Mercy's on its way...

This week I am at the Mercy Ships International Operations Center at the Introduction to Mercy Ships (IMS) program--figuring out what I signed up for this summer! :-)

***If you continue reading this blog you will no doubt become very sick of hearing about Africa! As I start raising support and sending out prayer letters as the time of departure approaches I will be blogging here ; until then, this blog is where all my excitement stays! ***

I am so impressed by the entire Mercy Ships organization and all the aspects of ship life! The staff during the IMS has been incredible to answer ANY question we've had and to answer ones we didn't even think of asking! I've learned about meal times, laundry days, opportunities to get off ship, living quarters (I'll either be in a 6, 10, or 12-berth cabin!), insurance to get bodily remains back home should the worst happen to me, malaria medications, the Starbucks cafe on board, setting up my crew bank account, how long the upper deck is (for those early morning runs/walks), raising support and getting tax receipts for donors, and a whole host of other random but useful tidbits of information!

The best part of the IMS was meeting a sweet girl named Abi who is actually from about an hour from me! She will be serving aboard during the same time as me and we might even fly there together! God is so awesome to provide me a friend already!

As it stands right now, I will be joining the ship in Lome, Togo on June 13th. I will be serving as a hostess in the Hospitality department. I will be working to make sure crew cabins are prepared for new arrivals, greeting crew members at the airport/as they walk up the gangway, giving tours to first-time crew, making beds, creating goodie bags, baking cookies for events, and whatever else is needed in Hospitality. It's a job. Nothing I haven't already done, but if my off hours after I pull a weekend on call I will be able to observe in the orthopedic area of the hospital.

The ship will wrap up around August 7th (my scheduled departure date) and then after a week to tie-down items and prepare for sailing, the ship will make for South Africa. There the ship will be fitted with new generators and crew will be able to complete any needed certifications and training. Depending on when the fall semester starts back at A&M, I might be able to extend my stay and sail to South Africa and fly home from there... I may end up regretting that decision if I find I'm prone to seasickness... :-)

One of the videos that has really touched me this week is below. Calvin Nowell, a small-name Nashville wrote this song specifically for Mercy Ships and this video is from one of Africa Mercy's recent field services in Liberia, I believe. While this is not the official recruiting video and was put together from crew footage, this song is what has impacted me the most!

That's it in a nutshell... now comes all the support raising, immunizations, and the wonderful wait during this entire next semester! :-)