Cape Town, South Africa

We finally made it to Madagascar Saturday! And WOW, we were greeted with a beautiful arrival ceremony. There was singing and dancing on the dock, the President and Prime Minister and their wives came down from the capital city and had a few words to share with us and then we gave them a tour of the ship. It was a special day, one I will certainly never forget. It’s been such a long and challenging journey to get to this day, it’s almost unbelievable that we’re actually here. I am beyond excited for the year to come and can’t wait to see what God has in store for us.

On top of Table Mountain

But before I get too far into this outreach, I want to share just a little about my time in Cape Town, South Africa. We stopped there for 3 weeks on our way to Madagascar for several reasons. The biggest reason was to buy some time. We just made the decision to come to Madagascar at the end of August, which was not that long ago. Our advance team normally has 4-5 months in a country before we arrive to make arrangements for us, find hospitals to work with, buildings to use, patients to treat…. And this time they only had 6 weeks in country before we arrived.  There was no way they could get everything ready for us in just 3 weeks so we waited in Cape Town while they paved the way for us. But we didn’t wait idly.  We arrived September 29^th and by October 1^st the hospital was set up and we were giving tours. We tried a new approach, the communications department put together what we called an “experience tour” where people came down to the hospital as if they were a patient caregiver and were walked through the hospital from one area to another watching videos along the way as if they were really a part of it. One of our nurses told a patient story and at the end of the presentation they got to see the end results of the surgery for their “patient”.  It was a very moving experience even for those of us that have lived onboard for a few years. Thousands of people came through the ship in that 3 weeks to see the hospital, we had a medical function, a pastor’s event, alumni event and several other PR opportunities while in South Africa. It was really a special time to be on the ship. I would love to know how many of those people end up serving with Mercy Ships one day or decide to become nurses or doctors after their experience…. Lots of seeds were sown and only God knows what will grow from them.

The line for public tours of the ship one Saturday

Table Mountain and Lion's Head

There were some other really cool things that came out of my time in Cape Town as well:

I got to visit with my new friends Kim and Gavin. I stayed with them when I was in Cape Town in May and it was fun to have them visit my “home” on the Africa Mercy.

Kim and Gavin came for a visit

I was the Plastic Surgery Team Leader onboard for the last 2 years and Dr Tertius Venter, our plastic surgeon, is from Cape Town. He wasn’t home this summer, but his wife was and I got the privilege of meeting her.  One afternoon she took us to see her ministry sites in town and it was one of the best days I had. She teaches life skills classes to farm hands so she took us on a vineyard tour. We got to meet some of her students, see where they live and get a small glimpse into their lives on the farms. Most of them are illiterate, alcoholism is a huge problem, and these classes have changed many of their lives.  It was really amazing to hear her stories and see how God has worked in her and her husband’s lives over the last several years. And at the end of the day she took us to the winery where all of the grapes from the farms she teaches on are turned into wine. They showed us around and had us do some wine tasting while we were there.  So delicious!

A little wine tasting

And to top it all off, Hillsong has a church in Cape Town and one weekend Martin Smith came and did a concert there. Martin Smith is from the UK, was part of Delirious, and most recently made a worship album called Live From New York with Jesus Culture!  So, I got to go to a worship concert with Martin Smith/Jesus Culture, at Hillsong, in Cape Town South Africa, with my friends who were from at least 6 different countries. Is this really my life?!??! I never would have dreamt of this experience but it was absolutely incredible and made me realize one more time how big God really is.

Martin Smith concert at Hillsong

 And now it’s full steam ahead in Madagascar!