The first few days...

Welcome to Congo! It's been a fabulous couple of days...

When the captain finally announced shore leave on Friday evening, it was a pretty steady stream of people heading down the gangway.

My home!!

Lamin trying to match the vehicle plates to the correct vehicles... a big puzzle.

This is how they unload the Landrovers these days - drive them into a container and bring the container down!

Three friends and I went for a wander on Saturday afternoon.  I had been out in the morning on my first run - oh, it felt so good to run after two weeks at sea!

I took this photo because of a movie reference. Can anyone name the movie??

Note to my family - this is why I specifically said no heels on any new shoes... this is what we walk through. Sidewalks only exist in the nicest parts of town.  My feet were Africa-nasty, as they should be!  Aah, nice to be here.  Except for the sand fleas.

A bad picture of all the two weeks worth of accumulated garbage from the sail.  312 people sailing = a lot of garbage!

Shawarma and drinks with these lovelies - a fabulous Saturday evening.

So there's an update on the first few days on solid ground.  Today I've been getting some work done to be completely ready for tomorrow- when the insanity starts! Tomorrow our 215 day crew will come onboard for orientation and I am managing 5 this year, so trying to get their schedules ready, etc.  Also, this week we get handover from the Advance team of all the work they've been doing here in Congo for the last few months to get everyone ready... more on that in another post. For now, I'll be really busy from here on out, I love my job (so far) and I'm so so so excited about what's ahead for us here in the Congo!

A Bientot - Krissy

On Solid Ground.

After thirteen days at sea, the Africa Mercy is securely docked in the port of Pointe Noire, Republic of Congo. 

 

 

I watched the arrival and ceremony on deck 8 among 300 close friends. It's exciting to be in a new country!

 

 

Mercy Ships founder and president Don Stephens and his wife Deyon were there to greet us.  Very special. 

 

 

There were several important people in attendance in the arrival ceremony, a band, a lot of speeches... and a lot of crew really excited to see land. 

 

 

My feet are happily back in flipflops where they rightfully belong.

 

 

SO, as you can see, it's been a good day. But beyond the fact that we're not rocking back and forth and I can walk in a straight line; that I no longer fear rolling out of bed and I can put my stuff back on shelves instead of in bags on the floor; that we'll get to throw out the garbage that's piled up and start to use real plates and silverware again... All that is exciting, yes, but there's more.  There's something wonderful about seeing the container ships and port buildings and cranes and dark faces and African print dresses and the smells and sounds of the busy port and the familiar French words making their way back across my tongue... not only is the ship safely docked, but my heart is singing, alive, excited, full and so content to be back here, on solid ground, where I belong.  Africa, I love you.

 

Krissy

Imperivm Iesu Christo Regis

TO ALL SAILORS WHEREVER YE MAY BE: and to all Mermaids, Whales, Sea Serpents, Porpoises, Sharks, Dolphins, Eels, Skates, Suckers, Crabs, Lobsters, and all other Living Things of the Sea.  GREETINGS: Know ye that on this fourth day of August, 2013, in Latitude 0000 and Longitude 0000 there appeared within Our Royal Domain the M/V Africa Mercy bound SE for the Golden X, and for Pointe Noire on the coast of the Republic of Congo.

 

BE IT REMEMBERED

That the said Vessel and Officers and Crew thereof have been inspected and passed on by Ourselves and Our Royal Staff

AND IT BE KNOWN By all ye Sailors, Marines, Land Lubbers, and others who may be honored by his presence that

 

CLOSE, Kristin Laura

 

having been found worthy to be numbered as one of our Trusty Royal Diamond Shellbacks has been duly initiated into the

SOLEMN MYSTERIES OF THE ANCIENT ORDER OF THE DEEP

 

BE IT FURTHER UNDERSTOOD that by virtue of the power invested in me I do hereby command all subjects of creation to show due honor and good respect to him wherever he may be.

DISOBEY THIS ORDER UNDER PENTALTY OF OUR ROYAL DISPLEASURE.

Given under our hand and seal this 4th day of August, 2013

 

Signed,

 

Iesu Christus Rex

True Ruler of the Raging Main, Overseen by his servant

 

 

(That's what it says on the certificate that I took a picture of and now I can't get the durn thing to load and I'm tired and sick of trying so now I'll just use someone else's photo and say g'night all... KC)

Photo courtesy of Shelly Davies

Graphic courtesy of the Jay and Team

 

Crossing the Line.

Sometime tomorrow we will cross the Equator at the Prime Meridian - that point on the globe that is latitude 0 degrees and longitude 0 degrees.  Apparently its a big deal - read the Wikipedia info here.

Here on the Africa Mercy we participate in much more PG rated (and safe) ceremonies to commemorate crossing the line. We do the limbo, a tug of war, and line dancing. (see all the references to lines?) Then tomorrow, since when we cross that point everything then goes backwards and upside down, we're encouraged to wear our clothing that way.  Silly, yes, but fun; I love this community and the joy we get out of each other and being silly together.

Once you cross this line you carry the title of Emerald Shellback, or Royal Diamond Shellback.  If you cross the equator in a ship but not at the prime meridian, you're a Shellback.  If you cross the equator at the international date line, (much more common in the mariner's world) you're a Golden Shellback.  So really, it's quite an honor that we are receiving that we get to cross the ocean at that very point.  Something that wasn't ever on my bucket list before but I'm glad to do it. 

As I write that I think, how completely weird is this life I lead! 

And I love it.

 

This weekend has been lovely. Sometime a few days ago it's like someone flipped a switch and I suddenly found my sea legs; I haven't felt the least bit nauseous for several days.  It's really brought back the joy in sailing; the joy in allowing myself to rest, enjoy the sun, watch for dolphins, catch up with friends, and prepare my desk, team, heart, mind, and focus on this new season we're entering in the Congo.  Just a few days left until we arrive!

In other news, if you're interested in sending me goodies for Christmas, they have to arrive at the IOC to be shipped on the container by September 1.  Click on the 'mail' tab above to find out more and the address and such.  Packages are very expensive for me to receive in crew mail, so please, if you can, send things via the container!

One final note - we're on 60 minutes TONIGHT, Sunday, August 4th!  Tune in!

Love from the Atlantic - Krissy

Extraordinary.

This is something I wrote this summer while I was serving at a summer camp for a week in Washington State.  So grateful for the opportunity to be there, thank you! With love from the Atlantic, Krissy.  

I’m at camp this week and have snuck away for a precious few minutes to write. 

Camp is something I love more than just about anything else in the world. I’ve had the privilege and blessing to be able attend, serve, and lead at camps across the world for well over half my life.  It’s physically exhausting but at the same time entirely life-giving – so when I was asked if I would consider returning to serve this year, even though I now live 5000 miles away, I said yes, absolutely.

I knew I was supposed to be here, to serve the kids and the staff and walk out this life-to-the-full calling I’ve been given.  Little did I know where I would hear that still small voice the most clearly!

We had a wave of sickness pass through the camp yesterday.  It was messy.  I mean, really messy - and I found myself in the thick of it. In the thick of all the tears and calling parents and packing up and throwing up and cleaning up and disinfecting and more tears and more bodily fluids than I can actually write about on this blog.  As I knelt beside one little girl, holding her hair out of her face and rubbing her back as she heaved, I knew I was right where I was supposed to be.  These little ones in their most vulnerable state needed all the love and compassion I was able to give them as they tried to catch their breath and bearings and make the world all right again. 

It was a profoundly moving experience that I’m having trouble finding the words to describe… but it was there, in those messy moments, it’s like something clicked.  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I do hear God’s voice, that I do walk with him, that I had been called there, and he was saying well done.  Not just in a someone-has-to-clean-up-vomit way, but in a deeper sense of being, of calling, of purpose and reason and depth beyond words.

The devotion I shared with our girls’ leaders this morning were words that were given to me weeks ago in preparation for this time – words I had no idea would mean what they mean to me now.

The supernatural isn’t always extraordinary.

Sometimes supernatural experiences are full of lightning bolts and thunder claps and excitement and emotion – and those are totally awesome. But sometimes they aren’t.  Sometimes it’s in the messiest experiences, with the least fanfare and preparation and words and hard work, that God shines through.   That’s where we can see the beauty of redemption, the beauty of washing the feet of our enemies, the beauty of a savior born in a barn, the beauty of true service and love in action.

One might ask, you came 5000 miles to clean up vomit – how does that make you feel?  Awesome. Honored. Blessed. Really.  And I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Some of our campers the last night of camp. Photo courtesy of our camp photographers.

 

 

A Storm.

I love my waterproof camera that lets me take photos in the rain!  Here's a storm we went through yesterday.... 

 

 

The storm just ahead...

The wall of rain almost to the ship.

See the waterspout?

I love Caroline's joy in the rain.

It came down fast and in large quantities.

The kiddos loved it.  Swordfights and playing continued in the driving rain!

The two Carolines don't need showers tonight! :)


 

The seas are calm tonight and the sunset is stunning. From somewhere in the Atlantic.... Krissy

Awfuls.

We're on day 6 of this two-or-so-week sail, less than halfway...

I'm loathe to admit it, but while I have never LOVED sailing in a way some crewmembers do, I am starting to not even LIKE it so much.  I'm nauseous most of the time, can't even sit it my office as it is literally bouncing around almost constantly, and when I start to think about the fact that no matter how bad it gets there is absolutely nothing I can do about it... well, that's about when I need to focus on something else or I'll really lose it.

The seas looked downright angry the last few days, today it's calmed a bit and started to look blue again as opposed to the steely gray we've been seeing.

 BUT, in trying to remain positive, I'm much less sick than I was a few days ago, I slept very well through last night, and every minute we're out here is one minute closer to Congo.  So thankful for all of those things!

And I still love the quote I put up a few posts ago - there's nothing swell about swells. they should be called awfuls. :)

The last several days have been very hazy with not much light.  Come to find out we're actually sailing through the Harmattan winds, those breezes that kick up Saharan dust, and in Benin/Togo/West Africa, make January cool - well, this time of year, the winds are blowing out over the ocean.  This photo is of the deck - that isn't rust, it's little piles of fine Saharan dust that have collected everywhere.

This week has been filled with hospital management planning meetings - they seem to be going well, but then again I have no frame of reference and am one of the three new members of this team that is just trying to feel my way around at this point.  I'm learning a lot and this team is incredible, so I'm thankful for both of those things as well. 

A few more random things - early morning exercise class (I call it push-up class for the abundance of those!) brings on an entirely new level of difficulty on the high seas. Imagine with me, doing a pushup on a moving surface.  Some are easy and some are difficult depending on the angle of the ship at the moment... and faceplants are a regular occurrence

Also, I found this adorable - sometimes the ship shakes, like turbulence on an airplane, when it hits a swell at just the right angle.  Emma, a darling three year old, decided it's because we hit dolphins or whales.  Poor things need to look both ways before crossing the ocean.

I've had some lovely conversations with dear friends, reconnecting, thinking about goals and purpose and the reasons we're out here doing this big crazy thing... on a personal and community level, beyond work.  I'm also spending a lot of time trying to learn all I can about my new job and the hospital and the projects I'll be working on; while I expected to be overwhelmed with it all, I'm finding myself more and more excited about it and overwhelmed in a good way, in a I-have-to-rely-on-God-and-others way and not my own strength, but excited as this position just keeps seeming more and more perfect for me. So grateful for that, too :)

From somewhere off the coast of West Africa.... Krissy

Can you imagine?

Outdo one another in showing honor. ~Romans 12:10b

Today to open our hospital planning meetings the Director asked us to share our goals for this field service - not professionally or what we as an organization deem important, but personal goals.  This verse is the first thing that popped into my head, something that I have been chewing on for a few weeks now...and I ended up sharing it with the team.

In this section of Romans, Paul is explaining some of the marks of a true Christian.  Good stuff, really, about making sure your love is genuine, hope, be patient, etc.  But I love this particular verse because it appeals to my competitive nature!  I mean, it's like he's challenging the Romans (and thus, us now) to compete with each other in showing honor...  Like, You go first... oh no, you go first!  (I heard a preacher this summer mention that and I can't seem to get it out of my head!)

In a miniscule sense, the question for my own heart is how can I be more honoring, respectful, and loving to those around me.  This is an awesome goal and I definitely want to grow in that over this next season...  But then I start to think bigger...  And let me say, I know we do some of these things reasonably well, and our people here are amazing and incredibly giving... but, can you imagine...

What if in every cabin on board the Africa Mercy each person was on a mission to outdo their cabin-mates in honoring each other?

What if we, as a Hospital, were on a mission to outdo each other in honoring our patients and their caregivers? 

What if we, as an organization, was on a mission to outdo each other in honoring our coworkers, other departments, leadership, etc.?

What if we, as a community, were on a mission to outdo each other in honoring each other, friends and family and neighbors and church members and coworkers and all those other 'roles' mushed together in this crazy place?  How incredible would that be?

And even further - what if we, as Christians, weren't known for what we agree or disagree with but rather were known by how we endeavor to outdo each other in honoring every single person who walks on earth... because they are a reflection of their Creator, regardless of what they do or don't believe or do or say or live.

Can you imagine?

Oh, that it would come to pass.... this is the cry of my heart. 

~Krissy

 

Hashtags and Swells.

I’m sitting out on Deck 7, glancing up every minute or two to focus on the horizon.  This helps keep the nausea at bay, thankfully.  I just downloaded an ipod app that measures the degrees to which we are rocking and rolling; in port, it’s around 2 degrees each way on a regular basis. Yesterday, when the water was a smooth, deep sapphire, it felt like we were in port. Today the water is a steely gray color with more whitecaps and a sway of 4-5 degrees, just enough to make me a bit queasy if I’m inside for too long or staring at a computer screen for any length of time.  Please pray the swells don’t increase any further.

The sapphire smooth waters yesterday

I read a quote one time that said something like, “Swells? Whoever decided to call them swells?  There’s nothing swell about them. They should be called Awfuls.”  To which I say… AMEN!

The steely gray water today.  These two pictures look like entirely different places - but the same ocean!

 I’m back on my ship home and will be honest and say the transition back wasn’t as happy-go-lucky as I had hoped.  The stress of catching up and passing on my old job, while preparing for sailing and dealing with jet lag was a bit excessive; I was not in a very good place last Friday.  However, things worked themselves out as they usually do, and under God’s grace I was able to completely release my former job to my highly capable replacement and her fantastic team; I started my new job today with joy and excitement instead of fear and anxiety.  That, my friends, is an answer to prayer in itself.

Fear and anxiety only have the place in your life that you allow them to have.  I may need some of you to remind me of that over this next year!!

The seas have been kind to us; we’ve seen whales, sea turtles, beautiful pinkish fish just below the surface, flying fish, and today the dolphins put on a show.  This sail is a long one, we’re due to arrive in Pointe Noire, Congo in about two weeks time.  The first two days of the sail were lovely, sweet, relaxing time with friends in the sun with the salty breezes kissing our cheeks.  This week is filled with hospital start-up meetings and me trying to get my brain around my new job while not getting too seasick.  There’s also fun activities almost every night for crew, as the ship sails on it seems to get smaller and smaller, and we need to be creative in how we entertain ourselves!

Our communications team this year is really fantastic; they’ve done an amazing job of putting together the #sailwithus campaign.  If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, you can follow our progress this sail as well as see where we’ve come in the last 35 years of this organizations existence by checking out the #sailwithus feed on any of those platforms.  Very cool.

 

 

You might be saying “What on earth is she talking about?” If that’s you, I’m sorry.  Google it.  Smile.

Thanks for sticking with my blog through this last quiet season.  I’ve written posts here and there over the last quiet weeks, and will post those as I have the opportunity to edit them and get them up.  Much is happening, it’s an exciting new season for me and the Africa Mercy, thank you for joining me in this adventure!

Love to all - Krissy

An Update.

Hello blog friends. I'm still alive, contrary to what you may believe from my blog. Not sure if I've ever gone this long between posts! But anyways, I've just decided that my time here in the US is far to precious to spend in front of a computer screen. I've had a great time, camp was amazing, I've spent time with wonderful people, old and new friends, enjoyed food and friendship and sharing of stories and life and loving every minute.  I've written down a few things to write about, and those will come, but for now, here are a few photos.

I'm currently hanging out with my bff Megan and she's trying to get these two little monkeys to take their afternoon naps - so I stole a few minutes on her computer :)

The bottom two photos were taken with my heart family at Alki beach in Seattle on the 4th of July.  Love them so very much. Thank you, friends. 

I'll be back on the ship the 23rd!  Maybe I'll get another something posted between now and then, maybe not... but thanks for sticking with me :) 

Love to all - Krissy