One Year Gone . . .

It appears we weren’t very with it and have missed a month of blogging… sorry about that.  Let’s see what has happened since the last post.  We reached our 1-year mark on the ship!!  I was called to give blood. They were in surgery and needed more units so a couple of us were called.  We had been informed the day before this could happen.  It is really strange when you’re sitting there giving blood and someone comes to check just how much longer until the unit is ready. 

The President of the Republic of Congo visited the ship a couple of weeks ago.  Matt was very busy getting security on the ship organized.  He recruited many very willing volunteers to man the route of the Presidents tour of the ship.  He was deeply moved by what he saw. Since then senior staff have had meetings with Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo and some dignitaries from there have visited the ship.  Perhaps one day the ship will be in their ports. Also, I’m not sure if we’ve mentioned it but Mercy Ships is in the process of having a second ship built!!  It should be completed by July 2017. The plan is to have two ships in service.

This is the President of Congo and our founder

We went to the Gorge again.  It had been about 3 months since we were last there.  We went with people who had never been before.  The countries of China, Russia, England and Sweden were represented. It has been rainy season and there has been a lot of growth. The grass that was about knee high was now as tall as we are.  We went to the restaurant look out area. It was closed the afternoon we went because it had been raining all morning.  The rain stopped shortly before we arrived.  It was so peaceful.  We were the only ones there. There were so many animal sounds mostly birds but may be some chimpanzees. Chimps have made their presence known in that area.  

Here is the group at the Gorge 

This is the Atlantic Ocean at the bottom of the Gorge

Some people have asked to see pictures of Denise at work . . . here you go!!

We are definitely in a more westernized port.  The last two Tuesdays which are African meal nights, we have had take-out pizza with groups of people in our cabin.  It has been so relaxed and more like home. The only thing missing is a beer to go with it.

We are doing well.  We are tired.  I was trying to figure out why and it occurred to me the other day that when we left Owatonna there was something new every two or three months.  Now we have been in one country for 9 months and doing the same job during that time, and add to that the longing for home.  We look forward to seeing many of you this summer and getting some rest.