FAQ #2-13

a friend (a sweet, beautiful, lovely, amazing friend!) sent me an email filled with EXCELLENT questions about Mercy Ships...alot of them have been asked by many of you. thus, this post of questions and answers (keep in mind, these are the answers that i think to be true - based on what we've been told or what i've read...it may not all be completely accurate...but i'm not knowingly putting anything false into print!).

Can you tell me more about how things work?

i can attempt to answer this one...but you may be better off to go to the website: mercyships.org From what i understand, the ship docks in a port for 11 months at a time (except for right now it's in TOGO for 6 months, not 11....) -- while there, surgeries are going on daily. it's not a "hospital" like we have here - in that you can't just come with any need and hope to be "fixed" -- it's more of a specialized surgical center. there are weeks of only club foot surgeries, weeks of only cleft palet "fixing", weeks of other plastic surgeries (removal of tumors and such - tumors growing on the outside of the body), weeks of surgeries for women (to help with issues that came as a result of childbirth), weeks of eye surgeries, etc. specific doctors are lined up to be on the ship at specific times...

there is a huge screening that takes place when the boat first arrives - people come (sometimes hundreds and hundreds of miles!) and are screened to see if the doctors on the ship can actually help them with whatever is going on. if the nurses/doctors doing the screening think their issue can indeed be helped, they are given a day and time to return to the boat....on that day they show up and are admitted for their surgery (or pre-surgery...or whatever is required!)

just like a hospital here, there are so many more jobs than "just" the doctors and nurses (that's where we come in!!). the rest of the crew of the ship makes everything outside of the hospital happen SO THAT the hospital can operate (literally!!!). there are cooks and engineers and computer people and someone running the "ship shop" and the cafe...there are people doing the laundry for the hospital...there are teachers (for the ship's academy) and actual boat people (so that if/when the ship needs to sail, it's ready). i know there are other jobs - those are just the ones that came to mind....

there are also "mercy teams" doing things off of the ship -- dental clinics, various teaching and training (in a huge variety of topics), working with local hospitals and churches. i really don't have a clue what ALL is involved and what ALL is being done. glad God sees the big picture.

What will the living situation be like? (will you have your own kitchen and stuff or does everyone share? etc)

We will have a family cabin on the ship - kids will have bunk beds (what they are used to!!). nick and i may or may not have our own room - we may sleep in the room that would also serve as the living room. some of the family cabins are 3 bedrooms + living area, others are 2 bedrooms + living room. we'll be fine either way. we do not have a full kitchen - but we don't need one...there's a dining room (cafeteria) on the ship that will provide all of our meals (i'm quite excited about this!!!). we don't HAVE to eat there...but i feel like we will eat 99% of our meals there (part of what we're paying for with our "crew fees" is the meals). some families get their food put into containers and then take it to their room in order to have some quiet family time (we've heard the dining room can be quite loud!). and most people get cereal from the kitchen for breakfast - it's kept in containers in their room. as far as we know there will be a small fridge - so we could have a small supply of milk and juice and such.

there is a kitchen for crew use in case we ever feel like cooking - or in case we want to make a cake for someone's birthday or something like that.

What will happen with the kids school?

the kids will go to school on the ship. it's called the "mercy academy" (i think). honestly, that's something i'm having to surrender to God -- i LIKE homeschooling them and i feel like we've got a good plan in place...i don't necessarily want to give that up. we're excited about the academy though - i think it's about the closest thing to homeschooling we could have without actually homeschooling. they very much focus on jesus - studying scripture and prayer are a big part of the school day. the classes are small - usually somewhere between 2 and 6 students. i think our kids will enjoy it and thrive in it (even though i love homeschooling, i think that eli will do well to be learning from someone else - i think he'll be less likely to complain about doing school work if the instructions are coming from someone else. does that make sense??)

What else will they do on the boat?

i have no idea - but i have no doubt that there will be plenty for them to do!! i feel like one of my kids' strengths is not getting bored ("i'm bored" is NOT a cash family phrase! if they say it, they are quickly reminded that only boring people get bored)(no offense to anyone who gets bored...it's just my "philosophy" that one can always find SOMETHING to do to occupy your brain so that you don't get bored! back to the subject at hand...) - they are good at building forts and making up games. they love reading and being read to. there's a play area on one of the decks - with swings and balls and such....i think there's a place to ride scooters...there's a library...and there are also plenty of opportunity to get off the boat (that was something that was news to me - originally i thought we were on the boat and staying on the boat and not getting off the boat except for every now and then for special excursions...but the reality (or what i am understanding the reality to be) is that we can fairly freely go to and from the boat (though there is tight security - we can come and go...but people that aren't supposed to be coming and going will not be able to do so! and usually people hire security for their outings) -- i'm assuming (and hoping that!) we can go play soccer with some local children....we can find some orphans to love on...we can attend church wherever we'd like (there's "church" on the ship on thursday night - it's on thursday so we have the chance to find a local church to plug into on sundays....).

What will Nick's role be?

nick has been hired for a human resources management position. basically he'll be working with everyone that comes onto the ships - short term and long term - helping to make sure they are "settled" and doing their jobs (the Human Resources Office, the Chaplain's office and the Staff Development office all work together for the health and well being of the ship's crew!). he'll probably be doing lots of problem solving...and even some counseling when needed (if people have issues, he'll be a main point of contact for them). i think his job will be 8-5 (generally) monday through friday. from what i can understand, we'll all be able to eat lunch together (kids included!). in the evenings, he'll have his seminary stuff to do...(but that doesn't have anything to do with his job on the ship at this point)

What will your role be?

my main job is "primary care giver" for our children. mercy ships requires that one parent work and one parent be the primary care giver. i'll be given a "minor job" to do while the kids are in school (someone mentioned that mercy ships expects me to work in my minor job about 80% of the time that the kids are in school....). i don't know what that minor job will be - i'd love for it to be in HR with nick (i love working with him!!!). but it really doesn't matter...they can put me in the kitchen doing meal prep...or cleaning bathrooms....or washing towels...or pretty much anything. i just want to help in whatever way is needed...i like helping :)

Do you know how long you will be gone?

our inital committment is 2 years (that's what they consider "long term crew"). honestly (always), i don't know how long we'll be gone. i don't really want to think about that. for as long as we've been in TAs we've never been looking for the next thing - we've just served to the best of our ability where we were, not looking for the next thing....i want to do that in the next season of our life. we're trusting that God will tell us when/if we are to move on...we'll just seek Him day by day and listen as best we can!

How are people around there handling the news?

mixed emotions. sadness. excitement. some hurt. little envy here and there. some denial. lots of questions. all in all, i think we are very supported -- people are sad to see us go (which is rather nice to hear! it would be sad if everyone was like "good riddance! glad they're gone!" or if they were indifferent)...but i think most everyone is also proud of our obedience and proud of us for stepping out in faith (big step.)

What about your families?

the same as above -- maybe with a tad (lot) more sadness and grief and hurt. when we talk to them, for the most part, it's pretty positive - sad but positive...but i know there are other thoughts/feelings out there that aren't necessarily being said to us. i know i can't do anything about that....if they don't bring it to us, there's no way we can even begin to help them process it or understand this. our desire is to honor God...our desire is also not to hurt anyone...but that's secondary to honoring God (though some would say honoring God would not require you to hurt others....that's a tough one.)

How do the kids feel?

the kids are excited!!!! caroline had a bit of a sad moment the other night when she realized that we'll be moving before she can do the theatre camp that she really wants to do (but she got to do one unexpectedly in january - i felt like that was God's provision!!). eli's biggest concern is getting all (and i do mean ALL) of his stuffed animals on to the ship. i think i've got a pretty good plan worked out (one that he's willing to go along with!!!). they've watched a dvd that has 8 or so "episodes" of a little girl named freida who lived on the ship....they LOVED getting to see her and see more of the ship through her eyes. that dvd is probably the thing that has helped them be excited. they asked for prayer tuesday night at church (prayer week) - so the kids and the adults working with the kids prayed for them...i love that!!

We are SO excited for what this means for our children. We LOVE the thought of all they are going to get to see and experience and BE as they live & serve on Mercy Ships. Nick and I are confident that this is call to serve on Mercy Ships is for our entire family - not just for me and him. We are excited that they'll get to be around people from 40+ nations...that some of the students in their class will most likely be from other countries. We're excited that they'll get to be in the daily company of 400+ individuals who are committed to loving their Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength - and who have given their lives to serve Him. We're excited that they'll be able to practice so many of the things they've been hearing all their lives.

When will you be officially leaving Columbus?

as far as i know we are to be in texas on june 9 (not sure what time). i would imagine that we may leave on june 8 and get as far as we can...spend the night somewhere...and finish the trip on the 9th. because we can bring anything that we want shipped to the ship (ha) in addition to what we'll fly with (what we'll need while we're in texas those 3-4 weeks), we may rent a little uhaul trailer (that's just my idea for the time being....). i'm really not sure of all the logistics of getting us and our stuff to texas...we'll also be lining up childcare for our children for the hours we're in class (we haven't got that all figured out yet) - so how we get out there may depend on if someone is available to drive our car back (and even whether or not we drive our car depends on who buys it).

how can i pray for you right now?

as far as prayers -- the "big" things are (in no particular order) 1) that our house will sell (someone is looking at it...but we're not sure it's all going to work out....i'm really hoping it works out...for alot of reasons!!!!) 2)another huge thing is for the people that God will bring into TAs - especially for nick's job....again (like having in mind who i think should buy our house!), i have someone in mind for nick's job - he's been talked to...now he's praying. i want God to make it clear that he's the man for the job (or if he's not, that's fine...just let us know who is!!!!) 3)for the financial support we'll be raising....i think we're going to wait until after the "big" TA fundraiser to start our fundraising -- but that means we won't really start until early march....which really isn't that far away...but i would LOVE to go ahead and get started and know that we've got SOMETHING raised/pledged....but i think it will be best for TAs if we wait... 4)for the hearts of our families and friends -- especially our families. lots of thoughts and opinions and feelings have been shared with us - and we value and respect them all....but those feelings aren't going to affect whether we stay or go - God's made it clear that we're going. we don't want them to be mad at us....but the Truth is that it's ok if they are (as much as the thought of that hurts!). God's going to take care of them, too.

What else? feel free to send me any and all of your questions! (not that i have all the answers...but i certainly like questions). dianna@teenadvisors.org