I apologize for the extended absence from posting.  The last few months have been particularly hectic for the Stewart clan as both my shiny new nephew and my father have had some medical emergencies.

I had originally planned on departing the ship in early December but a week before Thanksgiving my Father suffered a life threatening fall from the roof while working on a new patio structure in my parents’ backyard. He fell a dozen feet or so, landing on the concrete.  Sometime later my Mom came home from work to find him barely conscious, bleeding, and unable to move. The paramedics were called and it was discovered he had been lying there in the cold rain for over an hour. By the grace of God my mother had come straight home otherwise he may have died on the pavement.

By the time I learned of his accident it was Friday morning in the Tenerife. I immediately booked a flight out to get home as soon as possible.  Due the amount of time to process departures through the customs office, the earliest I could get home was the following Tuesday.

After being delivered to the hospital, the immediate course of action for my dad was to warm him up and get his blood pressure up, which was dangerously low.  After he stabilized the next day, he had surgery to repair his broken femur, pelvis, and tailbone. A few days later he had surgery to repair his right wrist/forearm. After nearly two weeks he had a third surgery to repair both eye sockets, nose, and several other breaks to his skull.

Needless to say he was in pretty poor shape following the fall. I am happy to report that my Dad has made a truly amazing recovery so far. He is currently working on getting his mobility/strength back and is working on using his cane less.  He has also returned to work and is working his way back up to a full workload. The biggest remaining hurdle for him is the recovery of his head/face.  He had extensive work done and is expected to continue to have increasing discomfort for a few more weeks before it will start to diminish.  It could be more than a year before his face feels “normal”.

If that were not enough, while all this was going down my nephew Graham was having his own drama. Upon his birth it was noted that his jaw appeared to be on the small side.  This was noticed by the doctors but was apparently within the envelope of normal, particularly because the jaw is one of the later parts to develop in the womb and develops significantly after birth. My sister and her husband took him home but after several days of him struggling to put on weight he was admitted to the children’s hospital where a feeding tube was inserted through his nose. 

The doctor’s theorized Graham had a random genetic disorder call Pierre-Robin Syndrome (PRS).  This condition usually includes a cleft palate, which Graham did not have luckily.  However, PRS can cause a small jaw, which constricts the throat, limiting the ability to take in food and restricts the airway. It was decided to do a full genetic workup on Graham since PRS usually occurs with other genetic disorders as well. The results of his full genetic workup would not be available for a few weeks.

It was determined that the best course of action for Graham would be to do a mandibular distraction surgery to extend his jaw.  This would aid in his ability to both feed and breathe. This surgery entailed severing his jaw bone on each side and screwing in an extension screw device (under the skin) that would be cranked each day for a number of weeks, allowing the bone to grow to fill in the gap.  Following healing of the jaw, a surgery would be performed to remove the mechanisms in his jaw.

The surgery went smoothly and Graham stayed in the hospital for a few more weeks for observation. Following surgery there was an immediate improvement in his breathing and feeding was improved but obviously not easy following a significant surgery to the jaw/throat area.

Graham was eventually able to go home where he continued to be fed through the feeding tube in his nose.  With the feeding tube he was able to put on weight, though slowly.  He developed significant problems regurgitating his food.  The feeding tube in his nose also meant he had to stay wrapped up, otherwise he would pull the tube out of his nose due to discomfort.  After a number of weeks back home it was decided that inserting a feeding tube directly into his stomach was the best course of action.  This would be far more comfortable for him.  It would also allow him more time to play around without being bundled and theoretically would help with his frequent vomiting.

Graham was once again admitted to the hospital and had his surgery to insert the feeding tube into his stomach, with minimal drama. A few days later he was able to come home. Following the surgery there was still plenty of vomiting but Graham was noticeably happier due to having more free time not bundled up, and to be free of the obnoxious tube going up his nose and down his throat. It was shortly after this surgery I was finally able to meet him for the first time. What a glorious day!

Shortly after Graham returned home from his surgery they finally received his genetic test results.  It was learned at this point that Graham did not have the genetic marker for PRS but that he had a different genetic mutation.  This one is incredibly rare and does not have a name.  At the time of his testing there had only been 6 confirmed cases of his variant.  This genetic mutation has a wide variety of outcomes but the most notable were hypotonia (low muscle tone), epilepsy, developmental delays, and issues regarding speech.  It was expressed by the genetic counselor right off the bat that he may struggle to walk and may never develop the ability to speak and may need the assistance of some sort of communication device.  This was obviously a difficult blow during an already difficult time.

Graham eventually had a few seizures and it was decided to put him on anti-seizure meds.  Since starting those meds he has become a whole new baby and it has been a joy to see his development improve.  He is so much more consistently happy, alert, and interactive than he was before.

He has had surgery to remove the mechanisms in his jaw. Around that same time he started developing some low oxygen events but those have subsided for the most part. He is still struggling with keeping his food down consistently but his weight is trending upward and Graham is seeing a GI doctor to work on improving his nutrition.

This has been a trying season but I am so thankful how things have worked out so far.  The timing of everything worked out perfect for me to move in with my parents so I could be around and help take care of things while my father was recovering. It has also been a joy to be near my sister, bro in-law, and stinking cute nephew during these tumultuous times.

Next Steps

Since things have stabilized at home I can now return to work.  I have been pursuing roles where I can leverage my natural problem solving skills and engineering experience to bring restoration to people and our broken world.  I have had a few interviews for positions relating to international development/aid and disaster relief. While I wait for those opportunities to pan out I will continue to take seminary courses online to further my studies of the Bible. We shall see what the future holds. 

This season has been incredibly difficult for myself and my family. I could spout countless platitudes about refinement through trials and how “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”. These are things I think many of us know but also pray that we will never be tested in such a way to find out. Through all the trials 2020 and the pandemic have put us all through I pray you have used this time to take a moment to reflect on what is really important and lasting in your own life.

It has been amazing to see the amount of recovery for my Dad from such a significant injury. It has likewise been inspiring to see the strength and patience that my sister and bro in-law have maintained during this season. Through all of this I know I am not alone in saying that God has continued to provide for us over and over throughout all the blows endured during this time. There have been countless moments where I have found peace when anxiety should have been spiraling in my mind. When fears should have overcome only thankfulness could be found. Thankfulness for access to (mostly) amazing healthcare for both my father and nephew but also the ability to test Graham and get a head start on getting him as much care and support he can get to maximize his ability to thrive.

Graham’s future is uncertain as ever but God has remained faithful this far and we will continue to trust he will provide the strength and peace we need to endure the road ahead. Graham’s life has not gotten started the way any of us imagined and will likely continue to not be what we had in mind when he first entered our lives.  The death of expectations can be a heavy weight to carry but we can maintain our hope in God and be filled with peace, that we have come to know, that Graham is a magnificent blessing. His life may not be easy and it may not be what we had pictured but that does not mean it will not be good.

I want to give a heartfelt thanks to all the friends and family who have supported me and my family in this time. A special thanks goes out to my Mercy Ships friends who were so helpful in making sure I finished well on the ship and got home safe. Thank you to all the friends and family who have continued to reach out and provide prayers and support over the last few months.

This last year has been trying for many of us, for a multitude of reasons. Despite the hardships of this last year I have witnessed immense growth in my faith and have come to know a peace without understanding that can only be found through Christ Jesus. My prayer for you is that you can know the same.

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. ⁹ What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9 (ESV))

It has been an absurdly crazy month for the Stewart clan. At times you could almost forget about the whole Covid thing. So here is a much delayed and rather long update on general life stuff as well as the goings on from the ship.

Life Update

• Early in September my hometown of Portland, OR exceeded 100 consecutive days of civil unrest which was complicated by wildfires across the area.
• On September 6^th my sister gave birth via impromptu c-section to completely objectively, 100% certified, the cutest baby ever, my nephew Graham.
• The wildfire situation got out of hand causing my sister and her husband to not bring their new baby home but rather to move in with my parents as their house was in a stage 3 full evacuation zone. A couple weeks later the wildfires ended and their home was safe.
• I am happy to announce I have purchased my flight home for early December.  I am currently unsure of what the future holds for me beyond that, but what I do know for sure it that I will be spending Christmas with my family, assuming Christmas is not cancelled on account of a meteor strike, acid rain crisis, or whatever new nonsense 2020 can throw at us.

I am so excited to come home and spend some much awaited time with family after two weeks of quarantine of course (Intl airports be sketchy for sure).

Ship Update:

• 59 of out the 139 crew onboard have surpassed 200 consecutive days in quarantine onboard the ship.
• Malta, the nation we sail under, has expedited the processing for a large portion of our crew to receive official seafarer documentation, known as a “seaman’s book”. Since I took basic training last summer, I was eligible. This means crew can be designated as official “sailors”. This is a big deal since we have not been processed by immigration to enter Spain, effectively making us “at sea” since the end of March and for many of our crew having that gap in their passport is a significant issue. Having the seaman’s book should aid in travel to and from the ship as well as serve as documentation to aid in future visa applications where a gap in your passport could mean disqualification.  In these times where governing bodies are stricter and far less likely to stretch the rules, Malta putting in an express lane for our crew is a tremendous blessing.

• Some crew have started returning to the ship which has been good for the community.  Eventually we will have about 6-7 families onboard and the academy will start running in early October (though at a much lower capacity). The overall crew will most likely hover around 150 people for the near future.
• We have had some changes in our supply team. A couple weeks ago John returned home to Liberia and we welcomed new crew members Miryam & Rik. For a few weeks we had a team of two (Owen and I) holding down the fort, so some additional help is very exciting.

Major News Items: There are currently two big news items on the ship

The first news item is that two weeks ago we were notified that one of our Spanish contractors performing maintenance on the ship tested positive for Covid. The next day, after learning of this Covid case, one of our crew onboard tested positive, however this crewmember was a new arrival who had remained in isolation since arrival (per our new crew protocols) so it was speculated that they contracted the virus during their international travel to the ship and due to immediate isolation had not transmitted the virus onboard. We eventually learned the contractor who tested positive had not been onboard for 10 days prior to their positive test so it is assumed no Covid was brought to the ship.  As result of these two “near misses” we have implemented “social preventative measures” on the ship (most notably wearing masks 24/7 and social distancing).

The second big news item is the official announcement of our new ship the Global Mercy.  This ship is currently finishing production in China. This ship is the first of its kind and will be a tremendous tool in bringing hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor, strengthening the medical infrastructure of Africa, and above all expanding the Kingdom of God (including all the joy, peace, and love it brings) to some of the most broken places in our world. Here is the announcement video.

Covid Restrictions Reactions

With the introduction of the “social preventative measures” it has really brought home how much of a blessing it has been to have this community onboard during these last 6+ months.  Though many of us have been in quarantine and gone more than 200 days without stepping foot on something that was not concrete, carpet, or steel, we have been fairly comfortable. Our biggest issues have been stepping off the ship/port and travel for people to leave/return to the ship but during this entire season our day to day lives onboard have remained somewhat unaffected by Covid.  As a result, I think some people have grown complacent onboard in thinking the way we have been living is sustainable when it clearly was not.  The Covid “social preventative measures” have been a wake-up call for many of the crew and we are handling these changes with a range of reactions. For quite some time the leadership onboard has tried to hint that these measures were inevitable but some crew simply never wanted to believe it.  For myself it has only made sense that we would need to make changes just like the rest of the world, particularly since we are working in the medical field.

This is not to say the Covid limitations the rest of the world have been living with (masks and social distance) will affect us in the same way or to the same degree. 

Impact of restrictions onboard

In speaking with some people from back home I think there is a poor conception of what life is like onboard and how these changes will affect us.  Even within the organization, the idea of adding masks and social distancing seems like a mere inconvenience to some but to the crew it is a fundamental change to our way of life. 

To better illustrate how this is affecting the crew let me paint you a picture…

Pretend you are living in a 7-story apartment building or hotel of sorts, located in a foreign industrial park, in which you and the 120 or so other residents are both living and employed.  Yourself and the people there work as mechanics to keep the generators going, electricians to fix the lights/equipment, an IT team to keep the internet and computers running, a reception desk, housekeepers to maintain the common spaces, etc. Your home life and work life are the same thing, no division.

Now imagine you and your neighbors/co-workers have spent 6 months being confined to and working in this building during a pandemic. Due to limited international travel you have enjoyed an understaffed department, intermittent internet, and possibly no air conditioning. Every meal you eat comes from a cafeteria which provides good food but you have no control over what you eat on a daily basis and your personal quarters consists of a bed, a toilet, and if you are lucky, a small window. Your only options for “fresh air” are to walk laps on the roof or in the parking lot. Your only social connections come from the friends you have been able to make the last few months in this building of 120+ people from 40+ nations.

Even with the struggles, the uncertainty of the pandemic, and your entertainment/social options being limited, you have learned to enjoy life in this building.  In your freetime you play boardgames with your friends in the common spaces, have movie nights in a makeshift movie theatre from a converted meeting room, weekly group meetings for various hobbies, and late night conversations with your close friends in the dining room.

Then overnight you are told you must wear a mask at all times except for when you are eating/drinking or in your living space (aka in bed or on the toilet). You must maintain 6ft distance from all people and eliminate physical contact from everyone, except your one roommate, if you have one.  The movie theatre is taken down, community spaces now hold 1/3 of the people that they used to, and only some games can be played given you have enough space and sharing of game components is limited. It is reasonable to believe that these changes would be a disruptive blow to the community.

I do not bring all this up to evoke pity or concern. I simply want everyone to be on the same page. This is the reality, many of us saw these changes coming and were able to get our heads wrapped around this way of living.  I have honestly been surprised as things are not difficult as I would have thought, but then again part of that may have to do with my own positive attitude and you may want to ask me again in a few weeks.

Obstacles vs limitations and repercussions

My concern moving forward is how we respond to these restrictions and how we can make our community thrive. The sad fact of the matter is a small minority of crew onboard, much like people in the “real world”, see the restrictions as obstacles to work around (find loopholes) rather than limitations to live with. They need to realize there is far more at stake than crew comfort and even crew health. 

Neglecting the operational nightmare and inevitable spread, statistically if a dozen people were to get sick on the ship, given the risk factors of our crew make-up, it is very unlikely anyone would require serious medical attention.  It seems some of us on the ship know this fact and as a result they struggle with the impacts from the social preventative measures to their social lives/mental health with such a low perceived risk to their personal physical health.

The reality of our situation however is we are not living in a 7-story apartment building or hotel.  We are living in a hospital and we are not “employed”, we are volunteers who are here to serve the Kingdom of God through Mercy Ship’s medical mission. The restrictions are in place for more than our own health concerns. We want to be a functioning hospital again.

In the short term we need to keep these restrictions in place to prevent Covid onboard so that essential maintenance projects can be performed so we can return to serving the people of Africa more effectively. If Covid comes onboard that work cannot be performed and if that work cannot be performed we might as well send everyone home and put the ship in storage.

In the long term we need to figure out how to live with these restrictions as we are a medical mission.  If it is important to keep Covid off the ship during maintenance it will be all the more important when we have high risk patients onboard.

Flexibility and Adaptation moving forward

Covid has changed a lot in our world.  Everyone has needed to adapt. It is only natural that on top of the changes to the logistical and operational demands there will also be significant changes to crew life onboard. There has always been a cost associated with serving the Kingdom of God and volunteering with the Mercy Ships organization. Crew have always had to make sacrifices to be here. In these times it is reasonable for us to assume those costs and sacrifices may change as well. In economics, changes in costs/demands can result in changes to your customers/market. Similarly, the changes to crew demands onboard may change the crew makeup in this season (temperament and personality for example).

It is strange to think I was a part of the last “normal” field service (for the time being). I pray we can return to some form of “normalcy” in the future. In the meantime we need to see past the “obstacles” the restrictions present and tackle the challenge of building a thriving community with the restrictions in place.

The mission of the organization, our impact at helping others, and spreading the good news of Jesus is completely reliant on us being able to find a way to be effective with these restrictions.

The future is as uncertain as ever yet I am confident this will all work for the good. We simply need to take things a day at a time, making one right step after another, and keep our eyes fixed on the only thing we know for certain, the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!!!

This Tuesday (Aug 11) will be our 150^th day in quarantine onboard the Africa Mercy. During this time, life has gone from the craziness of hastily wrapping up a field service and caring for our remaining patients in the best way possible, to departing Senegal for a safer harbor in the Canary islands, to sending home half of our 240 remaining “crew” aka friends and family. For the past two months the departures have slowed to a halt and our crew size has hovered at approximately 120 crew members (Approximately ¼ our crew level during a field service).

While I have sat here onboard this 150 meter long floating bubble of health and community it has been impossible to avoid the stillness onboard. Our remaining crew are spread throughout the ship with most cabins having 2 or less people, allowing us far more privacy than ever before. There is also less to do, resulting in people commonly retreating to their rooms.

As someone who neither identifies as an extrovert or introvert I have, at different times, found this stillness to be both refreshing solitude and maddening silence. On the whole I would say I have enjoyed this time as it has given me lots of time to reflect.

On top of the predominant stillness onboard there are still days/weeks of tremendous busyness as we work to keep the ship running and complete maintenance projects. This is done in conjunction with attempting to tackle the task of getting more people home and simultaneously re-staffing the ship through ever changing travel restrictions worldwide.  As a result, practically every person on board has volunteered to take on additional responsibilities, change roles, or to fill gaps in another department to keep things running.

This oscillation between extremes of near complete stillness and busyness has been performed while we carry all the waiting and uncertainties from the Covid situation. When will I go home? When will we return to serving Africa? When will I see my friends/family again? When will I eat a guacamole bacon cheeseburger again? When will I have bottomless steak fries? (Oh how I miss you, Red Robin)

When I look around this ship I see we are all seeming to “cope” with these fluctuations in a few different ways and with varying levels of success.

While I realize I am living in a quarantined ship community I am sure this season of waiting in uncertainty through both fluctuations of stillness and chaos is not unfamiliar. I think regardless of the communities we are in, everyone in the world is facing this struggle to varying degrees at different times.

It may be because I have been living on a ship for more than a year but this Covid season of life has felt a lot like we have set sail for uncertain shores and along the way we are going through both intense squalls and getting stuck in the doldrums.

As I have contemplated how to navigate these Covid waters, I kept coming back to the Sunday school story of Jesus calming the sea. In analyzing this story I have found some wisdom and perspective that has been very helpful for me.

²² One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” Luke 8:22-25 [ESV]

When encountering this scripture I have always struggled a bit when I have attempted to grasp all of the applications. Obviously this is a moment to learn the power Jesus has and the lack of the faith of the disciples. However, as I am task oriented person when I have read this text I have struggled when trying to decide how the disciples should have acted.

What would the proper response be when in the midst of the storm?

Should the disciples have batten down the hatches and worked to empty the boat of water?

Or should they have had supreme “faith” and simply lay down to nap next to Jesus?

Through my contemplation I have landed on the conclusion that ultimately I think both of these approaches miss the application of the text and the application to our own sail through Covid waters.

The question is not “What should we do when the storm comes?”. The appropriate questions are…

“Who has set your course?” and “Who is in your boat?”

Or simply, “Where does your hope come from?” or more simply still, as Jesus states here, “Where is your faith?”

If the answers to these questions do not agree you may have a problem.

I like to think I have been handling this season like a champ.  After all, there are very few things within my control and fretting about global issues or my future will not change a thing. But honestly there are times when my positive attitude, pragmatic approach, and mental gymnastics are not enough. In these moments, stillness and quiet are synonymous with darkness as swirling thoughts of the world can be too much. It is so natural to let my own problems and the problems of the world continue to linger in my mind.

One of my natural responses in times of trouble is to “rest” but it is funny that “rest” often times looks a lot like distraction.  (Let’s just say I have binged my fair share of Netflix and am familiar with the youtube wormhole). We all know this attempt at distraction is a temporary fix and often the nagging problems and thoughts are only worse once the distraction ends.

In the times of nagging stress & stillness I have found the answer is to look away myself, my situation, my desires/dreams, and even my silver linings. Instead, I choose to fix my eyes to where my hope comes from, and that is Jesus. It is my actions made out of this hope that bring life.

The application here is actions flow from what your heart and mind are focused on. We need to be conscious of this and actively work to maintain our focus on the right things. Actions coming purely in response to fear, insecurity, and anger reveal where our hearts & minds reside and these actions rarely lead to lifegiving outcomes. 

I can’t promise I won’t continue to enjoy the occasional distraction but I can tell you this last year has been transformational for me.  I know a peace now that I have never known and I am truly thankful for the struggles I had to face this last year which forced me to grow. Remember, we cripple ourselves by avoiding our problems.  It is only through struggle that we can grow.

³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:35 [ESV]

We do not know where this season will go next and it may not be what we wanted or expected. That does not mean there is not something to be gained here. The world is different but that doesn’t mean all the differences are for the worse.  Continue to find the opportunities to live, serve, and grow.

I have found the solitude to be refining if you let it. I invite you to find the time to lean into the silence and take inventory of yourself.

I leave you with this…

How are you coping with seas of life?

How do you respond when you get stressed? When your world gets still?

Who is directing your boat? Who is in your boat?

Where do you find hope? Where is your faith?

Thank you for your continued support and prayer. God bless you all!

Hola! Greetings from Granadilla, Tenerife. In many ways a lot has happened operationally since my last post two months ago, but personally not much has transpired. Here are the highlights.

• Since May 1^st our crew has reduced from 239 to 115.
• It was announced that our new “Target Date” or the earliest date we would re-enter Senegal, is January 25, 2021. We plan to stay in Tenerife performing maintenance until we depart to Senegal.
• I officially became Supply Manager onboard the ship
• We are still confined to the ship and our 300 yard long pier we are docked at. As of today we have been quarantined on the ship for 121 days.
• Since my last post I have officially been away from home more than a year. (June 10^th)

The change in the target date has forced me to review my own future plans.  As it stands I am committed to staying until mid-December. In the coming months if it appears the January return the Senegal is likely I may extend a couple months to provide continuity as we start a new field service.  I think the return to Senegal could be an exciting and rewarding time.  

Since my last post I have officially become “Supply Manager” aboard the ship.  So far so good. The job is certainly not boring.  We receive weekly orders of local produce and some specialty items for our kitchen and store onboard. Our local delivery company has a habit of providing us “bonus” items. The first few bonuses were very welcome items (Tortilla Chips & Salsa, Chocolate Bars, Tubs of icecream). The most recent “free item” was not as welcome, 40lbs of Cow tongue… Hopefully we can get creative and make some tacos or something…

Another perk of being supply manager is I am now in charge of all the paper goods on the ship. In light of the “Global Toilet Paper Crisis” I believe this now makes me “unofficially” the richest person on the ship.

Overall the ship is so different now from how it was even 6 weeks ago. The reduction of crew has resulted in the ship becoming much more quiet.  First of all, most of the families have left, meaning less kids running around playing. Secondly there are less people per cabin resulting in many people having access to much needed solitude.  By about 8pm each evening approximately 90% of the crew are either watching a movie, playing a board game, or reading a book. 

I myself am enjoying the solitude and quiet time.  At the same time there are plenty of friends to spend time with doing the above activities, as well as cooking group dinners/desserts and the occasional round of Mario kart. We are all anxious to be able to get off ship to enjoy the beaches and hike the volcano right outside our ship. We still remain optimistic we will walk on dry land someday soon.

I know many people back home are still restricted in their movement and social activities.  Though we are stuck on the weirdest cruise ever, we are blessed right now to be able to be in a community of our 100 closest friends. I am enjoying the solitude but I always enjoy hearing from people back home, so do not hesitate to reach out via email or WhatsApp.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayer! God bless and stay safe out there!

Due to Covid19 we were forced to leave Senegal early but in the time we were there we were able to serve the people of Senegal in a meaningful way. See below for a short video summarizing some of the work we performed in Senegal. We will be back.

A lot has transpired since my last post back on March 20th.

After isolating the ship crew and patients from the outside world we were able to successfully care for and discharge our remaining patients. The hospital staff miraculously accomplished this while the operations crew prepared the ship for sail to leave Dakar. On March 27th, we set sail for the Spanish Canary Islands.

In the middle of this crazy time of pack up and ship preparation, I personally hit a speed bump. A week after we created our ship bubble, sealing ourselves off from the outside world, I came down with a fever (101F). After notifying my doctor friend, I was placed in an empty family cabin to be isolated. My bunk mates were forced to stay within our cabin. The next morning, though I felt better, I was administered a COVID test by two of our lovely nurses fully outfitted in yellow isolation gowns and various safety accouterments. The test consisted of two swabs. The first swab was the back of my throat, no big deal. The second swab required going up my nose and needed to be twisted for 10 seconds against what I can only imagine was my brain. This was unpleasant but only caused a single tear due to physically squeezing one of my tear ducts. It was not as bad as I thought it would be but not something I plan to do again.

About 8 hours after the test I was notified the test came back negative, but was told I needed to stay in isolation for another 24 hours for observation. A little mandated rest was welcomed. To date I am the only person on board who has been tested for COVID.

We arrived in the Canary Islands on March 31st. We have been confined to our ship since this time (Except for a brief 48 hours where they allowed us to walk on the dock) and as a result we have remained COVID free. On April 14 we finished our two week quarantine period. Due to the Spanish lockdown we are unable to receive visas to enter Spain (aka leave the ship) but we are allowed to transport people to the airport to fly home. Since April 14 we have slowly been sending people home (mostly medical folks we had on board to help in case of a COVID outbreak).

The plan for the ship from here is to enter a maintenance period (Also known as “Shipyard”) so that the ship will be ready to return to Africa as soon as it is safe to do so. To perform maintenance on the ship will require new contractors to arrive, meaning our “Bubble” on board will break and we want to make sure all of our highest risk crew are able to get home safely before that happens.

My personal plan is to stay with the ship through shipyard. I will re-evaluate in August. I have transitioned from “medical supply” to “general supply” and will be taking over as the Supply Manager in the coming weeks as members of my department take leave. What I do following August will depend on what Africa and the rest of the world looks like in these crazy COVID times.

As difficult of times we are in, it has been a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful community on the ship during a time when much of the world has been forced into isolation. We have been healthy and safe and not had to worry about things such as “social distancing”. We have filled our time with ship olympics, dance parties, movie nights, concerts, trivia nights, stand up comedy, and many board games. These last couple months in ship quarantine, trapped just outside of paradise, in many ways have been the richest community I have felt on board.

Sadly, over the last couple weeks, much of that community which developed over the last few months has departed the ship. Though I am sad about many friends leaving, I am thankful for the memories I have shared with such amazing people. It is also a blessing to live in an age where through technology people are so accessible. For many of the people who have departed the ship it is not “goodbye”, but merely a “see you later”. Particularly now that people are going home to a “Social Distanced” and isolated world which is inherently reliant on online messaging and video conferencing.

Like much of the world, this next season for me is filled with uncertainty. I will be taking on a new role and the crew make up of the ship will change significantly. Though this transition is disruptive and I am leaving behind one of my most fruitful stretches with Mercy Ships I am excited by the new opportunities in this next season. My time with Mercy Ships has been filled with many great memories but has also been riddled with trials which have changed me on a fundamental level. I welcome this next season as another part of the work God is doing in my life and as an opportunity for me to further the mission of this life giving organization.

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support! Please continue to be vigilant in your own health and safety. God bless!

Well the world is pretty crazy right now. I want to let everyone know that we are safe here in Dakar. Due to this Covid-19 situation we have had to halt our hospital and medical training operations. We have also quarantined the ship while we continue to care for our existing patients. See below for an official statement from Mercy Ships…

“The current situation of COVID-19, highlighted by the W.H.O.’s announcement of the designation of COVID-19 as a pandemic and the increasing travel restrictions applied by several countries, have made it increasingly difficult for Mercy Ships to continue to carry out its programs to the required standards, while protecting against the possible spread of the virus.

Therefore, in line with the measures taken by the President of Senegal with the Ministry of Health, Mercy Ships has reviewed the activities associated with the Africa Mercy and has decided to wind down the programmatic operations of our mission in Senegal.

The main concerns of Mercy Ships are the health of the Senegalese people and the safety and well-being of our own volunteers, crew and staff worldwide.

While we regret these measures, we are convinced that they are necessary for the safety and well-being of all concerned.

As we face these challenging events, we would like to thank you for your ongoing prayers and support to Mercy Ships and our mission to bring hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor.”

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. Life is good on the ship. We mostly feel like we are watching the world from a distance. After all I have heard and read about life back home please quit hoarding toilet paper and wash your hands!!!!

I was recently invited to attend a “Lion Dance” with a group from the ship. I had no idea what it was and neither did most people in the group but it sounded like an adventure so I decided to go along.

The night began by boarding one of the local buses which was chartered for us. On the ride there I learned the Lion Dance was ran by a traveling troupe of dancers, drummers, and singers. The bus took us to the neighborhood where they were performing that night.

After arriving at our destination we walked a hundred meters or so into this neighborhood where are first taste of the Lion Dance was a flock of a dozen screaming children running at us, or more correctly, away from a group of men dressed in their “lion” garb.

At this point we had the opportunity to take some photos of the “lions” before the show began.

After some photos and mingling with the performers we were escorted into the performance area and given chairs to sit on. The event began with several individual dance performances by the “lions” while songs were sung and drums were played.

As the night went on the dances became more elaborate with more dancers involved. We were never really sure what was happening as we could not understand what they were singing about. At one point we were pretty sure a man in the audience was pulled to the middle of the dance floor and shamed for sneaking in without paying. We also may have witnessed some form of a interpretive dance mating ritual between a “Lion & Lioness”. The whole thing was a bit of a silly blur.

Before going to the “Lion Dance” I was not really sure what I was getting myself into. After witnessing it for myself, I am not sure I have any better of an understanding of what a “Lion Dance” is. All I know is that it was an enjoyable experience filled with live music and dancers in colorful outfits. I am thankful for the opportunity to witness some of these interesting events far different from what I would see back home.

Thank you for your continued support! God Bless!

See below for a link to a CNN piece on some of the modern aid in Africa. The first half of the video highlights Mercy Ships and two of our African crew.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/02/06/african-voices-changemakers-innoavative-aid.cnn

We just finished celebrating Christmas on the ship. It was a little odd singing Christmas carols in high 70’s heat but we all managed to get in the spirit eventually.

The month of December was filled with Christmas activities. There was a Christmas Bazaar where various handmade goods and treats were sold by crew members, multiple caroling events, lots of Christmas movies, and perpetual baking of Christmas goodies.

Though I greatly missed my family and friends back home I was able to enjoy the Christmas season. Thank you all for your continued support, words of encouragement, and season’s greetings. Much love to all of you as we enter a new year and decade!!