Where are Denise and Rob?

Hello Friends,

You may be wondering where are Denise and Rob? Well, we are in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada! Some of you are probably thinking, what happened to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic? We sailed from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic to Morehead City, NC. Our outreach was very successful. Thank you for your prayers, emails, letters of encouragement and the many ways you expressed your love to us.

The sail to Morehead City began at 7:30 pm on April 25th and took four days and arrived on Monday, April 28th at 7:30 am on schedule. The sail was very relaxing and a time to reflect on what has happened in our lives over the past several months during outreach. We traveled on a bearing of 338 degrees North by NW at a speed of 14 knots. The seas were calm, and gently rolling with maybe a foot to a foot and a half swells; just enough for a steady rocking motion. The last day the seas were up to 6 feet swells and a little bit rougher.

We were in Morehead City for about three weeks undergoing some technical repair work. The ship is in fine working order, these were repairs or upgrades previously scheduled. The email and telephone situation we had there was not very good. The first week we were in Morehead City we couldn’t get telephone lines. So the ship purchased several cell phones. Our friend and shipmate Don Golden who is the Director of the IT department managed to connect us to the internet using a Sprint PCS Air Card and placing a laptop computer on the bridge.

While we were faced with these technical challenges, there was the special projects team on board working hard to accomplish all of the assorted and much needed renovations, modifications and overhaul of equipment. It is akin to having your kitchen remodeled, the roof replaced, the carpet replaced in the living room, the air conditioning replaced, the basement finished and then they discover that the in-ground pool in the back yard has been leaking into the basement, along with a few minor leaks in the plumbing in the house which will require removal of some of the walls to get to the hidden leak. In the mist of all of the hammering, chipping, cutting, sawing, painting, welding and mixing, there was the reality that all of these wonderful people were giving of their time and talent to make our home on the Caribbean Mercy a more comfortable, safe environment. They were giving a sacrifice of praise to our Lord Jesus Christ, making our ship into a most useful instrument of hope and healing.

Through their efforts, we as a crew will be able to continue to take the message of God’s love to many people. The special projects team came and ministered to us, not only in the work they did on the ship with their hands, but the work they did in our hearts by their tireless efforts, their outward expressions of God’s love in action.

We are now beginning the Public Relations Tour phase, which will last for about 6 weeks. While we are here in Halifax and Boston, please continue to keep us in your prayers. Our prayer is that we may remain focused and that they may see in us an example of Jesus by our love for each other, for them and for people we serve. Our desire is to provide an atmosphere that people will be drawn to on the ship and that they would desire and be encouraged to follow God’s plan for their lives, whether that would be with us on the ship or in partnership with Mercy Ships or as God would direct them in serving Him.

We will sign off for now…lots more to say, but since so much has happened since our last correspondence, we’ll write again in a week or so. It’s good to be back on a good Internet connection and have phones! Our phone on the ship is 902-425-2850 or 2860. This will be a good number until June 23rd, and then we sail to Boston. May God bless you abundantly and our prayer for you is that your life will be as wonderful as it was in the mind of God on the day He made you!

God’s blessings,
Rob and Denise Miller
Mercy Ships, m/v Caribbean Mercy