Hello! We are so sorry for taking such a long time to get a new blog post out. The ship was without Wi-Fi for over a month, which made things very interesting. I gained a new appreciation for those who are living in remote places without reliable internet and for missionaries in the past who had to rely on the mail to communicate with loved ones. We really missed being able to FaceTime and see the faces of our family and friends back home (especially Ethan)! Since our last update, we have had a number of changes and lots of new things for us to adapt to.
Here are some highlights with some of the 'new things' since our last blog post:
NEW SHIP
We moved from the Africa Mercy onto the brand new Global Mercy ship! It is much larger than the Africa Mercy and very different. Both ships set sail from Tenerife at the same time - it was so cool to see the Africa Mercy sailing outside of the window in our cabin on the Global Mercy in the middle of the ocean! The Africa Mercy is on its way to South Africa for renovations (it's a 21-day sail) and we are back in Dakar, Senegal. Our sail only took 3 days! We saw the most beautiful sunsets and lots of dolphins while we sailed.
Below is a short video tour of the Global Mercy ship so you can have an idea of where we are living now. Araina and her friends make a special appearance so watch for her! It was very special to be on Carys's blog because we watched A LOT of her blog videos when we preparing to serve with Mercy Ships. They were super helpful to prepare us for this adventure! Her Dad is one of the long-term surgeons with Mercy Ships and she and her family lived on the Africa Mercy for most of their lives (I believe she was three years old when they moved onboard).
NEW SCHOOL
The girls are attending a new school on the Global Mercy. Here's a video tour of what their school looks like. It's a beautiful space with amazing teachers!
NEW CREW
Since moving over to the Global Mercy we have met a lot of new crew (thankfully some of belove old crew from the Africa Mercy also came to the Global Mercy). Our move also meant that we had to say goodbye to many of the crew from the Africa Mercy.
NEW HOSPITAL
The brand new hospital on the Global Mercy is amazing! The crew was invited to tour the hospital before our patients arrive. The girls had so much fun touring the hospital and learning about the surgeries that will start this week.
NEW PATIENTS
Our first new patients arrived on the Global Mercy this morning! During this field service, we will be serving Senegal and the Republic of The Gambia. Our Country Engagement Team (CET) team has been busy screening patients from both countries and coordinating transportation to get them here to Dakar. We will continue to do all of the types of surgeries that we did the last time we were here, but this time we will also do eye surgeries. When we were preparing to come to Mercy Ships I remember being blown away at the impact of cataract surgeries where patients go from being blind to seeing again after just a matter of minutes.
NEW ROLES
Since the Academy on the Global Mercy is already up and running and has a full staff, Chris and I are in new roles outside of the Academy for this season. Chris has been helping out in various areas - from carpentry to transportation to deck. I am now the Assistant Chaplain and will be supporting our crew onboard.
SAME MISSION
Although Chris and I are both in different roles since we started our journey with Mercy Ships, the mission is still the same. We are grateful that God brought us here and are privileged to volunteer with such an amazing organization in any capacity. We love being a part of bringing hope and healing to the people of Africa and serving the crew onboard, too!
NEW COUNTRY?
Through all of the ups and down the past couple of years, our family has LOVED our time with Mercy Ships. Our two-year commitment commences in June. It's so hard to believe how fast time has gone by. I remember one day about three years ago when I out for a run with my friend, Maria, who has been serving as a full-time missionary for many years. We were talking about how I wished we could just go to Mercy Ships for a year because I could take a leave of absence from work and wouldn't have to be away from Ethan too long. She said that she thought that a year was not long enough and even two years probably wasn't...boy was she right! Staying longer than a year meant that we had to take a leap of faith and trust God so much more than we had ever done before. Throughout our time with Mercy Ships, God has been our anchor and has shown us over and over again that we can put our trust in Him. We have been thinking and praying and talking about what to do next and really feel called to extend our time with Mercy Ships. If we continue to volunteer, we would go to Sierra Leon in September with the Global Mercy and then transfer back to the Africa Mercy in December, which will go to Madagascar.
I know many of you may think that what we are doing is crazy and wonder why we would want to stay away from family (especially Ethan) and our friends, not have paid employment and contribute to a pension, and live on a ship....and we agree that its certainly not the norm! It is a different life for sure and not for everyone, but it's one that we love and we have peace knowing that God has called us here. If you don't know God yet in a personal way, you may find it really hard to believe in something you can't see and I get it. About 16 years ago I started to believe, so I had many years without faith in God. If you are a believer, please pray for us as we make this huge decision.
Praise & Thanksgiving
a great visit with my Mom and sister's family this Christmas break
feeling very welcome on the Global Mercy
the opportunity to try new roles on the Global Mercy
safely sailing to Dakar to serve two nations - Senegal and The Gambia
Prayer Requests
for our patients, hospital staff and equipment, and everything else that needs to work together to do our first surgeries on the Global Mercy this week
for wisdom and courage as we determine whether to extend our time with Mercy Ships
all of the changes and transitions happening for our family and many other crew members over the next month
As always, we love receiving mail here! If you feel like reaching out, please send mail to the Mercy Ships head office at this address:
Mercy Ships - GLM- Crew Mail
Chris (or Shae, Araina, or Amayah) Attwater
15862 State Highway 110 N.
Lindale, Texas
USA
75771-202
We are deeply thankful for all of your prayers, love, and financial support throughout this journey. It's a privilege to be here and be a small part of bringing Hope and Healing to the people of Senegal and The Gambia. If you would like to partner with us financially, please click on the DONATE button at the top of our website. If you have any questions about Mercy Ships, what we are doing, or how things are going please don't hesitate to reach out.
With lots of love and gratitude,
Shae, Chris, Araina, & Amayah
Great journey and a great blog! You could make videos right from your computer, just talking to your audience. In my opinion, that would be very interesting and would diversify your YouTube channel. I use several programs for videos like this. You can check out these programs here. They allow you to record the entire screen of your computer.
This is just so wonderful! I am so happy to have learned about this ship and what it does. Chris and Shae! I am so proud of you both! And so moved….love to you both! Lin Hylton
(with the turquoise jacket)