The Day Before Screening

I can't take credit for any of this. It was written by a friend of mine. We went through training in Texas together last year.

You can check out her blog:
jesussavingmefromme.wordpress.com

The Day Before Screening: Congo

by micey

It’s the day before screening and all through the ship
The crew are gathering supplies for the trip
The boxes are stacked by the gangway with care
In hopes that 5000 Congolese will be there

The day begins early and goes very long
So the crew will bunk down to be healthy and strong
Our leaders especially will get to bed early
So next day their leadership will be joyful not surly

And I in my scrubs and durable shoes
Have set the alarm clock, I will not hit snooze
Out of my bed at 5:30 I’ll drift
To be at the car in time for my shift

We’ll hit the road smiling for the 15 minute trip
And pray the police will wave as we zip
Along the port road to our great destination
The Lycee in Pointe Noire where we’ll see all the nations

Please pray for people from near and from far
To reach us by foot, by donkey, or car
That the day would be orderly, peaceful, and still
That thousands may have their lives changed by God’s will

This is the mission of the great Mercy Ship
That lives will be changed by one hopeful trip
That our great God and Savior will be magnified
That the name of Jesus will be glorified

His… Michelle

Philippians 1:20

Please join us by praying for the screening day. God hears our prayers. Pray for him to bring the people from everywhere! I will give you an update this weekend with how everything went.

Read More

Diversification

Diversification is a word used in the investment world to make sure that you don't have all of your eggs in the same basket. It refers to making sure that you have investments in more than just one realm of finances. Some suggest that you use a mixture of CD's, Stocks, Bonds & Mutual Funds.

Today's diversification talks about spreading out and getting to know more people. Last week there was a group of people sitting around in the cafè and a few new people asked for suggestions about living on the ship. One that was mentioned is one that I'm not so well at. I mentioned it because I know my time would be better if I worked on it. Then the topic came up in a book i'm reading so I thought I would share it with you.

We all need more than God and a best friend. We need a group of supportive relationships. The reason is simple: having more than one person in our lives allows our friends to be human. To be busy. To be unavailable at times. To hurt and have problems of their own. To have time alone.

This is hard sometimes for me. I have my group of friends and I know generally how they will respond and the things that we will talk about. I already know the things that they like and they know things about me. After being on the ship for a while it gets harder to make investments in to other groups of people. You know that they might not be onboard very long and you wonder if it's worth the effort to invest in a new group of friends. In the mean time it means that the friends that you have become more paramount in your life. You begin to rely more and more on them and then when they are busy you might get flustered because you needed somebody to talk to or just to hang out with.

We’re all a group of lumpy, bumpy, unfinished sinners, who ask for help and give help, who ask again and give again. And when our supportive network is strong enough, we all help each other mature into what God intended us to be. 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.     Ephesians 4.2-3

Things have been very busy with work. Between normal business and three other big projects the days go very fast. One of the projects is performing the task of Logistics Coordinator for the Screening Day. I'm in charge of coordinating food & water for the crew and potential patients, cleaning the site after we are finished, transporting equipment to and from the selection site and a few other various tasks. Please keep me in your prayers as the day comes next week. Our selection day will be August 28th. You can also pray for the many other crew that all have important tasks, the many surgical staff coming to screen patients, and the thousands of people that will show up with ailments on the screening day.

Read More

The Law of Activity

We sailed into Point Noir on Friday. After 13 days at sea we saw dry land and made history by being the first visit to the republic of Congo by Mercy Ships. Saturday morning I went into town to do some adventuring and see what things were like.
It is one of my goals this year to be more active in being involved. Not necessarily with being involved on the ship, but embracing the culture more. Previously I would go out, but not too extremely often. Fairly regularly but not enough to embrace the culture. It's pretty hard for me when I live on a fully developed ship and motivating myself to go out and journey through the unknown parts of town. I like things that I already know and often get stuck in a rut, or as many of us call them routines.
Today as I was doing some Bible study the Law of Activity came across and I thought I would share it with you.

The Law of Activity

Many times we have problems because we lack initiative-the God-given ability to propel ourselves into life.  Consider the contrast in the parable of the talents. 

Matthew 25.14-29 

For it will be like a man going on  a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away

He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents went and made two more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, "Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, "well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' He also who received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that i reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent form him and give it to him who has the ten talents.

For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

The ones who succeeded were active and assertive. They initiated and pushed. The one who lost out was the passive and inactive. The sad thing is that many people who are passive are not inherently evil or bad people. But evil is an active force, and passivity can become an ally of evil by not pushing against it. Passivity never pays off. God will match our effort, but he will never do out work for us. That would be an invasion of our boundaries. He wants us to be assertive and active, seeking and knocking on the door of life.

Matthew 7.7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks  it will be opened.

Read More

A new watch

I got a new watch this summer while I was traveling. I like watches but this one is a little different than the other ones I had. I didn't realize it at first. I mainly liked it because it has a shiny front on it and you can see the gears moving around on the inside. I've always liked watches, I guess it's like functional jewelry that guys can wear. Before I started in Sales on the ship a watch wasn't really something I wore on a daily basis. Working in kitchens and restaurants always prevented me because I didn't want to get them dirty or broken from multiple hand washing and rushed working patterns. I would wear a watch for a special occasions, if I remembered.

It was after I first put the watch on that I realized it was different. Sitting in the airport waiting for my light I noticed that you could actually hear the ticking. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick there it was serving it's purpose and keeping me on time. I thought "Oh, this is neat. I can see it working and hear it working." That was just the beginning. After a day or two when I found myself idle I would be there listening to my watch. My thoughts went from this is cool to there's that ticking again. It was even a bit annoying. About a week after wearing the watch I started thinking of it as a little reminder from God that each second is, well... just a second. We're only given it once then we have another second. It would be a little extreme to live life by the second so I like to think of it more of be wise of the time you have.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:15-17

You might think, well Josh, you're volunteering on hospital ship in Africa. Yes, that's true, but how much of my time is spent on myself or doing things the way that I want them? Unfortunately a lot. So now I keep wearing my watch, but when I hear the ticking instead of getting annoyed I take a second to think about what I'm really doing. Does it have a purpose or am I just wasting the day away. Have I taken time in the last day or two to meditate on the Word or God or am I just trudging along doing one task after another forgetting the main purpose of what God has planned for me now?

We have set sail from the Canary Islands. It's a long journey, but in fourteen days we will be docking in Point Noir, Congo for our next field service. Please keep the many deck and engineering crew embers in your prayers as they keep the engines running and the ship moving in the right direction.

Read More

From the Inside Out

Tonight was the first time getting to Community Meeting since returning from my break. A group of people were planning to go out to the boardwalk after the meeting to enjoy Grand Canaria before we leave Saturday morning. I was excited to get to go out with some friends and enjoy some of the sites around, we would just be leaving as soon as the service was over. During the worship segment of the service we sang a song that I've sung many times. It's one of the favorites that we would sing in our small group that I've been meeting with on the ship. I've had the words memorized and sung them many times without giving them a second thought until tonight. There's a line in the song it says."My heart and my soul, I give you control...Consume me from the inside out." And as soon as I realized that I was saying to God, I give you control. He reminded me, HEY! You've been gone from the ship for 5 weeks running back and forth all over the place...it's time for some time with ME! So, I didn't go out. I decided it was a night to sit back and spend some time with Him. I've listened to the song a few more times it's a great prayer. I would recommend reading through the lyrics and then listening to the song while reading the lyrics. Maybe He has something to tell you or just a few moments of meditating on Him will give you some strength to get you through the day..

A thousand times I've failed

Still your mercy remains

And should I stumble again

Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart and my soul, I give You control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise, become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

My Soul cries out to You

My Soul cries out to You

to You, to You

My heart, my soul, Lord I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out

From the inside out, O my soul cries out.

Read More

Home is what holds your heart.

Here is a short video that Mercy Ships released recently. It summarizes many of the things that are on my mind as I get ready to return to the ship later this week. I really enjoyed it and hope that you take a few minutes to watch.

Read More