Life in WA

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (not exactly), with no land in sight is a ship.  It is called Africa Mercy and she and her crew have just ended a 5-6 month long field service in Lome, Togo serving the poor and forgotten through medical treatment.  The ship will miss Togo and Togo will miss the ship.  Many friends were left, but memories live on and so does God in Togo and in the hearts of those who have experienced Togo.

Now a new chapter begins and Africa Mercy sails to Tenerife in the Canary Islands for some much needed maintenance.  She has a couple of air conditioning units that are being replaced and will be pulled out of the ocean for this and to do some cleaning on the underside of the belly of the ship.  This is a major process and many extra technical crew will be joining us there.  Please pray for safety, unity, patience and flexibility as we encounter new challenges and experiences in the next few weeks.

Originally, when I went to work for Mercy Ships in Texas as a HR Assistant, I was not planning on returning to the ship any time soon.  This all changed when I noticed a gap in the staffing plan between HR Mangers (mid-Jun to August).  I prayed about it and approached my boss and mentioned that I would not be against returning to the ship for a while if that was where the true need for my gifts and talents was.  Here I am, back on the ship as the Interim-HR Manager. 

I arrived on May 17th and have already learned SO MUCH!!  Our HR team keeps getting smaller and smaller as the weeks go by.  After July 3, we will be a team of two for a whole month until the next Gateway group arrives on August 4!!  In the evenings, I sit in my cabin, look in the mirror, and practice saying no.  Just kidding, although I am getting better at prioritizing and asking people if this needs to be resolved soon or if it can wait for a while due to staffing shortages.

So since that is the update on my ship family, I must talk about my land family.  My land family was added to on 13 June.  My brother and his fabulous wife welcomed Daphne Jo Langstraat into their family.  She's absolutely beautiful and a combination of the features from the first two girls from what I can tell from pictures.  I am so excited to meet her when I get back!  Three girls Bro, God definitely know what you can handle!!

That is all for now.  I think I'll go out on the deck and let my hair blow in the wind just like the movies portray sailing....  except it's overcast and humid.  Hey, at least we got to see dolphins on the first day!  I hear that's pretty uncommon.

Rockin' 'N' Rolling (literally)

Mona