April 15, 2006 Easter and Mark's Preaching

It is Easter weekend here on the ship. On Friday night we held a Passover dinner where we celebrated the Jewish tradition and the second covenant. I have been preaching at a church conference as the key speaker the last 2 days. The theme has been "Pressing on Toward the Goal." My first sermon was on the Lord's tempering the people of Liberia through the hardship of 14 years of war to ready them to return their country back to the Lord. My second was finding God's will in their lives, they need to be sure that the goals they set for themselves are God's goals. My third sermon will deal with believers seeking God as the great counselor, that they must not only talk to God, but they must stop and listen for God to answer them. I have taken 3 nurses visiting as short term crew from Massachusetts around with me as we went to our orphanage, the markets and as I preached this last week. We will miss Marie, Karen and John they have made us a little home sick.

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.