What we do.

This post was prompted by a discussion in my grade 9-10 Bible class this morning.
We were looking through different Vision and Mission statement to see what they mean, and why they exist.

I want to share our Academy's Vision statement with you. This is the reason we do what we do and ultimately the reason I am serving with Mercy Ships; to see this in practice:




Mercy Ships Academy Vision Statement
 
Mercy Ships Academy brings glory to God by fully equipping each student with the foundation of knowledge and skills necessary to fulfill God's purposes in their lives. We will do this by partnering with parents in developing Christian character in their children through teaching values based on a biblical worldview within the structure of a quality academic education; meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of each student. 

SOUTH Africa..

South Africa… SOUTH Africa…
Now correct me if I'm wrong (doesn't happen often of course) but isn't the south meant to be warmer.. don't the birds fly SOUTH for the winter?

Can someone then explain to me how I managed to escape the rains of Scotland, the cold of The Netherlands to Africa and it is colder and wetter here than any place I can remember :P

OK I may be being a little dramatic, but the weather has been a real surprise since the non stop sunshine and heat of West Africa.West Africa has 4 seasons: 2 wet seasons (1 long, 1 short) and 2 dry seasons in between. But even on the most miserable rainy days it is still 25C and 95% humidity.

Since being in Appelsbosch (even over the last week) we have had: torrential rain, fine horizontal rain, mist, heat, sunshine, thunder and lightening, gall force winds, stifling warm air, seriously cold temperatures… you name it we've had it (except snow, no snow yet).

Its funny how Africa is always talked about as 'a place' yet even in something as simple as the weather is so incredibly diverse, and this my friends.. is just one of so many differences.

I hope everybody is warm and dry wherever they are! :)
God bless,
Ben

Support

Everybody volunteering for Mercy Ships is exactly that, a volunteer. We pay monthly 'crewfees' to cover our cost of living onboard and are responsible for our own flightcosts as well as medical insurance.

For all these costs I am completely reliant on donations. This mean than periodically I need to solicit for donation to make it financially possible for me to continue on the Africa Mercy. This also usually involves a lot of 'pride' issues for me but I'm working on it.

If you would be interested in supporting please do so by following the instructions below.

For North American-donors: Click here to support me

Supporters from the Netherlands can donate by making a bank transfer to:

Mercy Ships Holland, giro 1990184, Rotterdam

With the comment: Ben Calvert #2684

British based supporters: Click here to support me

Then while making your donation choose the option 'To support a crewmember' and fill in 'Ben Calvert'.

I apologize if this sounds cheap or tacky but I honestly thank you for any support, be it financially or through prayer or comments on the blog.

God Bless,

Ben

PS feel free to email me with any question, my address is on the sidebar >>

Pray for Benin

Last year we were docked in Cotonou, Benin for 10 months. To think this was less than a year ago.. Benin truly holds a special place in my heart, please pray for the people there.


Source: BBC News  - Click here for original

24 October 2010 Last updated at 11:55 GMT

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Benin: UN to send thousands of tents amid major floods

Two-thirds of the country is under water

The UN refugee agency is to start an emergency airlift of tents to the West African nation of Benin this week, amid the worst flooding there in decades.

Some 3,000 tents will be flown in from Denmark to provide shelter for some of the estimated 680,000 people affected.

Two-thirds of Benin has suffered from months of heavy rain, and about 800 cases of cholera have been reported.

It is the worst flooding to hit the country - one of the poorest in the world - since 1963.

Areas previously thought not to be vulnerable to flooding have been devastated and villages wiped out.

"There are huge areas that are covered in water so people are living on the tops of their houses, because people try to stay near their homes," Helen Kawkins of the Care aid agency told the BBC.

The flooding has sparked major health concerns, with drinking and bathing water contaminated by human waste which has overflowed from latrines.

The number of cases of cholera are rising daily, with more than 50 reported in the largest city, Cotonou, alone, Care says. Dozens of people have died as a result of the flooding in the past few weeks, officials say.

People who have lost their homes have sought shelter in medical facilities, putting pressure on the country's health system.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) says an appeal for funds and aid is being planned.

The rain is continuing to deluge Benin and forecasters say there is no sign yet of it abating.

The great outdoors!

Happy post!
Haha the week has come to an end. Saturday has been filled with.. absolutely nothing.

It is amazing what a little bit of breathing space will do!
Another thing that I feel might have put me back in this more agreeable mood is that last night we had our 'Academy campout'. This involved pitching out (newly purchased) Academy tents on the football field at the bottom of campus and camping out for a night with any parents and matching students that wanted to be involved.
I was shocked earlier this week when I discovered that a lot of the younger kids hadn't really camped before! Ive been doing this since I could be carried into a tent!
Suddenly it dawned on me that growing up on a medical ship in Africa isn't a normal upbringing. They gain a lot of things but also miss some thing we would label 'normal'. What a privilege it was to be able to introduce these kids to something new. Getting dirty and smokey roasting marshmallow by the campfire, then squeezing into a tent with your siblings and a parent.

To be honest I enjoyed it just as much myself, there is nothing like sleeping badly on the ground to replenish your energy levels. Really, it was good!

Slight rambling but Ill chalk that up to lack of sleep, hope you are all well and enjoying these simple pleasures of life. Hey, who needs an eloquent writing style anyways.

God bless,
Ben

ps I'll add some pictures of the evening when I have them.

Everything I am..

As I type this I'm tired and not feeling overly motivated.
This week has been hard, oh so hard, and not in the usual 'meant to grumble about work' way.

But during worship this evening, I sang, I begged, I promised these words to my God:

"Break my heart for what breaks yours,
Everything I am for Your kingdoms cause
As I go from earth to Eternity."


Hosanna - Hillsongs



Everything I am for Your kingdoms cause.

I am serving with Mercy Ships because God called me to be here, He lead me and I followed. Even when I'm tired and running on empty, let, especially then, everything I am be for His Kingdoms cause.



Thanks for letting me share, God bless,

Ben

What a week!

Crazy week with crazy happenings! I'll start last weekend and work forward..

All starting last Sunday, we went out to church, which in any normal situation is just down the road, but because of our location it involved an hour and fifteen minute trek in our (rugged and manly) Land Rovers.
*sidenote: so I walked passed the Land Rover parking are the other day and it did seem kind of surreal that these beaten up 4x4 true off road, well used Land River Defenders were my usual vehicle.. strange what becomes normal when you live in Africa working with Mercy Ships.

We ended up visiting Grace Family Church in Umhschlanga (I'm sure that not how you spell it..). Really nice church, friendly, great worship, good preaching but HUGE!!! OK maybe I'm a small town boy at heart but over 1000people in a church seems wild!

Then Sunday evening came, playing a friendly game of volleyball in the gym... and yes.. I managed to dislocate my shoulder. Don't let this shock you, it is the 3rd time already. So after putting that back where it goes, strapping up the shoulder and finding our 'not working' pharmacist for some pain relief that was the weekend over...
 Its crazy what becomes normal when you live in Africa working for Mercy Ships.

Monday started with me in a sling.. but still teaching PE 1 handed, unique challenge but kind of fun..
That went OK until Wednesday when I was struck down again!!
It seems that when a 'bug' gets around here it just tears through the general Africa Mercy population. So come Wednesday I was leaving my IT class mid lesson to relieve my lunch into the gutter outside. This sparked 36 hours of not keeping food down, then just not eating, and staying in my room.
 Its crazy what becomes normal when you live in Africa working for Mercy Ships.

SO now its the weekend again.. the campus is quiet, Ive eaten 2 meals on the trot and am eagerly looking forward to what the coming week will offer. One thing I can guarantee, it won't be boring!

Its crazy what becomes normal when you live in Africa working for Mercy Ships.

I'm famous!

Thats 3 days in a row!!
This is a fairly easy post as Im not actually writing it myself, I seem to have hot the big time! Below is an interview that was done by our International Operations Centre in Texas. It is amazing how cheesy your own words sound when you read them over.

Blessings,
Ben

World Teacher’s Day 2010: P.E. Teacher Educates Youth on the High Seas Posted: 04 Oct 2010 06:53 AM PDT Teachers have one of the most critical and challenging jobs in the world – educating young minds and laying the groundwork for children to become adults. Most teachers choose that line of work because they want to give children the knowledge and skills needed to live happily and productively in our world. It is a huge undertaking as teachers often find themselves working at local schools with minimal resources and maximum classroom capacity. In a spin on a traditional teaching job, Ben Calvert decided to take his teaching career to the high seas. He currently volunteers as a Physical Education teacher in Africa on the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship, the Africa Mercy. Calvert is the son of missionaries and has a heart for missions. After graduating with a degree in education, he completed a one-year internship, teaching gymnastics to students at the Sports Academy of The Hague University in The Netherlands. At that point, Calvert was ready to make a change in his life. He was considering doing development work locally, but he came across an advertisement for a Specialist PE teacher with Mercy Ships on their ship, the Africa Mercy. This floating hospital is staffed by a 400-person volunteer crew and provides free health care to the forgotten poor of West Africa. Some volunteers have their families onboard, and approximately 55 children attend the accredited Academy onboard the ship. Calvert says stumbling upon the advertisement for the PE position “was too much of a coincidence to ignore,” so he decided to revise his plans. “It was easy for me to make the decision because I wasn't leaving a long-term teaching contract behind,” he added. He was, however, leaving a comfortable life behind. Working on a hospital ship in Western Africa was a drastic change, but Calvert was excited about the opportunity. “I knew I would feel a real connection with the kids onboard since I am a missionary’s kid myself – not to the extremes that these kids are, but it did allow me to have some insight into their distinctive world.” Calvert saw the job with Mercy Ships as a very unique opportunity to combine teaching and missionary work. Teachers typically do not get a chance to contribute directly to missions, but the Mercy Ships Academy allowed Calvert to play his part in supporting mission work. “I didn’t work directly for the locals in the host nation,” he says, “but I allowed the parents of my students to honor their decision to be volunteers on the ship without worrying about their children’s education.” For Calvert, the bottom line was honoring the decision and faithfulness of the parents. One of Calvert’s most memorable moments came one day during the 2009 Field Service in Benin. It was the beginning of the high school PE class. That morning Africa Mercy Captain Tim Tretheway posted a notice in the reception area saying that there was an infant in ICU on the hospital ward who was in a life-threatening situation. As the class began, Calvert noticed an overwhelming silence from the typically rowdy teenagers. One girl broke the silence by asking if they could pray for the desperately ill infant. “I was astounded,” Calvert said. “This was my first time to teach at a Christian school, and for the kids to start with this request humbled me to no end.” That day confirmed Calvert’s decision to become a teacher on a hospital ship with Mercy Ships. It made him fully realize that the kids, just as much as the parents and the teachers, are an integrated part of the wider community – and the mission – that is the Africa Mercy. As the class came together in prayer to lift up the people they serve, it was a powerful moment in Calvert’s eyes. Of course, there are notable differences in his teaching environment. Calvert identifies the biggest difference between teaching on the Africa Mercy and teaching in The Netherlands as the unique advantages of being in a small Christian School environment. He has the opportunity to know each of his students personally and to form a relationship with them as people, not just as students. The class is able to share their personal beliefs, and Calvert has the opportunity to help the students grow in their relationship with Christ. That is a luxury not allowed in public schools in other settings. The freedom to incorporate faith into education allows his students to grow in their beliefs, while strengthening Calvert’s faith at the same time. He is also teaching in a truly international school. With volunteers on the ship representing 35 countries, his students come from a diverse background. English is the official language on the ship, but it is a second language for many of the students. He enjoys experiencing a fusion of different cultures in one classroom. Calvert’s teaching job at a Christian Academy onboard a floating hospital is an extremely unique position. He feels blessed and thankful that he has been given this outstanding opportunity. He is one of thousands of teachers across the world who should be honored today on World Teacher’s Day. Each teacher is working diligently to shape the minds of the world’s youth. Calvert’s experience demonstrates that not all teaching environments are the same, and it takes all kinds of teachers to educate the leaders of tomorrow. Written by Clair Bufe, photos by John Roland

Straight off the bat

No introduction, just going straight off the bat on this one :) :

So this last Sunday, as most years, the 3rd of October came round. And as most years this signalled the celebration of the day of my birth, shall be henceforth referred to as 'my birthday'.

It is my second birthday on the Missions field. My second birthday in Africa, and my second birthday with Mercy Ships.

For some reason it felt like a time to reflect. Reflect on where life has taken me so far, and where it is taking me next. But maybe it goes further that that, it is reflecting on where God has taken me so far, and where He is taking me next. Life doesn't just happen, God doesn't just happen, God is and leads.

I had expected to be working in a school in the Netherlands at this point, instead I find myself teaching in a school on a medical missions ship in West-Africa (ok, currently not on the ship but you get the idea) being supported by donations from friends, family and church... This whole experience has been such a turn around for me, perspective-wise. I still worry, worry if people back home will forget me, worry where home is, worry that the next donations won't be enough, worry that I don't know how to transition out of this environment. But at the same time I am learning to trust.

Not too long ago I read 'Ruthless Trust' by Brendan Manning. He makes a good point saying that Christianity isn't about faith. Faith is easy! It's about trust. Trust is difficult.

I am not there yet, I try to trust God but spend so much time worrying and/or trying to solve things myself. But God started me down this path and I fully intend to walk it until its completion.

Birthdays... each year a new insight, call it older and wiser (and slightly more senile..).

God bless,

Ben

PS Thanks everyone near and far that made my Birthday such a special day!

Where in the world am I now..

Ok.. so we've had the personal update, now time for the professional update.

If anything this last while has taught me that life in on the Missions field is never what you expect it to be, there are no 'normal days'.

First things first in August we finished out Outreach in Togo. If it seems we were only there for a short while.. that's because it was shorter. The ship normally spends 10months of the year in a host nation, sadly we were only able to spend 6 months in Togo as we had to have major maintenance done on the ship.. Which smoothly brings me to where I am now.

As I type this I am sitting in Appelsbosch, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. No longer located on the ship but an hour inland from Durban.  The ship itself is currently in dry dock, sitting on piles of bricks 6 feet off the floor. The main reason for the work is to replace our 'Harbor Generators'. These are the main generators that supply our power.  The downside is that because they are older and not designed for the Hospital, they generate not just electricity but and awful lot of noise and vibrations.. the wards onboard are location just above them, making it very uncomfortable there and almost impossible to use some of the operating theatres.. This means we spend a lot of time using our quieter, smaller frigs (I think that's how I spell it) generators. These were originally designed to only be used at see, and we run them 24/7 months on end, see the problem.

Our engineers have literally been miracle workers but at last we are replacing the generators with modern, more efficient, more reliable ones. This does involve cutting a hole in the ship to get the old out and new in, hence the prolonged time in dock.

It is always a strange mix of feelings, being away from home but not actually in our allotted field, but we're all seeing this as essential maintenance hat will allow the Africa Mercy to keep serving for years to come.

And that Ladies and Gentlemen is how the Academy,  the family's,  the long term crew, and myself found ourself in rural South Africa.

Pictures from the shipyard:

Entering drydock

Real inner city.. leave your ship unattended and it ends up on blocks..

Now usually a hole in a ship isn't a good thing.. it is when a noisy generator is leaving!

Introduction to Appelsbosch following soon..

Back, with news!

So as regularly happens I seem to be starting this blog post with apologies. In the mad life of a missionary my blog (and newsletters) seem to slip between he cracks. I am honestly sorry about his and will continue to try to better my ways.

Tomorrow I will catch you up with how things 'in the field' are but tonight I start with a belated personal update.

I AM ENGAGED! This summer I managed to spend 5 weeks with the love of my life, Hannah, who I met last year on the ship when she was a nurse on the wards.

We dated for 4 months in Benin and then when she returned home to California in January I moved with the ship to Togo. Our relationship has been growing ever since and when I at last got to see her this summer.. I proposed..

By the way.. absolute respect to everyone who has ever proposed and a warning to those who still will someday. That is the most scary thing I have ever done! Your life hangs in the ultimate balance as the pause between question and answers seems to take a multitude of hours to pass!!!!

Lucky I can say that form down on one knee the answer was YES! and our plan is to marry next summer in California. Hannah has been a true blessing in my life and I overflow with thanks to God for leading us together and to this point. It is a true miracle to me that we ever managed to meet from 2 continents, let alone keep the relationship growing when 12.436 km apart (according to the World Distance Calculator the distance between Lome and San Francisco, Ah the wonders of the internet..).

So it just falls to me to end this post with a photo of my beautiful wife to be and myself just before I left her in California (taken by her good friend and great photographer Juanita Cannan)

Just another kid on a football field..

Ok so this one could be either a follow-up or add-on to the previous post.

The only difference being it wasn't 'Just another man in the market' but 'just another kid on the football field.'

To give you another insight into my free time activities while on board the Africa Mercy; on Mondays and Wednesday (providing their in nothing else important happening) a whole lot of us go out and play football (ok soccer for the Americans) at a local field. Sometimes we just play against each other, sometimes against local teams. This last Wednesday, my last football before the summer, the format was slightly different though.

As it had been raining all day, and I mean all day (it is not called the rainy season for nothing), an awful lot of people copped out of football and it ended up just being myself, Elliot (Canadian buddy) and about 9 girls (sorry to generalise ladies). Just as we arrived at the field it stopped raining, we set up small goals with discarded concrete blocks and with a lot of laughter and joking started a small game.

Count.. 1..2..3..4..5..6...7...8..9..10.. and kids arrive.

Really, anywhere we arrive in Togo (especially with any sports stuff) and within 10 seconds local kids will turn up. Sometimes viewing you cautiously from a distance, sometimes standing in the absolute dead centre of the field.

This time we had a special visitors. Bounding across the filed, no hesitation what so ever was Ibrahim. This little man was a patient of us this year all you can see of it is a patch of scar tissue beside the corner of his mouth, his mouth opens but not all the way.

Usually we would keep playing, the kids watching and screaming from the sidelines. But today, smaller teams, smaller goal, less intense; we pulled the kids into the game splitting them into our teams. And we played, laughed, screamed, passed the ball to kids not knowing if they were on our team or the other side.

Honestly the most fun I have had at football in a long time.

One of the most beautiful points of the so called beautiful game coming when Ibrahim, challenging strongly for a ball, fell backwards into a puddle. He stood up, looked around and like any 7 year old starting bawling his eyes out. Standing there on his own, crying, screaming, shorts and back of shirt absolutely soaked. And again it dawned on me, Ibrahim was a normal boy, nothing out of the ordinary any more, not teased or shunned, but an absolutely normal kid. How great to be a part of that. (read the post below for the wider explanation of the train of thought.)

To end the story on a positive, I jogged over, squeezed out his shirt and shorts, brushed of the dirt and counted: 1..2..3..4..5..6...7...8..9..10.. off he goes, the ball being the only thing on his mind again, he sprinted of without a care in the world. How I love kids ;)

Just another man in the market

Sometimes something hit you, something that really makes you stop and think. It stops being a coincidence and starts becoming a life lesson.



Last week I spent my Saturday walking round the market with some friends. This has become one of my favourite pastimes for the weekend. Not only because the way the market is set up, winding through a couple neighbourhoods of streets, but also because I get a chance to see Africa in motion. The 'Mercy Box' can quite quickly becomes that.. a box..

But back to my story..
As we were walking along a man stepped up to us asking: 'Mercy Ship? You are Mercy Ship?'
Firstly being far too small, not made of metal and no where near buoyant enough we were perosnally quite obviously not a mercy ship, but I let the grammatical hiccup slide. Secondly everybody knows we're in town, so anybody trying to sell something or wanting something will use the generic 'Mercy Ship' call signal to get our attention.
But when we stopped and said hello to this guy it turned out to be something a bit more special. He had been one of our patients. In Benin he had had a large goiter removed (huge neck tumor for us laymen). He asked us how we were, how the ship was doing and we responded and asked how he was and what he was doing in Togo. A 2 minute conversation, a handshake (including the snapping of fingers) and he was on his way again.

And as he walked away my eyes were drawn to the insignificant yet still cleary visible scar on his neck, the reminder of where his tumor previously was.

He walked away into the busyness of the market.. nobody took a second look at him.. nobody stopped and stared.. nobody pointed or avoided him..
He was incognito, regular, mundane..

Funny coming from a society where being noticed is such a big deal, yet the biggest gift we could, and did, give this man was the gift of being able to go around unseen.

I gave me a full appreciation again that we don't just fix people, we give them the opportunity to live normal lives. You want 2 hands of the Gospel? Words & works? I would be hard pushed to give you a better example of our calling and our mission.

God bless.

Trans Togo Trek

56 km, 12.5 hours, 3 countries, 2 sore feet and maybe the most physically challenging thing I have ever done :)

So 2 weeks ago Haley (Grade 4/5 teacher) asked if I'd be interested in 'walking across Togo'. Touch the Ghanian border, walk across Togo, touch the Benin border..

Sounded insane, so without a second thought I signed up. And to be very honest the idea is brilliant, how many time do you get the chance to walk across a country. The fact that 1 group from the ship had already tried, and failed, should have been an indicator that it was not going to be easy. But hey.. its just small Togo right?

On the fateful morning 7 walkers and 1 (very important) support driver left the ship at 4.45 on their way to the Ghanian border. Its about 10km form the border to the port, so 3 of the 7 had decided just to walk that part and the other 4 (idiots) decided to carry on.

So it was Haley, Estelle(kindergarten teacher), Kelly (dietician) and myself. Oh and not to forget Murray (head receptionist) driving ahead and stopping with water and snacks along the way.

I feel I can safely say although I knew in my head it would be difficult, it was more so than expected! Estelle stopped just before halfway but the other 3 of us in the group carried on.

I would be quite honest in saying at one point we renamed it the Trans Togo Trudge.. as for an hour just past the 3/4 mark we were just putting 1 foot in front of the other. The distance just seemed to constantly be growing!!!

But through the blisters, pain, heat and exhaustion....

WE MADE IT. WE WALKED ACROSS A SMALL AFRICAN NATION IN 1 DAY!!!!!! All praise to Haley and Kelly for slugging it through with me and Murray an Estelle in the car for making it humanly possible to carry on for that long.

So the lesson we can learn from this:

Next time a Grade 4/5 teacher asked you to do something.. Say no ;)

Walking walking walking

At the marathon mark

Are we there yet..

So I thought Id make use of my shirt collection and start in the Ghanian shirt at their border, swap in the Togo shirt for the middle section, and finish in my Benin shirt as we hit their side, arent I just brilliant!

Done :)

Mr. Teacher

'Good morning Mr. Teacher.'

'hey PE master!'

'Hi Teacherman'

All fairly common things for me to hear from our dayvolunteers or African crew while walking on the dock or around the ship in the morning.
Usually I would really annoy me when people live for their jobs. When there work becomes their identity. But these are all examples of genuine greetings. Suddenly it goes from being an annoying title to being a call of respect. I really don’t mind being identified as ‘teacher’ and do you know why..: Because I love teaching.
Ive suddenly remembered that these last weeks.

It has been so extremely busy, soooo busy.. actually teaching has become a sidenote, paperwork, document, meetings and seminars have become the priority.
Then the other week after being out on the dock with the High School’ers and it dawned on me like the sun rising over the African savanne (isn’t that poetic); I love teaching. From my first teaching placement when a 8 year old came bounding up to me so enthused about the lesson the week before she had gone home to practice and now (O so proudly) wanted to show me her trick. From that to days when everything you have planned for a lesson run as well as solar powered car in Glasgow, and at your wits end you have no idea what to do!
Through all those moments I know that I love what I do, I stand assured with it as my calling and commit myself to influencing every single student I come into contact with (and hopefully for the best).

All I have to offer..

Please pray..

Pray for a baby who has beaten us in the race to be with the Lord.

Nurses heartbroken after all there finest efforts couldn't hold back the tide.

A family hurting after a part of the puzzle was harshly removed.

And a tomorrow that will always come, no matter what yesterday just left.

Let us not forget, nor brush aside but remember the miracle that was, ask God for strength and keep giving our all in His name.

Its not much but sometimes it's all I have to offer, you're all in my prayers.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

And don't I forget it..

So now when I turn the tap water comes out.. that wasnt happening the other morning

And now when I switch a light it comes on.. that wasnt happening the other morning

When I turn the airconditioning regulator cold air comes out.. that wasnt happening the other morning

I expected dinner at 5, it was there at 5.. that wasnt happening the other morning

Safe to say the other morning I wasnt on the ship and now I am. Its at times like this I really appreciate the huge creature comforts we have onboard. I spent an overnight in Palome this weekend, a town about 3 hours up country, out in Africa!!

Yes, surprisingly it is Africa you step into when you walk down that gangway and out of those gates.

Funny, I see scores of patients coming onto the dock each day, I watch them wait and come and go and yet it is so easy to forget where we are. So easy to get caught up in the jobs that need done and spend the rest of the time just 'hanging out', and forget what is out there and how lucky I am!

Take a globe, spin it to the southern hemisphere and pull a line down from London, see that sliver of land? Yes, the one just beside Ghana. No thats Ivory Coast; we're on the other side.

That is Togo. Thats where I am. As much as I sometimes forget and kick myself for it, I am in Togo.

Serving, living, fighting, hurting, laughing, in Togo.
And I better never forget it.

Apologies, travels and premature balding..

I have failed... failed... failed..


My New Years resolution coming into 2010 was to update my blog regularly and now I have let 3 weeks go by without a word.. my sincerest apologies..
And how much has gone on is those 3 weeks.


The main thing for me has been the opportunity we, the Academy staff, had to join the Missionary Teacher in Africa ACSI teaching conference in Kenya. The Rift Valley Academy, the oldest missions school in Africa, hosted this 4 day meeting of teacher from all over the continent.

This gave us the amazing opportunity to interact/network/get feedback from school in somewhat the same situation.
Wes Stafford, the president of Compassion International spoke to the conference at one of the meetings.. WAUW!! What an amazing and inspiring man of God. He brought tears to many an eye and made me prouder than I have been in quite a while to be a missionary teacher.


There was 1 big downside to going to the conference though..

I AM BALD..

To raise the necessary funds to go to the conference we held an auction on the ship. Many an item and service was auctioned off. Everybody had a lot of fun and it was so amazing to see people giving selfishly to help our cause. $100 for Amy's brownies still jumps out as the most amazing (high quality brownies..). We raised over $4000 dollars that evening, all from African missionaries... also known as friends.

I got to play auctioneer for the evening until I was hijacked at the end and our Principal sacrificed me for the cause.. Tommy Farrel (only other male staff member and Brit) stepped up and was enjoying selling me and my services of.

Clean a cabin,
dance around,
shave the beard,
shave the legs..

then the call went up: shave the head.. and there was silence.


All the above including a bald head and the asking price was $700.. suddenly a light bulb lit up above someones head.. if everybody is willing to bid against each other, what if we work together? In 2 second flat the money was raised: SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!

Then Tommy, looking sincerely into the crowd, dropped the bombshell: 'Ill do the same thing; legs, head, beard.. but we want to see 4 figures.. You could have heard a pin drop.. Screwing Ben over was fun but Tommy had taken it to another level... Once.. Twice.. SOLD!!!!

For ONE THOUSAND AND FIFTY dollars Tommy and myself are bald, leg hair free and clean shaven. But we got to go to the conference!


Last week the time came to pay our debt and I think the pictures speak for themselves.
All I can say, with a tear in my eye, is thank you Tommy for selflessly deciding to go through this with me!!


The winning consortium.. The process.. and the result..

Little changes

Welcome to the new look Blog, this is a work in progress that was started by the new logo in January and I who knows when ill be done with changing it :)

Oh, I've also sorted out the problem with comments so that they are open to anybody, you don't need a 'Google account' any more.

All have a great Palm Sunday!!

PS I really need to thank everybody who took the time to visit the Grade 3 blog. They really loved seeing all the hits on the blog and were amazed by the variety of countries that looked in. Thanks!

This is a quick advertising blog :)
Alongside Physical Education I also teach Elementry IT

Since the start of the year my Grade 3 IT class have been designing and upkeeping there own blog. Recently we added a Analytic tool to see how many people visit our site.
We (they mostly) have been extremely excited to see where we have (our few) visitors from.
They are doing a great job; making me proud!

Please have a look, leave a comment if you like, the kids will love it!

www.msagrade3.blogspot.com

Excuse me, I'm busy being an idiot..

I will dance
I will sing
To be mad for my King

'Cause nothing Lord is hindering this passion in my soul
and I'll become even more undignified than this,
and I'll become even more undignified than this.
from: Undignified, Stephen Hurd

I may be well known for sometimes acting like an idiot and sometimes being loud and obnoxious (everyone try ‘The really nasty Horse Racing game’!!) but I’m deciding more and more that we shouldn’t spend more time being ‘sensible’ but spend more time being undignified, in the best possible way.

Every now and again do something completely out of the ordinary.
Every now and again give away all you have.
Every now and again go forward after a service to pray.
Every now and again be a complete and utter fool.
Every now and again physically drop to your knees.
Every now and that crack a joke.
Every now again dance.
Every now and again suddenly pray out loud.
Every now and again beg to God.
Every now and again trust that He will provide.

But always and in everything praise with all you have got.

"I tell you," he replied,"if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
(Luke 19:40)

Trust me.. I'll become even more undignified than this..

and the prisoners shall be set free..

This is the second part in my reflection on the outreach part of the Gateway.

Besides the orphanage the other main part of our time was spent as part of a prison ministry in Abomey.

After a lot of back and forth, when it looked like we wouldn't be granted permission on time to go into the prison, but it worked out better than we could imagine.

In the end we were granted permission to meet with the under-age prisoners in a enclosed area of the prison. 22 young men and 2 young women between 12-20. It turned out that that enclosed space and knowing that the under-age inmates lived in a closed off area was the biggest blessing you could imagine.

To explain: the Abomey prison was built in colonial times with a maximum capacity of 400 prisoners at any given time. Anno 2010 the prison houses over 1000 inmates..

To get to the walled off juvinel area we had to walk through the main prison.. wauw.. I can hardly describe it in words. SO many people, living in such small and basic conditions. The place was.. I dont know...

Working with inmates was not something I would have ever voluntarily chosen if I'm completely honest (and I usually am). But from the first words of welcome from one of the young guys something snapped. The young guys in here were nothing different to the orphans at the home. Yes they were taller, stronger and had a past I didn't even want to hear about, but all the wanted was to have people care.

Saying that the first conversation weren't much more than: 'what can you give us?' Can't fault a man from trying..

Each morning, 6 days, we went in there, each morning we did a skit (they really enjoyed the humour), each morning we shared testimonies and stories, each morning we took time to just be with them. And by the time the last days came around I walked into that prison to visit friends. I wasn't scared, I no longer saw a mass group but individual faces and personalities.

In our absence now, 3 locals pastors and our driver that week will be carrying on the visits and we have already heard encouraging stories.

And what do I do? I pray.. I beg.. I try in my arrogance to intercede with the Most Holy for these young men and woman. That God may be there, and they may know my Jesus.

Please pray with me.

You know you're dating a mercy shipper when..

This goes out to a very special person; to all who have gone before and all who are still to try.

You know you're dating a Mercy shipper when:

- the last question before going on a romantic walk is: 'Honey, do you have a nalgene?'

- you have the choice of 3 restaurants to go to dinner

- romantic evening strolls (after 10.30) are always within a radius of 40 feet

- after your first date you already know you are taking her home

- you remember her phone number cause its only 4 digits

- you meet her collegues before her family

- you know you'll get along with her friends.. because they're your friends too

- all dates last a maximum of 4 hours

- you have to add a ' ratio' to how long you've been dating

- you can have breakfast, lunch, dinner together yet aren't living with each other

- romantic dinners together are: breakfast, lunch and dinner

- sharing a bottle of wine at dinner isn't an option.. you're the only ships driver.

- you start your relationship with a talk with the chaplains

- romantic cruises are not an option as holiday destinations

- going out to a movie involves using a laptop

Benin again - short but sweet

Last week we returned from our Field Service in Northern Benin, Field Service is the practical application part of the Gateway training program.

So how do you start blogging about 2 and a half weeks of some of the most impacting work possible..

Do I start at the orphanage with 53 children just wanting to be loved on, where you were each day using both you relational and physical skills to try and make as much of a difference as you can in the short time available?

Do I talk about Mamma Arlette who is responsible for raising these kids? A true woman of God who is dancing one moment and correcting the next.

Do I talk about the prison outreach, about the main badly overcrowded area we walked through or about the 24 teenagers whos future hangs in the balance? Who ask for things but they just want you to be there. Do I talk about spiritual warfare, the grip that voodoo has on that place and the destruction it leads to?

Or do I tell you about friendships with team and locals. About irritations and arguments, laughter and tears. Where do I start..

Im doing this per person per story. May take a while but thats the only I can do it justice.

Meet some of the orphans at the Maision d'Espoire in Abomey. A private orphanage for children who have lost both parents for what ever reason. The kids range in age from 2 to 15. We did projects there building them cabinets and towards the end a swing set from local materials. Most days contained a period of songs and a skit with the kids. These guys know how to worship!! With everything they have!! The orphanage has a staff of 7, this include maintanace, cooks and mamma and pappa. The kids all are going to school and being raised as a HUGE family. I couldn't imagine a better place for these kids to be. They are lovingly cared for.

It is far from a holding pen for kids through there childhood but a household where they can thrive.

Please pray for protection and provision for the kids. That God will continue to bless them and the staff and reward them for the amazing way they are rasing these kids.

Painting my wagon..

What makes you a cowboy? An age old philosophical question.

As I am in Texas just now (1 more week) that question has taken more and more significance. And who am I to deny the true western spirit!

Step 1: Get a horse

....working on it..

Step 2: Greet people with: 'howdy!'

CHECK

Step 3: Wear a cowboy hat.

would love to but they are sooooo expensive!!

Step 4: Fire guns.

Maybe the most ulikely one for me to have fulfilled but... :) CHECK!

This past Sunday a few of us from Gateway were invited over to a friends house to try out a couple of his guns. Me, being the European, had never fired one of these... Im still against general gun ownership but have to admit that it was a fun experience.. (cant hit a moving target to save my life by the way)

So I may not be a cowboy yet, but trust me y'all.. Im fixin' to be one soon partner!

Hosanna in the highest

I seem to have gone from almost NEVER updating my blog to maybe overdoing it a bit. If you start to get sick of the ramblings of a simple teacher just let me know.. I just seem to have a lot on my heart recently.

One of my fellow Gateway participants just played this song and it has been a favourite for a while, I'll explain after you've had a chance to read the lyrics :)

Hosanna - Hillsong United

I see the king of glory

Coming on the clouds with fire

The whole earth shakes

The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy

Washing over all our sin

The people sing

The people sing

Hosanna

Hosanna

Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation

Rising up to take their place

With selfless faith

With selfless faith

I see a near revival

Stirring as we pray and seek

We're on our knees

We're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdoms cause

As I go from nothing to Eternity

Hosanna in the highest

The 2 points in this song that will either send chills down my spine or tears to my eyes are:

I see a generation

Rising up to take their place

With selfless faith

With selfless faith

I teach.. big surprise eh! But not just as a profession but as a calling, and every time I see a child of mine pray, worship or just talk about their personal relationship with our Saviour it all makes sense. All the long hours, paperwork and times of just pulling lumps of hair out my head, they're just all worth while.. that is the generation I see rising to take our place, and that my friends is the reason I teach.

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

I live and work in Africa (well technically float in African waters) and the longer I am there the easier it is to start to close my eyes to the hurt in west Africa.. I honestly pray that my eyes or always opened to the things that God see's. That I weep His tears and hurt His hurt. I don't ever want to reach the point where the poverty or need doesn't affect me anymore.. but secretly I am always afraid that it might, 'God give me grace'.

Ben