IN LIKE A LION

I don’t know about you guys but January came in like a Lion for us! A lot of opportunities to spend with friends, workload increased (some self-imposed), promises kept, changing scenery, old hobby renewed, eating cake from the floor just to name a few.

January is an awesome month; some of the best people I know were born in January! In our immediate circle of close friends there were 5 birthdays in January. You know what that means, right? We eat a lot, especially cake in January. Even when someone (I won’t mention their name Pam) drops the birthday cake on the floor. Being resourceful missionaries that we are, you just can’t throw away a cake just because it hit the floor. There is the 30 second rule you know. Here it’s more like a 30 minute rule. Anyway, you make a layer cake out of the crumbs. A layer of whipped cream, layer of cake chunks, etc and top it off with our favorite, M&Ms. So, Happy Birthday to me, Patti, Mike, Gordon and Pam!

I think I need my head examined…..not like I don’t have enough to do trying to manage two ship’s Crew Service Departments and Head up the Antiquity Team. But in MY SPARE TIME I too an on-line Braille course. It is amazingly difficult but great fun to learn. The beginner’s class was 6 weeks and I passed my final exam with a 97% and am now certified Grade I braillist! I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going to do with that talent - - do you think maybe God already knows???

In January my department was also able to provide another 900,000 cedis towards scholarships to the pastor’s training school. That is another 5 people who get to attend bible school. Our total is now at 51 pastors that will be well-trained and sent back into the bush to lead village churches.

We purchased over 100 bibles with money that was donated by friends back home for Pantang Psychiatric Hospital. Because of a discount the Bible Society gave us I also purchased some children’s books and bibles to take into the orphanage at Liberia we will be working. Of all the things I have been privileged to do, bringing the word into dark places is my absolute favorite thing.

The Harmata Winds have been blowing now for about 2 months. It is the subsahara sands that blow across Africa. As you can see in the photos, you are looking at the sun through the sands that blow. The sky is yellow and hazy, the sands blow across the roads like snow would in high winds. It makes everything sandy and gritty and also makes it hard to breathe for those who are young or elderly or have asthma issues anyway.

I have taken up an old hobby of mine, knitting. This time it has a purpose. To present patients on the ward with baby blankets and slippers for the adult patients. Our patients are not use to air conditioning and they are always wrapped up in as many blankets as they can find, stocking caps and sometimes coats. I gave this first blanket to a little boy named Adam, the smile that came across his mother’s face was thanks enough. My first attempt at sock slippers went to a very critical woman, Adjoa. In fact, she is on a ventilator and is still very critical so please pray for her miraculous recovery. Our ship will be leaving Ghana Feb 25 and the medical team is scurrying to find the right facility for her when we leave.

Two other things I’m taking on are also keeping me hopping. I was trained recently to be a debriefer. Every time people leave our service or when we close out one outreach and start into another a team of debriefers will meet with the different departments to give people time to talk about their experiences, make suggestions how better to handle the next outreach. The hardest part of that job for me is NOT talking. A debriefer is there only to encourage discussion, not to participate. You know I’m busting at the seams to put in my 2 cents! I will debrief 6 departments over the next 3 weeks. The other thing is the Antiquities. That just means old stuff on the ship. Mercy Ships wants to preserve some of the original items on this ship. There are many beautiful artifacts from when the Anastasis was the Victoria, an Italian passenger ship. It is my teams job to identify those items, catalog, photograph, remove, package and ship them. We worked about 4 hours yesterday going through people’s cabins looking for these things. We will dedicate 8 hours a week for the next 4 weeks just to get through the cabins on the ship. Then there are all the public areas. We will not be removing the items until after everyone moves to the Africa Mercy - - we are simply locating and identifying them at this stage.

Excitement is in the air about moving to Liberia, so much preparation to move a ship like this. Many outreach departments such as construction to finish their projects and load their equipment back aboard, surgery, dental and eye clinics to start closing, pack it up and tie it down. Our sail should only be 3 days but sails are always an exciting time.

FOR MORE PICTURES TO GO WITH THESE STORIES CLICK HERE: http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=92780&cdate=20070127

Until next time, we remain your friends, your co-workers in Christ and humbled by your love and support.

Robert & Susan Blanchard
Missionaries – West Africa

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

This past week has proven to be a difficult time for the crew of the Anastasis. One of our crew, security force and friend died unexpectently in his sleep. Kee Thapa, a Gherka, (special forces trained security), acted as one of our security personnel for the past six months. He was from Nepal, survived by a wife and a 6 year old daughter. He was due to go home the day after his death. We were unable to contact his wife until the day of his homecoming which was a terrible blow to the family. Kee was just diagnosed with malaria that morning and given the appropriate medicines to combat this disease. When our nurse went to check on him around 4:30 that morning they believe he had already passed away but resuscitation efforts were given for 35 minutes before pronouncing him dead. He was a man that especially loved the children on board and endeared himself to most of them. Our children are suffering from this loss as well. Our Nepalese Gherkas are usually Hindu. I am happy to announce that Kee had been very interested in knowing our Jesus. He often listened just outside the security shack on the dock to the Jesus film as it is played for the patients coming aboard. He loved to listen to the testimonies of crew members to the patients and there were several crew members helping him understand the bible. In a last email from Kee to one of our crew he said that he now prays in the name of God and in the name of Jesus. That brought a lot of comfort to this crew. Sunday we will hold a memorial on board for Kee. It has been driven home for me this week that we do not mourn like others do because we have the hope of eternal life through Jesus because of the hopelessness I have seen on the face of his fellow Gherkas. Pray for them – that they too will come to know a loving Father.

Then on Friday early in the morning our third Engineer broke his thigh sending out the blood donation alert for 2 units of blood. Before most of us woke up he was already packed off to the military hospital for surgery (we don’t have an orthopedics doc on board right now) and then will be sent home immediately - - all without any of us getting to say our goodbyes.

Serving in Mercy Ships is a very complex experience. I might sound like an Army poster, but “It’s more than a job”. Here it is everything rolled up into one. Your friends, your home, your work, your worship, your school, where you eat, where you rejoice and where you share 365 other people’s sadness.

We have had much joy in the last few weeks also. Such as yesterday after a 6 hour dusty, hot trip into Accra I was able to purchase not only the 100 bibles for Pantang Psychiatric hospital I wanted but had enough left over because of a nice discount they gave me to purchase 10 Youth Bibles, 10 Bible story books, 60 easy reader bible story books and large colorful individual story books on different important people of the bible. All of these will be taken into Liberia to be shared and then given to the orphans at the orphanage we connected with on the first trip into Liberia.

How about a week off from work over Christmas - - that was a real joy. We spent 3 nights in a local hotel, sitting by the pool, eating Chinese food for lunch and dinner EVERYDAY and spending time just to listen to what God wants from us for this next year. That may not sound like much but when you are packed into a sardine can with 363 other people, believe me that IS heaven. And God blessed us even more. Usually the pool at this hotel is packed. But for 2 of the 3 days there was NOBODY at the pool except Robert and me. We thought maybe the world had been raptured and we were the only ones left. It was a frightening thought.

Outside of not being with you and our family, not having snow, not hearing my choir sing, not having Christmas service in our church, not getting to cook that famous Christmas dinner that I love to do, not having our house decorated and a tree surrounded by tons and tons of presents – I actually love Christmas on this ship. I think back at the self-imposed stress I inflicted on myself and others (Robert) at Christmas trying to do so much, buy too much, wrap too much, on and on and how tired I was by the time Christmas arrived. I have to say my Christmas on board is pretty stress-free. We buy trinkets only for our nearest friends, have get-togethers and thoroughly enjoy each other instead of the gifts. At night on Christmas eve everyone on the ship waits till after 10pm and then we all are stalking around the hallways leaving suckers, kisses, bookmarks, candy canes in others shoes that have been left outside the doors. It is really a beautiful thing, especially when people that have not been here long are blessed with presents from strangers. We also have an angel tree where we are able to pull angels from the tree, purchase small gifts for the patients on the ward and then give them a Christmas party. I much prefer the way we spend our Christmas here, remembering more the reason for this special day, the true gift that is ours.

May 2007 be full of love, laughter, hope, caring and sharing as you show others the true character of our King Jesus (or as they say it in Africa) Pappa God.

For pictures: http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=92780&cdate=20070113

Robert & Susan Blanchard
West Africa – Ghana
Mercy Ships