunt with her then-boyfriend (but now fiance!!) even drove two hours to meet us at the airport so we could chat for a bit! We felt so blessed! 

With Daniel, Esther, Grandma, and Grandpa Albright in Atlanta. 

Then another 3 hour flight to Dallas where my parents and Hannah picked us up and drove us the last two hours to Longview, Texas.Whew!! 

We had a really great week in Longview; it was so fun to be able to watch Matthew graduate. Dad, Mom, and Hannah were there too as they had left Guinea for an undetermined amount of time due to concerns over Ebola possibly shutting down borders with other countries. We were so grateful for the time together as a family, even as we wished that Ebola had never shown up and they never would have had to leave. 

(Update on Ebola: the numbers are slowly fading; pray that this will be finally done soon! Also be praying for the aftereffects: with thousands dead, it is essentially as if a war just happened.) 

Mom’s parents came for the graduation too as well as our good friends the Blackwells. The house that Mom and Dad lived in last year on their home assignment was still empty so their church said they could use it again. How perfect was that?! That house was pretty packed but we had a great time!! 

Matthew will be moving to Segou, Mali, West Africa in May for about 15 months. He'll be working to keep up a fish farm there, covering for another missionary family that is going on home assignment for a year. I'm pretty excited that he gets to come back to the motherland--even if he does have to be on the other side of the continent!

So proud of Matthew!! (He's the one in the gown and cap. :))

Even though we complained about the cold we
thoroughly enjoyed the fall leaves.

Albright family 2014

Then Jordan went to Ohio and I went to Iowa for a week to be in Sarah’s wedding! Sarah and I have known each other all our lives but we were roommates in high school and have been best friends ever since. We both moved to Ohio around the same time and then both decided to move overseas for 2 years in mission at the same time--without telling each other! She met Erkai at Cedarville University and it was an absolute honor (and blast!) to be there before the wedding to help out and be a part of the wedding. 

We were in Ohio for the remainder of our time, except for a trip out to Indiana to help move Sara into her new home with Garrett! The time was just perfect. We weren’t super busy but we got to see lots of people and do a lot of things that we missed--the bulk of which was eating, it seemed like! 

We were really touched by how interested people are in what we’re doing. We were able to meet with most of our supporters, which was amazing and honestly kind of unexpected due to the busy holiday season! You all were so encouraging to us; you really have no idea. This ministry has our hearts and the fact is that we’ll talk about it to anyone who will listen, so thanks for listening. :) 

Showing pictures to Grandpa & Grandma Stull

And of course there were lots of changes at home for us to catch up on! It was great to tell others about what we’re up to but it was even better to just talk to friends face-to-face and catch up on LIFE. There’s just something about that that is different than a phone call. 

Jordan & Fenner checking out a cool toy. 

One life change that we’re a little partial to is Ari so of course I have to sneak a picture in. :) Jordan thought it’d be good to show her some hunting videos; it didn’t seem like something Jenni would have time to do. ;) 

We were pretty excited to wake up to 4" of snow one morning!

Jordan had a lot of fun helping out at the shop occasionally.

It was especially fun to be there for Garret & Sara’s big day! Sara did an amazing job planning a beautiful wedding in 4 short months and we enjoyed being able to help out some for it--although her and Sandy had the whole thing so detailed out that we really didn’t do much! 

But before we knew it, the six weeks was up and it was time to head back. As not fun as it was to say goodbye, we knew it was time to get back to the ship and back into routine life (you can only eat as much as you want for so long, you know!). The trip back seemed MUCH longer ... but eventually we made it and it was great to be welcomed back! I was so touched; my team held up a welcome sign for me as I walked into the office and I had three huge bouquets of flowers on my desk waiting for me! I felt quite loved. :) 

I will confess though that the first two days back were some of my worst on the ship and I’m not really sure why (aside from jet lag!). I was ready to be back but when I got really into work on Thursday I was overwhelmed with the feeling of “I don’t want to be here.” I was really discouraged and confused and mostly just annoyed--why would I be excited to come back if I didn’t want to be here?? There was no particular reason; I just had a horrible attitude and saw the negative in everything. 

Then last Friday I was in my boss’s office, which is right next to the gangway so there’s always a lot of hustle and bustle. Him and I were talking about a project of some sort that we were working on and then a man walked by with a tumor easily twice as big as his face. In fact, I couldn’t even see his face; I’m just taking it for granted that it was there. 

And you know what? That’s why I’m here. From the work that Jordan and I do to the surgeon that delicately removes that tumor is a long chain of absolutely necessary people and by God’s grace, we are part of it. And with that realization Satan’s discouragement (because now I see it for what it was) was blown--no, blasted--away and this last week has been my absolute best on the ship. I’ve had conversations that have left me awe-struck at God’s ability to put together a puzzle full of people from all over the world with only one thing in common: Jesus’ love for the lost. These people are incredible and I hate that one day either they’ll leave or I’ll leave and we’ll have to say goodbye, but for now, I am so, so grateful.