Weekend Off!

We have arrived in Sierra Leone and our work schedule does not begin until Monday morning. This has allowed us to get settled in and do a few things with Alyssa before we start our duties in the Crew Services department. As it turns out the greatest current need was in the Crew Services so both Kathy and I will be working together to keep the public areas clean. We will each be assigned to a particular deck and will work initially with someone else to learn the ropes. Our first full day (Friday) we were committed to meetings with the Mercy Ships staff to get oriented. We will have additional meetings on Monday. Alyssa was off on Friday and traveled inland to the home of one of the patients. She came home with food they had taught her to make.

On Saturday Alyssa set us up with the local day workers to travel with them to the beach. This meant a number of hours on a bus that kept getting fuller and fuller as they added people, supplies, and sound equipment. Once we arrived is was a great to enjoy the beautiful beach with the local people. The children that live in that beach area are very friendly and love to get acquainted. It was also great to meet more of the friends that Alyssa has made while here.

We left earlier than the rest with the goal of getting back in time for dinner on board the ship. Transportation was not available at the beach spot, so about a dozen or so of us walked a couple miles to the junction to catch a van to get us back. Great walk along the highway followed by a typical overly packed van ride!

Sunday (today) Kathy, Alyssa and I traveled with Simeon, another of the local day workers to worship with him at his church. This meant a short walk, a drive in another overly packed van and a climb up a long hill weaving through the villiage to where the church was located. A wonderful experience with these wonderful and very colorful people. We met with the pastor for a short time after the service to get acquainted and share a cold drink. They speak the Creo language which is basically English with different pronounciations. With lots of concentration, we could follow. The pastor was very complimentary of Mercy Ships and delighted that we made the effort to come. It is such a joy to see how Alyssa has built these relationships with the local people. It seems that wherever we go, people recognize her and come up to greet us. When they discover we are her parents, they simply light up and speak so highly of her. What a blessing for us parents!!This afternoon after lunch, we ventured back to town on foot to purchase some fabric. This will be washed tonight and we will take it to a tailor the first part of the week. Kathy will end up with a new skirt and I, a new shirt. Very fun and very inexpensive.

Thank you to all of you who are praying for us. We appreaciate it so much.

Tim and Kathy