A reflection of our time in Texas

As we've left Texas and were there for four weeks, relationship building has transformed from theory into practice and necessity. Many of the people at the international headquarters (where we stayed) are those that we will be working with for the next two years — mostly over email, chat, and video calls. I can't just walk over and bring a cup of coffee.

Over those four+ weeks, we:

• Packed up all our material possessions into either storage or 8 duffel bags that flew to Africa with us (thank you Andrew and Amber for the storage)
• Handed over our house keys to our renters (thanks Ron for your help!)
• Flew to Texas (left right before the California heatwaves) and into the humidity of East Texas
• Jeff attended two weeks of Basic Training for ship safety, crowd management, and fire safety (imagine scenarios of sinking ships, unruly crowds, and fires). Some of my [Jeff’s] favorites include:
• Learning I could sweat in a fireman’s suit…just by standing still. In the shade.
• Practicing a crowd management scenario of needing to evacuate 30 guests out of a dangerous area and dealing with loads of frantic concerns. It was still role-play, but boy did it make it real
• Striking contrasts of videos of sinking ships where the captain abandoned ship before passengers, and those captains who stayed on till the last minute (I personally prefer the virtuous captains)
• Attended two weeks of “Gateway” which is Mercy Ships’ two week course on their mission, values, organizational practices, how to act cross-culturally with volunteers across 40+ countries 
• Book recommendation: The Culture Map, by Erin Meyers 
• Began developing relationships with fellow volunteers from The Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, and the USA
• It’s been great for the kids to be around many different languages and cultures — I love watching kids adapt, learn about other cultures and languages, yet they all are still kids and want friendship, love, and relationship. It’s beautiful and that does not change for us as adults, either 
• Invited 40+ fellow volunteers (and kids) over for waffles and coffee on a Saturday morning to build relationships and develop community
• It’s no pizza night, but it was a wonderful depiction of hospitality to people who left their home so they could be in a home and, through that, feel a bit more at home

We then went to Tenerife, Canary Islands where the ship docked for maintenance and its annual mandatory inspections. Here is a brief outlook for what the past and future weeks look like:

• July 27: One-way United Air tickets to Tenerife
• July 28: Arrive in Tenerife and board the ship
• July 29-August 2: Field training (on-ship training…continuation of Basic Training)
• August 8: The ship to depart for Freetown, Sierra Leone
• August 12: The kids to start school (at sea!)
• August 13: Arrive in Freetown, Sierra Leone
• Early September: Begin surgeries!

A delightful welcome as we finally walk into our new cabin, exhausted and yet ready for the adventure!

Looking forward to this book as my night time reading. We received it as a gift from a good friend last winter.

Thanks again for your love, compassion, and partnership. We’re glad to be on this journey with you as we’re getting closer to our destination and purpose.