'Tis the season

As always after Christmas is over I find myself wondering where the time went.  It seems impossible that we left the states nearly 10 months ago to return to our ship-home. We miss our family and friends in the States so much and it is even more pronounced during this holiday season.  Despite our homesickness, we have had a really great few weeks on the ship.  Christmas is really special here and we were really glad to be a part of it this year.  Here are some highlights:

 

Adalynn was able to dance in a ballet performance. It was so well organized and we are so thankful for the ladies who volunteered their time to teach our girls!

 



 

I invited the preschool and nursery girls (plus an older sister) over for Christmas cookie decorating on the first day of Christmas break. One of the pediatric nurses came to help. It was so much fun and they did a really great job of not making a total mess :)

Some of the finished products.

After the cookies were done Miss Lee sat and read stories to the girls.

 

Another fun thing. . .Adalynn and Cora made Snowmen to hand out to all the kids in the hospital on Christmas Eve. We told them we were bringing a bit of our home (snow) to them. We also made "Merry Christmas 2014" ornaments for the caregivers and adult patients. It was a really great time going down to the wards to hand them out.  The girls were really proud of their hard work.

 

We had so many activities and events on Christmas day and we really wanted to try to keep that day as relaxed as possible so we decided to have the kids open their gifts on Christmas eve.

Stockings!! Jack in his "girly" jammies. Hoping to get some more boy clothes that fit on the container coming soon (thanks to Carrie!).

 

The girls got a new (to them) art easel!

 

 

 

Christmas morning we went to the ship café in the morning for pastries and coffee. The girls were excited to get to pick out a special drink (strawberry steamer).  We then played for a bit before a beautiful brunch in our dining room! The galley and dining room staff do an amazing job of transforming the dining room and preparing some really delicious food! It is a highlight for many of us!

 

 

 

Since it's so warm here we got to play outside after brunch.

 

 

Christmas night we participated in "open cabins". 18 different single people, couples and families opened their cabins and people were able to walk around and see peoples homes and enjoy great food.  Adalynn led a game of pin the nose on the snowman in our cabin. We served homemade peppermint ice cream, vanilla bean caramels and peanut clusters.  It was really great to get to know lots of ship-mates that we didn't previously know. The girls had a blast and were great hostesses, showing everyone their room and their new easel.  Jack slept the entire time.

 

Mrs Marcia (Adalynn's fill-in preschool teacher) and her husband playing Adalynn's game.

 

Playing on the easel with our guests.



 

What a great end to a wonderful day! Nothing will ever replace being with family on Christmas, but if we have to be away this is a fabulous place to celebrate our saviors birth. We feel so blessed and so thankful for this place.  Looking forward to the new year and all the Lord has in store.

Making this place our home.

Greetings from Madagascar!  The time of waiting for us to arrive in this country felt so long and yet time has flown since we have been here and we are sorry for our poor communication recently.  Starting off a field service in a new country is a busy project, especially when we had such a shortened advance time of preparation.  So many months of waiting on God's timing and his plan was difficult but now seeing all the blessings of being here makes it so worth it.

The hospital is fully up and running now! How wonderful to have patients on board again. When we walk down the hallway towards the dining room or John's office we can hear the patients singing only 2 floors below us.  It is a beautiful reminder of why we are here and the work that the Lord continues to do in the lives of his people.

Last week we were able to go to the ward church service in the hospital and later that week to visit the patients in the ward. It was so great for the girls to resume their sticker ministry. The wards are full of kids right now recovering from various orthopedic procedures so it is perfect for the girls! They have had a great time playing with them and handing out stickers. Jack enjoys being passed among the ladies but is eager to get down and play with the older kids. The Malagasy (the name for the people of Madagascar) people have been amazingly welcoming and enjoy seeing the kids--just like other countries we've visited. We are even learning a little of the language!

Our hearts feel full as we see the work God is doing here. We had moments during the many months of waiting where we lost perspective of the ultimate goal of this ministry. When the hospital is empty, it is hard to remember how lives are changed. When patients aren't here, it is easy to get caught up in the petty things that happen in any work environment. Having the patients back, having the hospital running and getting to be a part of it all has redirected us and realigned our focus back to the important things. We are grateful for this!

Madagascar is beautiful! We are really enjoying being here and can't wait to explore more over the next several months. This port city is much smaller than other ports we've visited and so it makes getting around much easier.  We feel much more free to get off the ship with the kids. There is even a paved sidewalk for the mile from the ship to the beach! This would have been unheard of in other countries we've been in.  Most of the travel in the city is done by pousse-pousse (bike taxi) or tuk tuk (3 wheeled car) so the traffic is minimal and getting around feels safer and easier.  With 3 small children, this has come as a very welcome change. 

One of the things we were most excited about when we joined Mercy Ships was getting to be involved in a local church.  However, in Guinea and Congo this wasn't really practical with the kids. Churches were too far away or too hard to get to in traffic or too loud. Churches we visited in those countries just did not seem like good places to take the kids and so we didn't attend. This has been one of the harder parts of being away from the States.  We have a Sunday night service here on the ship but it is difficult as it is around bed time. The service is streamed through the TV in our room so we watch it as a family but it hasn't felt like "real church" to us and we have missed that.  We have felt unsure about what Sundays should look like for our family and have been praying about it.

For the last 2 weeks we were able to attend church here as a family!! It is a great little church only 10 minutes from the ship. It was a really great experience for us. There is a little courtyard just off the building where all the kids played during the service. The girls had a great time playing with all the Malagasy children and when we returned this week they were so excited to meet again. It was really fun to see them all interacting and making up games. Jack also crawled around and played with them.  The girls would speak to the kids in English and the kids would speak to them in Malagasy. It didn't seem to me like any of them realized they weren't speaking the same language.  It was really beautiful! The service was translated for us and the church sang a few songs in English. The music here is much different than in West Africa. We love the music there but here it is a little more familiar to us. It was so beautiful! Aside from watching our kids play, my favorite part was when we were listening to the church singing and hearing the words Hallelujah and Hosanna spoken the exact same way in the Malagasy language. It was a beautiful picture of the God we serve being for all people, tribes and nations!  We are so excited to have the continued opportunities to visit this church. This week they sent us home with a Malagasy Bible. We are excited to use it to help us learn the language. What a neat answered prayer!

Another huge answer to prayer is that I (Tracey) got to go back to work this week!! I am now going to be working in the Admissions tent. The tent is on the dock. My job is to see the patients who are scheduled for surgery the following day, do an exam, and be sure they are fit for surgery. We want to be sure patients do not have malaria, other infections or possibly an underlying disorder that would make it unsafe for them to be operated on.  This allows me to have interaction with the patients and I am also excited to be able to follow some of them after the surgeries to see their transformations! I was able to see all children on my first day--one of them was almost exactly Jack's age. I loved having my scrubs on and getting to apply my medical knowledge. For now it will only be one morning a week, but in January I may be able to do a bit more.

John's job has been really busy, but also really good these last few weeks. He has been able to implement some great new changes in how the day crew are paid and has been challenged as he has worked through some big financial decisions. The start to our time here in Madagascar has gone so much more smoothly for him than it did in Guinea or Congo. He is so grateful for this. He is building good relationships with people at the banks and other businesses. He is excited about our time here and the work he will be able to do.

It feels, as we reflect on these last few weeks, that we are really starting to make this country our home for now. That feels really good.

Thank you for your continued prayers for this country and the people who will be on the ship for surgeries. Please pray that lives would be changed, not only physically but spiritually as well!

 

Here's some pictures from these weeks!

 

Loving the swimming pool!

Most of the preschool girls decorating cupcakes in our cabin for their teacher's last day.

Cora and her buddies.

Madagascar!

Madagascar! A place we never expected to visit.  We are here. We are feeling settled. We are excited about things to come. We have already been here a couple weeks and so much has happened. We have been busy getting the hospital ready to finally be a hospital again. Preparations are being made to welcome our first patient on board this week.  It feels so wonderful to be here and to see how God is going to use the hundreds of talented people on this ship to bless the people of Madagascar and show them his love.  So many changes of "our" plans and ups and downs led us as a ship to this place and there is a real sense of great anticipation on board as we open our hands and hearts for what God has in store for us and the people here.  We don't know exactly what to expect but we do know it will be great. As a ship, as a family and as an individual we/I have learned so much about holding our plans and future loosely.  We have learned much about trusting and relying on God's timing and God's plans and we can't wait to see what He does here.

Our arrival was really special as the president of Madagascar welcomed us and took a tour of the ship as soon as we arrived.  (*check out his last name! Long names are the norm around here)

“More than the medical care that you are offering, you are bringing life to the Malagasy,” President Rajaonarimampianina shared enthusiastically while welcoming the Africa Mercy and her crew to Madagascar.
 

The president had asked that we arrive on a certain day to kick of "The year of the volunteer" celebration here in Madagascar.  What a privilege to be a huge part of this!

On Saturday, October 25, President Hery Rajaonarimampianina welcomed 2014 as “The Year of The Volunteer”..., a drive to uphold volunteering as a catalyst for change.

 

This week we started our patient selection process.  In the past we have had a huge mass screening, but the ship will now be doing smaller screenings. Our screening site will be open for the entire month of November allowing us to see patients over a longer period of time and spend more time with them while avoiding the potential problems that mass screening can create.

Over 2,000 people (including caregivers), representing a variety of ailments, stood in lines stretching several city blocks in length. Some had traveled for more than eight hours in desperate need for hope and healing. 

This week we will welcome our first patient on board and begin surgeries. So many months of living on the ship without a hospital running was difficult. The purpose of Mercy Ships and our role felt a bit abstract. However, as soon as that first patient walks on board the ship our purpose here has a name and a face. All of a sudden what we do here is tangible. A life will be changed.  We can't wait to meet the patients and be a part of God's great transformation in their lives.

Juliette, one of our first potential patients met first by our advance team.

Please pray with us as we begin our time here. Pray for the lives that will be changed. That people would see Jesus as they experience physical healing.

 

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We are also excited to explore Madagascar on our free time. This country is beautiful and from what we've seen so far, we are going to have a really great time while we are here.  Here are some pictures of our time so far:

 

Playing at the beach while Daddy plays ultimate Frisbee.  It is so great that we can walk to this beach so close to the ship.

 

You can see the ship in the distance.

 

Riding our new bikes on the dock. The girls got bikes from their great grandparents and we have a really big dock where they can ride.  It feels like a cul de sac with all the kids riding around each night.

 

Fresh fruit bought from the local market.  The market is close and easy to get to. Rode in a Tuk Tuk with my Dutch and Australian friends. It is fun to see all the local foods and crafts.  I'm excited to explore more soon.  All this fruit cost me around $1.50.

 

 

 

 

A Lemur Zoo. Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar and there were 12 different species of Lemurs at this zoo. Some were in cages and others were wild in the trees.  The girls also really liked seeing the Tortoises and the Chameleon.  It has been amazing to learn about the extremely diverse, and mostly endemic. plants and animals on this island of Madagascar. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks always for your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for these people and the hospital as we begin work here. Stay tuned for life changing stories!

 

 

 

Secure your cabin!

What does it look like to sail?  In the past it has looked like. . .peaceful mornings reading a book on the bow, playing outside while we watch the calm ocean pass by while keeping an eye out for dolphins.  Pretty much going about our normal business as if there wasn't miles of ocean on every side of us.  However, the end of the last sail and this current sail have looked a bit different for us.  We thought you might think it was interesting to hear about what it is like.

When we sailed from the Canary Islands to South Africa we got a lesson in the phrase "secure your cabin". We thought we knew what that meant but that was the first sail we have been on that included pretty rough waters.  At one point on that sail we had things flying off shelves, our dresser fell over, the trashcan spilled all over the floor and anything not secured to something flew somewhere.  Not so secure.

We were better prepared this time as we sail to Madagascar.  The seas have been rough again. We are now on day 5 of sailing and we have been rocking and rolling pretty much the entire time.  It is amazing how exhausting it can be to try and stay upright!  (side note: the kids seem to hardly notice) It's actually pretty comical watching everyone navigate the halls, eat meals and work in this constantly moving environment.  People secure their rolling chairs to their desks, we eat our dinner on top of wet napkins to keep the plates and cups from sliding off the table, we wedge Jack's high chair between tables so he doesn't go flying across the dining room, and we learn new ways to sleep so we don't roll off the beds. Sometimes we laugh at this "new normal" that has become our life lately.

Here's how things look in our cabin.  (please refer back to nice neat pictures of our cabin before sailing :) )

These bins were all over the floor on the last sail, so now they are tied down.

Our shoe rack also fell over, so here it is secured behind boxes of things that once occupied shelves.

Empty shelves.

Empty walls.

There's our dresser that fell, we just kept it down. Also behind it you see a pile of other things that we had to take down. I can't wait to have our space back and be able to pack these things away again.  But, in the mean time, we are glad to have the space to keep everything safely.

Refrigerator doors latched shut. You have to time the opening of the doors or everything flies out. Also if you grab the milk and turn your back without latching. . .food everywhere :(

Cabinet door hooks.

Pillows stuffed strategically to keep cups and things from rolling around and making you crazy at nighttime.

View out our window when it's smooth sailing. Note the water is level with the railing.

A large roll.  The largest (I've heard) that we've had has been 24 degrees. This one was more like 10- 15 probably. I'm sure someone can do the geometry to figure it out. :)

 

 

SO that's life at sea these days.  Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.  We are really looking forward to setting foot on dry land on Saturday! We will keep you updated as we can!