Traveling Europe

When we left the Africa Mercy (Mercy Ships) ship when it was in Tenerife, Canary Islands I (Tyrone) had never used any of my vacation/leave/holiday days from the 18 months working at the base nor the 12 months onboard the ship.

So that allowed Stephanie and me to continue to travel and meet up with old friends in Europe in January and February before having to go back to work in March.

Some days we took good pictures, some days we couldn't be bothered.  I didn't take a great number of pictures of the food because I needed both hands to eat and wipe my mouth without soiling or greasing up the camera...but what pictures we did take I will share below.  Then of course Stephanie had to edit what pictures would make the cut since I am not as demanding.  There are a few blurry pics of restaurants or food places, but I thought they should still be seen in case you may one day be there and recognize that I loved the food at that restaurant.

A lot is going on with us right now as we settle back into living the life of a U.S. citizen so more stories and eats may be blogged about later as I recall fond memories of our travels.

As you will see just a few pics in England, it was cold & snowy.  We also spent time in Belgium too (Brussels) but then again, we just felt too cold and wet to be bothered.  But those places were just as great!

Click on the link to go to the album.  I used fairly simple picture albums so If you have a slow connection it should still be less painful than usual to see them.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7TnLRcjnd1bNPqFj6

Africa to Europe to AL to TX to CA

January 12th, Tyrone and I walked down the gangway in the rain. I thought I would be distraught, but I was actually so excited. I had so much to look forward to. Don't get me wrong I definitely miss the ship, but it was time to move on.

After leaving the hip we spent an amazing month traveling all over Europe. We went to Dublin, Madrid, Rome, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brussels, Sheffield, Leeds, Kirkubright, and Edinburgh. Some of the places we visited dear Mercy Ship friends and other places Tyrone and I explored the city together.  All of it was amazing, although the constant traveling was exhausting. I am so thankful for this time. It was a great time of reflection and transition.

After our whirlwind tour, we stayed with Tyrone's sister and her family. It was so great to hang out with them and see how much our niece and nephews have grown. We stayed there for 10 days and unfortunately we were very busy trying to get everything ready in order for me to take a travel nursing assignment. I am still in awe that  I actually got an assignment exactly where I wanted to be when the travel nursing industry is struggling so badly. All I  is "Praise the Lord!!"

Now, I am sitting in the anchorage cafe at the IOC in Tyler, TX  trying to make sense of it all. I have spent the last 3 days spending time with my dear friend Jennifer, which has been so great to catch up with her. We have also had a chance to meet up with other friends here in Tyler. Tyrone and I shared with our Sunday School class at Grace Community Church about our time on the Africa Mercy. I love sharing our experiences with others.

Tomorrow we fly to San Jose, Ca. My travel company is providing us an apartment in South San Francisco. I am so excited to cook, do laundry in our apartment, go grocery shopping, go to the park, and work at a hospital and get paid for it. I am so excited to live near my friends and be a part of my old Bible study and be in a group of people who know me.

Please pray

that Tyrone finds a job where he can be challenged and enjoys his  job

we find a reliable, cheap, used car

that I can find a permanent job when my travel assignment is over in 8 weeks

we continue to adjust back to American life

we continue to grow in our marriage and our relationship with the Lord

we find ways to serve the Lord in short term missions or community missions.

We will continue to update our blog so stay tuned. Thank you for all your support throughout the year.

Five Minutes of Fame

We are pretty busy as of lately, we actually have a lot to blog about and pictures to share but it will have to wait for more time...

You've all heard the cliche or term 'your five minutes of fame...'?  Well, I suppose I have finally gotten mine for being with Mercy Ships all these years... it's just a shame that NO ONE IN THE USA will see it.  Yep, that's right...

No, I didn't make it to a TV show BUT I did make it in the UK Mercy Ships Calendar as Mr. March this year.  Complete in Chef uniform pulling hot pans of chicken out of the oven in a very busy 'lunchtime' galley shift.

SIGH.  Oddly enough the US Mercy Ships Calendar for 2009 is called 'The Colors of Benin' even though we just finished outreach service in Liberia...and it has pictures that were taken in Liberia in the Calendar as well...Hmmm, I'm confused...Colors of Benin?

So to all my UK friends (of which there are plenty), I'm the MAN!  Mr. March!  And to my Sheffield (England) buddy Arthur (Chief Electrician) WAY TO GO! *(he made it too!)  I think he's January.

To all my US friends, family, and supporters...I was hoping for a calendar that was relative to the year of outreach I was just a part of in Liberia, but since it's not, we can not justify the financial expense of buying all those Benin calendars...you'll just have to get by on our pictures, posts, and smiling faces of us in Liberia 2008!

Daniel

Oretha

Jemima and Korpo

John

Foday

lessons

Evelyne and Ophelia - Liberia Cooks

Liberian Friends

My Favorite Liberian Names

I love lists. When I am packing, moving, or shopping usually make a list. I hardly ever even look at the list after I make it, which usually ends in forgotten stuff or purchasing everything but what I actually need. Here is one of the lists I have been compiling during my time here on the ship.

My favorite Liberian names

Godgive

Playboy

Surprise

Darling Boy

Blessing

Present

Hardtime

Lucky Boy

Gurl

Lovetee

TeeGurl

Babygirl

Baby

Sunday (boy)

Favorite phrases heard on the ward

"Mama, it is not good for baby to eat the shoe."

"Larry, Do not eat the contaminated waste."

Sometimes its confusing

I noticed after a nice email from my friend Beth back home that the author of the post was not showing up in our updates...so I corrected that!

Stephanie was/is the one that is sick right now (a lot of sleep and antibiotics seem to be the cure...).

Even though the outreach is over, we still have to pack up and prepare to sail.  Then the sail will last another week before we arrive in Tenerife.

Stephanie and I will continue to work on board (because as you can imagine no one ever stops eating!) and we actually don't return to the 'states' till the beginning of February. So 'everything' is not quite 'over' yet.

We saw a significant decline in financial support over the summer.  I know some of our financial supporters are probably going through a tough time - the economy, layoffs, personal, and/or financial problems.

In light of that, our plans are to return home in February, look at locations and job opportunities, then decide what to do next...and then hopefully be able to work full-time (save and raise money) and do mission/volunteer work short-term each year.

The transitions we will be making are:

• The end of outreach is always hard, packing up, saying goodbye...


• After outreach is a time for rest (physically, mentally, spiritually) it takes time to comprehend all that you have experienced in a year in an environment like this.


• Life goes on, and we must keep the ship afloat while we still look to ahead - cleaning, packing, sailing - and those are work things, then its the personal version of cleaning, packing, traveling...


• Saying goodbye again when we actually leave the ship and all the friends we have here on board.


• Going home, visiting friends, family, and supporters (which includes some more travel)


• Adjusting to being gone a year...and the changes back 'home' we have missed.


• Getting back into society and going back to work...

Whew!  There's a lot to completing a mission and also going home to start the next 'adventure'.  I would not suggest it to people who are prone to have anxiety attacks!

Sincerely,

Tyrone

PS. I have some pictures and updates of the money raised for the Liberia Fund and also my own tales of work and friends made...I know I have been slack of my writing duties lately, I'll try to catch up on the sail.