The sail to Ghana was awesome. The seas were calm and we had dolphins 
escorting us here. We had to refuel on our way here. The way this "bunkering" works is that a large tanker meets us at sea and we tie up next to each other while we transfer fuel. We usually are going several knots to keep the ships more stable during this evolution. My security team is placed on the rails to ensure that none of their crew tries to jump over to our ship. While I was talking to our founder, Don Stephens, a man started shouting pastor, pastor!!! We all started looking around to see who he was talking to when he yelled, "Big Pastor Mark" It turned out t
hat I had preached to this man's church nearly a year ago in South Africa and he had remembered me. I was able to give him a few bibles to pass along to his crew mates. I am always amazed at how small God's world is, nearly a year later, in the middle of the ocean and 1,500 miles from where we met I meet a man who remembered me and what God had me share that day. You know it has to be a God thing, I know that I'm not that good of a preacher.
We had another God moment when out of the blue we got an email from
a Benin pastor, Samuel, who's church was in a voodoo village that I had preached at. After we left we found out that the pastor's wife, Louis, had a baby girl and had named her ZANA. They came to visit us and show us the new addition to their family. We were blessed by their visit and their sharing what God was doing through them in all of West Africa.
We have spent a week here in Ghana as we prepared to head home. Ghana is a highly developed country that really doesn't need our services so I'm not sure of the decision to come here. I think it would have been better if the ship had stayed in Liberia where there is a real need for our services. It was hoped that the Africa Mercy would have had its first outreach here to give it a chance to work out the bugs and finish all the construction of the operating rooms that are not completed. However, now it seems doubtful that the Africa mercy will make it to Ghana. One of the major vendors outfitting our ship has gone bankrupt. The impact on the final timeline for the ship's deployment is unknown at this time but it could be a major delay.
As we were about to leave the ship to take our bags to the airport a majority of the crew came to say goodbye. It was awesome for the girls to see how our family had impacted not only our patients but also our fellow brothers and sisters serving on this ship. We are honored to have been considered an asset to our ship family and we pray that God honors each of their sacrifices as they follow His calling for their lives. We are proud to be called a part of the Anastasis crew! We will miss our cramp quarters and living in community. It is said that it is always fun to talk about the "old times" but not necessarily living through them. I have no regrets for our time onboard, it was an awesome experience. As we leave we know we need a time of rest but we can't wait to see what great adventure God has waiting for us next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
escorting us here. We had to refuel on our way here. The way this "bunkering" works is that a large tanker meets us at sea and we tie up next to each other while we transfer fuel. We usually are going several knots to keep the ships more stable during this evolution. My security team is placed on the rails to ensure that none of their crew tries to jump over to our ship. While I was talking to our founder, Don Stephens, a man started shouting pastor, pastor!!! We all started looking around to see who he was talking to when he yelled, "Big Pastor Mark" It turned out t
hat I had preached to this man's church nearly a year ago in South Africa and he had remembered me. I was able to give him a few bibles to pass along to his crew mates. I am always amazed at how small God's world is, nearly a year later, in the middle of the ocean and 1,500 miles from where we met I meet a man who remembered me and what God had me share that day. You know it has to be a God thing, I know that I'm not that good of a preacher.We had another God moment when out of the blue we got an email from
a Benin pastor, Samuel, who's church was in a voodoo village that I had preached at. After we left we found out that the pastor's wife, Louis, had a baby girl and had named her ZANA. They came to visit us and show us the new addition to their family. We were blessed by their visit and their sharing what God was doing through them in all of West Africa.We have spent a week here in Ghana as we prepared to head home. Ghana is a highly developed country that really doesn't need our services so I'm not sure of the decision to come here. I think it would have been better if the ship had stayed in Liberia where there is a real need for our services. It was hoped that the Africa Mercy would have had its first outreach here to give it a chance to work out the bugs and finish all the construction of the operating rooms that are not completed. However, now it seems doubtful that the Africa mercy will make it to Ghana. One of the major vendors outfitting our ship has gone bankrupt. The impact on the final timeline for the ship's deployment is unknown at this time but it could be a major delay.
As we were about to leave the ship to take our bags to the airport a majority of the crew came to say goodbye. It was awesome for the girls to see how our family had impacted not only our patients but also our fellow brothers and sisters serving on this ship. We are honored to have been considered an asset to our ship family and we pray that God honors each of their sacrifices as they follow His calling for their lives. We are proud to be called a part of the Anastasis crew! We will miss our cramp quarters and living in community. It is said that it is always fun to talk about the "old times" but not necessarily living through them. I have no regrets for our time onboard, it was an awesome experience. As we leave we know we need a time of rest but we can't wait to see what great adventure God has waiting for us next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
