The Togo outreach is now in full swing! This week marked the first surgeries on board with hundreds more to follow! Screening days have been taking place throughout various parts of Togo and surgery dates are being set for many people who have been without hope of healing for many years.
It has been very exciting to explore the new country and compare its similarities and differences with Benin. I've enjoyed arriving in a new country and not experiencing extreme culture shock! In the near future, I will be tutoring some local children in French (please pray!) and some English. I am very excited to build relationships with these kids and just be a part of the community here!
This morning, a group of us went to a church in a fishing village close-by. This church was planted in 1995, when the Anastasis Mercy Ship was here in Togo. We were honoured to attend this service with the crew member who planted the church! The vibrant worship, welcoming people and faith-filled leaders made me begin to feel like this may just become my 'home-church' while here in Togo. Thankfully, they are willing to teach this white-girl to dance like no-one is watching :D! God is really working in this church and the surrounding village!
Please continue to keep the outreach in prayer! The Togo elections have now been postponed to March 4 so please pray for a fair and peaceful election process! Also, please keep the screening process in prayer...that those who are hidden away or have been cast out of their society would hear and come!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tel em tenki, tel em. Tel Papa God tenki!!!
On January 31st, we left Tenerife for our sail to Togo, West Africa. The sail started out on some very rough seas…which didn’t sit well with my tummy! This time around, we were teaching in our classrooms during the sail. It made for some very interesting lessons when we would be mid-topic and all of the sudden, the desks would be clear of any books, pencils, markers, scissors, Kleenex boxes etc. that had previously been there! One morning I woke up to find my ‘secured’ classroom in absolutely disarray!
I’ve always heard that ‘flexibility’ is an important trait to have in the teaching profession…teaching on a sailing ship really brings this to light! When the speaker system sounds and we hear “dolphins on port side”, we can’t help but run (or walk quickly) from wherever we are to spot the dolphins!
On February 3, we arrived in Togo!! We were greeted by a crowd of singing, dancing and cheering Togolese people!! What a beautiful welcoming! I had chills as we all sang the familiar songs they played that we had missed so much during our time away from Africa! Our first night here, a group of us went on a walk on the solid ground of Togo. It took a lot of concentration to switch back to French as we’ve been speaking Spanish for the last month! Our Gracias’ become Merci’s and our Hola’s become Bonjours! The people here seem lovely and very friendly. Thankfully the port has been incredible accommodating and has given us a section of the port blocked off from zooming traffic and cranes with swinging containers! It has already been taken advantage of by the crew, doing sports and jogs and a lot of other fun activities.
Please keep this outreach in prayer as we begin surgeries in the coming week! Also, on February 28, there will be a presidential election in Togo. Please pray that this will be a calm and peaceful election and that everyone will be kept safe during this time. How cool is it that God would bring in 400 extra Christians to pray (and to have teams of people praying behind them all over the world!) during a time like this!
I’ve always heard that ‘flexibility’ is an important trait to have in the teaching profession…teaching on a sailing ship really brings this to light! When the speaker system sounds and we hear “dolphins on port side”, we can’t help but run (or walk quickly) from wherever we are to spot the dolphins!
On February 3, we arrived in Togo!! We were greeted by a crowd of singing, dancing and cheering Togolese people!! What a beautiful welcoming! I had chills as we all sang the familiar songs they played that we had missed so much during our time away from Africa! Our first night here, a group of us went on a walk on the solid ground of Togo. It took a lot of concentration to switch back to French as we’ve been speaking Spanish for the last month! Our Gracias’ become Merci’s and our Hola’s become Bonjours! The people here seem lovely and very friendly. Thankfully the port has been incredible accommodating and has given us a section of the port blocked off from zooming traffic and cranes with swinging containers! It has already been taken advantage of by the crew, doing sports and jogs and a lot of other fun activities.
Please keep this outreach in prayer as we begin surgeries in the coming week! Also, on February 28, there will be a presidential election in Togo. Please pray that this will be a calm and peaceful election and that everyone will be kept safe during this time. How cool is it that God would bring in 400 extra Christians to pray (and to have teams of people praying behind them all over the world!) during a time like this!
Terrific Times in Tenerife
It seems redundant to begin again with “Its been so long since my last blog!” and “Wow time flies!” but in all honesty, that’s exactly how I feel! Ever since we sailed away from Benin in December to dock in Tenerife, Canary Islands for a month, time has raced ahead and left me trying eagerly to keep up!
The Africa Mercy was blessed to be able to dock in the Canary Islands while it was cleaned up, stocked up, fixed up and prepped up for the beginning of a new outreach!
During our sail from Benin to Tenerife, I was able to co-direct the Christmas Play for the Mercy Ships Academy! The kids did an OUTSTANDING job!!! Dancing on a swaying ship added an extra challenge for the students but they handled it like stars! I couldn’t believe how much talent these kids have! If we were a cruise ship, there would be stellar entertainment potential haha! The sail was incredible. We saw loads of dolphins, whales, and flying fish! We also had the opportunity to watch a meteor shower in perfectly clear skies, in the middle of the ocean, with zero light pollution. I will never forget that night. God became more real than ever to me as I watched the millions of stars shoot across the massive sky.
Wow God. Wow.
Our time in Tenerife was lovely! The scenery we were blessed with and the lovely cooler temperatures (ok…in the 20s likely doesn’t sound all THAT cool to you guys right now…but it felt wonderful to us!) made our time there relaxing and rejuvenating! Christina’s dad came for our two weeks of vacation from the school and took us on adventures all around the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria! It was unforgettable! The pictures can’t even do justice for the beauty and splendour we experienced while we were there.
Here is the ship docked in Tenerife!
Incredible views from the tops of mountains!
Thank you God for giving us this time in Tenerife to be recharged for the next outreach!!
The Africa Mercy was blessed to be able to dock in the Canary Islands while it was cleaned up, stocked up, fixed up and prepped up for the beginning of a new outreach!
During our sail from Benin to Tenerife, I was able to co-direct the Christmas Play for the Mercy Ships Academy! The kids did an OUTSTANDING job!!! Dancing on a swaying ship added an extra challenge for the students but they handled it like stars! I couldn’t believe how much talent these kids have! If we were a cruise ship, there would be stellar entertainment potential haha! The sail was incredible. We saw loads of dolphins, whales, and flying fish! We also had the opportunity to watch a meteor shower in perfectly clear skies, in the middle of the ocean, with zero light pollution. I will never forget that night. God became more real than ever to me as I watched the millions of stars shoot across the massive sky.
Wow God. Wow.
Our time in Tenerife was lovely! The scenery we were blessed with and the lovely cooler temperatures (ok…in the 20s likely doesn’t sound all THAT cool to you guys right now…but it felt wonderful to us!) made our time there relaxing and rejuvenating! Christina’s dad came for our two weeks of vacation from the school and took us on adventures all around the islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria! It was unforgettable! The pictures can’t even do justice for the beauty and splendour we experienced while we were there.
Here is the ship docked in Tenerife!
Incredible views from the tops of mountains!
Thank you God for giving us this time in Tenerife to be recharged for the next outreach!!
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