We flew to Maryland this Weekend to visit Ted Stephanie Ranft. Ted is a former Inktomi Co-Worker who supports our efforts with the orphanages in Africa. We were also able to attend Eric Williams' wedding in Virginia. Eric was a good friend onboard the Anastasis and it was really exciting to see him start this new chapter in his life. We were also 
able to hook up with 2 dozen friends from the ship who also made their way to the wedding. We finished the weekend by meeting with our supporting church in Waldorf, Maryland. Ann from the Kenyan orphanage was there and I was able to present my findings from the trip we took. The church was extremely generous and raised over $4,000 for the kids. I am hoping that we will be able to get Living waters to finish their well project.
and chickens for eggs. They have 2 donkeys to haul water up the steep hills to reach the orphanage. They presently have to buy water from down below. Living waters had drilled a bore hole but it requires a electric pump to draw the water up the 300ft. They charged them $15,000 to drill the well 2 years ago but ever gave them a pump. I will definitely see if we can leverage some sort of solution, this is insane they are 
buying drinking water to make concrete and clean the floors. The children are amazing!!!!!!!!!! 90 girls acting as the best behaved children you have ever seen. They start the morning at 5 am and do their chores till they get dressed at 6:15. Then they line the halls and sing praise songs in English and the native tongue for 15 minute and conclude with 5 minutes 
of prayer. They do this in the evening as well before lights out. You have to understand the temperature stays between 50 and 60 degrees and the weather is always damp with mist, these girls are running around in flip flops and open shoes for the most part, wearing multiple items of clothes, the little girls wearing pants under their skirts. They always 
wanted to hold my hand, and theirs were always like ice. They never complained!!!! They have a joy of the Lord in them that is unimaginable they are so thankful that God has brought them to this home where they have 90 sisters and 15 brothers to call their family. Most of these girls have become orphans because of AIDS, though praise God none are infected. They have had to take in boys this last year because there is no where else for them to go, they have built a boys quarters next to the stable and chicken area. Several of the boys have severe retardation or epilepsy that their families have abandoned them. They have also taken in babies that have been severely malnourished and left for dead. There is a 3 year old there right now who weighs 12 pounds and looks like a 6 month old infant. They showed me pictures of him when they got him 3 months ago his boney legs had been curled under and could not be straightened. It looked like there was nothing but skin and bone. You could see his whole pelvis through his bum. He has now fattened up a little an looks like a thin 6 month old. The woman who runs this place is Mama Ann, she would give Mother Teresa a run for her money. She not only clothes and feeds these kids but she takes care of all the deserted old woman who live on the margins in cardboard or tin shacks near railroad tracks. She feeds them and gives them blankets and clothes. These grandma's come to the orphanage twice a week and pray on their knees for hours as they thank God that this place is taking care of the children where they can't. To hear these women crying to God in thanks is an experience that shook me, they were thanking God that these children might know the love of God and family. That they would go to bed tonight with a full belly and knowing that these girls had a chance for a future beyond what they have know. This orphanage stresses school, they have financed 4 of their oldest students to go to University in Uganda and 20 are attending boarding schools to attend the British version of high school. All of this and the clothing and feeding of 100 children and another 30 old ladies and orphans who refuse to leave the bush and the medical bills to help bring their new arrivals back to health or to try and treat the epilepsy and other neurological disorders these children have. They do this on less than $24,000 a year that they raise through donations. I have never seen so much done with so little. Truly I am witnessing the hand of God in action. What started as a retired couple having dozens of orphans camped on their floors has become a work of God. I want to be a part of this!!!!! No Christian could walk away from this and not be changed. To hear children helping each other do their home work while others are scrubbing floors, tending the fields or livestock, boiling water for food or tea all the while singing or humming praise songs and truly thanking God that He brought them here. At night a generator is run for 3 hours to allow their homework to be done and after as the lights are out you could hear spontaneous laughter like some giant pajama party and then a small voice would break into praise and the rest would follow. It is easy to feel that your own praise pales in comparison. If they can do this while living in conditions similar to the early 1900's, how loud and often should my songs of praise be heard. 
Well we have finished our great sojourn to return home. We left Ghana and flew to London then flew on to Singapore. For 2 weeks we met with our missionary friends and rested before we headed back to the states. We then spent the next month traveling across the states visiting our family, friends and supporters. We thank God for the chance to 
reconnect with those who have supported us over the last 3 years.
what God will have for us long term.
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.
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.
Below is a description of what has happened in our last month in Liberia. It was an extremely challenging time as far as security was concerned, but it was also a sad time as we found ourselves wrapping up our family ministry at the orphanage, not knowing if we will ever be able to return to West Africa and the people we have come to love. We sail today for Ghana where we will hand off the ship to the African Mercy crew as they await the arrival of their ship in Ghana in October sometime. To be honest I doubt that the ship will even make the Ghana outreach, more than likely it will be ready in time for the return to Liberia some time in April. It is my hope that the new crew will get to see the Anastasis in her best light, as an old lady still serving the Lord after 53 years; still strong enough to get the job done that God has called her to for at least one more outreach.
I worked along with our Senior Chaplain, Lynne Westman, to purchase and distribute 600+ bibles for all the UNMIL soldiers, Liberian Seaport Police and dock workers. It was awesome to give the Lord's word to these people. Don't get me wrong, I know that some of these will end up in the markets for sale. But I know that God will use them no matter where they end up. Cailin helped to distribute them, she really liked giving them away.
us this chance to help these kids. As we got ready to leave our orphanage for the last time, we placed our hands in a small square of concrete to thank God for allowing us to be His loving hands to these children. I hope one day my children will return and show their own children where they had spent a year of their life serving others.
onboard. All my stow away watches were armed with axe handles and charged fire hoses to try and repel any rogues or stow aways trying to make their way onto our ship. We launched our small boat 3 times to pursue rogues trying to get onto our ship and either arrested them or at the least foiled their attempts. The day before we sailed, our deck team was too efficient and removed all our dock lights and razor wire we used to keep the dock secure. I was hoping to take them down the morning of our sail. Usually a single blown bulb is enough to attract attention and bring a wave of swimming rogues hoping to make the best of the opportunity. I knew I would have trouble our last night from stow aways; but now, we would 
be attracting every rogue in the harbor area so I made some calls and had a tank park itself at the end of the pier to protect the dock and discourage any unwanted visitors. To be honest the vehicle is actually an "armored 105mm gun" and not a tank, but for most of the crew it was a tank! The crew had a blast taking pictures on it and the tank crew were very generous to us and even allowed people to climb on it to take pictures. Cailin of course wanted a picture of her being squashed by the tank, what a joker!
On early Sunday morning, I was made aware that 5-6 individuals had swum to the barge off of our pier and could be seen tearing pipes and cables from the dredging barge. In the past, rogues have used this platform to stage raids on our dock and ship as well as other vessels in the port. On March 26 the Ghanaian detachment and I was able to arrest 5 individuals engaged in similar illegal activities.
This is what justice looks like in Liberia, oh yeah the judge asked me for $40 to transport the prisoners to prison. So I threw them and the sheriff into the back of my Land rover and drove them myself.
Of course this also started on the day that Zana had 70 women coming for screening. A lot of these woman had trouble getting transportation because of the riots. Their lives have been destroyed by the violence here and once again the day there is hope for treatment, violence springs up and makes a difficult transport into something impossible.
I have been asked by the leadership of Mercy Ships to return to the International Head Quarters (IOC) in Van, TX. They are praying about making serious changes to their IT infrastructure and they want me to lead their team. It had been our desire to stay on the Anastasis till the winter when the African Mercy was to relieve us in Ghana, but we have decided it would be best if we submit to the ministry's request and to also give our kids a chance to start school in the fall in the US. So we are coming home, by mid-June I will be waking around Wal-Mart and Home Depot with my mouth open in culture shock. I can't wait to see all of you and find out how God has moved in your lives over the last 2 years.
It has been quite the week!!!! Late Monday night, I was woken to respond to a fire on the barge at the end of our pier. Rogue thieves have been using the barge to stage their raids on the port and our ship and pier. The fire eventually went out on its own but it was a huge concern since the barge is just 20 feet from the ship.On Thursday we saw 5 swimmers return top the barge in the afternoon. My Ghurka's and I used our wrist rocket slingshots and .38 ball bearings to keep their heads down but we could not dislodge them, eventually they swam away.
On Friday afternoon, I was notified by the ships security team that once again we had 5 individuals climbing aboard the barge. We again yelled at the rogues that they were trespassing and used slingshots to harass them. The rogues took cover under the barges structure and refused to leave. I informed the Captain of the Anastasis, Captain Jurryan Shutte, of the situation and requested permission to plan an operation utilizing our ship’s small boat and the local Ghanaian detachment to arrest the rogues. The Captain concerned with the ongoing safety of the ship and crew agreed with the need to resolve this issue and approved the operation.
Because the rogues had been seen with either a meat cleaver or machete there was concern for the safety of the boat crew, a request was made to the Ghanaian detachment for armed soldiers to assist in the apprehension of the rogues. My team consisted of myself, my lead Ghurka, and a Coxswain along with a Ghanaian soldier; we were lowered in the ship’s small boat. As the small boat approached the barge 3 individual jumped from the barge into the water. I notified the individuals that they were trespassing and that they needed to swim ashore to be placed in custody of the Ghanaian officers. At first the rogues were given life preservers to insure they reached shore safely. The rogues soon tired and were brought into the ship’s boat, they were then handed over to Ghanaian detachment. The 3 rogues informed us that there were 2 more rogues onboard the ship. Additional Ghanaian soldiers with weapons covered the boat crew during the apprehension from the dock.
My team and the Ghanaian soldier boarded the barge and began to search the forward part of the ship and tanks. As we began to search aft, we found a storage compartment aft which contained some sort of air tanks and fire extinguishers. We requested 2 additional Ghanaian soldiers to assist in the search of this confined space. We searched for 30 minutes and did not find the remaining 2 rogues. We removed all of the tanks in the hold and recovered a broken lock, meat cleaver, and small hammer as evidence of their efforts in breaking into the barge and stripping the copper wire from it. We also found cable junction boxes that had been cut out and removed. We also found evidence where they had used the fire earlier in the week to burn through thick cable and its insulation.
As we returned to the M/V Anastasis and recovered the small boat, we were informed by the security staff that 2 individuals had swam from the barge. We reassembled the team and interdicted the 2 rogues at the railroad bridge. We escorted them to the Nepalese base where Ghanaian soldiers were waiting to place them in custody. The 2 individuals were claiming to not be rogues but workers in the port. As we returned the 2 rogues to the Ghanaian Battalion HQ, the 3 previously caught rogues identified the last 2 as their compatriots; removing any validity to the last 2 rogue’s claims of innocence. 
The 5 individuals refused to comply with multiple requests for their names and contact information. I tried to convince the 5 rogues that it was in their best interest to comply with the UNMIL and LSP (Liberian Seaport Police) officers. They refused to do so and continued to give false information to the officers, the Nigerian officer questioning started to beat one of the suspects who was mocking him. I had to intervene on their behalf to stop the beating . We handed the 5 suspects over to the LSP with 2 of Mercy Ship’s handcuffs used to restrain 4 of the individuals.
Saturday morning the LSP officers returned with one of the suspect to our ship. The suspect had damaged the handcuffs by trying to pick the lock. We told the LSP that we would not be able to cut off the handcuff till Monday morning. The LSP officer in charge requested that we provide food for the 5 suspects because they would have to hold them till Monday morning. On Sunday the officers came to the ship and they informed me that the rocket scientist that broke the handcuffs was banging it against the wall and forced it to tighten around his wrist. As I drove to the holding cell to assist I saw the officers holding down the suspect as they used a machete and a rock to break open the handcuff. I immediately turned my vehicle around and waited for 15 minutes before returning to make sure that I didn't witness an amputation. In the end the skilled locksmith with the rock and machete successfully removed the handcuffs. I have to admit it felt cool to play the "Coastie" again. It wasn't until I had to climb the 8ft up to the top of the barge did I realize how old and "big" I am right now. In the end we got the bad guys in jail and secured the port area.
