Academy Awards

We love being reminded of how incredible this place is...and there have been plenty of reminders of that lately!  We're especially grateful for how special the Academy is and how well our children are being loved on, invested in, taken care of and taught.  In the past few weeks we've gotten to see end of the year performances and participate in celebrations and ceremonies - each one a treasure that we do not take for granted and have been extremely blessed by (and hopefully we'll share lots of pictures from those events soon!).

One particularly special celebration happened Thursday - the Academy End of the Year Celebration (this year there was an "Academy Awards" theme -- about halfway through Nick said "oh...Academy Awards...I get it.").  The children walk (or dance!) into the International Lounge by class.  Different presentations are made by the classes - dances, poems recited, slide shows...there was even a rap this year.

Emma and the preschool class worshiping to "Seek Ye First" 

The beginning of Caroline's ballet class dancing to "Oh Our Lord" - gotta love it when the ballet teacher chooses an All Sons & Daughters song

The Elementary getting ready for the "good manners rap" 

And then (this is our favorite part!), each child is celebrated - each child is called up and given a "character trait" -- this is a particular word or value that the teacher has seen in the child throughout the year. They are also given a verse of scripture to accompany the trait. You can read about last year's character traits if you'd like (secret confession: I've had this in draft form all year....and just published it...it's about time).

After the character trait presentations, each class is presented as the next year's class (for instance, Eli's class is then introduced as the 2014-2015 Grade 4 class).  The whole presentation is special.  It's significant...holy...remarkable.

As an act of worship and an on-going celebration of the children that God has given us, here are the character traits the Cash kids were given by their teachers this year:

Emma: Alertness
"Emma pays close attention to everything and everyone around her and she is able to anticipate the right responses.  She is the first one to take action wen one of her friends need her help and sometimes you even here her call 'Emma to the rescue!' "

Ephesians 6:18 "and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for the Lord's people."

Caroline: Goodness
"Caroline has displayed integrity, honesty, and reliability.  Simply put, Caroline has displayed goodness.  This goodness allows Caroline to do the right things even when no one is looking.  It also allows her to show compassion and be helpful towards those around her.  God can use Caroline's goodness to point others to Himself and advance His kingdom through her."

Romans 15:14 "I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another."

Eli: Kindess
"Eli is a very kind person.  He is always thinking of others and their feelings and wants everyone to feel included.  He is concerned when others are upset or sad and tries to cheer them.  Eli is a friend to all."

Proverbs 21:21  "Anyone who wants to be godly and loving finds life, success and honor."

It's special when Truth and Life are called out of your children.  We love that THAT is the award they get at the end of the school year.  We don't have anything against academic achievement awards and recognition...but there's something significant about being called up front and encouraged at the core of who you are.  That's what we want our children to hold as valuable - character, integrity, virtue -- being who God has made them to be.  Those are the things that are going to last long after report cards are lost and test scores are forgotten.

This is special place...we're honored to be here and to be a part of this community - and especially grateful to be a part of the Academy.

Surely there will be more to come.

Drill #40 Getting Ready for Sailing

Engine testing...bunkering operations...at sea drills....

We're getting ready to sail!  We're still a few weeks away from departure but the preparations for leaving are well under way. 

We had our first "at sea drill" of the season today.  The Captain said we did well.  Thought the world (or at least our world of friends and family!) might like a glimpse into it...   

The alarm sounds...announcements are made....instructions are given...and we head out to our muster station ("B" this go round) on deck 7 - picking up a lifejacket on the way.....

Lined up to get a life jacket

The Cash Kids loooooove wearing life jackets (they'll be thankful if we ever actually need them)

Trying to make it all a little better with gummi bears...worked for one, not so much for the other one.

 Whole lot of orange...the Dutchies must love that.

some Palmers and Cairncrosses seeing if they can touch their toes

Elsa and Caroline....our lifeboat can't help but have a good time with these 2 around.  

A walk to/tutorial of the Lifeboats (they actually swung them out...but we didn't get to get in them....)

Drill is over, life jackets off, smiles back on (thanks to Nick for making funny faces beside the camera)

 Put 'em back, ready for next time

 Add another mark to the chart

Please pray for us - "us" being the Cash family and "us" being the crew of the Africa Mercy and "us" being Mercy Ships worldwide - as we prepare to leave Congo and head to the Canaries for about 8 weeks of shipyard maintenance (including a time where the ship is dry docked).  This is a very busy time for all of "us" -- there's much to be done.

Please pray specifically for:

• containers to be released from the port authorities
• patients who still need significant healing
• our Captain - for wisdom in leading and managing a very complex ship
• the loading of fresh water and fuel for the 2 weeks of sailing
• the safety of our deck crew as they operate machinery and load vehicles, containers, etc.
• the good-byes that will be said in the coming days and weeks (to day crew, to local friends, to crew mates who are heading home)
• the Advance Team who is already hard at work preparing for our arrival in Benin

After the sail, the Cash Crew will be in Grand Canaria for about a week - we'll move off the ship into a hotel (this is required during the dry dock period - no children can be on the ship).  Nick will continue to work (commuting back and forth to the ship) and the other 4 of us will play (or something like that)!  On June 25th our family will leave to go on holiday - we're doing a bit of traveling in Europe. We'll return to the ship in mid-July - and hopefully get to move into our new cabin.  So there's all kinds of exciting things coming up for us.  (including Nick's transfer into Chaplaincy NEXT WEEK!  Please feel free to pray for that transition).

What an adventure....one that we're glad to be a part of - and glad that we've got YOU as a part of it, too.

Surely there will be more to come.

catching up

Yes, it's certainly easier to keep up than to catch up...but sometimes catching up is necessary.  Today's your chance to enjoy some pictures from the past couple of months of Cash family life!   

Italian Naval Ship

So there was an Italian Naval Ship that docked near us a couple of months ago...and not just a Naval Ship - an aircraft carrier!  The 3 eldest members of the family got to go over for a tour. We definitely enjoyed getting to see the ship and it was exciting to walk out on the flight deck. Though, in our professional and very mature opinions, the best part of the tour was saying random things with our best Italian accents....("fettucini!" "spaghetti!" "bonjourno!") 

Some shots from every day life...

Mrs. Herma and her preschool girls!

this picture is awesome on so many levels. 

The girls visiting the wards (pictures thanks to Miss Suzanne!)

A glimpse into the glory of container day/getting packages

Maybe someday we'll write about how getting packages "works"...just know that it includes overhead pages that get us all excited and then climbing lots of steps.  Thankfully, this time around, a few of the deck guys were willing to help carry this precious cargo up the 4 flights of stairs.

It's not a bad picture...his eyes are closed in joy.  

A Gateway Gathering
When we first left Columbus on this adventure, we went to Texas for 5 weeks of training called Gateway.  The others in our Gateway group quickly became - and have remained - some of our closest friends in Mercy Ships.  It's been hard to say good-bye to the ones who have already finished out their commitment....and there are more leaving in the next few weeks.  BUT some are staying on with us...and some are coming back!!  As a way to celebrate this special "ship family" we went out to a restaurant called "la Pyramid" last Sunday afternoon.

Caroline holding the newest member of our Gateway Group!  

The Mums at Carnivore

As a way to celebrate/honor the moms who are leaving, we all went to dinner together (well, most of us...a couple were missing)...it was especially exciting that the favorite restaurant of the Cash family was the venue of choice.  

Caroline's workshop
Living on a ship means that there are spare bits and pieces of all sorts of things just waiting to be discovered - occasionally on deck 8 and especially on the dock...(and we have a really nice carpenter who let the girls come get a cup full of treasures the other day). Caroline has been collecting random metal parts and has been making "instruments" in her workshop.  Gran'daddy, feel free to take the credit for this one.

So how's that for getting a little more caught up on Cash Family life?  We still have Easter pictures and stories to share.  But we're closer to being caught up than we were...and that's always a good thing (as is the word "better"...but that rabbit trail can be chased another day).

Surely there will be more to come.

Jean Bosco

Here's a story of one life changed during our time here in Congo.  Story and photos by our fellow crew members and friends, Grace, Ruben & 'Chelle.

Jean Bosco is a farmer. Just north of Congo’s capital city of Brazzaville, fields bear the mark of his honest labor – hectares of cassava, gardens of blooming eggplant and tomato, and lime and mango trees providing welcoming shade from the African sun.

Jean and his wife, Carine, worked hard to enjoy life with their six children. They enjoyed simple prosperity and stability . . . until a mysterious growth appeared on Jean’s back in 2003. What Jean calls his maladie was, in fact, a lipoma – a benign, soft-tissue tumor composed of body fat. Left untreated, a lipoma can reach giant proportions.

Jean explains:  “When my malady started, it was barely noticeable. But after three years, it began to rise from my shoulders. I became afraid; if I were to die, my family would suffer greatly,” Jean said.

Driven by concern for the well-being of his wife and children, Jean saved enough money for a hospital visit in 2009. But the appointments, bloodwork, and medicine quickly emptied his pockets, and he had to return home without surgery.

Nevertheless, Jean refused to give up. Day after day, he worked to save more money, desperately hoping for healing. Exhausted by the shifting, heavy growth, his work suffered and his fields’ productivity decreased. His family now found itself in dire straits. “At that time,” Jean says, “I abandoned myself to prayer that God would help me.”

Help arrived in God’s creative, unusual way. In 2013, Jean’s lipoma ruptured and began to bleed. He had no choice but to seek emergency medical care in Brazzaville. He found himself once again on the doorstep of surgery but without the means to pay for it. While in the city, he learned of a hospital ship docked in the Congo. “Go to Mercy Ships,” a friend told him. “The surgeons will help you for free.” Jean was amazed, and he wasted no time in traveling to the coastal city of Pointe Noire.

“When I arrived in Pointe Noire a few weeks ago, I crossed paths with a policeman on the street. He took one look at my back and asked me where I was headed. I told him, ’to the Mercy Ships.’ He smiled and told me, ‘You are in good hands there, my friend.’”

By the time Jean boarded the Africa Mercy, the watermelon-shaped lipoma protruding from his back weighed 20 pounds! Even in extreme cases, a lipoma usually reaches only 8 to 11 pounds. Under the expert hands of South African volunteer Dr. Tertius Venter, the massive lipoma was removed in a two-hour surgery.

A few days later, resting comfortably on his back in his hospital bed, Jean grinned and said, “My doctor thinks I’m a machine! I am too happy to feel pain. It has been ten years since I could rest on my back.”

Jean is overjoyed with the gift of health he has received from Mercy Ships. “What could I give Mercy Ships in return?” he asks. “What am I to say to God for what He has done for me? This ship goes beyond. This ship is in God’s truth. All I can give is ‘thank you.’”

Now, Jean Bosco – a farmer, a father, and a husband – can return to his family . . . without his terrible burden. His easy smile lights up as he envisions his homecoming. “Imagine your favorite fútbol team has just won the World Cup,” he says, “…that is exactly how my family is celebrating as we speak. There is a very perfect joy that is waiting for me and mine when I get home.”

Good Friday...something to ponder.

Easter on the Africa Mercy is a special time.  Our hope is that Easter everywhere would be a special time!  Honestly, our hope is that every day would be a special time - we are loved by the Most High God and have the freedom to walk in forgiveness and perfect love!!  

....but you know what we're saying.  

Easter is certainly celebrated on the Africa Mercy.  All week there have been special events that have helped focus our minds on the beauty and power and gift of Easter.  

We wanted to share the following with you - it was part of the Good Friday service here this morning.  We're not sure who wrote it - so we can't give credit where credit is due (just don't give us credit, we don't deserve it).  It's certainly something to ponder...

The crucifixion of the Messiah was a day of incredible loss for his disciples.  They had lost their friend, but they also mourned the loss of their hopes and dreams that Jesus was who He proclaimed Himself to be: The Messiah, the King.  They had dreamed of their place in His earthly Kingdom, free from their oppressors, a place of ruling and reigning alongside Jesus the King.  Their hope was being nailed to a cross and their hearts were broken.  Their dreams and their King were dead.

Many of us have trusted and followed Jesus.  But we still carry unfulfilled hopes and dreams.  Maybe some of us have lost hope for those dreams.  It feels like Friday, but we've forgotten that Sunday is coming.

Jesus demonstrated His power on Friday.  He proved Himself to be a Mighty King.  But it was not the King His disciples were looking for.  Maybe God is fulfilling our hopes and dreams in a way that we do not see or understand.


It is Friday and your hopes and dreams appear to be crushed and destroyed.


Do you still trust Him?
Do you still believe in Sunday?
Do you still believe that God knows what He is doing?
Do you still trust Him to be your King?
 

We need to bring our hopes and dreams to the cross, because it is a place where God can be trusted.  God can only change our lives to the degree that we submit our lives to Him.

Do you still trust Him with your hopes and dreams…whether He chooses to fulfill these hopes and dreams, OR NOT.

Hopes and dreams:
- for a future marriage or family
- for a broken relationship to be reconciled
- for a ministry or calling to blossom
- for healing of mind / body or spirit that has yet to come
- for the healing or salvation of a loved one or friend
 

Jesus had to fully trust God on Friday.  What is God asking you to trust Him with?  

Surely there will be more to come. 

living and active

Read this verse in the Message version of the Bible the other day:

Isaiah 56:3 "And make sure no physically mutilated person is ever made to think, "I'm damaged goods.  I don't really belong." 

...and was overwhelmed by the fact that we're living on a ship where the Truth of that verse is lived out on a daily basis.

Over and over and over the patients on the Africa Mercy are told and shown and reminded that they are NOT damaged goods.  They are NOT worthless.  They belong.  They are loved.  They are treasured. They are valuable.

As am I. As are you.  

Want to read about just a few of the valuable people who have been on the ship lately - some as patients, some as guests, some as crew?  Here are a few links for your reading pleasure (and for the encouragement of your heart):

• A little bit about Benjamine (pictured above) from Ana and another look at Benjamine from Catherine
• A look into life on D Ward from Deb Louden 
• A visit from Sassou Nguesso according to Mrs. Emma 
• A look into life from Jordan & Katie's perspective
• Beautiful words from our beautiful hairdresser Jasmine & her thoughts about another special lady

Surely there will be more to come.