During my service on the Advance Team, I spent a lot of time driving, in meetings with pastors, healthcare professionals and government officials, on the cell phone and on the computer. Due to some major road repairs on the main roads in Monrovia, I encountered many detours that would add minutes to hours to the transit time. Though the roads are improving… in this photo we had almost 5 lanes one way – all trying to come down to one lane – a challenge in patience many times.
Sharing at the Church of God
While serving in Monrovia, Liberia on the Advance Team, I had the invitation and opportunity to share at local churches. On this Sunday, I shared at the Headquarters Church of God.
Tour of central Las Palmas with Ken,Ann,Jean&Jean
On Sunday, I had the day off and was invited to go on adventure with my friends Ken, Ann, Jean and Jean. We headed to the mountains and the former volcano in the middle of this island of Gran Canaria. We drove up to 6,500 feet, though when we got there, we could not see anything but the cloud. We stopped along the way in small quaint small towns and just enjoyed the day together.
Drydock 07 Under the AFM @ Bow
During our tour of the ship on Sunday morning, I took this photo at the bow (front of the ship). Since she was a ferry in Denmark before the ship actually had two rudders – one in the front and one in the back – we don’t need the one in the front and so we welded it closed. So far things are going good with the inspection and certificates that we need to continue to sail.
Holding the weight of the Africa Mercy with help
Sunday morning we had the opportunity to have a tour under of the Africa Mercy as we are in drydock. Here you can see the middle bottom of the ship resting on these platforms with wood on railroad tracks. That is how they move us around the shipyard. It was very interesting to see the bottom and the different parts that are normally always under the water line.
View of Las Palmas de Korean Church
This lovely view is of Las Palmas from the hillside where the Korean Church has their building. They hosted 55 of us crew on Sunday for service which was translated from Korean into English, Spanish and Chinese. Then they enjoyed bulgogi, my favorite Korean food and then went for a short bus ride to the Botanical Gardens and the Calle de Colon – Street of Christopher Columbus.
Africa Mercy High & Dry
Photo of the Africa Mercy in the drydock here in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria for our annual inspection. This is required for our passenger status for the ship and our options from West Africa are to go to South Africa or the Canary Islands. Soon I will post a photo of me standing down below the ship on dry land!!!
Entering into Drydock Las Palmas
I am standing on Deck 8 – highest deck on the Africa Mercy as we watch the ship being raised and on placed on platforms with railroad like wheels as they pull us into our ‘parking spot’. You can see 3 of the bulldozers pulling us. I have been in many drydocks, but this is the first time usually a system like this.
At the helm, heading north
The helm (steering wheel) on this ship is much smaller than on the Anastasis and Caribbean Mercy (ships of the past). In case any of you are wondering, the officer on duty had the ship on auto-pilot – I just stood there for the photo.
Checking the charts for the sail
Even though most things are not electronicized/computerized on board the ship, we still make use of the charts for our voyages. Here we are checking out our route to the shipyard in Las Palmas.