The Christmas Season

Santa Lucia performance.

Coming back from Paris, I soon realized that the ship was in full Christmas swing. Between the beautiful decorations everywhere, the Christmas movies and activities happening almost every night, it’s hard not to get into the Christmas spirit. This week we had a wonderful Christmas concert, which was a mix of our own ship performers and an incredibly talented trio who live in Benin. We also had a celebration called Santa Lucia, which is a Scandinavian tradition, where women wear white robes and carry candles and sing on the darkest night of the year, which Wikipedia says celebrates Saint Lucy, who was a Christian martyr. The crew who performed did an amazing job. We also got a special treat at our church service last night because we had some performances from the kids onboard. The girls danced a beautiful ballet piece for us, the youth band led worship, and the kids choir performed for us as well. Being part of such a talented, diverse community is an incredible blessing!

Two of the amazing gingerbread houses that our crew made.

Speaking of talented, Michelle and I helped to organize the gingerbread house contest that we had on Sunday and the houses that got built - wow! It was incredible. Who knew you could do all those things with food? We had people build a replica of Mercy Ships, stilt villages, beach houses, an entire manger scene with stained glass, a snowy cabin and so much more. Our judges had trouble deciding so they split it into traditional and non-traditional houses. It was so much fun to watch everyone building and getting creative and just sharing in the holiday cheer. I had my own gingerbread adventures this week. We went to the orphanage on Saturday so we wanted to bring stuff for them to make their own gingerbread houses, which required baking some of the gingerbread dough ahead of time. I should have learned by now that baking is really not my strength, but apparently I’m a slow learner. However, it all worked out in the end, thanks to help from Ben & Michelle, and the kids loved it! The icing was pretty runny in the heat, but we made it work. The houses lasted about one minute once they were built and then the kids ate everything. Going to the orphanage is always a highlight for me – not only to we get to spend time with the kids and love on them and on the Americans who work there, but I get to drive for hours with music playing and wonderful people for company. Each time we go, we bring different people, and it’s great to get to know them better. After our adventures with the houses, we challenged the kids to a volleyball rematch, and this time we were victorious! Everyone has such fun trash talking each other and the kids are so confident, it’s hilarious. 

As soon as I saw this, I knew
who it was from - my closest
'buddy', Jessica.

While Christmas time on the ship means getting an amazing Christmas package from home and watching movies you’ve never seen (It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf) it’s also a time where we say a lot of goodbyes. Some goodbyes are temporary, with people going home to spend Christmas with their families, but some are permanent. We’ve had quite a few long term members of our community leave over the last few weeks. It’s always so touching to see them get called up and honoured for all their hard work and sacrifice, and to see how loved they are by this community. Whether it is the most delightful words written by their manager, a standing ovation or tearful prayers, it is evident to see how much they have meant to this community. When the time comes for them to leave for the airport, the dock is filled with people giving hugs and saying goodbyes, and a long line of people waving goodbye to them as they drive off for the final time. Some we know are coming back, others we don’t know. Come the New Year, we are going to have quite the influx of people, both crew returning and new crew arriving.

Our orthopaedic surgeries are all done but
there is still lots of work to do before these
kids are up and walking again. Here they are
outside, getting some fresh air and playing.

Some other highlights of this week included helping to host two guests from the local hospital where our MCB team does a lot of mentoring, and seeing what a wonderful job our MCB project manager does building relationships; playing rugby on real grass (!!); and having a fire drill in the morning instead of the usual afternoon drill, which really caught everyone by surprise.

I also had some good conversations about what will come next for me, as friends helped me to brainstorm about what position I would want to do next field service. This summer, I will be heading to Cameroon in May (most likely) to join the advance team in helping to prepare for the ship’s arrival. I’m very excited for this new challenge and the learning opportunities that this presents. I’m getting more and more excited as our team comes together and I see what amazing people I will get to spend the summer with. Advance means leaving this huge ship community and working on land with a much smaller group of people, getting everything prepared before the ship arrives. But before any of that, is this Christmas season, which is meant to be a season of rest. Like our chaplain talked about last night, it’s a time to prepare your heart room for God and for everything He wants to do in you this coming year. I’m thankful that I have been able to slow down, to reconnect, to get back to the basics of my job. I look forward to the next few weeks of festivities and rest and for all that God has planned. I hope that you will all enjoy a restful holiday season spent with friends and family, eating lots, and praising Him who is so faithful and is always with us, so much so that He sent His son to be physically with us. What a gift. Emmanuel, God with us. Merry Christmas!

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” ~ Luke 2:10-12