Waiting

So here we are, on the eve of starting our work on the Global Mercy, as we both join our respective teams to start training and work in the morning. Having just spent another evening with some of the patients down in the wards it seems a poignant moment to reflect on the real journey to get here.

It is exactly 21 months, almost to the minute, that we said yes to doing this, the moment that we knew that we would one day be here! It was the last evening of New Wine 2023, the 4th August, that we realised that we must get to the Mercy Ships stand before we left. So after evening worship we made our way across to the marketplace and chatted to a few people on the stand before going in to watch the promotional film about their work. As we watched that film together and saw the stories that led to the smiling faces you see here we realised it was time for us to commit, we knew right there and then that this is what God wanted us to do and that that moment was the time for us to say yes we would.

Bill on the Mercy Ships stand that night still remembers meeting us as we came out of the film, myself in tears, as we turned to him and said "we surrender". It has been quite a journey and a challenge since then, a test of commitment, perseverance and humility, but that is a story that we can unpack a bit more in the coming weeks.

As right now here we are exactly 21 months later, faithful to that commitment and both excited and nervous as to exactly what the next 3 months will look like, but certain that we are meant to be here, that it is a privilege to be here and that we are here both to give out and to receive.

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.” – Ecclesiastes 7:8

Photo (Mercy Ships Comms team)