Ahoy Maties!

BLOG - - sounds like a pretty serious disease caused by lack of sun or purpose in life!

Since this is all the rage and looks like pretty easy to navigate and share thoughts and pictures with my friends I thought I'd give it a shot. I hope that others surfing the web will also happen across it and learn a little more about MERCY SHIPS and the work that is being done by a relatively small band of volunteers.

The M/V Africa Mercy pictured above is currently in the Newcastle-upon-Tyne shipyard in the UK. When completed in the next few months will be the world's largest non-governmental hospital ship. This ship will have a crew of 484 volunteers who pay to work aboard in various positions such as Captain, Engineering, Deck hands, Welders, Pipefitters, Nurses, Doctors, Housekeeping, Seamstress, Educators, Construction, Radiology, Dental, Laundry, Galley and many many more. Our ship is scheduled to be commissioned the beginning of April 2006 and then set sail for 10 months in Ghana followed by 6 months in either Liberia or Sierra Leone. Our purpose is to bring hope and healing to Africa's poorest nations and its people. We will preform free life-saving surgeries, thousands of dental procedures, drill water wells, educate the people of Africa to help themselves and to maintain their progress, HIV/AIDS education and care of dying patients, construction of orphanages, schools and clinics and last but certainly not least is to bring the message of a loving God to the spiritually empty. We show the love of Jesus through every interaction with the people of Africa, if it is in the ward while they recover or just playing with the children or taking the time and interest to sit with a dying patient in a village.

Sounds rather bazaar - - not common place you say? You're absolutely right! But there is total peace when you actually fall in line with God's plan for your life. Does that mean you can only find God's purpose for your life if you sell everything you own and run away to Africa? Ohhhhh no! Where ever you live, whatever job you are in, whatever neighborhood God has placed you can be your opportunity to help others and make this world just a little better for the sake of the one who died for us. So many people call themselves Christians but fail to realize that getting to know Jesus, accept that He IS the son of God and died to save us is only the first step. The hard part follows - - the dying to self, caring for others above yourself, seeing God in the face of every person you meet (even the unlovely) is the really difficult part of being a Christian. Christians are not perfect by any means but we all should strive to become a little more like Jesus every day.

Blessings - Susan & Robert