MY HOME CHURCH:
It has been nice to have the ship in Mobile, Alabama, so close to home. I
have made several trips home including a missions Sunday at the east campus
of my church, plus visiting the main campus of my church. I have really
enjoyed visiting with and seeing all the people from my home church that I
had not see in a long time. I know that my visits were short and I could
not see everyone, but I will make one more trip home before the ship leaves.
ABOUT ME:
It always seems that people are asking me where I am from and what I did
before Mercy Ships, So here is a one paragraph description that I have
learned to quote by heart. : “I am a member of
Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church and I grew up in Gulf Breeze,
Florida, three miles south of Pensacola Florida. I worked for my church for
two years before getting involved in missions. In 1997 I completed a
Discipleship Training School on board the
Caribbean Mercy, then in
December 1997 my church commissioned me as a missionary as their
representative to Mercy Ships. I then spent the next five years onboard the
Caribbean Mercy as IT ( Information Technology ) Manager.
I then spent the next two years in Texas at the International Operations
Center ( IOC ) of Mercy Ships where I served as Project Manager while at the
same time I was studying to get my AB ( Able Seaman ). After spending three
summers sailing on the Anastasis
I had enough sea time to get my AB. I then went on to obtain my 'Ship
Security Officer' training and I am presently serving as SSO on the
Caribbean Mercy”.
POINT OF GRACE:
Point
of Grace is a Contemporary Christian band and Mercy Ships is sponsoring
their spring “I Choose You Tour”. Last month I got to speak about Mercy
Ships in Ozark, Alabama at the Point of Grace Concert in the Ozark Civic
Center. I will say that the energy in the crowd made it a fun event. Then
on March 11th Point of Grace appeared in concert at Olive Baptist
Church in Pensacola. The energy was not as high as it was in Ozark, but it
was still a fun event. Udo Kronester, our Executive Director, gave a short
speech about Mercy Ships. Sponsoring concerts is a new way that Mercy Ships
is looking into promoting what we do and to raise funds for the mission.
M/V CARIBBEAN MERCY:
Once
again the ship finds itself in Mobile, Alabama. We had just came back from
the Honduras outreach and went to Mobile to have some work done on the main
engine. While we were there the surveyor showed up and inspected some things
around the ship. The surveyor asked if we could complete some welding work
and take care of some corrosion in the tanks. This will delay the departure
for the Dominican Republic for a few more weeks.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:
The
outreach has been delayed because of ship maintenance; many of the people
are showing up anyway to serve on the ship in Mobile. The outreach will be
extended to compensate for the delay. Once we arrive in the Dominican
Republic we will set up for a four month outreach.
Update:
June 2004, the ship will be placed out of service due to the expense and age
of the ship and the outreach in the Dominican Republic never happened.
