Sublime sailing

SUBLIME: of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe.

Words can be powerful. However, we all know that a picture paints a thousands words; and i have had the amazing opportunity over the past 10 days or so to live in a picture of such sublime beauty as to make true the dictionary definition stated above.

With as few words as possible, I will let these pictures tell the tale of our sail from Benin, West Africa, up to Tenerife.

Photo's as we left the port in Cotonou, Benin.

A Water spout that we sailed past on the 2nd day of the sail.

DOLPHINS DOLPHINS DOLPHINS

We also sailed past numerous pods of whales, though they were slightly more shy than these guys!

Sunrise....

Sunset....

We also had the amazing chance to see a meteor show that lasted a full weekend, and though we couldn't get any pictures, trust me....a picture or two would not have done it justice.

I can only thank God for giving me this opportunity, and again, thank you all for your support.

Have a very blessed Christmas time and I hope and pray for each one of you that you can see, experience and be part of something truly sublime this Christmas time.

Arrival in Africa

Dear all,

This is my first post since arriving safely to the Africa Mercy and two weeks have quickly gone by. I'd like to say its all been smooth sailing up to this point (pun completely intended) but that wouldn't quite be true. I have been here for 15 days now, and last night my second bag finally turned up from its 2 week vacation in Paris. So it was an interesting first two weeks of rotating what little clothes I did have in order to stay somewhat fresh and clean!

As well as my continually rotating wardrobe, I've also been trying to get to grips with life on the ship; living in community, sleeping in a 4 berth cabin, working in an intense and hot environment and all in all a completely new style of life. At times its been more difficult than I initially expected, but having friends here already who I spent time with in Texas and the D.R. has made a significant difference and I think we've all been a positive help to one another (well....they have been for me at least!!).

We've also arrived at a funny time of the year, as the ship is coming to the end of its outreach here in Benin, so most of the medical work ended the week we turned up. So its been an unusual time to be here, as lots of people are leaving for the Christmas holidays, or their time or service with Mercy Ships has come to an end. Either way, the ship is getting quieter by the day, as people go home and we prepare to sail to Teneriffe for 6 weeks of ship maintenance.

But one of the most amazing things is that we have been able to walk into an atmosphere of reflection from the past 10 months of work in Benin. There have been lots of stories that have been shared of how people's lives have been changed by the work done by Mercy Ships. There have been literally tens of thousands of people who have had their lives changed through the care and attention of the medical teams that work in and from the ship.

Here is a snippet of one amazing young girl who's life has been turned

around by Mercy Ships:

“When the tumor first appeared, my husband and I took Alba to the hospital, but we didn’t have money to pay for it, so they wouldn’t treat her. We had to use traditional medicine,” said Ankosua, her mother. Alba was taken out of school so her mother could give her the traditional medicine daily.

When asked how the community treated Alba, Ankosua stared at the floor and remained silent. After a 10-second pause, she looked up, her eyes filled with tears, and she painfully replied, “Some people received Alba with good hands. They prayed for her and encouraged me. But others shunned her. They said, ‘Go away, we don’t want to see you.’”

After Ankosua explained that she had no money for treatment, the woman told her about Mercy Ships. “This woman had heard Mercy Ships was in town, helping people and healing people for free. She gave me directions to the Africa Mercy, and I immediately went,” Ankosua added.

Still attached to noisy monitors and IV fluids, Alba had been dozing in and out of sleep since returning to the Africa Mercy ward. Finally, a few hours after surgery, she opened her eyes and sat up. Seeing she was awake, Becca, her nurse, came to Alba’s bedside and handed her a small mirror.

Alba looked down, paused in a state of bewilderment, and began touching the empty space on her mouth. The tumor was gone. After 20 seconds of staring, a single tear rolled down her cheek. With great determination, she tried not to cry. But another and then another tear soon followed. Finally, she gave up trying to hold them back and cried freely. Alba’s tears were earned through years of heartache and rejection. They were mature and raw – heavy tears for an eight-year-old to cry.

Thank you for your support!

Lives changed in the Dominican Republic - mainly mine!

Well I have recently returned from an amazing 2 1/2 weeks in the Dominican Republic - and in all honesty - I don't know how i'll be able to even begin to share with you all just how much of an amazing experience it has been.

In brief, we spent the majority of our time working in a predominately Haitian community, helping to construct an extension to a dining room at the local school. This in itself was a real challenge, but one that the team rose to and more! As well as this construction work, we did some drama's in the classrooms with the children, played with the kids during recess and spent a lot of time walking around in the community, meeting people, getting to know them and building relationships.

I'm very aware that I have so many stories that I could talk for a days about, concealed in the few brief lines that I have written above, but am also very aware that if I did I would bore you to death and you'd never want to read one of my blogs again.....so instead, this video will try and focus on one of two stories that will begin to give you a glimpse of our time away.

I would like to introduce you to Ezekial. He is 9 years old, lives in this small house with his Mum, Dad, 3 sisters and one brother. Ezekials house has two rooms, two beds, small kitchen/living area.....and that is about it. I met Ezekial on our first day in the village, and had the privilege of meeting up with him more or less each day, getting to know him (with the help of becca N - who felt like my own personal translator) and playing games with him.

What was so phenomenal about Ezekial and his family, to me anyway, was the life and spirit they had in them. Despite their situation, they had a few of us over for lunch twice and, despite the language barrier, were some of the warmest most hospitable people I have ever met. It really made me think, about how easily little things can get me down and how I can easily let those little things affect my relationships with other people. Talk about helping to put things into perspective.....

The second person I would like to introduce you to is Jeffrey. He is two - and one day, whilst sitting by a fire that was heating a boiling pot of water, had it knocked over his little leg. He suffered second degree burns. Had it not been for the timing and Grace of God, that burn would have gone relatively untreated, more than likely infected and would have had to spend a life time with pain, discomfort and worst case scenario - only one leg.

However, this is not the case. Due to the skill and willingness of some of the nurses on our team, Jeffrey had his burn treated and dressed for nearly two weeks. He now has an opportunity to live a life that would not have been possible had these nurses not been there. I take two huge things from this story:

1) Nurses are truly amazing. This is no tongue in cheek comment. Having watched them work in some incredibly difficult, dirty and messy situations - I can safely say, Nurses are amazing!

2) This was a small, bite size picture of what Mercy Ships is all about. Bringing Hope and Healing to the forgotten poor of this planet. I feel even more privileged to be part of this extra-ordinary organisation and the adventures and challenges that lay ahead.

Thank you all again for your support!

A Week to remember

So the past 7 days have been 7 of the most memorable days I can remember. There is so much I could say, but if I said it all, you would be sitting reading this for the next hour....so I will endeavor to keep it succinct but informative too!!!

Friday 9th October - Went to see a band called Josh Weathers and the True endeavours. You all need to find their myspace....these guys rock!

Saturday: The Zoo and two stepping in the Electric Cowboy!

Sunday: Cowboy Church.

Monday: Started Basic Safety training, which in itself was great, but we also went to see U2 and Muse!!!!

Tuesday/Wednesday: First Aid & sea survival and firefighting theory.

Thursday: Practical Firefighting!!

Friday: Pool Practical for safety and survival at sea.

Saturday Evening: Fly to the Dominican Republic for 2 1/2 weeks to work alongside some community projects in a deprived community.

So as you can see, if I were to go into detail about all of these things, this would go on - but I feel safe to say that it has been an amazing week - and one that I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have lived.

As an overview, the Basic Safety Training (BST), is an official maritime qualification that states that a person has the basic skills, ability and knowledge to work aboard a sea baring vessel. So I can now say that I am an official mariner, which is very cool.

As part of the qualification, we needed to perform some basic firefighting skills to show that we were capable. This included putting a number of different fires out, rescuing a dummy from a smoke filled container and being able to put on all of our equipment, including oxygen masks, in 2 minutes! This was such a fun day - a highlight for everyone really!!

Going to see U2 and muse was obviously amazing, the 105, 000 seater stadium was incredible, and the entire production and stage show was mind-blowing!!

However, with all of this, it is still quite sad that our time here together in Texas has come to an end. It has been a fun, intense and busy month or so - but one that has been so so worth while in terms of preparation for going out to Africa. I have been reminded again of how much I take things for granted, and how easily I can slip into living in a safe place of ignorance - blocking out those things that go on in the world that are 'messy' or 'difficult'. I feel as though this month has been a wake up call to the reality of life for most of the world.

I feel so grateful for the opportunities that I have had an am continuing to have - but am looking forward to moving out of that place of safety and into a place where what I see isn't filtered by the BBC or Sky News - but is instead real life.

Thank you again for all your support.

Week 2 update

Hi'yall....

So two weeks have flown by! It seems like an age ago since I left wet and windy England and landed here. It's difficult to put into words all that has been going on, the atmosphere of the place, the different people i've met and the stories of hope and healing that have gone on through all that Mercy Ships has done over the past number of decades.

In short, week one was an intro to who mercy ships are, what they are all about and the things that they have done, are doing and want to do in the future. There were some incredible stories of people's lives who have been completely changed, both from receiving medical aid but also from those who help to distribute it. 

There were around 40 people here for week one, from all over the world. However, only 24 of us are staying on for Gateway - which is a 6 week training programme for all those who are going to be serving on the ship long term. It has been great fun meeting all these new people, most of who are from all over the States, but there are four of us brits here, one kiwi and one dutch girl. The group is a real good mix of personalities and we've been having a lot of fun this week.

We've also spent a lot of time in the classroom, discussing and sharing some of the Biblical principles of what we are doing and why we are doing it. It has been really interesting and eye opening to listen to different peoples experiences and life stories, and how those things have impacted their world view and outlook on life. 

Along with the 'classroom' stuff, we've also made plenty of time to play!! Spending time in the pool, going on for food, road trips and also going to some amazingly funky church's. Like today we went to a Cowboy church - which was one of the most fun, lively and enjoyable places i've ever been to! Any church that has a banjo, harmonica and 'yee-haa's' in their worship is top of the pile for me!!

Well i'd best start drawing this to a close! In short, things here are going great. The weather is Hot, the food is plentiful, the pool is refreshing, the bugs and spiders are big, lives are being changed and God is Good!

Thank you all for your continued support in this adventure, 

Love and peace - Alex 

Howdy!

Howdy all y'all....

Well as you may be able to guess, i'm now out in Texas - getting to grips with the heat, humidity and the wonderful southern states language!

I've been out here at Mercy ships headquarters for 5 days now, and it's all going pretty good! Am meeting people from all over the world who i'll be living and working with for the next few years, getting to grips with exactly what i'll be doing and on the whole having a pretty sweet time!

There's not a great deal else to say so far....but i'll do my best to keep this updated and let y'all know what i'm getting upto.