AIR! We have AIR!

We have air! YAY!!  The air has been on for Decks 4 (cabins and nurses stations) and 5 (part of galley, dining room, many offices, registration, café, ship shop, library and academy). It’s on on deck 3 (my cabin) but it needs some time to fill the rooms there first. It’s also going to take some time to fill up deck 7 (laundry, computer room, some more offices and big meeting room).  The pool is also open. Just in time too, because all of the people from Applesbosch have arrived. Applesbosch was a former small college campus that was taken over by the Mercy Ship people as a hold-over site for many ship people while the ship was being worked on and had no air (for several months). I’ve been told that there were pros and cons to both locations: AB had windows, land to walk around and play on (for all the kids), was a pretty area in the middle of the mountains; it also took forever to go anywhere or do anything because it was in the middle of nowhere and didn’t have any ship people. The ship had no air, but it was in the middle of the mission itself and it is near a town.

That also means that the ship has about 300 people living on board now, including 300 to cook for every meal and clean up too. The good news is that the generators are also getting up to snuff in other areas. There is already a commercial dishwasher downstairs for the dishes in the dining room, but all the pots and pans must be washed by hand upstairs (in the galley) after every meal. We should have another such dishwasher upstairs in the next week or so, before we leave port. Also, the rest of the clothes washers/dryers should be up and running very soon – important for a tight community of 300! In the meantime, areas which have been getting dirty or otherwise mussed, what with engine workers, dust, pipes and tubes running all over the ship, are being scrubbed to within an inch of their lives. Even before the air came on, people were being bussed in daily from AB, getting down on their hands & knees scrubbing floors, walls, shelves (you name it), and then filing back on to the small busses and taking the 90 minute drive back to AB. All of this scrubbing must be accomplished before the ship can pass inspection and leave for Sierra Leone. All the nurses have been working hard, also cleaning and arranging the entire hospital, in order to be fully prepared for medical services when we arrive. It’s truly amazing to watch. Please understand, fans & followers, this is all done by volunteers! Not only is everything done without pay, for the glory of the Lord, but everyone has to pay for their room and board in order to serve here.

As I said earlier there are entire families here now; mothers and/or fathers serving on the ship while the kids live on ship and go to the academy. The academy serves all grades although all grades are not being served at all time – that, of course, depends on the array of ages of the children on board.

While in classes, the kids are even in uniforms. While they are in school, the ship continues to prepare for inspection and departure. Our goal is to leave no later than February 8^th, in order to arrive in Sierra Leone by the 25^th, with a 24 hour respite in Cape Town. Most of the guys working on the generators have not had any time off whatsoever for some time now, and deserve at least one completely free day! Some of those whose jobs are now complete (or will be when we leave) will fly out of Cape Town for their homes. In the meantime, there are teams of doctors in Sierra Leone interviewing and preparing lists of those SL natives who will need medical care from the ship when it arrives. That’s why the ship and its hospital must be ready when it arrives there...

International Lounge above where we have devotionals every morning and any other important get-togethers. Captain's spot below - the Bridge (also called the Wheelhouse).

PS: just got back to my room after my dinner dishes shift and it’s freezing – YAAAAAAY!