Bon Voyage

I will be leaving Zeeland Michigan in about five minutes to begin this journey to England, and then to Liberia. In light of this, here are a few bullet points!

- I hope to use this little blog as a journal to have fun with, to share stories, post pictures and such, and most importantly, to keep in touch with amazing friends and family while being away!

-I also hope to make this site a little more interesting, so please come back in a week!

-I will soon drive from Michigan to Chicago, to fly to Amsterdam, and to then fly to Newcastle, England. In England, I get to serve with an amazing group called Mercy Ships. I will be on a massive ship named Africa Mercy. The crew and I will get this ship ready for its maiden voyage with Mercy Ships for about a month. After this, we will sail it to Monrovia, Liberia to meet up with the Anastasis, the other massive ship that Mercy Ships has. Once there, we will begin to move all of the stuff from the Anastasis (the old ship) to the Africa Mercy (the new ship). Once this process begins, I intend to hop on a plane and fly back to the USA.

-My official role will be as a Dining Room Steward. This means that I get to help with the food and serving and such in the kitchen. This is a good thing, because I hear that ship crews get grumpy without food. When I'm not on duty, I will be able to check out what is on land, and what all of the other parts of the crew are doing!

-I'm leaving in such a hurry because I received a phone call on Monday morning, inviting me to be in England on Friday. (The rush is because the Africa Mercy finally was ready for sea trials. The trials began yesterday and continue into today. Once they are done, they need a crew!) I thought matter over for a day, having many conversations, praying, reflecting, and then contacted Mercy Ships saying that I would indeed join them. During the proceeding two days I got four immunizations, purchased new health insurance, bought plane tickets, changed my mailing address, post-poned my cell phone coverage (try to call me, I dare you!) and car insurance, packed for two months on a ship for two climates, and oh yea, I completely moved all of my stuff out of my apartment into my parent's basement! In all of this, I have been slightly rushed, but was able to see everyone at youth group one last time, and to celebrate with a last minute, Brian Mulder organized, going away celebration at my home. It was truly wonderful to see so many people!

-I need to go now! I hope that this fills in a few of the gaps! Please check the blog in a couple days for a better update!

Scott