'Twas the Night before Guinea....thanking God for the Advance Team

As I'm typing this, the engines are steadily doing their part to get us to Conakry - nautical mile by nautical mile (as they have been since Thursday).  The ship is rocking side to side (the cups that were drying on the counter have now been on the floor for quite a while).  The curtains are sliding back and forth along their rod.  I keep wondering if I'm going to hear the "thud" of a child falling out of their bed.  All in all it's been a smooth sail - a few moments of seasickness....but nothing too traumatic. 

From what I can understand, the ship's time in Tenerife was something of a vacation - though I am certain the deck guys and engineers would disagree!!  And rightfully so!! For them, the maintenance & inspections & all that they had to do was certainly not a vacation! And sailing the ship from Tenerife to Conakry certainly hasn't been anything like a vacation for the Captain and his crew.  So maybe it would be more correct to say that the hospital has not been in operation these past 2 months!   

We'll be docking in Guinea tomorrow morning.  From what I've heard, everyone will hit the ground running - the hospital will go from "secured for sail" to up and running; off ship sites will get put together in record time; nurses and doctors will come (and those who have been working in all sorts of roles as stewards and cooks and dining room servers will finally get to go back to their "regular" jobs!); screening day will happen and then the surgeries will begin...

Feels like tomorrow is a big day. The start of something significant.  

But God's been reminding me tonite that it's absolutely not just starting tomorrow.  Plans have been in the works for years...prayers have been prayed....meetings have been held.  And, most recently, the Advance Team has been hard at work preparing the way for God to bring hope and healing through the Africa Mercy in Guinea.

I think I know only about the tip of the iceberg of what all the Advance Team has done (it's slightly hard to make an iceberg reference while we're still sailing...thankfully I would venture to guess that there is no threat of anything even semi-related to an iceburg here off the coast of West Africa).  Maybe I'll learn more about what all the Advance Team has done and can report back in the coming days.

But I do know that they have been hard at work - and what is coming in the next few days, weeks and months would not be possible without their dedication, hard-work and God-honoring lives.

A lady named Tracey Swopes has been the leader of the Advance Team.  She wrote an article that was posted on our internal website today.  It encouraged and challenged me - and I wanted to share the last paragraph with you (the "dance" she talks about is definitely not talking about actual dancing in Guinea! :))(though, if it's anything like Ghana, there will certainly be plenty of dancing!)

So, how should we dance in Guinea? I want to encourage everyone (AFM, International Officers and the IOC) to put away his or her own plans for saving Guinea. I encourage you to pray for and love the Guinean people as Jesus loves us. I am NOT saying accept the corruption, the Islamic faith, or other worldviews. I am saying listen to the music, dance the dance of relationship building while standing on the Father’s toes and be willing to go where the Holy Spirit leads you. There is a popular song out there that I have enjoyed...one sentence now strikes me differently: “I'm gonna shape history . . . and I’m going to change the world”. No I am not! I am going to stand on my Father’s toes like the uncoordinated 9 year old that I am and allow Him to use me to change the world one worldview clash at a time ... His timing not mine ... I encourage you to give it a whirl.  -- Tracey Swopes, Advance Team Leader

Please pray for us -  pray for the Africa Mercy as a whole.  Pray for the individuals that make up Mercy Ships. Pray for the Technical side of Mercy Ships. Pray for the medical side of Mercy Ships.  Pray for the doctors & nurses, the teachers & stewards.  Pray for those who - even now! - are making their way to Conakry for screening day.  Pray for the Cash family. Pray for Nick as he continues to learn & carry out his roles as HR manager.  Pray for Eli, Caroline & Emma as they learn & play & grow & develop.  Pray for me as I serve our family and help in other ways on the ship.  May we all stand on our Father's toes and allow Him to lead...allow Him to set the pace...allow Him to dip us and twirl us and draw us close....willing to go wherever, whenever & however... 

Surely there will be more to come.