Home again

Family and Friends,

What a journey we have had over the last five months. Many of you have been praying for us and following our trip, so we wanted to give you a brief overview of what we were able to be a part of with God’s provision and your prayers and support.

September
· We arrived in Africa, greeted by a friend’s brother who lives in Nairobi Kenya and were driven to the missionary compound where we met the Work and Witness team.
· We had two weeks in Kisumu, Kenya with a medical Nazarene Work and Witness team. Our team came from different areas of the States, and missionary Evie Gardner hosted and lead our team. Together we were able to see 1500 patients, orphans and their caregivers.
· Later we received news that many patients reported pain relief they’ve never experienced, and many churches and caregivers were asking when we were coming back. An OVC (Orphan and Vulnerable Children) program is in place to follow up and continue to educate and oversee the caretakers and orphans.
· The presidential candidate, now President, Barak Obama, was always a topic of interest to the people of Kenya and we even passed by where his step-Grandmother lived.
· At the end of five days of clinic we enjoyed a couple days on Safari, this was a great time of rest and reflection.
· Mid-September we stayed at Africa Nazarene University campus as Mission Corps Volunteers with the Nazarene Church. We were welcomed there by Dr. Mark and Rev. Nancy Pitts, as well as Rev. Randy and Mrs. Mary Jane James. While at ANU we also became good friends with Jonathan and Jessica Duranceau, another Mission Corps Volunteer couple who were from Treveca Nazarene.

October
· While at ANU Kristin helped in the campus clinic and Jeremy assisted in the Biology Lab and also stepped in to help with the sports department, alongside Jonathan. While there Kristin was asked to teach a basic sports first aid class and Jeremy was asked to teach some biology labs, as well as coach the new women’s basketball team.
· Twenty students attended both first aid training sessions which was a success. Jeremy and Jonathan also hosted a basketball tournament at the university for high school students, which was a first in the new indoor gym.
· In mid-October we packed up to go to Mercy Ships and reluctantly said good-bye to our friends at ANU. From Nairobi, Kenya we flew to Monrovia, Liberia, where the ship was docked for the 2008 outreach.
· Our room was on deck two, under water level in a bunk room. We knew this would be our room, but had hoped something else would have opened up.

November
· While with Mercy Ships Jeremy was a part of the Dining Room staff and helped serve the crew members and also volunteered in night swimmer’s watch. Kristin was a ward nurse and oversaw the care of 4-7 patients a shift, including children and adults.
· We had the opportunity to attend a Jesus Film showing, visit several churches in Monrovia, and visit the country/bush a few times with the agriculture team and attend the opening of a clinic built by Mercy Ships.
· Within two weeks of being on the ship, a room opened up on deck 4, which had a window and we moved up!
· The ship galley even blessed us with a traditional Thanksgiving meal!

December
· This month there were numerous Christmas activities including, Santa Lucia, Winter Wonderland, children’s pageant and cookie making.
· The hospital discharged their last patients and the entire hospital was cleaned and secured. The rest of the ship also secured loose items in preparation for the sail and we left Monrovia port on December 12th to head for Tenerife, Spain for a month of rest, repairs and restocking.
· The sail was a bit rough, but we enjoyed the experience and arrived safely to Tenerife. From here we flew out to Madrid, Spain for Christmas with friends from college.
· We had a wonderful time in Madrid. It was restful and so much fun to be with familiar friends! From Madrid we flew to Amsterdam and had a day of sightseeing before heading to Seattle.
· We arrived safely home and were greeted by our families and enjoyed a second Christmas all together in Ferndale.

January
· We were thrown for quite a loop with the time change, but have now adapted. We continue to adjust to life here again in all areas. Shopping is still overwhelming to us and church experiences are quite different from what we were a part of in Africa.
· We currently are in Connell and will live here for some time in the Tri-City area. Jeremy will work on the family farm here in Connell through spring at least and Kristin is currently transferring her RN license to WA and in the process of applying to positions in the Tri-Cities. Please pray for continued guidance as we transition back into jobs and life in the States.

Thank you Valley Shepherd, Church of the Nazarene of Meridian, Idaho for sending us with two large suitcases of medications, vitamins, gloves and other supplies to use on our Work and Witness trip! Thank you Dr. McMahan for also sending hundreds of toothbrushes to distribute; they were a much appreciated and popular item!

Thank you again to our family and friends who financially supported and prayed for us. When we say thanks to family and friends it doesn’t seem like enough. This trip seemed crazy in the beginning when details were still coming together two weeks before we left, and we appreciate your faithful support!

The Lord has provided and we still can’t believe the provision and favor he has shown us throughout this fall season. He certainly orchestrated this trip and we could not have planned it more perfectly. He provided a place for us to serve between the work and witness and Mercy Ships, he provided a room on the Mercy Ship when they told us they had no room, he blessed us with friends, and provided safe travels all along the way! (Which was a miracle every single day!) We will never know the impact we had in Kenya or with Mercy Ships, and we may never understand the true purpose of us going at this time. God is good and he has taught us to listen and obey through it all.

Thank you once again!

Goodbye Mercy Ships

Hi Friends and Family, Merry Christmas once again! We can hardly believe that Christmas is only a few days away and that in even a shorter amount of time we will be leaving Mercy Ships. This last week we sailed from Liberia to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. It was a good trip, rough a few days, but good overall. (We are still adapting to our land feet.) The stars were AMAZING from the ocean! We had never seen such a display! In addition, there is this algae that glows in the dark when the water is stirred! Its crazy how precise and intricately God created everything from the stars to the algae in the waters! During the sail we also watched a movie called "The Star" that we just have to mention. It is a documentary type film on the Bethlehem star. Ever wondered why the star was so bright or why it seemed to stop over the place where the king was? The man that studied the star for over 10 years has interesting findings.. anyways google it if you have time because its impossible to even begin to describe the findings! Now that its time to go, its sad to say good bye to Mercy Ships. We have come to know so many people, but then again, it seems time to go--the hospital is closed and the ship is in Spain through Janruary for some R & R, restocking, and repair. We will finish our last day of work on the ship on Sunday and then be flying out to Madrid on Tuesday. We will celebrate with friends in Spain, make a hop to Holland on the way home, and arrive home on Dec 30th. Its already strange to be in a part of Spain, after being in Africa for four months. The people drive so orderly, there are sidewalks and all kinds of fresh fruit and vegetables in the market! There are recycling bins, rather than trash all over and people wearing clothes with brand names, rather than a simple lapa wrap. The transition back to the states will be interesting... we are thankful for a transition time here in Spain and lookforward to coming home before the New Year.
This is now being sent out a little late.. sorry. Now we hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Sailing to Tenerife, Canary Islands

This week we are working together in the dining room as we sail to Tenerife. The outreach in Liberia has ended for 2008 and now the ship is headed a little north for some R &R. The sail has been going well, but has been a bit rougher the last couple days and we have 1-2 more days to go.

Its been amazing to see the vast sea and all that lives in it--we have seen flying fish, some dolphins, glowing algae at night and then the starts--Wow, we have never seen the stars in the true dark like this before, its unreal! Then last night we watched a movie called "The Star" on the Bethlehem star. Its about a man that is a lawyer who became fascinated by the Bethlehem star and studied it for 10 years and came out with some amazing discoveries. Its mind boggling to learn what God did in the sky and had planned before the beginning of time!!

Read more at http://www.bethlehemstar.net/, you really should! Tis the season to sit in awe and wonder, and if you have the time to read it, I'm sure you'll be in awe and wonder!

In a day or two we will arrive in Tenerife and then we'll have a few more days of work on the ship. Then be headed to Madrid for Christmas with friends from college for a few days. We'll arrive back in WA December 30th. We just can't believe that its coming so fast! We're in anticipation of the Christmas season and for returning home to see family and friends, but sad to leave this place. Its been such a awsome experience to get to know people from around the world on this ship and serve to forgotten poor together. Here is a picture from the "Santa Lucia" evening with the Scandinavians on the ship. Its on December 10th and celebrates the Light --light of Jesus coming into the world. It was beautiful!

Again, Merry Christmas! We will miss being home for Christmas, but look forward to celebrating our second Christmas together and with friends in Spain.

Hello once again friends and family,

Where has the time gone?!? We can't believe that it has nearly been four months since we first sent out our first emails to you. Our time in Kenya and Liberia has gone fast. It has been both fulfilling and challenging. Coming down to it though, we are more than ready to be coming home! Our journey home will begin tomorrow (Dec. 12) when we begin to sail from Liberia to the Canary Islands. We will be flying out from Tenerife on Dec. 23 and flying to Madrid, Spain for Christmas with a friend of our's from NNU. This week we look forward to sailing on the open ocean!! This place has been busy --many things to be done to prepare for the sail. Things like taking down tents that patients would wait in before coming onto the ship hospital, loading all the vehicles onto the top deck of the ship, tieing everything down EVERYTHING on the ship that might slide around when we sail, loading enough drinking water for journey to Tenerife, securing things in our cabin(s), and even checking for stow-aways. Swimmer's watch has been an interesting duty that we have both signed up for, which entales signing up for 2 hour blocks to watch the waters for those that might be approaching. We have seen swimmers and turtles as well. Jeremy has really enjoyed this extra job. We were told today that our offical depature would be tomorrow afternoon! This last week Kristin had her last night shift on the ward and now the hospital is closed and everyone is cleaning like crazy. Everything three times over! Things get pretty dirty around here! Jeremy has been working hard in the dining room, but was able to get away this evening to play ultimate frisbee one last time. :) Today I (Kristin) went to the market one last time and couldn't believe that it was my last time to walk the streets of Africa. Last time for now at least, who knows. A man came begging for money, he persistantly stood at my side while looking in a shop and waiting for me to turn to him. Then I realized he had no left arm, likely lost in the 14 year long civil war here that ended only 4 years ago. He then asked for water, I couldn't deny him that. So I told him to find someone selling water and I would buy it for him. I did so and never saw him again, and ran to meet up with the others I was with before I was lost in the mob. I never saw him again but was reminded of the Living Water that Jesus offers us, if only I had had time to share this kind of water on the busy market street.

Prayer Requests: If you remember us in your prayers, please pray specifically for safety during the sail and for a smooth journey--wisdom to those in command, good weather, and no encounters with "other ships". Pray that we don't get sea sick and are able to enjoy the sail. We'll be working together in the dining room during the sail as well, so pray that this is a good experience for us both. For a safe journey to Madrid, then to Amsterdam and then home through Seattle. Also if you could pray for us as we begin to process all we have seen and done, and ponder all the things the Lord has done and taught us.

and ...


MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone!!!


We feel blessed to be here and have been surrounded by such a wonderful atmosphere and assortment of people. We had difficulty transitioning here, but as we leave, we have realized how this had become a temporary home. They have had many Christmas events already, even Santa Lucia (Scandanavian celebration of lights), and the ship has been turned into a winter wonderland (though we are confused when we walk outside and immediatly begin to sweat in the heat). We are just so excited these days -- as we look to Christmas and the miraculous gift of Christ coming to humanity -- as we look forward to celebrating in Madrid with friends -- as we prepare to sail -- as we look back on our trip and see how God orchestrated it in His timing -- and as we look forward to returning home.

Blessings to All!

Opening of Tenegar Clnic

We both attended the opening of a clinic in Tenegar, Liberia this last week. The President of Liberia was present at the opening of the clinic and there were many people from the community present for the occassion. Attached is the link to an article written about the event.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/MercyShips/Clinic/prweb1671504.htm

Happy Thanksgiving!

We cannot believe that we have already been here in Liberia with Mercy Ships over four weeks already! Its nearly the end of November and of course, Turkey day!

This last week we worked a lot and then had a nice weekend off together (now a week ago). During this last week Kristin worked nights and Jeremy early mornings, and late evenings, so we took many naps in between for a few days. Over the weekend we were able to get off the ship and go to the market and the beach with a group of people.

Just want to give you several quick word pictures to help you step into Liberia--

First a picture of the market and town. In the markets you barter often for things, but its much easier than in Kenya. Here you can actually walk away and say "Thanks for letting us look!" --yet they are even more poor, as a result of the civil war. The streets here are filled with trash and sewage waste, shops are empty because they cannot afford to rent the shops and so the streets are full of vendors and men pushing wheel barrels full of things for sale. Everywhere you look buildings are in shambles and anything that could be stripped of metal has long been salvaged to sell. There are mothers everywhere carrying their children in fabric wraps called
lapas and the little ones sleep soundly in the heat, as their mamas shop. Beggars frequently approach, often blind and being led by a child. Its a battle to know what to do. Do you give money and only support their begging in addition to drawing more attention to yourself? Or do you refuse to give and deny the desire to help and give? Mercy Ships is not offering any more appointments either, so you cannot even offer that. So while you sweat in the heat, clutching your bag to avoid pickpocketing, you also try to decide what to buy in the market and THEN attempt to bargain the price--that you know you will get ripped off on, because you are white.

Another picture from the hospital ward. A mother of 17 years, still a girl, grabs the nurse in the hallway and together they go skipping down the hallway back to her bed. There she is encouraged her to to do her exercises the doctor has ordered for her to do. Later that day she is discharged to go home and told by her nurse to remember two things: First, to remember to do her exercises several times a day and second to remember that Jesus, her Lord loves her and made her beautiful. Then there is an elderly man who has had multiple surgeries to reconstruct his nose. He is so humble and thanks every nurse who comes into the room for helping him and anxiously waits for a hello each morning and good-bye each evening.

We feel so privileged to be here serving. Its been such a learning experience all along the way, and each place we visit feels like a completely different trip from the last, in which we've seen and experienced so many different things.

As we approach Thanksgiving we give thanks for so much we have been blessed with--so much we have come to appreciate...

For drinking water
For the delicious food we have on board
For a nice room to stay in
For the Mercy Ships organization (they really are changing the lives
of the poorest people here in Liberia)
For sunsets on the water
For reliable electricity
For a coffee shop on board :)
Friends--they are hard to come by, but you never know when you may meet one.
For our good health
For our loving families who support us all along the way (even though
we may give them ulcers by the time we return) :)
For our friends and family who continue to pray for us as we travel
and minister to those in Africa.
For the excitement holidays bring and Christ's coming!

We'd love to hear from you and how you are doing, feel free to email anytime. We love and appreciate you so much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Little more about Mercy Ships

Many have asked how Mercy Ships operates through the year and month to month, so we thought we'd try to explain it.

Currently, we are docked in Monrovia, Liberia and the ship has been here since February 2008. They have found that it is much more beneficial to stay in one place to accomplish more and make an impact in one area. This is Mercy Ships' second outreach in a row, they were here in 2007 as well. There is much to do in Liberia as they are still recovering from a 14 year civil war. An "outreach" lasts a year, from Feb to Dec and the next year they will be in Benin.

In February they arrive to their new place of outreach and have several screening days. During these days they see hundreds of people and then gave them appointment cards to come back throughout the year for their surgery. This ship does not treat long term conditions and diseases, they focus on surgical procedures, such as cleft palate, esophageal dilatation (needed for those kids who have drank a caustic solution), tumor removals, eye surgeries, many others and even a few brain surgeries for those with encephaloceles. Its amazing to see what the surgeons are able to do here! There is also a dental and eye team that go out several times a week and see hundreds of people.

The second week in December we will leave from here and sail to Tenerife, Canary Islands. For the month of Janruary they also spend time dry docked in Tenerife. This is the closest port that this is possible to take place in. They used to take a month to go back to Europe and dry dock, re-stock and raise funding from surrounding areas, but it became costly and was not beneficial even with the fundraising. Since the ship is usually dry docked and under repairs, much of the crew leaves. The long term crew members take vacation and go home for holiday and the medical people usually leave since they hospital is closed. Then in February everyone returns and new short term people come and they sail to Benin for their 2009 outreach.

We will be sailing with Mercy ships in December and Kristin will be given a new job on the ship since the hospital will be closed. We will arrive to Tenerife around Dec 19th and fly out from there to Madrid, Spain on December 23rd. We are excited to spend Christmas with our friend Astin in Madrid! We will then be headed home via Amsterdam, Holland and arrive home to Seattle December 30th.

Hope this answers some questions .. So we have yet to sail and we are glad that we get to be a part of the sail this year!

Sadly, since it is the end of the year several surgeries have had to be canceled due to lack of supplies. I had two patients admitted one afternoon, only to have the doctor tell them that they had to cancel their surgery because we were out of prosthetic eyes. They were understanding and we prayed with them and were sent home. Many patients have exstensive wounds and they are remaining on the ship for wounds dressing changes. Please pray for quick healing and recovery for these people. One baby I am thinking of had a candle fall onto his bedding and caught the mosquito net on fire, his face is completely burned. They just did a surgery to repare his eye lids, but this child will need multiple surgeries and we all hope and pray that he does not get any type of infection.

Thank you for your prayers and support. Many of you have been a part of us coming here and hope you feel you have grasped a part of what Mercy Ships has been able to do.