Mercy Watch: April 2006

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Harley Davidson Motorcylists are in town - Weston-Super-Mare

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Photo SharingFor more movies...Click on the title bar of this posting

Rob and the Rock of Ages!

April 2006 264, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

We stopped by to visit the rock that inspired the great hymn, Rock of Ages! This is Rob's favorite hymn so I had to take a picture of him on the rock.

The Cleft of the Rock!

April 2006 266, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

This picture shows the HUGE Cleft in this rock.

Tea and Coffee Break in Weston-super-Mare

April 2006 246, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

Andy, Vi, Rob and Kathy at a little cafe by the sea in Andy's home town of Weston-super-Mare. Vi is Andy's Mum (Mom for those Americans among us). A look over the wall there is in the video attached below. As we sat and chatted...the sound of the water lapping up was so familiar!

The tide coming in .... Weston-Super-Mare

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Friday, April 28, 2006

Going down to Andy's parents home!

April 2006 218, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

We had a long....6 hour ride....down to Weston-super-Mare in Southwest England. Andy, our flat mate, was a great tour guide on the way down and was pointing out all the sites. But we left at 6 PM and after a few hours it was DARK! So then the sight seeing became a bit more difficult. However...we could see the signs and Andy let us know that we would be going past Stratford-on-Avon (Shakespeare Country) and that there was a sign. So...I tried to take a picture for our son, Jason, who was an English Lit major in College and loves British Literature most. I really didn't think it would come out...but it almost did!

Monday, April 24, 2006

Hello from Northeast England!

April 2006 142, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

Some of the crew took a short trip up the coast and this picture is taken from the top of the cliff we climbed down from to get up close and personal with the North Sea!

Left to right of the group...Tom, Andy, David, Denise, Penny, Kathy and Keith

Monday, April 17, 2006

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!

Easter Greetings!, originally uploaded by MercyWatch.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Pilgrim's Walk to Holy Island

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This is a brief video of part of the 2 mile walk on the bottom of the sea to Holy Island. You may only walk at certain times during the low tide when the bottom is mainly dry. The walk took us about 2 hours to walk on Good Friday 2006. This is Penny crossing a small stream of water that we couldn't find a way around. The wind is blowing about 40 mph and the temperature was about 8 degrees Celcius, without factoring the wind chill in. The water was VERY cold! This was a beautiful day to take the walk. The sun was shining for some of the day! When the sea is in...the bottom is covered with about 6 feet of North Sea!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Mercy Minute

A Mercy Ships driver was leading a post-Katrina construction team in Biloxi, Mississippi. His vital mission was interrupted by the sight of a little oldlady standing on a street corner. She feebly stood with a cane and a purse,staring across the busy street while cars and trucks sped past.

Was helping an elderly lady to cross the street in his job description? He decided it was. So, he drove around the block, stopped at the curb. He approached the elderly lady and asked, "Are you trying to cross the street?" She answered, "Oh, my goodness, no! I'm waiting for a bus!"

Then her eyes read the Mercy Ships logo on the side of the van, and she added, "But thank you for being merciful."

Now you go out of your way and show mercy to someone today. This is Don Stephens of Mercy Ships reminding you, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

Copyright © 2006 Mercy Ships. Reprinted with permission. "The Mercy Minute with Don Stephens" is a radio broadcast brought to you by Mercy Ships International.

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Click here - Article on the Africa Mercy

This article was published in The Sunday Times - Scotland, just after the commissioning ceremony.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Africa Mercy Commissioning Service

Recently, we had the Africa Mercy Commissioning Service and many guests made their way to Northeast England to the ship to attend this service! The ship was looking GREAT with her flags flying for the event! The crew had worked hard in cleaning and getting her ready for the almost 200 guests that arrived onboard for the ceremony and tour. This picture was taken in what will be our dining room.

We unpacked the chairs that will go in our International Lounge (where we will have our worship and meetings) and brought them down to the dining room for this ceremony!

This dining room will seat about 220 people for meals once the tables are set up. This room was transformed for the ceremony and it was looking lovely! Hard to imagine that just a week ago the ceiling was installed and the floors uncovered!

Lord Ian McColl and Dame Norma Majors presided over the ceremony. This is an official photo taken by the "official photograher" for the event.

Just 8 days before the Commissioning Service

Rachel, one of our receptionists, really enjoyed cleaning the windows, ceiling and walls of the dining room and other areas of the ship! These two photos really show how much work there was to do! All of the crew got involved getting the ship ready!

Every inch of the areas that were being shown for the Commissioning Ceremony and tour had to be cleaned and prepared to host the over 200 guests!

This picture is of Mercy Ships Founder, Don Stephens and Mrs. Boakai, the wife of the newly elected Vice President of Liberia. The Anastasis is currently on Field Assignment serving in Liberia. Mrs. Boakai brought greetings from the continent of Africa and spoke of how Mercy Ships is making an impact in Liberia and other African nations. The Africa Mercy's first field service will be in Ghana this fall until March of 2007 when we will sail from Ghana to serve in Liberia.

After the Commissioning Service, the guests were taken on a tour that included a family and guest cabin.

This picture shows the community area of one of the family cabins on Deck 5. The tour then went down two decks to the hospital on Deck 3. This deck was completely transformed into a full working hospital from the deck that the railroad trains came in on.

This picture is taken of one of the six Operating Rooms. The floor is still covered although the flooring is installed under the protection. The pictures are hung up for the tour to show the work that we do in a developing nation.

This picture is of Jean Campbell explaining to the tour about the recovery room which has a bathroom and shower facility for the patients as well. It is just amazing to me to see how this deck was transformed from a railroad terminal to a full service and state of the art hospital facility!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Helen and Rachel cleaning to prepare for the Commisioning Ceremony

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video SharingHelen is cleaning the glass doors and Rachel is using the backpack vacuum cleaner to clean the rubber flooring in the cafe atrium area of the Africa Mercy.

Penny cleaning the stairs in the Cafe Atrium on the Africa Mercy

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video SharingPenny uncovering the Cafe Atrium stairs in preparation for the Africa Mecy Commissioning Service on 06 April 06!

Steve Martin supervises the set up of Scott Harrison's pictures

Video Hosting - Upload Video - Video SharingThe Dining Room of the Africa Mercy was transformed to host the Africa Mercy Commissioning Service. Steve Martin (formerly with Mercy Ships and our neighbor when we were at the IOC in 2005) came over to video the ceremony and helped supervise the set up some of the pictures from the Mercy Ships New York Gala last year. The pictures were taken by the photographer and photo journalist Scott Harrison, while onboard the Anastasis last year. His blog is full of fascinating stories.