We recently flew out from the ship to Geneva less than a week after Brenda’s return from Liverpool after her mum's funeral. We left Emma, Chris & Josh on board the ship. A young couple on board moved into our cabin for the two weeks to be temporary guardians in our absence. It’s the first time since Matt was born that we have both together been away from the kids for more than one night.
You may remember us sharing in one of our previous communications, that an anonymous donor paid for Andy & I to go to France & Switzerland. One week of this trip was for a debriefing at Le Rucher Ministries in Cessy, France. Pictured left & right. The Lord knew what we needed and especially so soon after mum’s death. It proved to be a very timely break. As well as our time of debriefing, reflecting on our 9 years of service with Mercy Ships and the many things the Lord has taught us through that time, we also go to spend time with some great friends. Alberta Wray (pictured with Brenda in Geneva) - who used to work with Mercy Ships and spent a few years in Newcastle with us, now works at Le Rucher. It was lovely to have time with her during that week. She showed us around the beautiful Swiss city of Geneva.
We also travelled to a small village beyond Morge called Lille to visit Alphonse & Marinette and their 14 yr old son Caleb. They also served with us on the Africa Mercy in Newcastle for 4 years. Alphonse worked with Andy as Chief Engineer and Marinette worked with me in HR. It was a highlight of our time to see them again.
Alphonse & Marinette pictured left with Caleb and cat, pictured right outside their lovely home.
Below - The Mercy Ships Swiss Office in Lausanne
If that wasn’t enough we also got to visit the Mercy Ships Swiss Office in Lausanne. The office is located in a lovely big house where several staff families also live. The timing for this visit was great as they had a Swiss Alumni Crew Barbeque, so we got to see lots of “Mercy Shippers” who have now left the ship. It was such a fun day to see so many friends again.
Our second week away was spent in a beautiful place called Mageve in a lovely Chalet. We had some lovely walks and enjoyed the spectacular beauty of the location. The Alps and particulalry our visits to Chamonix and trip up Mont Blanc in a cable car were a highlight of our time. The height of Mont Blanc made it a pretty breathtaking cable car ride, not for the faint hearted!! Picture right shows Brenda with Mont Blanc in the background. Picture below taken from the highest point with Mont Blanc in the background. It was a stunning trip.
Our time away was wonderful and we returned to the ship having had a refreshing and relaxing two weeks away, excited to see Emma Chris & Josh again. They had done well on board in our absence, though I think they missed us just a little bit.
It didn't take too long to get right back into the swing of things on board, even though France & Switzerland felt like a million miles away, the contrasts between Europe and Africa are just so huge.......
We continue to be really busy on the ship and it really is hard to believe that we have been in Benin 9 months and are currently planning our demobilisation and pack down. We sail from Benin on 8th December with an expected arrival in Tenerife of 18th.
We are excited to be flying from Tenerife to the UK for 3 weeks to spend Christmas & New Year with family. Brenda’s sister Heather and Dave & their family Victoria, Ellie & Zoe will be there after 7 years of living in Australia. It will be a wonderful family re-union especially for all the cousins! We hope to spend about 10 days in Liverpool, a week in Newcastle and some time visiting Andy's family in Birmingham and in the South as we travel back down the country towards Gatwick for our return to the ship. As we get dates in each location firmed up, we will publish our itinerary and hope to be able to plan to spend time with many of our friends & supporters too!
The ship will spend the usual 6 weeks in Tenerife, during which time regular maintenance will take place including an underwater survey of the hull. We sail from Tenerife on 1st Feb to our next field service location in TOGO.As you can see from the map below, Togo is sandwiched between Ghana & Benin. We will be docked in the port of Lome for a shorter field service February - August 2010. 
BEYOND TOGO - 2010
In August we anticipate major Shipyard work to replace the 2 old Harbour Generators which have proved just way too noisy to use for the Hospital just above them. In addition to the noise, the vibration created makes delicate surgery impossible. We have gotten round this by using the 4 Frichs Generators. However, these were never designed for constant use and therefore require an intense maintenance schedule. The current plan is to travel to South Africa for this Generator replacement project. These will all be replaced with 4 new Generators which will bring many benefits. Along with the elimination of the noise pollution and vibration problem, they will be much easier to maintain. They will reduce our fuel costs by an estimated three quarters of a million dollars per year, with the added bonus of stricter fuel emissions control. There is much to be confirmed yet regarding these plans, but as we know more we will let you know. Please keep this technically challenging project in prayer.
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