Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Sevenly Hits Again!

 After a huge response from Mercy Ships being on 60 minutes Sevenly has decided to do another campaign to help. For every shirt that you buy they donate $14 to Mercy Ships. You can find more info at Sevenly.com




Saturday, February 16, 2013

A Language of Thankfulness

Here's a letter I wrote to the Senior Group at my church. Thought you would enjoy it

Fire training out on the deck.
It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting in the “living room” well, deck 6 in one of the lounge areas set up for us. One of the things I don’t normally cover is the everyday life of living on the Africa Mercy. I don’t think I live much of an exciting life anymore. Things have become very normal since I have lived on the ship almost a full year during my two services with Mercy Ships.

Version 1

Tomorrow morning I will begin another week on the Africa Mercy. After my two minute shower, some Bible reading & a boring breakfast we will have our weekly communications meeting. There we will hear the same announcements we heard a few months ago. There will be lists of people arriving and departing from the ship. A new activity will be announced and we will finish with prayer praises and requests from different departments around the ship. From that point we will all go and start the work week that will look something like it did the week before.

Version 2

When I wake up somewhere around 6:15 tomorrow. I will be fully rested after not having to work all weekend. After thinking about getting to bless the crew at work today I will jump into a hot shower. I’m thankful I get a shower; a lot of people here in town only get to wash in polluted or often reused water. Once dressed in my clean clothes, I might not have the newest clothes around or the most fashionable ones, but thank God I’m blessed to have them and they are clean. We might only be able to do 1 load a week, but that only makes me think twice when I’m doing something that might make them dirty. So, I’m out of the room and up one flight of stairs to breakfast, all I have to do is put my bread in the toaster and make my cup of hot tea. Everything has been set up for me and when I’m done I only have to put my dishes on the rack for the Dinning Room team to clean. Once I have everything ready I go out to deck 7 where I get to watch the dawn of a new day. Fishermen pass by in their fishing boats as I read about the Israelites as they cross into the Promise land. If I’m back outside tonight around 6:00 I’ll see them coming back into the port. During the communications meeting I will be reminded about the Ash Wednesday service to start lent. I’ve never participated in lent before, but since Jesus dwelled in the desert for 40 days before starting his ministry I think I can give up something for Him for 40 days, and spending extra time in the word will be much more of a blessing than a taker of my time. When I hear that over twenty people arrived in the last week I can pray for them as they transition into this wonderful place, and as I think about two of my best friends and the fifteen others that left the ship since last week I’m reminded how blessed I was to spend so much time with them. When the meeting is all over we will be dismissed and the team I get the opportunity to lead everyday will start the task of blessing our crew. If you’re just watching them work you’d see them wiping down tables and straightening chairs in the café, making a stocking list and restocking the shelves, and making two small batches of crepe mix. But if I take my time to really see how their ministering I will see them tidying things up so the crew have a place to take their break. They will be putting amazing things on the shelf considering we live in Africa and all of these things have been imported from around the world, the crew will be so happy to get to have some Oreos and their favorite brand of chocolate. The one mixing the crepes is making a nice snack for all to eat if they missed breakfast or if they just need a boost of sugar to start the week.

Wow, those two sound a lot different than each other….

I get to live in a wonderful place where lives are changed daily, not just the patients in the hospital but also the crew that get blessed by the patients and day workers of this beautiful country.

          This last week when I read that the long battle I had been following about Nathan Husky had ended it made me really look back and remember that each day is a blessing. God has new things for us everyday. Yes, everyone gets blessed. So as you’re going through the rest of the day look for the ways that God is blessing you. At first it might take a little more to notice. At that point look for ways that you can bless others. It’s very true when they say it’s better to give than receive.

Thanks for keeping up with everything that I do. I know you’re praying for me, because I can’t do this on my own. Only through God’s grace and power can I live each day in His service.


-Josh

Down in the engineering supply room.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

60 Minutes = 1 Hour


This Sunday 60 Minutes is showcasing Mercy Ships and the medical care that we provide. It was taped this time last year when the ship was in Togo. I know several people that were here, but nobody has seen what will be shown. To see a glimps of what's going to show check it out the preview that they posted. The rest will be Sunday evening.






Friday, February 1, 2013

Guinean Sunset

Here is a special little project that I did Wednesday evening, I hope you enjoy it.
                                              -Josh