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Dec 7th, 2004 NEWSLETTER:
Greetings to all my friends, I hope you are doing well. In this
newsletter:
1 – Where I have been.
2 – What’s going on in Mercy Ships?
3 – What is in my near future?
Where I have been:
 Sierra
Leone, West Africa, The world’s poorest nation where the average family
makes $140 per year! I have had the privilege to experience this first
hand and I will never forget the desperation and the poverty I have
seen. We were docked in Freetown the capital city and I can say that
the people are friendly and good spirited considering they have nothing
to offer but friendship. Most of the city does not have electricity;
there just is not enough money to turn it on. This does not stop the
city life the lanterns and candles come out dinner is cooked over open
flames and the random Honda generator is seen with extension cords run
to all the neighbors just to have one light bulb on. I can count on one
hand the number of times I saw the power turned on in the city by the
ship. The police force has not been paid for months but they continue
to work in hopes that they will get paid someday, “at least they have a
job” mentions one of the locals. The city just does not have any money
to pay them and what money they do have is spent by corrupt politicians,
who in reality are just looking out for their families. When your kids
are starving and there is no money, and no food, good people out of
desperation will do what ever it takes to put food in their kids mouths;
and the corruption kicks in.
I want to tell you about a village I
visited and saw the reality of a country with no healthcare services.
I met a carpenter who had smashed his finger with a hammer and it was
infected so much that he said he can not sleep at night because of the
pain. Now I am not a doctor, but what I saw was that he is very close
to loosing his finger, the local treatment for such a thing is to take
manure paste in a leaf and wrap the wound. With simple first aide this
guy might be able to keep his finger, but not with the local treatment
from the village medicine man. There is more work in Sierra Leone then
Mercy Ships could possibly handle. Mercy Ships is opening up this year
a land base facility in Sierra Leone so that work can continue when the
ship is not around. While the focus over the last few years has been
Sierra Leone, it is time for the ship to move on to other West African
countries which are also in great need. But first a short PR tour and
down time for repairs…….
What’s going on in Mercy Ships?
 The
crew gained a new understanding of security as they spent the summer
months preparing for the implementation of new security procedures
required by the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code
(ISPS) that went into effect on July 1st, 2004. I have spent most of
this year upgrading the ships to meet this requirement. The upgrades
included installing surveillance cameras, door locks, identifying
restricted access spaces, and installing an electronic identification
system at the gangway. There are many other security measures going
into effect as well, including crew awareness.
One of the stops on our PR tour was a
visit to the Faroe  Islands.
We were actually docked behind a farm house in a sheep pasture, well
what part of the Faroe’s was not a sheep pasture. We got our drinking
water from a waterfall, which I could see from my porthole. It was
really a peaceful place. We were about a fifteen minute drive from the
city and the reason we were that far away was actually because of the
new ISPS codes. The Port security did not allow visitors inside the
port gates so we had to dock at a different place, I think it is the
first time I had sailed into a farm house!
Later we sailed on to Rotterdam where
we spent six week, five of which were upgrading the ships sewage
treatment system and taking care of the routine maintenance. It was
nice to be in Rotterdam again, I really enjoyed Holland, not to mention
getting to see old friends as well. It wasn’t long before we moved on
and the PR tour continued. In September we arrived in Germany and began
loading up five containers worth of outreach supplies, it was during
this time that Hurricane Ivan destroyed my house. Well you know the
rest of that story.
What is in my near future and long range plans:
On December 13th I will fly into Honduras where I will spend
the next six months on the Caribbean Mercy as the Ships Security
Officer. I have spent the last two years preparing for this role and
did not even know it. I will be managing most of the security systems I
have implemented over the last two years.
Praise Reports and Prayer Requests:
·
Prayer –
for all the people in Florida who are still suffering from the
hurricanes and insurance claims.
·
Praise –
for God’s provisions for my needs.
·
Prayer –
for wisdom on how to handle my house and the situation there.
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