So, rumor has it that 2010 has passed us by. If it weren't for the fact that I witnessed the count down to 2011 myself (waaaay too late for me to be awake) I'm not sure I would believe it. How can 365 days really have passed already? I guess its one of those crazy things where the year seems to have flown by and yet, when I consider everything that has happened, I'm shocked that 365 days could contain it all. We're still here in rural South Africa waiting for the technical work to be completed on the Africa Mercy. Actually, we've been delayed a bit despite the incredible work that our technical team is doing onboard. Delays seem to be something of an inevitability in shipyard phases. The delay is disappointing as we are eager as a family to be back 'home' on the Africa Mercy and back in West Africa doing what we've been called to do. However, it does afford us an opportunity to tackle some more projects and tasks that we would otherwise not have been able to get to.
Anyway, back to 2010. We began our year on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago. At the end of January we sailed to Togo where we had a six month field service (shorter than our usual ten months in port). Dara and I made a very brief jaunt to Ghana to spend some time aboard the Logos Hope during our time in Togo. Then, on to South Africa. We arrived here in early September, moving all of the necessities for continued land-based operations ashore in about 24 hours - an incredible feat and testimony of God's faithfulness and our dedication. Grace and I flew to the US for a couple of weeks in October, adding another nation to our list of visits for 2010.
There have been stories, challenges, joys, hurts, frustrations, victories, laughs, and so much more in each of the nations we were in during 2010 (five in total, although not all of us were in all of them). Its phenomenal to look back and see what God has done through our ministry, through us personally, and in us during the past year. We are incredibly grateful for our Mercy Ships family here as well as for the privilege of being called to serve with them. We are equally grateful for and indebted to our family and friends back in the US and worldwide who are equal partners with us in this beautiful mess of a journey that we're on.
As resolutions seem a bit fad-ish I think we'll pass on making any of those. Really, the beginning of 2011 is just a continuation of the great epic story God has been crafting for millenia. So, for 2011 we will continue to resolve to believe in His promises and that the story will end exactly as it is meant to as we each endeavor to walk in faith and obendience.
