Poignant Moment...

I was cycling the other day along a route I know like the back of my hand. It is a route I have ridden many, many times before. But now, as I rode it on my own, out training for a bike race this coming March, it has gained so much more meaning. One of the roads I cycled along was the road where this whole Mercy Ship adventure began. I have never written these events down on this blog, the events that led me to become involved with Mercy Ships. I don't know why I haven't. I just haven't. But I think I should share them now. It is an encouragement. It is a calling. It is how God led me to the Mercy Ship.

My story begins in October 2006. But in reality the roots were laid many years before. Looking back many areas of my life were preparing me for serving on the sea. My Grandad, Allan Bryant Crawford MBE, one of the foremost authorities on the Island of Tristan da Cunha – and author of many books on this island – passed away in the UK in February 2007 at the age of 94. The charity that he supported through the sale of his books and at his funeral was Mercy Ships. On page one of his Memoirs, published in 2006, my Grandad says,

"It is for me a great pleasure and privilege as an ex-naval reserve officer and maritime meteorologist to dedicate these memoirs to my favourite charity [Mercy Ships]."

I have also been sailing onboard the RMS St. Helena to the Island of St. Helena in 2002 and immediately fell in love with sailing and the sea. And what was extra-special was that I was not once seasick during the five days there and five days back! I have also been interested with anything nautical, dating back to my early childhood when I fell in love with the tragic story of the RMS Titanic (long before the movie came out). I made it my mission throughout my childhood years to collect books and know the facts pertaining to the Titanic disaster. So the interest in the sea has been long-standing.

But let's return to 2006. In October of that year my Mom came home from her church, Pinelands Baptist Church, with a pamphlet/newsletter on Mercy Ships, and an article in the church bulletin announcing that John Rae had been made National Director of Mercy Ships Southern Africa. I paged through the document and thought, “Wow. That would be a fantastic thing to get involved in”. But as I had University of South Africa (UNISA) Postgraduate Honours exams approaching in January 2007 it seems that this initial enthusiasm slipped out of my mind.

But evidently not out of God’s mind. It was in early February of 2007 that my heart was stirred again – in a really amazing way. And this is where my cycling comes into play. I often struggle to see God at work in my life, but this experience was undeniable. I had taken a couple of my close friends, Brad and Lydia, out cycling (training for the Argus Cycle Tour, a large cycling event held in Cape Town each March) and they, in turn, had invited a friend of theirs, Jacqui Boden, to join us. I had only met her once before and thus did not know her at all.

Whilst we were cycling along, she asked me if I’d ever considered getting involved in missions. I replied (in words to this effect) that, “Well, because I really enjoy maritime and nautical things and the sea, there was a brief period last year when I was considering getting involved in Mercy Ships”. To this she started laughing and said, “The reason I asked you, Murray, was that I felt a real conviction that you should go on Mercy Ships!” I was in awe and didn’t really know what to say. And when I was considering Mercy Ships back in October I didn’t really tell anyone – not even my closest friend. So she had no access to this information. My conclusion: It could only be God at work, and He wants me on the Mercy Ship. It turned out that Jacqui served on the Caribbean Mercy and so she was able to answer many questions I had related to Mercy Ships.

I applied to Mercy Ships and was accepted. And so I joined the Africa Mercy in Monrovia, Liberia, in November 2007. The rest, as they say, is history.

Mercy Ships Cape Town Reunion...

This past Wednesday, 7th January, we had a reunion for all Mercy Shippers - both past, present and future - in the Cape Town area. It was great to spend time with some good friends, reminiscing about ship life and sharing stories as we braaied meat and sat down to some wonderful food. We also watched a dvd on the Liberia Field Service 2008 and it was great to relive some moments from the past year. It also created much laughter!

The one photo here shows three great South African men: Bates Alheit, Lee De La Rue and myself. Bates served in the Dining Room for seven months from March to October 2008 and Lee was the Chief Officer (or Second Officer) with Mercy Ships for many years. The other photo is a group shot of all the past and present crew along with the National Director of Mercy Ships South Africa, John Rae and his wife Rose.

Transportation Transformation or Where Are All Those UN vehicles?

I find that now, being back for nearly four weeks, I still expect to see UNMIL (United Nations Mission In Liberia), MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders) and ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) vehicles around every corner. As well as those unmistakable yellow taxis. I miss the UNMIL number plates and the big black letters "UN" stamped on white SUVs, Land Rovers and tanks.

In fact, I have never been more aware of white Land Rovers than I am now. They appear everywhere. And I always expect them to have the Mercy Ships logo on the front door and an AFM (Africa Mercy) or ANA (Anastasis) number plate. And I know I won't see them here - and yet I always find myself disappointed. I guess it's a small small part of the re-entry process.

The first week back I went from driving these Land Rovers to driving a 1991 Mazda 323-1300 hatchback. It was another change. But I don't really mind - it gets me from A to B and that's the most important thing. It was a small adjustment from driving on the right (in a left-hand drive) to driving on the left (in a right-hand drive). More than once I felt the urge to change gears with my right-hand, and trying to do so all I found was the handle to wind the window down. But readjusting to driving on the left has been a pretty smooth transition. It just comes naturally. However, the road conditions are a world apart.

Driving here in South Africa is so different. It's strange having tarred roads, street lights, practically no potholes and speed limits enforced by cameras and traffic cops. Certainly a change from Liberia.

Despite the rules and solid infrastructure of Cape Town, I really miss the adventure of driving in Liberia. Because it really was an adventure - not only in what we saw, but also in the adventures that came our way. You really had to expect the unexpected.

Pictures here of driving and road conditions in Liberia and UN/Mercy Ships vehicles.

Changes...

Change can be tough. And difficult. But today I am going to focus on the positive changes that I've seen on coming back to Cape Town after 13 months with Mercy Ships.

One change has been the marriage of two of my close friends, Brad and Lydia. They were married on Saturday, the 13th of December. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was so privileged to be here for their big day. Brad and Lydia were really instrumental in this whole Mercy Ships experience. They supported, encouraged and prayed for me when others maybe didn't see the vision and the dream. Had their wedding not been on the 13th of December I would have sailed with the Africa Mercy to Tenerife, and disembarked there. But as it was, God called me back to Cape Town for their wedding. And I was blessed to be able to witness this happy occasion.

Another change I noticed was my nephew Rhyenn. When I last saw him it was March (I was able to get home for a week-long vacation) when he was a little six-month-old baby. Now he is a large, energetic, 16-month-old! The photos here attest to the change seen in him - one from March and one from now. Just look at that hair!

One other change I've noticed is a change within myself. And it is a change that is important. I came back home, walked into my room, and thought to myself, "Wow, I have a lot of junk!" And so I have been tearing posters off walls, clearing out cupboards of unnecessary clothing, dusting my shelves, and having a major spring clean and general tidy of my room. Beforehand I would always hoard stuff, keep souvenirs and items I thought meant something to me. But now coming back home I see this materialistic lifestyle as completely meaningless. Thousands of Liberians live on practically nothing everyday. Why must I live in this luxury? What is the point of it all? So it all needs to go. I have discovered that simplicity is the key to life.

May you all have a blessed Christmas. And may you not only see, but also meet, the Christ of Christmas this year. God bless.

Home...

I am now safely "home" in Cape Town, South Africa. I disembarked the M/V Africa Mercy last Monday, 8th December, after 13 magical months onboard. A large group of friends saw me off on the dock and one good friend, Theo Biney of Ghana, even jumped in front of the vehicle to try and push it back, trying to keep me from leaving! But alas, I had a plane to catch and Rodrigo Silva, a good friend, drove me onwards to the airport.

My flights on both Kenya Airways (Monrovia to Nairobi via Accra and then Nairobi to Johannesburg) and the domestic One Time flight (Jo'burg to Cape Town) were uneventful. No turbulence whatsoever. And before I knew it, the One Time plane was on final approach into Cape Town International Airport, with the majestic Table Mountain on our right.

All my luggage made it though fine-o (yay!) and out stepped a tired, emotional and shell-shocked Murray. I was finally home. 13 months had ended like that. And it hit me.

Being home presents a small small dilemma to me: in that I am home but am also away from home. Where is my home? When I was on the ship (and no one can disagree with this) I was staunchly patriotic, referring to Cape Town as my wonderful home and being proud of it. Now I'm not so sure. In my mind I actually think it's the other way round: the Africa Mercy was my home. Cape Town is now my home away from home. And one day, if it is God's will for my life, I'll be back home on the Africa Mercy. We'll see how and where this adventure continues!

Leaving Liberia...

How do I sum up the most amazing and unbelievable 13 months into one blog entry? It can't really be done. But I will share something I wrote a couple of weeks ago. It is by no means exhaustive, but it gives an idea as to what has happened the past year. I am so thankful and blessed to be able to have served with Mercy Ships:

Let me just first say how thankful I am to God that he called me on this wonderful adventure with Mercy Ships. It has certainly been the experience of a lifetime.

I would also like to thank all of you who have supported me, either in prayer or financially, through my ministry here in Liberia, West Africa. I have really appreciated it and also hope you have enjoyed hearing my news and sharing in my stories from the M/V Africa Mercy.

If you had told me two years ago that I would be serving as a missionary onboard a hospital ship in Monrovia, Liberia, I would probably have laughed out loud. I did not see it as my future. But God has amazing ways of working and shaping events to meet His will for your life. And I am so thankful to have followed when He called. I’m not going to share about my call to Mercy Ships now, but rather just tell you what He has done in my life over the past year.

Both through the work I did at Reception and now in Communications, I have been stretched and challenged, but it is wonderful to see how God has grown me and helped me discover different sides of myself I never knew existed: a side that is more confident, a side that is able to make friends more easily, a side that can deal with situations that demand a cool head. The list goes on.

But I am most thankful for the opportunities I’ve had here to get involved with the people of Liberia. They are warm, loving people who continue to amaze me with the love they show to us. Over my time here I have been involved with God’s Children Home, one of the orphanages that Mercy Ships are involved in. I have also been involved with leading a Bible Study for a group of teenage guys out at New Matadi, a district of Monrovia. Here I have been shown unconditional acceptance and warmth. These kids really care for us. It was difficult saying goodbye.

Forget about stereotypes and prejudices and what the world says is happening in Liberia. We see the changes here in people’s lives. Our God truly is an awesome God.

I am also thankful for the wonderful friends I have made here over the past nearly thirteen months. Some of these friendships were just for a season. Others will last a lifetime. God has been so faithful. God has been revealing to me my own character strengths and weaknesses in my daily interactions with these friends, for which I am thankful. It is certainly a melting-pot of different cultures with 33 different nationalities living together. Despite occasional personality clashes and cultural misunderstandings, this is by far the closest thing to heaven that I have ever witnessed.

And what does the future hold? Well, 2009 is looming large and I am trusting in God to provide. I have a rough plan of what I would like to do, and I’ll just say that I’m keeping my options open for now. A return to Mercy Ships could be possible, but I’ll keep you posted on that.

May God continue to bless you in whatever area you serve Him.

I started this blog back in October 2007 as a means to record my thoughts and keep those interested updated on my progress here on the Mercy Ship. As such, I named it "Murray's Mercy Ship Adventure" and gave it the web address http://mercyshipadventure.blogspot.com/. But it is not the end of my adventure. My story will continue. And it is this Mercy Ship adventure that has shaped me, changed me forever. And I am so thankful. So this blog will remain, and I will keep you updated on my progress back in Cape Town here. So stay posted for more. God bless you all.

The Final Weekend...

As I type this, it is one of my last entries to this blog from Monrovia, Liberia. It has been quite the year. But that being said I still had one weekend before my departure on the 8th of December. It was the infamous "blackout" weekend, where everything for the Saturday was shut down as our Engineering staff cleaned the main engines ahead of the sail to the Canary Islands.

With the engines and generators being off, the ship can be a rather uncomfortable place to be, with no flushing toilets (we use a vacuum system), no lighting (apart from emergency lighting), no air-conditioning and no Internet and e-mail. And so I decided to head off-ship to the Francis Gaskin Orphanage in Paynesville, a district of Monrovia, pretty close to the SKD Stadium actually. I went to this orphanage last week and thoroughly enjoyed it.

It was a good time yesterday. We put on a Christmas party for the kids, making Christmas decorations and then playing games and spending time with the kids. Apart from a couple of friends who I ferried across to Thinkers Beach at lunchtime, the rest of the Mercy Shippers remained at the orphanage for the afternoon. I then returned at around 16h00 and we all bundled into the Land Rover and headed back to the ship. It was another sad farewell to these wonderful kids.

We returned to a dark, hot (but not unbearable) ship. And then at around 18h00 everything came back on, as the Engineering team powered up the generators again. The Captain and Chief Engineer had thought that today, Sunday, may have been needed as a day for cleaning as well. But they did a sterling job and finished everything yesterday. We are so blessed by our wonderful God and of course the dedicated crew we have here on the Mercy Ship.