Contrasts...

Today we've had a wonderful, relaxing day at one of Sierra Leone's beautiful beaches, Lakka Beach. Driving through Freetown on our way back to the ship, I was almost overwhelmed at the contrast; the calm beauty of the beach, and the caotic poverty of the city. Somehow I feel I should get used to the poverty of West-Africa, but I just can't seem to.

Freetown, once a city of 200 000 inhabitants, now counts about 2 million, many of these fleeing here during the civil war in the nineties. Jorid Lakka Beach
Glimpse from Freetown

The Maltese flag

The Africa Mercy sails under the Maltese flag. Well, not the official flag of Malta (pic 1), but the Civil Ensign of Malta - the one with the Maltese Cross (pic 2). An interesting thing is that this 8-pointed cross represents the 8 beatitudes described in Matt 5 - "Blessed are those who are poor... Blessed are those who mourn... Blessed are those who are humble...++". Dag

Pic 1 - the official flag

Pic 2 - the civil ensign

Cline Town Clinic

Normally the dental clinic is quite far away from the ship. This year we are able to use a facility just outside the port - literally 10 minutes walk from the ship. One thing is the wonderful close proximity to the ship. Another thing is the building itself - big and open rooms, a spacious porch for generators/compressors, good ventilation ++. Most of the equipment is already in and the next few days will be used to set it all up and hopefully make it run properly :-) Dag

Arrival Sierra Leone

In the early sunrise this morning we sailed into Freetown. The excitement was tangible as 60+ Mercy Ship'ers where there to meet us (Advance Team, Gateway Class and Mercy Teams). Dag

Country briefing

Every time we enter a new country quite a lot of time is set aside to prepare the crew. 3 mornings this week we have had country briefing including teaching, interviews, films and discussions. Susan Parker had put together an amazing program. I can't pinpoint why, but this country briefing has been special. There is a sense of unity and expectation on board at the moment. We are about to enter a country with a difficult history and many broken relationships. We hope and pray that we can get to know this proud people, learn from them and serve a long side them. Dag

Crossing equator

In the early hours today we crossed the equator. 15 minutes prior to crossing the Captain announced some bad weather ahead. After sailing in beautiful weather for days and days it was interesting that we had heavy rain for a few minutes just as we crossed the equator. Afterwards it was nice again...

By the way, did you know that a person who has crossed the equator on a ship is called a "shellback"? Dag

Worship on the bow

At several occasions during the sail we have had worship on the bow. A great time were we glorify and honor our Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dag

Scandinavians on board

Together with the regular Scandinavian crew we also have our International Chaplains (Patrik and Diana from Sweden/US) with us for the sail. It has been such a blessing for Jorid and me to spend time with them. Their genuine interest, warmth and wisdom has been very encouraging. Dag

Mads wore a suitable t-shirt as waffles are compulsory on the menu when the Scandinavians meet :-)

Sock Golf

It has become a tradition that during every sail we have a Mercy Ships Championship in Sock Golf. Throughout a large part of the ship a 18 hole golf course is created with tees, paperboards resembling holes and rolled up socks as balls. 25 teams signed up. "The Tvedt Viking Sox" where furious but did not stand a chance towards "The Parker Box Sox" who won :-) Dag

Good bye South Africa

Durban is behind us, Cape Town is behind us - South Africa is behind us! The dry dock period is done and we are ready for Sierra Leone. Too bad we couldn't stay another few days in Cape Town though - U2 is having a concert at the great Cape Town Stadium on Friday, Feb 18th :-( Dag

24 hours in Cape Town

Due to delays in Durban we didn't want to spend more time than necessary in Cape Town. The crew got 24 hours to "do" town while bunkering and preparations took place. The ship was docked at the most amazing place, in the heart of Cape Town - at the V&A Waterfront. Beautiful weather just added to the awesomeness :-) Dag

Sailing in to Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background

The Africa Mercy with the Cape Town Ferris wheel in the background

From the Ferris wheel with the Africa Mercy in the background :-)

WE ARE SAILING!

We are on the move. After 5 months in dock in Durban the Africa Mercy is sailing again :-) We can still see Durban in the distance as we head for Cape Town where we will have a short stop before we sail to Sierra Leone. Dag

Moses Mabhida Stadium

As a last minute visit to town we finally got to see the famous Moses Mabhida Stadium up close. The stadium was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the highest attendance so far was 62.660 on June 13th, 2010. It is a fascinating structure and a trip to the top of the arch (106m) gave a beautiful view of Durban. Dag

Spo, Gugu, Monika, Zanele, Freddy and Damien joined us at the stadium. The trip was to celebrate Spo's 23 birthday. Happy birthday, Spo!

Grace

During our time in South Africa we have been very blessed to be able to join Grace Family Church. Thank you Grace for taking us in and feeding our hungry souls :-) www.grace.za.org

This blogpost was meant to be about the church, Grace, but I also want to share a very interesting quote about grace that I learned here the other day: "Grace is not opposed to effort. Grace is opposed to earning". Think about it - it is quite good... Dag

Bugs in boxes

In Togo we got some wooden benches and boxes made for the dental team. Items that have been stored in a container. When we opened the container a few weeks ago we realized that the benches were more or less eaten away. The boxes had only minor damage but it is hard to know what is inside the wood... After soaking it in linseed oil, freezing the boxes for 48 hours and painting them with varnish, we hope to have killed all the box bugs :-) Dag

Good bye Appelsbosch - Welcome Africa Mercy

Appelsbosch was fine but nothing beats the Africa Mercy. It was strange though to walk around the campus for the last time today. The kids are excited about the move but they also know that limited space and restrictions will be a bigger part of life again... Dag

Bendik 13!!

Happy birthday, Bendik. We are proud of you! Love, mom and dad.

Sylvanus and Jessie making a requested dinner of burgers and sausages :-)

We love Mercy Teams

It is always great to have Mercy Teams serve alongside us. And even better when there is a Norwegian friend among them. Once again Hugo has joined a team that is here to help us in the final stage of the shipyard project. Dag

Hugo and Willem doing a fixing in the dining room

Cape Town IV

In Cape Town we borrowed a house with a nice, big kitchen. One of the things our kids enjoyed the most was to make dinner together. Living in community you don’t do that sort of stuff as a family... Dag

Cape Town III

Apparently Cheetahs are the only big cats that can be tamed. At the Daniell Cheetah Sanctuary even Fride’s pet, Captein Sabertooth, got a close encounter with a Cheetah. Dag