Admirals, Ambassadors, and Colonels . .. Oh My!!

Well, it's been quite a weekend. . . . one of those that if you told me 2 years ago I would be involved in, you would have received a skeptical laugh and a "Yeah, Right!"

Every six weeks, the ship observes a Friday holiday.  This is because with over 30 nations represented aboard, we can't do national holidays like Thanksgiving, etc.  Last Friday was one of those holidays.

On Thursday, the Italian Naval Group 30, comprised of the aircraft carrier Cavour and two support ships, pulled into port.  It was very cool to see an aircraft carrier moored about 500 yards across the harbor from us . . .





We were contacted by the Italian authorities who advised they had researched Mercy Ships, were totally supportive of our mission, and wanted to help through technical/engineering assistance.  The Captain organized a team of 10 of us to visit the Cavour on Thursday afternoon to discuss options.  I was lucky enough to be part of that team.  During the visit I met the Public Information Officer, Lt. Rino Gentile, of the group who asked if there was anything our crew would like from them.  Knowing the comments we had already heard from our shipmates, we asked hopefully if there was any chance of our crew touring the Cavour.  He graciously offered that any and all Mercy Ships crew could tour.  He and I quickly set Saturday for the tour. 

Shortly after returning to the Africa Mercy I made an announcement to the crew of the opportunity.  Within hours we had 200 crew sign up!!!!

On Friday, Rino and I worked out the details . . . and on Saturday we shuttled 210 crew to the Cavour for tours, all completed within 3 hours!  Also on Saturday and Sunday we welcomed 6 technical crew and 6 divers to our ship to assist in fixing a ballast discharge pipe.

On Monday we welcomed crew from the Cavour aboard the Africa Mercy.  The last tour was of the senior staff.  What we didn't know was that the Italian Ambassador to Congo was with them!  So about 5:30 p.m.,  a convoy led by siren blowing police pulled into our berth!  When the staff was aboard we were hosting the Ambassador, a 2-star Admiral, 4 Captains and various other officers! 

In the midst of coordinating these events on Friday, I had to respond to a traffic accident where a Congolese Army Colonel's truck had tried to pass one of our vehicles and had cut in too fast, catching the front bumper on our truck, heavily damaging his rear quarter.  Of course, he argued that it was our fault!  I stood in the sun for an hour arguing with him as he attempted to get money from Mercy Ships . . . when it was all said and done, we all left the scene understanding there would be no exchange of funds!!!!

As with most 3-day weekends, I also had to travel to assist staff that had encountered difficulties in their personal adventures  . . . ask me for the various stories sometime over a beverage!!!!

Here are some pictures from my tour of the Cavour:

This is a picture from the flight deck looking back to the bridge

I am standing next to a Harrier vertical take off and landing jet

This is one of the troop transport helicopters carried onboard

The ship on the left is the newest ship in the Italian navy having been commissioned in October.  The ship on the right is a supply ship.



The naval group sailed this morning on their way north up the western coast of Africa . . . maybe now the weekend is over I can actually get some rest!!!

Denise's Ramblings . . .

Wow,it’s February!  I wrote a blog post last week and then never updated so now I have a few more things to add.

Last night and this morning we said good bye to friends.  There are always so many mixed emotions at these times.  So glad we have been able to make friends with people around the world and in such a short time, sometimes two weeks, sometimes a few months.  Then there  is the happiness for them to go home, see family and share their experiences.  Then there is the sadness; it isn’t easy to always be putting the effort into relationships that will end in goodbye in such a short time, but it is always worth the effort.  So many stories to hear about how God is working around the world, definitely worth the effort.

Here are a few things I wrote about last weekend.   January 31^st - I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted so here goes…. Friday was Spirit Day in the Academy.  The theme was Twin(Multiple Birth) Day, so basically find someone and dress alike.  Remember we are on a ship in Africa, resources are limited. It was great to see the creativity of all; preschool girls dressed as princesses, a group in striped shirts, some convicts (jumpsuits from the deck department), a couple of kids wore their dad’s officer uniforms. I decided to borrow some t-shirts,(Thanks Bethany and Jeremiah!)  here is a picture of me with TC, the Twins mascot, actually the bear’s name is Baxter and he lives in the second grade classroom.  The kids really look forward to Spirit days.

 

 

On a different note, the last few weeks we’ve had some great messages at our Sunday services and Thursday community meetings.  Sunday’s have been focused on ‘Faith.’  This past week we were encouraged to listen and follow God’s calling and timing, not making excuses. It can be easy to believe ‘we are already in Africa what more can we give’ or ‘it’s not the right time because…’  God wants to use each of us.  Have faith, be used where you are; don’t wait.

A couple of weeks ago we had the pleasure of  Wess Stafford, former president of Compassion International, speaking  to us at our community meeting.  He was here for only 2 days to visit his daughter who is the Kindergarten teacher.   He is a terrific speaker, has a great story and was very encouraging He told us we are his heroes. He is such an advocate for the poor and children.  He stressed the importance of taking ‘just a minute’ in the life of others especially children and how that can make a difference in someone’s life.   He has a couple of books I’m looking forward to reading. 

We have decided to visit home this summer.  At Christmas time we were both homesick and decided planning two years away was foolish. However, at Christmas the cost versus the time we would have been home didn’t make sense, and who knows what the weather would have been, so it was then that we decided, home for 7 weeks this summer. We can’t wait! 

 It was announced this week that the ship will be returning to Guinea for the next field service.  When we signed up with Mercy Ships we were excited by the fact that we would be in 3 different African countries but, we are excited about going back to Guinea.

Matt had an upcountry trip the end of last week.  It went well. Here are some pictures of things he saw.  It is pretty common for live animals to be transported with their owners . . . . while he was waiting at a construction zone, he saw this goat  . . .  . and pig!  Only in Africa!!!!