Screening Day Video

The media team put together a short video from our screening day, this is the result...

All Love

Fishing in the Rain

It is Sunday evening and me and Tori decided to grab our fishing rods and head out fishing. Outside the port a man grabbed hold of my arm and refused to let go. It was quite an awkward situation and so we decided that taking a taxi would be a good way to get rid of our unwanted follower. We quickly found a kind taxi-driver, jumped in and slammed the door shut in the face of our persistant friend and took off toward the pier. When we arrived at our destination the taxi driver asked us what we were up to, and when we said we were going fishing he told us we had chosen a bad spot as there were too many bad boys around that area. So he took us to a safer pier for free and told us to call the police if we got any more trouble. He took off and when we looked around we found ourselves surrounded by fishermen returning from a day at sea. We set our rods up and began dreaming of swordfish and hammerheads whilst the fishermen unloaded their small fishingboats. It was a beautiful evening, but what started off as a lovely sunset soon turned into dark clouds. It wasn't long until the rain came; it came suddenly and it came heavily! There was nothing we could do, there wasn't even time to put on a poncho, and so we decided to embrace the rain - and we enjoyed it thoroughly! After some time when we could no longer see any dry patches on our clothes and we couldn't make out the float in the water unless lit up by lightning, we decided to head back. It was a lovely walk back to the ship; through big puddles with cozy lit up shacks along the roadside, people socialising with friends and neighbours under canopies, lots of small tv's showing football games. When we finally got home, oh how lovely that cup of tea tasted. It was a great evening, but next time we'll try and catch some fish...

All Love

Resting Under His Wings

One of the things that have really struck me lately is how much God emphasises rest, and how good we are at ignoring that call. Lately I've realised my need to take regular time off to be alone with God. Sometimes it's five minutes with a cup of tea in the morning, other days it's lingering at a beautiful sunset. This evening I escaped up to deck after our meeting had finished, falling asleep on a wooden deckchair whilst being covered by a light drizzle. I didn't say much, neither did God. Sometimes words are superfluous and prescense is all that's needed. I was reminded of words already spoken, when God said come to me and find rest. Many times He has invited us to find shelter under his wings, and this evening I felt his wisper calling me to rest whilst he kept watch. Just like a mother swan covers her young with her feathers, so God wants to cover us and keep us safe. I was free to slumber knowing I was safe under his watchful prescense, like a young covered by white feathers. Rest is not another task that we need to fit into our calender, adding even more stress to our lives; it is God's gift to us, a safe haven where we can place all our concerns under his care, allowing him to carry us under his wings. It's a good place to be, esecially in times where worries are many and not far between...

All Love

DOs and DON'Ts

During the last week we've been given quite a few advice about what to do and not do whilst here.

• Do use handsanitisers, Cholera is running wild in Conakry
• Do go out in groups of at least 2 
• Do keep the curfew (be back at 10pm)
• Do not give the police any money unless you actually did something to deserve a fine
• Do not expose signs of wealth when leaving the ship
• Do not take pictures of any government buildings if you want to keep your camera
• Do not eat food that's been lying in the sun surrounded by flies for 4 hours
• Do not show your knees in public

I have also been warned by crew members of white female kind not to socialise too much with the African male crew as this can easily be misinterpreted. I see what they mean, but when I have one room with Europeans/Americans playing boardgames and watching movies and another room with African men having a spontaneous music session, singing and dancing, I know where I'd rather be! Though advice is good, I have a feeling that those who know me are worried about my ability to follow advice, and perceive my risk-assessment to be somewhat skewed. I understand but I don't necessarily agree. They say curiosity killed the cat, but the adventurer in me says "the one who never take any risks risk not living at all". I'd rather live full on for a short time than have a long unsatisfied life! Saying that, I just want to point out that so far I have been keeping the advice about not going out into town solo. Good girl!

All Love

Arrival

This morning we arrived in Conakry, Guinea. All in all it has been a very smooth sail, although the last couple of days have been a bit more rocky. I've seen a few people falling over and getting thrown from wall to wall, which I have to confess was quite amusing! We've seen dolphins and some have seen whales. The last few days have been more overcast as we've been heading into areas with rain season, and we saw Guinea appear through the fog this morning.

Tomorrow is my last day in the galley (kitchen) and I can't wait to get back into nursing. The thought of blood, dressings and IV fluids makes me excited, my 4 month nursing break is over!

Lowering the gangway

View from starboard side (right side)

View from port side (left side)

All Love

On Our Way to Guinea

A few days ago we set sail from Tenerife, heading for Guinea. By now I've grown accustomed to the constant rocking of the ship, it's fascinating how the body adjusts and so I haven't bumped into any walls or fallen over in the stairs. So far it's been a really smooth sail and we've been able to avoid bad weather, for which I'm really grateful (especially as I'm sleeping in the top bunk). I've not suffered from any seasickness either, though I have been taking my tablets, regularly to begin with and today just one. 

Our first night at sea we grabbed some pillows and a guitar and went up on deck to watch the stars. It's amazing how clear the night sky is at sea, we could see the milky way and shooting stars, and we worshiped the creator. It was magical!

The sea is beautiful, and there are definitely times I just wish I could jump in, though I would probably drown and the captain wouldn't be very happy! So far we haven't seen any dolphins or whales, but we've seen a lot of flying fish; it's amazing how they glide over the water! Apparently they move their tail over 70 times a second in order to get the necessary speed. 

This evening we had worship on the bow (see pictures), accompanied by guitars, jambes and the rolling sea. Tomorrow is a full day in the kitchen again and on Wednesday we're scheduled to reach Guinea. Exciting times!

People gathered to sing, dance and play

Worship at sunset

All Love

Left Behind

So for those of you that missed the news: yesterday the ship left without me.

I signed out from the ship in the morning to go looking for guitars, and it turned out to be quite a long walk. Returning to the dock I saw the ship at a distance and noticed that I couldn't see the gangway and there seemed to be lots of action on the bow (the front of the ship) which is unusual. Then it looked as if the ship was starting to pull out from port, which is exactly what happened. So I see the ship suddenly leaving the quay without knowing the reason why. I knew it was not yet time for departure and I was going through possible announcements that I could have forgotten about, but couldn't remember any. I found some Spanish men who told me that the time was "terminado" and that the ship was leaving, but they couldn't give me any specific information. The fact that the ship vehicles were still parked along the dock made me feel a lot better and I assumed the ship wasn't going to move too far. In one of the cars I found a crew member and he told me the ship was just moving up the dock a bit, and so I sat down and waited for it to moor up again. 80 minutes later the gangway was in place and slightly sun burned I could make my way up the stairs to my mobile home. In the unlikely event of being left behind, the biggest issue would have been that my passport was still onboard the ship. Apart from that I would have been fine, I'm sure. I guess that's one of the beauties with God, you're never left on your own.

As a quick notice, yesterday evening I met the Swedish family that lives onboard the ship, and they are lovely! I have a standing invitation to their cabin, and they urged me to come and visit often. I also met one of the anaesthetists onboard, and it turned out she has lived most of her life in Bristol, working at the BRI. Sometimes a dose of familiarity is wonderful!

All Love