The first sail update

Remember the video blogs from last year? Well they're back. At least for the sail anyway.

We pushed off from the dock in Durban yesterday around noon. After the harbor pilot was lifted by chopper from our top deck we embarked onto the open waters. The engineers have been conducting all kinds of tests to make sure the systems are all working properly and we are golden so far.

Right now our course is set for Cape Town, which is on the opposite side of South Africa. We are going there to have a couple of inspections made and for the final touches to be made on the generators. I hope to get out into the city and see what's good. We will stay for about a day, then it's off to Sierra Leone.

The sail has been great so far. Fairly smooth with almost no problems. Check out these videos to get a look at how things work on the sail. I hope to post a new one daily.


A look at medical supply during sailtime.


The bow. I spend every spare second out here.


Some dolphins I filmed from the bow. Don't worry, they are not in danger, just playing.

Saturdays are for pondering

For the last couple of years there have been two questions swimming around in my head. The answer to these questions has a direct impact on my daily life, but I can't seem to settle on an answer to either one of them. So I decided to post them here and see if anyone of you might have some insight.

The first question is this: Is it better to live everyday with a steady normal pace or to live bouncing between highs and lows? At first it seems obvious that a steady pace is better, but then you miss the emotional and spiritual highs. In my own life these highs can propel me for a long time. But then you get the lows too, so you can understand my dilemma.

The second question is a little more complex: When trying to make a difficult change, is it better to take little steps toward the goal or to just go straight for it. For example, if someone has a goal of running 10 miles every day, is it better to run 1 mile daily for a week then 2 miles and so on, or to just run 10 miles daily? This one also has a deep impact on daily decisions and spiritual matters.

There you have it. I'd love to hear some ideas on these. And for a quick update on the ship - The portion of the crew that was away has moved back aboard now. The generators are on and the AC is struggling to stay on. We will sail to Sierra Leone soon...

Welcome to conference room B

I wish I had a cool cross cultural meaningful story to write about. However, I've been working in the galley for the past few months and there's not much to report. Once when I was peeling carrots there was a carrot that looked like a person with arms and legs. Does that count? Maybe not. I've decided to make this a business like informational type blog entry.

Read the minutes from last time:

-The AFM is in South Africa to have it's generators replaced and some other major electrical work

-Cyle works in the galley because the hospital is not running currently

-Most of the crew has moved off ship to an abandoned college campus

-The ship has no AC because the power generators are in pieces somewhere

-The ship is an oven (think of getting into your car on a sunny summer day)

-We are scheduled to leave SA on January 16th to go to Sierra Leone for the 2011 field service

Any new business?

-The new generators are in and currently being connected and secured

-The departure date has been pushed back to January 30th because of delays in the work

-Cyle has finished work in the galley because it is time to start preparing the hospital for service mode (the hospital deck is currently covered in dirt and oil from all the work)

-Buses filled with crew members come every day to clean the ship and get it ready for sailing and service

-The medical screening process has begun in Sierra Leone, with large turnouts of people who need help

-Cyle is now playing in the worship band on the ship and enjoying having calloused fingers again

Now a word from our chief executive officer:

"Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life that you conferred as a gift through me, so they can be one heart and mind as we are one heart and mind."

Dismissed.

Not my usual post

I just wrote a very long blog entry that was deep and heady and possibly difficult to follow. I erased it and wrote the following instead because what I think what I want to communicate is simple. I'm going to attempt to clearly share my joy.

Jesus has changed me. He used the friction of colliding worldviews on the ship and in Africa to slowly liquefy my values and beliefs. Then he hit me with a trifecta of methods to hammer home some gospel truths. The methods are his word, the words of other people and a supernatural leading of my thoughts through meaningful experiences to some conclusion. He has replaced some of the most rotten parts of me with fresh flesh. He has taught me things that I can't believe I never knew, things about him, about other people, about the world and about me. He has loved me just like he said he would and just like he loves you.

I don't know how to say it any other way than that. All of the credit and honor goes to God.

Just a quick update

Well, if you didn't know you will find out soon enough anyway. I'm in the states. MS flew me to Texas to do some hospital supply preparatory work for next year. I was at the base for 3 weeks and then I flew to VT to surprise my family. I snuck into my parent's house at 1am, camped out on the couch and then woke up early so I could spring the trap. I intended to cook breakfast and have it ready when everyone got up, but I forgot that my dad wakes up super early and he got the drop on me just as I got to the kitchen. I am fully satisfied with the amount of shock and tears that occurred. After thanksgiving I made my way east to Maine and pulled another surprise on my church family. Also satisfying. I've been having a great week catching up with everyone and getting reacquainted with east coast living. Next week I'm heading back to the ship to resume life on board. Vacation in the states is always nice, but I'm looking forward to going back home to Africa.

Listomania (not the song)

Things that surprised me about Africa (specifically Togo):

1. Everyone has a cell phone

2. There are no dogs anywhere

3. How much people love to see a white guy acting like an African

4. You can buy movies on the street before they are released in theaters in America

5. Liquor is cheaper than water

6. The beauty of the country

7. Maggots that borrow into your body

8. How a simple joke can diffuse a tense situation

Things I love about the ship:

1. You get to eat every meal every day with people you love

2. Watching day volunteers react to 'ship culture'

3. People will help you with anything you need

4. Getting in a land rover with 9 other people and realizing none of you are from the same country

5. Seeing a sick person enter and a well person exit

6. A 20 second commute to the office

7. Lifeboat drills (sometimes)

8. Having no idea what the next meal is and the surprise when you see it

9. Long talks on deck 8 with people you barely know and with people who are your best friends

Things I miss about home:

1. Having people over and cooking for them

2. Seeing my breath

3. Ordering food at a restaurant without it being an ordeal

4. Helping people move

5. Green grass and tall trees

6. Stopping by someone's house to say hello

7. Grocery shopping

8. Family and friends (of course)

Things I've learned about God in the last year:

1. His kindness leads us to repentance

2. He is always good

3. He works best through a community

4. He breaks down dividing walls

5. He has a personality

6. He presents different sides of himself depending on circumstances

7. He desires my redemption more than I do

Things I used to believe that I no longer do:

1. I'm a pessimist

2. Shame is an appropriate response to sin

3. I need to keep my armor on to avoid getting hurt by people

4. It is difficult for people of different cultures to relate to each other

5. Poor people are always unhappy

6. I will never be truly happy

Things that I hope will happen in 2011:

1. Lots of Sierra Leonese people will get life changing medical care

2. I meet a woman who will become my wife

3. My heart will soften even more for the impoverished

4. The community on the ship will become tighter and less divided

5. I will continue to work on and make progress with my issues of being motivated by power and acceptance

6. Hospital supply become a well oiled machine that never breaks

Reactions that I want you to have to this blog:

1. Wanting to come and work on the ship (if you're not already here)

2. Wanting to experience Africa

3. Wanting to pray for the ship and Sierra Leonese people and me

4. Wanting to discover new things about God

5. Hopefully a smile or at least a pleasant thought or two

An impression of racism in SA written by someone from the whitest state in America whose only been here for 60 days

Are people out there still interested in race issues? I'm not sure. I feel like racism just gets tossed around and when people talk about it the conversation goes in circles until you don't want to talk about it anymore. Well, this blog is about racism in South Africa. I don't have any answers about it. I just want to kick it around a little more because race is such a strong issue here.

The history of SA is similar to that of the States. There are indigenous people who have lived somewhere for a long time and European people come in. At first there might be some shaky peace between them, but in both cases there is eventually open war and genocide. The difference is that in the states, the native Americans were all but completely wiped out so that the white people vastly outnumbered them, whereas in SA the indigenous people weren't totally eradicated so they remained the majority. I think that difference has had huge implications down the line for how racism has developed here in SA.

So for decades and decades a white minority ruled over the black majority while slowly solidifying the separation of races. It was subtle at first, then grow more insidious with the dawn of the apartheid regime. Feelings of hatred took root on both sides. The upper class white people stood on the labor of a people that disgusted them and the lower class black people were becoming resentful and restless from being treated like they were something less than human.

Then the world grew up. People everywhere were coming to realize that all humans are equal and SA became a dangerous place of terrorism and secret armies and meetings. The black majority wanted to regain control of the country and they eventually got their way without a massive bloody civil war occurring. They turned SA into a republic and set up a government of their own people. They changed street names from things like Pine St to Masabalala Yengwa Ave. They changed stadium names to honor the heroes of the resistance. They set up affirmative action laws to encourage white-owned businesses to hire black people. They took down signs that said "Whites only." And what happened?

The white people still said "Take a left onto Pine St." They said "Let's go to the rugby match at Durban stadium." The white business owners took their companies to more stable countries. The 'whites only' areas are still for whites only, it just isn't clearly marked anymore. Durban proper is filled with Zulu and Indian peoples. Outer Durban is white country. When I walk downtown I am often the only white person around. All of the neighborhoods here belong to a race. If I make plans to go to a restaurant in a certain part of town I already know what color everyone there will be.

The white people are afraid. They all think that someday not too far away they will completely lose the country to black people. They chatter on and on about the neighboring country of Zimbabwe where the black people took control and forced all of the white people out and now the place is a total wasteland. They feel that they aren't adequately represented in the government and most of them simply reminisce about the good old days 20 years ago.

The black people are afraid. They all think that someday not too far away they will lose all of the big white-owned companies that power the economy. They chatter on and on about the neighboring country of Zimbabwe where the white people moved all the industry away and now the place is a total wasteland. They feel that things aren't really much different now and most of them simply wonder what things would be like if those European ships never landed in Cape Town.

There is a billboard not far from the ship that has two pictures on it. On the left there are naked black women carrying baskets on their heads wading through a muddy river that looks like it's straight out of National Geographic. On the right there is a group of black people bundled up in warm clothing crossing a walking bridge in cold weather in some city. Then the text underneath reads "Things are better now". The irony is that only a couple of kilometers away from that billboard there is an overpass where hundreds of homeless black people scrounge for food and sleep under newspaper and cardboard. The place is easily visible on the way back from a favorite restaurant of us who live on the ship. On more than one occasion I've gone out with friends, enjoyed great conversations and beautiful views of the harbor and sky and nice food and drink, then drove back passing a community of barrel fires and shivering women and hungry bellies.

The world hasn't grown up quite enough. This is a broken place. One person hates another because his distant ancestor wronged the other's. The God that I know can't stand division and deeply desires restoration. There it is again. All my blogs are about it these days. Restoration, redemption, unity, humans loving humans. As I write this I search for some hope of racial reconciliation. Not just for SA, but for this whole globe. It eludes me. I wish I could wrap up this blog in a nice little bow with a statement about how things are moving forward and people are changing. I can't conjure it now. Here's the best that I have: There is an infinitely powerful being whose priority is the restoration of everything that exists.