At last!!

Today we set sail again!! At last we are on our way to Madagascar! We are so eager to get this hospital ship working as a hospital once again.  It has been a fun several months of seeing new places but the entire crew is ready to move forward. Our nurses on board are ready to stop doing engineering or food service jobs and actually work as nurses!!  I have been amazed at the positive attitudes people have had as we have been in this prolonged period of transition. . .but it is time to move forward!

Our time in South Africa has been fun, but also really fruitful for the ministry.  We were docked right in the waterfront area of Cape Town, the most visited place in all of Africa.  We were able to really do a lot of advertising. We had many tours of our ship, including over 4,000 random people who came and saw the ship during our open public tours. Many of those people filled out cards indicating they were interested in volunteering and/or giving financially.  What a blessing!

Please pray for the ship as we sail. We will be sailing for about 9 days and it looks like we may have some rough seas for some of the days.  Please pray, too, for our arrival in Madagascar and the first few weeks as we get settled.  Our arrival is set to be a kick off for the country's "year of the volunteer".  There is going to be a huge ceremony when we arrive.  There is a lot of excitement and anticipation.  We are so thankful to be a part of the festivities and pray that Jesus' name would be heard and known in this country. We pray for God's will to be done in the work we do there.

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Change of subject. . .I wanted to post some of the girls' school pictures.  One of the things we love the most about living on the ship is the academy.  I was finally able to get their pictures today and wanted to share them.  I think it is an amazing taste of God's kingdom to see this international Academy crew!

 

Adalynn

Cora

 

Adalynn's class is Olivia (Holland), Isabella (Canada), Amina (S. Africa), Emma (USA),  and Mirabelle (Benin-not pictured). One is with her old teacher and one with her new teacher. She will get another teacher in January that will be here until school ends in May.

 

Cora's class is Israel "Izzy" (S. Africa) and Lucas (Holland). In January Jack (if he's walking) and 2 boys from Congo will join them in the nursery class. Cora will have to hold her own as the only girl with 5 boys but she is also the oldest so she leads the group already.

 

 

 

The big group is the entire academy. Such a fun international group!! Students/Teachers from USA, Canada, Australia, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Benin, S. Africa, Holland, Liberia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Switzerland, England and the Dominican Republic!! (I think I got them all)