LAST FINAL BEFORE THE FINAL FINAL SAIL

Or as our friend Gordon says "All Sails are Final"!

What in the world does that title mean? There were “Final Sail” t-shirts made up for the trip to Ghana last June thinking that was just what that was, the final sail. But just as the name Anastasis means “Ressurection”, the grand old lady is living up to her namesake. Her service has been requested once again sailing this time back into Liberia for the third time.

On the day of departure the spirits were high, the crew wore their Ghana 50 year anniversary shirts, lining the portside promenade deck to wave at friends who could get through the port security. Drums were playing but the 4pm arrival time came and went. Then we heard a page for the machinist to report to the engine room. That’s never a good sign. Everyone disbursed waiting for Captain’s announcement we are ready to sail - - but it didn’t come. So everyone went to bed. Robert got a call at 11:30 pm to come to the engine room. Apparently, there was a floating valve in the engine that was not operating. The machinist machined a few new parts and Robert was specifically requested by the Chief Engineer to come and weld the parts together. Around 1:45am Robert comes back in the room yelling “Get Up, we’re sailing in 10 minutes”. People were slowly starting to assemble around the decks again, weary eyed but not wanting to miss the launching into the last outreach. The tug boats gave us a fond farewell with about a minute blast on their horns - - that woke up the rest of the crew anyway.

So with Ghana in the background and a very thankful crew pointing westward we started our 4 day adventure. We sailed only a few hours then bunkered with a fuel tanker to take on heavy fuel for the rest of the trip. It is cheaper when you do it at sea than at the pier. So then we were dead in the water about 8-10 hours. I was so surprised how little movement there was on our ship. However, if you looked at the tanker you would think we were in 20 foot seas. I couldn’t look too long because it would make me sick.

Robert was able to have all 4 days off - - sort of. He was “on call”. They told him not to leave the ship…..he he, very funny. No pipe blow-outs, no problems, he didn’t have to pull tunnel watch because others that didn’t know what they were getting into volunteered (ONCE). This was the first sail Robert wasn’t working every day and he really enjoyed watching out to sea. There were plenty of dolphin and whale sightings. When the Captain made the “Attention Crew, dolphins off the starboard aft”, you would hear the pitter patter of hundreds of feet heading starboard aft - - if this ship was any smaller we would have probably been leaning!

This is truly a beautiful old ship. She cut the water like nobody’s business. Steady as she went. Many times I woke up wondering if we had gone adrift because she was quite and still.

It was a good time for the crew to start switching gears in our heads from Ghana to the possibilities of Liberia. Ghana is a nation that is rated #4 among the African countries, infrastructure in place, education established, lower unemployment, etc. We are about to face a country coming out of 14 years of civil war. Unemployment is 80% - - this country cannot even be rated on the scale because there is no infrastructure, roads, power, water all destroyed in the war. Thousands of orphans or abandoned children as parents fled from the rebels. A nation that will present more of a challenge - - spiritually, physically and emotionally to all of us. God is preparing the crew. We open our hearts to all that God has for us on this last Mercy Ship visit to Liberia for awhile. Next port of call should be Sierra Leone.

For pictures of the sail please click here:

http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=92780&cdate=20070311&cimg=10

PRAYER POINTS

- For Mercy Ship Executive Department, wisdom, discernment, obedience.

- For crew to follow God’s leading in Liberia to get involved with the people and make a difference

- People of Liberia as they struggle with the high unemployment, minimal electricity, minimal water supply