AFRICA MERCY COMPLETES HER TEN MONTH FIELD SERVICE IN BENIN.

BENIN FIELD SERVICE SUMMARY:   Mercy Ships m/v Africa Mercy and her crew have just completed a ten month field service in Benin. (Feb-Dec 2009). There was quite a buzz happening on the ship as the crew and technical teams prepared for the departure of the ship. The finishing up of all our minstries, projects, functions and events.  Our office spaces and cabins had to be secured and tied down for the sail.  I had to say my goodbyes to so many wonderful people that I had met over these past ten months. 

The patients have all left the hospital and it was quite sad to say goodbye to them.  Many lives have been changed and wonderful relationships were developed during our field service. Almost 7,000 surgical procedures were performed on the Africa Mercy during the ten month field service.

The Mercy Ships Field teams: The Dental clinic and the four Eye clinics packed up their equipment after serving 1000's of patients in the local communities.

We had a wonderful time of celebration for all our Day Volunteer/Translators (approx. 200) as they have been so valuable to this ministry. 

A thankyou function was held onboard for Beninois civic and media personnel.  A commemorative plaque with cultural representations of Benin was presented to Mercy Ships by the Minister of Health. 

The President of Benin invited all our crew to his Palace for an evening dinner, traditional dance & entertainment as a thankyou for all our service in this nation. 

Mercy Ships Health Care Development team partnered with a local NGO and had overseen the renovation and construction of the Osareh Pediatric Othopaedic Clinic in Seme-Podji, Benin. We celebrated the opening with speaches from our Leadership, the President of the NGO and the Mayor of the community. The village chief & the King of the community were present for the cutting of the ribbon and the cultural dancing symbolizing the official opening of the clinic.

Mercy Ships recently partnered with Bethesda, a Benin based NGO in the construction of the Bethesda Community Development Agriculture Training Center in Hevie.  The facility is now serving as the venue for a 3 month agriculture training program "Food for Life" which teaches farmers biblical organic skills in nutrition and crop production.

The US Ambassador to Benin also came aboard to give his thanks of appreciation to Mercy Ships.

The ship will be in Tenerife for manditory ship inspection and yearly maintenance, then we return to Togo in West AFrica for our next field service.  February to August 2010. 

Dec 8th: SHIP DEPARTS BENIN:  We are now on the high seas and sailing from Benin, West Africa to Tenerife, Canary Islands-Spain.  Calm seas and incredible sunsets.  We have been blessed with the beauty of God's awesome creation.  A perfectly arched rainbow illuminated its prism colors over the aft of the ship.  Dolphins jumping and whales spouting off the port side.  Evening skies light up with the golden brilliance of the setting sun.  Water funnels and swirling squalls billow off in the distance dampening the decks with a shower of mist.  Each day the skies and the seas are painted with a new design.  Wow...such a blessed gift we have received!  (Scroll down to view amazing photos of the painted skies during our sail! ! )

Dec 13th: METEOR SHOWERS-five days into our sail we experience the dynamic meteoroid shower.  The Geminids Meteor Shower which is considered by many to be the best meteor shower in the heavens. The Geminids are known for producing up to 60 multicolored meteors per hour at their peak.  And we certainly saw plenty this night.  I sat up on the aft deck until all hours of the morning, gazing upward toward the crisp clear skies and watched as streams of  meteors radiated from one point to another point in the sky. These meteors are small fragments of cosmic debris entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds.

Dec 15th: MAN OVERBOARD DRILL:  At the last rays of the setting sun, our Captain and the deck officers performed a Man Overboard Drill and the ship manuvered around in a loop while the deck officers prepared the life raft for MOB rescue. 

Dec 16th: MARINE LIFE-What a show of marine life we experienced today. In the late afternoon sun, pods of dolphins and mothers with their babies frolicked in the wake of our bow, whales cruised off the sides of the ship. What a treat tonight and it was all FREE!
At times during the sail we seem to be the only ship at sea but off the port side we spot a couple of Navy Vessels passing by in the setting sun.  The ship activity is picking up the closer we get to Morocco and the Canary Islands.  We have to be on the lookout for ships passing by in the night.

Dec 17th: ROCKING AND ROLLING: Today as we sail up the coast of Western Sahara-Morocco, the ship has had it's fair share of rocking and rolling over the large rolling swells that were a constant today.  This afternoon the captain steared us a little off our course in order to make the sail more comfortable for everyone but we are back on course again and have begun the constant swaying back and forth.  Thank goodness we tied down our cabins and office spaces.  In fact as I try and write this my office chair (on wheels) slides back and forth bouncing from the wall back to my desk.  As the ship lists from side to side it's quite difficult to walk in an upright position, we seem to tilt at a 45 degree angle as we walk along the decks and corridors of the vessel..Gravity at work!

CHRISTMAS PLAY: Tonight the School Academy performed their Christmas play. With one week's rehearsal they performed like little pros.  Being on the ship four years now, it's been a joy watching these kids grow up and to see the hidden talents and giftings they have been blessed with.

DEC 19TH:  SAFE ARRIVAL AND WELCOMING TUNES:  We arrived Teneriefe approx 8:00 AM, Saturday, Dec 19th. Upon our approach to the Canary Islands, we rounded the southern tip of the Island of Las Palmas and sailed up the southern coast of Tenerife during the night.  The island glittered with the twinkling lights from the clusters of the beach communities built along the slopes of Mt Teide Volcano.  We sailed into the port as the sun was rising.  For many years now as a tradition, Mercy Ships has been welcomed into the port by a local elderly man whom stands by the lighthouse on the breakwater seawall, blowing his trumpet with traditional tunes.  His unique way of greeting the ship back to the Island.  The local port pilot boarded the ship and with our Captain and the deck officers the Africa Mercy was safely secured along the pier where some of the world's largest Cruise Liners also moore.  We look like a little toy boat alongside these massive vessels.  The gangway was lowered and within a couple of hours we were cleared by customs and the crew excitedly disembarked to regain their land legs and explore the city of Santa Cruz. 

CULTURE SHOCK: This is my third time in Tenerife now with Mercy Ships and each time I've sail into the port I immediately experience a reverse culture shock...just 10 days ago we sailed from a very impoverished West African port to the exuberance, richness and wealth of the European tourist destination of Tenerife, Spain.  Instead of small waterlogged dug out fishing canoes with sticks for a sail mast and old rags stitched together to make a sail, rusted old freighters and overloaded cargo and passenger ferries, oil spills, sewage and garbage polluted waters, we see massive elegant cruise liners, Tall Ship sailing yachts, huge catamaran ferries, tourquoise waters and streets so clean you can eat off them!!  Wow!

We will be in Tenerife until the end of January.  The ship will undergo yearly maintenance during this time.