Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label africa. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
ShipSHOTS #9 Legacy of Libraries
This is the last one for a while! I hope you've enjoyed "seeing" a bit of my life and ministry with Logos Hope!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Life on a Ship
Just an average sailing day on Logos Hope...
Today I learned what soft wax is and got to use it on the natural fibre hemp (adds a little more protection coating) that we fixed the van lifting gear with. We had to pull those whippings so tight my hands are red and sore, but regardless ropework is one of my favourite jobs!
There was a Man Overboard drill at 4pm... The whole ship did a Williamson turn as we all pointed and shouted at the poor unfortunate cardboard box.
There is a sign on the elevator door, right under the 'Out of Service' sign, that says:
There is a sign on the elevator door, right under the 'Out of Service' sign, that says:
"God just gave me ONE LEG THIS WEEK! Go Go Go Electricians! I miss my Buddy the Elevator. -Matthijs" (on crutches from playing sports)
I popped into the library and opened a book and happened across a really cool bit...
"When someone asks you how you are and you say you're fine, do you actually mean the acronym for that word - 'Feelings Inside Not Expressed'?" [DNA of Relationships, Gary Smalley]
Yeah, most of the time... How did they read my mind???!
Today it is FUN to have a long distance relationship! (Wow, I'm being optimistic...!) If we were together, we'd miss out on the packages to look forward to, letters, e-mails and phone calls and bragging on my man when he's not here! Every other day it really SUCKS, but for some reason I'm in a good mood today! (Still, I'd trade it if I could-!) Maybe it's because I finally wrote in my journal again last night. ;)
Today it is FUN to have a long distance relationship! (Wow, I'm being optimistic...!) If we were together, we'd miss out on the packages to look forward to, letters, e-mails and phone calls and bragging on my man when he's not here! Every other day it really SUCKS, but for some reason I'm in a good mood today! (Still, I'd trade it if I could-!) Maybe it's because I finally wrote in my journal again last night. ;)
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
SIERRA LEONE - Did You Know?
-> Life expectancy: 41yrs. (compared to US 78yrs.)
-> 70% of population under poverty line
-> over 60% of the population is Muslim
-> 50% population age 16 and under
-> 1 in 8 mothers die in childbirth
-> 1 in 4 children die before age 5
These are just depressing-sounding statistics until you think about the people behind the numbers. When you see four curly-haired dark-skinned African kids playing and to think that one of the smiling youngsters will die (most likely by accident or disease) within the year... When you see two toddlers laid to sleep on the bare ground of what can barely be called a sidewalk, the nonchalant in which the six year old boy mentions his mother died yesterday because she was having a baby - his brother - both now motherless, and the fear in the Muslim man's eyes as he accepts the Bible you are giving him. the extreme poverty, some people walk around with cell phones and ipods... and both are somehow Africa.
FIRST HELP PROJECT!
Our first Help project in Sierra Leone was a bit of a unique one. We are a shipload of healthy people compared to most of the locals who are too malnourished to donate blood - so you can see why the nurses from the maternity hospital MercyShips started were so excited to have such a large blood bank literally sail right to their door! Yup, we've been in Europe, the Caribbean and Africa in the last year, have had the Yellow Fever vaccine, and are taking Malaria tablets but... we're IN Africa!!! It was cool to join the "party" of ship's company in boiler suits from the engine room, dusty workclothes, those who ran in from the galley (kitchen), and everyone else who took a few minutes to pop by in the middle of our work day to donate blood. In total we donated 45L of blood - each half liter worth US$50 - saving the hospital US$4,500 in buying from overseas donors! :)
KNOWLEDGE...
Over 70 people attended the onboard "How to Start a Business" program today! I got to hear a bit of it and it was really quality teaching, and practical to help locals have some idea of how to start and run a good business. Our goal in this port is to pass it on - invest in influencers and encourage them to speak into others' lives and keep the blessing going on.
DRESS CODE
One of the changes we had to make coming to a new region was respecting a different culture in the way we dress and behave. Out are the shorts and knee-length skirts and in are the new fashions for Africa: long skirts or long pants for girls (showing our knees would be like going topless-!), and always long pants for guys. And it's sweltering hot.
African sunrises and sunsets are beautiful... it is pretty green jungle-y here compared to what I pictured the terrain to be like... and I'm still waiting for the safari animals from Madagascar 2 to appear somewhere!
PRAY for the spiritual warfare going on here; there was a "devil's dance" done right outside the port gate tonight, but also, God is doing a great work and my friend coming back from a church team shared many exciting stories of how Muslims are listening to the gospel and coming to Christ!
And all of this was just ONE day.
-> 70% of population under poverty line
-> over 60% of the population is Muslim
-> 50% population age 16 and under
-> 1 in 8 mothers die in childbirth
-> 1 in 4 children die before age 5
These are just depressing-sounding statistics until you think about the people behind the numbers. When you see four curly-haired dark-skinned African kids playing and to think that one of the smiling youngsters will die (most likely by accident or disease) within the year... When you see two toddlers laid to sleep on the bare ground of what can barely be called a sidewalk, the nonchalant in which the six year old boy mentions his mother died yesterday because she was having a baby - his brother - both now motherless, and the fear in the Muslim man's eyes as he accepts the Bible you are giving him. the extreme poverty, some people walk around with cell phones and ipods... and both are somehow Africa.
FIRST HELP PROJECT!
Our first Help project in Sierra Leone was a bit of a unique one. We are a shipload of healthy people compared to most of the locals who are too malnourished to donate blood - so you can see why the nurses from the maternity hospital MercyShips started were so excited to have such a large blood bank literally sail right to their door! Yup, we've been in Europe, the Caribbean and Africa in the last year, have had the Yellow Fever vaccine, and are taking Malaria tablets but... we're IN Africa!!! It was cool to join the "party" of ship's company in boiler suits from the engine room, dusty workclothes, those who ran in from the galley (kitchen), and everyone else who took a few minutes to pop by in the middle of our work day to donate blood. In total we donated 45L of blood - each half liter worth US$50 - saving the hospital US$4,500 in buying from overseas donors! :)
KNOWLEDGE...
Over 70 people attended the onboard "How to Start a Business" program today! I got to hear a bit of it and it was really quality teaching, and practical to help locals have some idea of how to start and run a good business. Our goal in this port is to pass it on - invest in influencers and encourage them to speak into others' lives and keep the blessing going on.
DRESS CODE
One of the changes we had to make coming to a new region was respecting a different culture in the way we dress and behave. Out are the shorts and knee-length skirts and in are the new fashions for Africa: long skirts or long pants for girls (showing our knees would be like going topless-!), and always long pants for guys. And it's sweltering hot.
African sunrises and sunsets are beautiful... it is pretty green jungle-y here compared to what I pictured the terrain to be like... and I'm still waiting for the safari animals from Madagascar 2 to appear somewhere!
PRAY for the spiritual warfare going on here; there was a "devil's dance" done right outside the port gate tonight, but also, God is doing a great work and my friend coming back from a church team shared many exciting stories of how Muslims are listening to the gospel and coming to Christ!
And all of this was just ONE day.
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