Finally Home

Freetown Sierra Leone-

Morning in Freetown as seen from the harbor on approach.

This morning we arrived in Freetown after a gorgeous, smooth two week sail.  This is the first time our family has been to Sierra Leone but that doesn't change the fact that we are home.  In many ways the United States is home.  Certainly the Africa Mercy is home.  But we're not really home until we're in West Africa.  The season we had in South Africa was amazing.  We will cherish many of the memories we made and friendships we built.  But it wasn't home.

Floating alongside the dock, we are unable to leave the ship until we've been cleared by immigration.  Standing on the weatherdeck, however, drinking in the smoke stained air is like breaking the surface after too long under water and drinking in that first frantic draught of life-sustaining oxygen.  Our souls are connected to this region through God's calling on our lives and there is a quiet longing to be here when we are away that only increases the closer we get. 

Police band playing on the dock for our arrival.

The kids in their African shirts for arrival.

Already, just from the view from the outside decks, I am struck (once again) by the incredible contradiction that West Africa is.  It is incredibly vibrant and beautiful while also mournfully drab and impoverished.  The contrast is difficult to reconcile.  Actually, I've pretty much given up on trying.  There doesn't need to be a reason or explanation.  It just is.  And we love it - not the poverty, rampant disease, lack of access to basic health care, sewage in the streets, bellies swollen with hunger, and conditions that deprive most of what many in the developed world would consider necessary to basic human survival and dignity.  We love the amazing people that live with joy in a world that most of us would probably not be able to maintain our sanity.  Certainly, as a hospital ship, we love the ability to come here and minister in both physical and spiritual ways but we are also the recipients of untold acts of ministry.  We learn so much about the character of our God through a widened world view and the lives of those He has called us to.  We are not here to 'save' the people of Sierra Leone.  That is God's work.  We are here to be equal shareholders in the kingdom of God with the body of Christ in this nation and to demonstrate the good news of Jesus Christ through love in action and, through building relationships, if called by the Spirit verbally sharing the message of salvation.

Fishing village just near the ship

Sunset over Freetown.

We welcome you to celebrate with us the amazing ways that God will work in our lives and the lives of the people of Sierra Leone for the next 10 months.  We also ask you to pray for us to maintain a strong witness, discern those God intends for us to reach out to as we cannot possibly meet the depth of need, and for our health and personal relationships with the Lord to remain strong.