August 7,2014 3 more sleeps

As our dear friend, Angela Searles, told us "Only 3 more sleeps" before we head home. Peggy has been advising me to do another blog even though I keep telling her, "Nothing is going on".
So, even though, you may want to stop reading here, I will try to finish up our journey in a few short paragraphs.

First, Peggy and I are so happy to have had the opportunity to serve these last 8 weeks on Africa Mercy. We said before we came that we would come with no preconceived ideas of what to expect and just be open to serve and be happy here. Mission accomplished!  Even though it was rough in the beginning, physically and mentally, God is faithful and a lot of questions we had upon arrival have been answered. God had us in a specific place, at a specific time, for a specific purpose and I believe we have accomplished what He put in our hearts to do.  Thanks to everyone who have kept up with us and supported us in prayers and encouraging words. Thanks to all who contributed financially to everything we have done, it has made being here easier.

We are seeing more and more people returning and the ship is alive with activity. It takes hundreds of volunteers and thousands of manhours to do what this ship is designed to do. In devotions yesterday, a man told the story of this ship being worked on in Newcastle, England and one of the shipyard workers told him "That ship will never sail to Africa", there is too much work to be done, and too much money needed. Needless to say, when God gives a vision, he also provides the means. Now this ship, not counting the previous ship, has now made 6 or 7 trips to Africa. So much for that man's prediction. Now as it prepares for sailing again, new obstacles are being faced that need God's wisdom and man's ability (with God's guidance) to overcome. We claim the good promise that He is faithful.

Many of you may not know, but a new ship is being built by generous donations from around the world and will be larger and able to treat more people. Pray for the finances, the volunteers that will come and the safety of those building the ship. After all, the ship is just a tool, while the lives of those who volunteer and show the love of Christ is what keeps this ministry afloat. Also, this ship was built as a Danish rail ferry and when purchased had to be converted to its present state. In addition, numerous renovations have been made over many years to keep it modern and up to date.

We now have some down time and will see a little of the island and post a few pictures. I wish everyone could experience what we have experienced and see first hand the transformation that has been made in just a few short weeks. I am told that everything we do is for ship improvements and patient and hospital staff service improvements. Peggy and I have commented so many times at the prudence and accountability that goes into every financial decision on board. No one, and I mean no one, no matter how up the ladder they appear to be, gets a free ride on board. You come, you work, you pay your way.  That is why free service can be provided to the most needy of the poorest.

Thanks again to everyone and I wish I could meet with everyone, have cake and coffee and bore you with my pictures. Since I can't, make your own coffee and cake and be bored with my blog..

Our ship's internet is extremely slow, so my final pictures may not be posted till I return home. So stay tuned, or connected or whatever you want to call it.

Love and our prayers to each of you,

Ken and Peggy

Friday August 1, 2014..Final week approaching

Not a lot has happened in terms of work, but in terms of getting ready to sail everything here is bustling..

I wrote last week that we had a decision to make and we have made it. We had been asked to stay an additional month and sail to Benin and help with the screening of patients and other duties. They had a real need for Peggy in hospitality (her strong suit) but I didn't have a position offered that I was comfortable with. So after much thought and prayers, we told them we had to go home, BUT in the future we will come back if the right positions open. So many people here have really begged us to stay, but we can't at this time.

The deck crews are working long hours loading supplies, vehicles, life boats and the list is never ending. Quite a process and it is going like clockwork, or so it seems to us watching from the decks. Today we watched as they reloaded the lifeboats, one from off the dock and one from in the water. Also they loaded most of the vehicles today and again, quite a process. We leave at noon on Monday, so no one can leave the ship on Monday morning. We are still getting new crews member, and returning crew members. The ship is really becoming a small community. Everyone gets along with each other (35 nations represented) and all walks of life. There are still critical positions that need to be filled, so keep praying God sends the right people at the right time.

Last night we were thrilled to have one of our project team entertain us in honor of Switzerland.  Back home he plays the Apline Horn (think Ricolah commercial) the lonnnngggg horns you see in pictures. So he offered to play last night for us. Now we all wondered how he brought a long horn with him on the airplane, but when we got to the auditorium, he brought out a funnel, a garden hose, and his mouthpiece. He then played along with a beautiful Swiss CD and it was wonderful, and quite beautiful. It reminded Peggy and me of our trip to Switzerland and hearing the horns played along with songs and yodeling. Sweet memories.

Peggy's manager, Henry spoke in community last night and what a challenge. He stated how so many people are so busy doing "God's" work, that we forget the most important commandment. To LOVE God, above all else. How do you want to be remembered at the end of your life?...he was a good husband, a good father, a benevolent giver, a helper,,the list goes on. All good things, but the most we should want to be said is "He or she, LOVED God!!'  Everything we do in life will pass, but our love for God and others is all people will remember about us, hopefully. Quite a challenge for me. Henry also keeps praying for us to come back,,,and he is quite a prayer warrior. He prays in specifics and so who knows, his prayers may be answered for us.

 Installing lights in new container

 Loading lots and lots of supplies

 Good-bye to Elza, Peggy's supervisor in HR. leaving for a while

 New ship Manager from Switzerland, has a lovely wife and 4 adorable girls

 Henry, Peggy's manager

 Heinreich playing his "Alpine Horn"

 Loading vehicles

 Loaded and tied down, all in a logical order for the trip to Benin

 Swimming pool doubles as storage while not on field service

 Loading first lifeboat from dock

 Bags of water to enable cables to drop down to pick up lifeboat, without weight cables would not descend

 2nd lifeboat approaching liftoff

 Rescue boat to remove lifeboat personnel before lifting out of water

Rescue boat being loaded back on board


I am still on loan to the engineering department and I feel like I am doing some worthwhile projects. A lot of these have been put on the back burner for lack of time and manpower, and now I am able to help them get done. A lot of departments are thankful and they are quick to tell me. As we try to sail, and serve in Benin, I have been able to retrofit 1 new container with lighting, repair a video cable in OR so they can monitor the procedures and patients, install new rolling monitors in the Hospital wing, (these are informational screens that tell what is going on), moved several plugs in cabins to accommodate new furniture and a lot of other small stuff, to me, but big stuff to the ship.

We were told today about the relations we (Mercy ship staff) have developed with the shipyard and we have seen several tours of the shipyard personnel coming through and getting to see what Mercy Ship does. Have had 2 times, I have seen local TV on board filming, I guess for news reports. I was even featured in one, so watch your local Spain station and you can see me.

Friday July 25, 8:57pm

Another week down, 2 more to go...maybe...
It has been a busy week since we were delayed a week and a half getting out of dry dock and back into the water. It was quite an experience as they had to rock the ship back and forth with a large machine because sitting so long makes the steel wheels develop flat spots and any grit left on the tracks will stop ship from moving on the track. They have the wheels packed with little bits of cloth to keep grit out and also a man goes underneath and blows all remaining grit away in order to insure the wheels will turn. As they started to move the ship, one of the large roller skates broke and had to be removed. But we made it into the water and now are docked and the work will continue till we leave on the 4th of August to sail to Tenerife to complete loading.

Yesterday all the families returned to the ship with lots of kids and hustle and bustle and little ones greeting their playmates and reunited with moms and dads who have been absentee while the families stayed in hotels in the city. Kids are not allowed on ship while in dry dock so families are moved to hotels. The hotels are so in agreement with Mercy Ships, they either give rock bottom prices or let some stay at no cost. What a blessing.

Began today, loading fuel and cargo and getting ready to serve in Benin. I was told that the fuel costs are $35,000.00 per day of sea travel (will that be cash or credit?) and they only travel at a speed that maximizes fuel economy. We have air conditioning on parts of the ship, not our deck yet, but it takes up to a week to cool the ship down so the air conditioning can work properly.

Since our projects for this year are finished, we now are being assigned to ship's departments to help with to do lists that can use extra manpower. Next week, we begin cleaning the entire ship and will assist medical staff in sanitizing the OR's and wards. Lloyds is here to certify the ship next week before we can sail. Pray everything passes as we will have drills and a thorough inspection of the entire ship. Lots of dust and debris left when you remodel....Oh, for those who want to know, the sterilizers were certified and ready for service. Company flew in 3 technicians for the week and it is my understanding everything is ready.

Ship is really rolling with the swells even though we are tied up. If you look outside you can see the movement or if you sit still, you can feel the back and forth in the water.

We went Wednesday night for our "goodbye" ice cream night at "Liky Liky", our favorite ice cream parlor. We were saying good bye to our friend from the Netherlands, Arie. The girls at the ice cream parlor were sad when I told them he was going home Saturday, but they were quick to ask if we would still be coming. I assured them we would. There was a large picture of the cutest baby eating ice cream on the wall of the shop, and we found out she is the daughter of one of the girls who serves us. What a pleasant surprise.

Keep praying for us as opportunities are arising and we have to make decisions in the upcoming week. Thanks to everyone for remembering us and keeping us in your prayers.

Love
Ken and Peggy

 Our ice cream lady

 Her baby

 Arie and George, George is from Canada and was here for a week to troubleshoot generators

 Cafe' Americano con leche,,,fancy, fancy

 Fill her up

 Machine to rock the ship back and forth in order to move

 20 minutes to get to the lifting dock

 Tractors unhook from pulling, then move to the back to push the ship onto the lift

 Damaged rudder and prop on tanker next to us, whole ship will be scrapped, too expensive to repair

 Sitting on the lift

 Lower, lower, till

Water floods the lift, check for leaks, then towed to pier for rest of drydock work

Saturday 19th, Las Palmas in the morning

Woke up to a sky that was mixed with dark clouds and rays of sunlight.  Back home this would mean rain is coming, but here it only means morning is coming. We have had no rain to speak of, but that is ok. It will be funny when we get home to see actual rain. Peggy commented that everything is green and blooming here and there is little rain. I told her I guess it is because the plants are tropical and God knows what he is doing when he created nature.

Speaking of home, as we draw to the 3 week count down, it seems on every project at this time we start asking God, "What are supposed to do, are we supposed to stay longer, should we go home?" Feelings start arising as we realize we have done what we were called to do, but can we do more? Our hearts desires are to sail to Benin and serve on a field service so we can experience "God" in action in the lives of those who will come and receive medical treatment. We have seen the pictures, watched the videos, talked to those who have been on field projects and all this leads us to more questions.

In our devotions, a lot of the messages expressed how important our jobs are we all do, even though we are not medically trained. I know that with my mind, but my heart just tells me we need to do more. Peggy has struggled the most on this project because she is a "people" person and she wants to have interaction with everyone, but especially she is drawn to the children. Her hearts desire is to be a "baby holder", a prayer intercessor and willing shoulder, and she hasn't been able to do that. I am a hands on "fixer" but there are times I remember in Senegal, just being able to touch someone who others think are untouchable, and how it felt. Thus, our dilemma. There are a lot of doors that would have to open for us to stay and these doors have to be opened by God, not us. That is how we know we are where God wants us. I know there are others that step out and hope the door opens, and it does, but for us we haven't reached that level of faith. Oh, well,....we wait and pray.

I would like to share a part of our devotion on Friday. It was given by the man who is in charge of shipyard renovations. A Godly man with lots of wisdom and his Mercy Ship story is amazing.
He talked about us (the short time volunteers) who will be going home and people will be asking "What did you do on Mercy Ship?"  He told us we will probably say, "We pulled wire, we built bulkheads, we cleaned, we removed deck heads, we built furniture, we installed pipes in the overhead, we insulated, we renovated lockers, etc." But the people will not have a clue, because they weren't here. But he said to tell them, "We did Holy stuff", in that, we as Christians are to be holy as God is holy. Not "Holier than thou", but just Holy in that we are striving to be like Christ. We have already been made Holy, through Jesus, but we have also called to become, more like Christ. That comes in many ways, Bible study, prayer, obedience to God's word, interaction with believers (and non-believers) and through service. And that is the place we are in now, service. One of the yard workers told one of our leaders in the hallway, "You are going to heaven, because you work on Mercy Ship " What an opportunity to explain, which the leader did, by telling him how salvation is assured already when you accept Christ and heaven is guaranteed, but not by the works we do.
The meat of his devotion, as so many people keep telling us, is that what we do for the ship, is not the most important thing. Mercy Ships want the people who serve to be "renovated and renewed" by the Holy Spirit when they come on board, which is far more eternal than what we do with our hands.


So, again, we approach another day with questions and wondering.  Thanks to everyone who are praying for us and please, DON'T STOP!  We have so few days left and know that God will direct our paths, and lead us to what He wants us to do.

We are losing project people almost daily, but we do receive replacements also. We have 4 or 5 young men from Europe who have joined for 2 weeks. It is amazing. One of the boys' employer paid for his trip here because the company believes so much in Mercy Ships. We found out also, that his parents were in Hawaii, at Kona, last year the same time as we were and now his parents are directors of a YWAM base in Germany. One young man who is 19 had his parents serve on the older Mercy Ship, the Anastasis when he was a young boy, and now he has come to serve. What an example being set by parents!

We say goodbye to our good friends and my boss, Roger and Kris. If we hadn't met them in Hawaii, all this would not have taken place. They return to the states to await the arrival of a grand daughter and we pray for their safe return and the arrival of the new life.

We have had one setback and now we will not be in the water till this Thursday. The new sterilizers will be commissioned on Monday so please pray they work as designed. (Especially since I had to help install them and wire them up). New territory for me.! New flooring is being installed by the shipyard, we are closing up walls, and deck heads, lots of furniture being installed, medical staff and full time people returning....lots of activities going on. Sail dates for Tenerife and Benin are still on go, no changes there.

I know this was long, and thanks for walking this experience with us.

Love
Ken and Peggy

 Most of the projects team, some have left and we failed to get a group photo

 Fine man and fellow worker, Ken Hilton, from the IOC in Texas, I was his gopher doing pipe fitting work

 Shipyard polished the propellers, free of charge...Mercy Ships wasn't going to do it, but the shipyard said, "We will do it for you"

 Young worker from Germany, on our ice cream tour

 Our 2 ice cream testers, 2 shops in one night,,whoo hoo

Going back into the water

Sunday 13th, 2014 Another glorious day

It is another beautiful day in Las Palmas. Actually we have not had any bad days here. So thankful to be a part of this team of servants who serve here and elsewhere.

Our time is quickly coming to an end and we had to say good-bye to 2 of my co-workers, Jim and Nina.
They left this morning at 2:00am and are headed back home. These 2 are amazing people, involved in many mission projects, not just Mercy Ships. Hope to meet up with them down the road. They will be back home for 3 days before they head up a team going to Mexico.

We had a large meal at a local Chinese buffet Friday night, sort of a going away party. We also will get 3 new members on Monday as the ship is slowly getting completed and ready to sail on August 4 to Tenerife for a few days. I understand the upcoming weeks will involve loading food, supplies, cargo and everything else for the 9 month tour in Benin. Already there are advance teams on the ground preparing for the ship's arrival and to serve the poor and the needy. There will be loads of cleaning before the ship can be used again as a hospital as there is construction debris and dust everywhere.

We went to the other side of Gran Canaria yesterday to a town of Maspalomas and Puerto de Mogan. The drive over to Mogan was like driving through the desert midwest with lots of mountain thrown in. Very steep and winding roads and beautiful views of the ocean all the way. This is a very resorty area and the prices reflect it. Peggy actually got kicked out of fancy hotel she tried to go into. I just stood outside and watched because I read the sign, "Hotel guests only".  Lots of RV campers and tourists and hotels after hotels after hotels. They say a lot of the British come to this area so most of all menus, signs etc are in English. The beaches are beautify, and crowded with lots of water activities and boating activities. I told Peggy, I think I prefer this area over any other area we have been to, as far as projects go.

Today will be a relaxing day for us and hope to catch up on some rest.

Getting this close to finishing up, makes us start to think about our next project. We are making plans to go to Carlinville, Il. to see the upcoming MAPS projects for next year. Don't know yet, but it is amazing that 2 of the projects I had in mind are the exact 2 Peggy was thinking of. Praying for God's direction as there are so many areas to serve in the Kingdom. We just have to say "Yes". We have already been given next year's dates for dry dock, again in Las Palmas, so that will be on our calender as a possibility. Also, we are making good contacts with the HR people and others for a possible field service trip in the next few years.

Leaving for now,
Hope everyone is well and doing good. Go to church today and enjoy God's presence wherever you are.

Peggy and Ken

 Friday night at the buffet

 Our friend, Arie, he loves his ice cream

 2 Dear servants of God, from the IOC in Texas

 World Cup everywhere, and ice for our drinks

 Only Peggy could find Micky and Minnie in Spain, and it only cost me 2 Euros for this photo

 The sidewalks in Puerto de Mogan

 RV camping in Wal-Mart,,,not really, but it was a shopping center

 One of many views as we drive down from the mountains to the coasts

 One of hundreds of hotels built into the side of the mountains

 Future RV MAPS prospects, I just didn't have time to pass out applications