all over the place...and right here.

We've been trying to figure out how to put into words what exactly is going on in our world and in the world of the Africa Mercy (and feel the need to remind our readers that these are just our thoughts and feelings and aren't necessarily the views and beliefs of Mercy Ships) ....

But we've been waiting -- waiting "until we know more" -- waiting until we know which direction we are heading....waiting until the right words just magically came together...but the truth of the matter is that we don't know more and we don't really know when we'll know more, and words rarely (if ever) magically come together.   Here are streams of words that are managing to magically not come together: 

• Words: waiting. unknown. trusting. changes. transition. unexpected. change of plans. unsettled. 
• Roadblocks: ebola. issues with the propeller.  country-next? 
• Locations: Congo. Guinea. Benin. Benin? Congo? Somewhere else? 
• New New New: New Managing Director.  New Hospital Director. New Operations Director. New HR Director. New Deputy Chief Medical Officer. New Crew Physician. New Preschool Teacher.

So very much feels up in the air.  So much "new" and so many unknowns cannot help but lend themselves to a certain level of unsettled uncertainty.  Yet there's peace in the uncertainty.

There are 2 pictures that have come to mind in the past few days (we're not saying this is how we feel...just 2 pictures that seem to help make sense of things that are going on).  One is of a person playing in the waves.  

It's fun and the waves are exciting...but then you get knocked down.  Ok...that was alright...still fun.  You get back up and play some more and get knocked down again - not quite as fun as the first time but still ok...and about the time you get your footing under you, another wave bowls you over...and another...and then you are swirling around and can't get your footing.  Finally the footing comes and you can catch your breath...but then, here comes another wave!  

Sometimes all of the changes and the unknowns feel a bit like waves - fun and exciting at times, terrifying and frustrating at times... but the fact is that we're right where we supposed to be...and somehow we've got to make the most of the waves!  

The other picture is a bit calmer...it's of a puzzle -- a puzzle that is well on its way to completion. 

It's been challenging to put the puzzle together, but you can see that progress has been made and it's making some sense.  There are still pieces that need to be plugged in and moved around...but you can see the picture that's taking shape and it feels like a pretty nice, orderly process.  BUT THEN - a cat steps on the puzzle and knocks it on the floor and now all the pieces are all over the place!  

You know the pieces are still there...it's just a matter of putting them back where they go (and maybe someone changed the puzzle you were working on in the middle of the spill?!?).  

So after that spew of words and pictures, we'll try to fill you in on what we do know....

What we do know is that our God has a plan.  And we trust Him.

What we do know is that Mercy Ships has capable leaders who are doing everything they can to make the best and wisest decisions.  

What we do know is that our God is faithful - His plans are good and He always guides us in the way we should go. 

We were scheduled to set sail for Benin last Friday...but because of the Ebola situation, the sail was delayed.  It is now looking more and more unlikely that we'll be in West Africa at all in the next season.

Here are links to 2 news stories about the ship/decisions: 

East Texas news story

And another 

And here's a quote from one of our leaders (you can read the rest of the article here): 

"Africa is and remains our priority, but crew safety drives every decision," he emphasized.  "We request prayer as we consider all options to manage the risk, including deployment to other unaffected nations." - Don Stephens

One of the big questions is, "If not West Africa, then where?"  That is yet to be determined...but is being diligently worked on.  We were told tonite in our Community Meeting that we will be sailing to Africa - just not sure where or when. 

For now, we are in the Canary Islands.  We were on the Island of Gran Canaria for shipyard/maintenance...then sailed to Tenerife...and now we're back on Gran Canaria -- there's a problem with one of the propellers so we needed to come back to the shipyard.  Our Captain put it well in an email today.  He said, 

"I am grateful that we have discovered this problem now, while we are on hold and so near a qualified repair facility.  I see God’s redeeming nature in the situation." - Captain Tim

And, as a friend posted on Facebook, "there are certainly worse places that we could be stuck for a while." 

It's lovely here...but even in its loveliness, our hearts and the heart of the AFM Crew is to be serving in Africa and using this vessel to do what it was created to do - provide life-changing surgeries, dental and eye care, as well as education and training, to Africa's poorest countries.  

In a lot of ways, the location of the ship doesn't affect our family all that much.  The kids still go to school each weekday and our jobs as chaplains are in full swing - our team is working hard to lay the foundations for a strong, healthy, Spirit empowered and God-reliant ship community for wherever we end up.  

But in other ways our jobs are massively impacted by the ship's location, primarily because the AFM Crew is massively impacted by the ship's location.  

We are praying that this time will be useful for pressing into God and pressing into one another as a community.  We want to be purposeful in loving whoever God puts in front of us - whether that's here in Spain, or in Benin, or wherever we are!

Another main point for prayer is the fact that the ship is going through significant changes in leadership (see all the "News" at the beginning of this post).  Please pray into this as the Spirit leads you.  

Thank you for walking with us and being faithful to invest in us.  We absolutely couldn't be here without you.  

We are looking forward to the day when we can look back and clearly see what God was up to during this time - we know it's something...just not entirely sure what it is.  

Trusting that...

Surely there is more to come.