We'll soon be on our way . . .

This is much too fun to not pass on!  Here are our instructions for travel - and you wonder why we ask for prayer!  

"If you have a Mercy Ships shirt, please wear it when you travel so that you can be spotted easily.  It will help identify you quickly to our escorts.  Upon your arrival, you will be met by a Mercy Ships representative and escorted from the airport to the government wharf where you will take a ferry across the water to downtown Freetown and be met by Mercy Ships crew, who in turn will bring you to the ship.  They will be wearing an orange Mercy Ship cap and Mercy Ship badge. If you do not immediately see our representative, do not leave the airport or ferry area as they will be looking for you. Please do not accept a ride or make arrangements to get to the ship with anyone who cannot provide Mercy Ships identification.  You will be taken to the baggage/luggage area to collect your luggage and escorted you through customs.  Once you have gone through customs, the Mercy Ships representative will have you wait until he is able to arrange for transportation to the government ferry, Sierra Ferries (SL) Ltd., M/V Bai Bureh. You and your luggage will be loaded into a van and they will take you to the ferry landing.  If at any time you are concerned or delayed, please call the ship for confirmation or further instructions. Please be sure to carry the ship's phone number in case you need to reach us with schedule changes or problems.  We suggest you bring one change of clothes and necessary medications in your carry-on bag in case your luggage is lost or delayed.  It is two to three hours from the airport to the ship."

I'm so glad our group number is currently at seven!  Looking forward to telling you what happens!  Margo (:

Who Woulda Thought . . .

Who would have thought that a simple question asked at the Y one January morning will change lives In Africa while we are there?  It was in the leisure pool that my friend, Judy, asked me if I had any contacts in Africa.  She was involved in a program called "Little Dresses for Africa" (www.littledressesforafrica.org) that took ordinary pillow cases and turned them in to beautiful little dresses for sweet little girls in Africa.  The dresses arrived at Judy's house yesterday and Micah and I brought home two large boxes.  From those two boxes, we chose  seventy dresses that we will help distribute through Mercy Ministries on the ship.  We are currently planning to gift dresses to Missionaries of Charity, Fatima Orphanage and Cheshire Home for the Disabled.  Check out some of my favorites: 

Bless you, Judy, for blessing us!  Margo

The Badly Burnt Boy

(from April 30) died two weeks ago in the hospital.  Margo

Good News!

The water company's engineers worked tirelessly to fix the broken main, and water is flowing once again into Freetown!  Hallelujah!  Water is running in the streets again - literally - and the local population can cook and wash again at no cost.  On the Africa Mercy, the laundry is open again and hot water is back on.  Joyfully stolen from Olly's blog! Thanks for praying!  Margo

News from Sierra Leone . . .

Imagine a city of 1.2 million people without water.  According to our good friend, Olly, that's Freetown right now.  The city water supply has been irregular since the war, but there has always been some water.  People got used to waking up early and queuing for hours to fill their buckets and "gallons" from public taps and leaking fresh-water pipes.  Yesterday, the main water supply into Freetown was damaged leaving the whole city dry - 1.2 million people have no water for washing, cooking or drinking.  The wealthier residents are able to buy water from trucks for 2000 Leones a gallon, but as the poorer people live on only 4000 Leones a day, they can only afford food or water.  Pray for them.  Meanwhile, on the ship, there is limited reserves so the crew is back to rationing:  cold showers, the laundry is closed, disposable plates and silverware, etc.  Please pray that the water company gets the pipe repaired and water will flow again!  We'll be there in less than a month . . . Margo 

YAHOO!

So many people have asked me about the floating island of trash that I just had to pass this on.  The reason why the dive team goes down into the muck is (I hope I have this right!) to clear the intake valves.  If they are clogged, the ship's generators (six of them!) shut down.  No generators, no electricity, no air conditioning - no good!  But there is definitely good - the diving team has just been supplied with a crate load of new dive gear: new masks, flippers, and flashlights, not to mention full face masks with built in radios! This will make diving in these awful waters so much safer. Check out how lovely they look: