Back to Normal.. If There is Such a Thing

Please join with us to Praise God...

• For a great few days away as a family at the beginning of August.

• For safe travel back to Niger (Cara) and Ghana (Andrea and Phil).

• The boys have had a good month of work - it helps pay the bills!

• That Cara has settled in well to life at Sahel and that she has been able to enroll in the courses she needs.

• For the way in which Andrea and Phil have been able to adjust to life and ministry in Accra.

And for the days ahead, please pray 

• For ability to remain connected as a family despite our physical separation.

• For wisdom and and good communication for Andrea in her Ghana and the Middle East roles..

• For Cara as she has a busy workload this year.

• For Cara attending a student leadership conference in Hungary the last week of the month.

• For Kieran and Liam starting classes.

• For Phil as he continues to grow into his new role and works to lead significant organisational change and work with SIM leaders around the world to design and pilot new ways of doing things.

• For Phil assisting with a strategic leadership meeting in Kenya later in September.

• That all will work well for Andrea and that she will be safe while Phil is travelling.

Thanks for praying for us.
Phil & Andrea

Online Chat Brings Hope to Pregnant Teen

Joyce, a nineteen year old Filipino, was twenty-two weeks pregnant and desperate. Her partner was cheating on her, the relationship was ending and Joyce didn’t know what would hope she could give to the little life growing inside her. Depressed and unable to think of any other options, she searched online for help. God led her to one of our team’s pages on Facebook.

Through chatting online, Joyce connected with Patricia, one of the staff from our “Boiling Waters” strategy - an innovative, popular and locally relevant social media page for young people in the Philippines.

The conversation between Joyce and Patricia quickly turned spiritual and Patricia suggested that Joyce watch a short, 4-minute evangelistic film called #FallingPlates. In tears, touched by God’s unconditional love for her, she received Christ.

The Boiling Waters team continued to follow-up with Joyce to help her grow in her faith and her new reality as a mother. Because of their ongoing relationship, Joyce and Patricia were even able to meet face to face and see her new baby.

Erika, it’s a privilege to enable our teams all around the world to help young people like Joyce discover new life in Jesus. Thank you for your partnership in leading the next generation of digital missions.

Below: Family snapshots from a trip to Ontario, Canada this summer
- Enjoyed a Blue Jays game together
- Grew Bean Plants in Waterloo
- Meeting Russ’ nephew Eli

MercyTimes

I am safely back onboard the Africa Mercy!

It's hard to put into words what it is like to be back on the ship. It's a familiar place with some familiar faces but so much has changed. A community where I once felt involved and connected is now a place where I have to reconnect and fine my place once again. 

I feel humbled to be able to serve the people of Guinea. There is so much need here. There is not only physical poverty but spiritual poverty as well. Approximately 85% of the population in Guinea is Muslim. I pray that the people of Guinea will be able to see Jesus in how we care for them in our hospital and how we live our lives when we are out in the community. 

In the two weeks that I have been back on board the Africa Mercy, I have seen the ship transform into a hospital again. It's so exciting to know that on September 3rd patients will begin to be admitted in the empty and quiet wards. I'm excited to hear the voices of patients and caregivers. 

The day after I arrived, crew from all departments were involved in a mass screening to find potential patients. On Monday, August 20th, 6000 people passed through the screening location in hopes of seeking relief from medical conditions that they have not been able to get treatment for; this could be because they cannot afford treatment or because there are no doctors or surgeons available. By the end of the day, 1135 people were offered follow-up appointments to return for a more in-depth health assessment. In the next several months, screening will continue in places all over the country of Guinea in hopes of finding the poorest of the poor who need surgical help.

Thank you for being a part of this journey with me. Without your prayers and support this would not be possible.

Praise:
- Safety during my travels
- That the hospital is set up and ready for patients
- Successful screening day that found some of our potential patients

Prayer:
- That the patients who come through our hospital will experience a life transformation
- That I will settle back into life on board (coming short term is very different than being here long term)
- That I would be open to what God wants to teach me during this season

Floating in His Mercy, 
Krystal

Below are some photos capturing screening day.

Ecuador Update!

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all enjoying the warmer weather and have had a wonderful summer!

In the last couple months Raul and I have been able to concentrate on school activities and the youth. We are encouraged with how the older youth are being responsible in leading game time at youth. They have organized mystery night (complete with candles, and spider webs and spiders hanging from the ceiling), newspaper night (they plastered the whole church with newspaper) and kids’ games night (balloons galore).

Quite a few of these older youth have joined Raul and I when we go out to Las Jaguitas to do Sunday school for the youth and children out there. They help us with games and help keep the kids under control during lesson time. Afterwards, we like to explore a bit and always return to the city having had some sort of adventure- like swimming under a hidden waterfall with giant spiders observing us, seeing the people there kill a meter and a half long snake, and eating lots and lots of papaya. These trips are a chance not only to minister to the people in Las Jaguitas, but also to grow closer together as a leadership group. We hope and pray that these youth will also be growing closer to Jesus as they learn to serve.

We have a whole new group of adolescent youth coming to youth group this year who are SO excited to be at youth (judging by the noise level!). They are still very childish and we are struggling to make youth feel like youth instead of like a kids club, but we are encouraged by the fact that these adolescents want to be there and hope that they will continue come as they grow up.

School continues as normal with Raul in computer classes and me in sponsorship just finishing up the yearly letters to sponsors. Please be praying for our school this year as the school has been stretched financially to cover its basic monthly expenses.

Thanks again for being mindful of the ministry down here, and Lord willing, we hope be in the northern hemisphere sometime in the near future!

Jessenia and Raul

Here are some pictures to help you envision life down here. The first picture is of the group of new youth who have been coming on Saturdays (they were preparing for a drama, hence some of the strange face paintings). The rest of the pictures are of our trips to Las Jaguitas.

Summer Update

Ministry during July and August has continued despite summer scheduling within the prison institutions and the heightened tensions for both guards and inmates when temperatures and humidity rises.  (No A/C behind prison walls)

This morning, Howie*, a newer inmate to maximum security informed me that summer is no longer his preferred season of the year. The heat, humidity and limited cooling breezes make prison life in the summer all that much harder.  And yet he continued by saying he is grateful to God because he believes his arrest and incarceration is a disciplinary but merciful intervention by God to rescue him from where he had strayed and to bring him back to fellowship again with his heavenly Father. 

Gary* has been attending Alpha. He finds the message refreshing and he said it this way, “I can literally drink it! It is truly refreshing!” 


Isn’t that just what the Lord Jesus promised we would discover when we come to Him?

Jesus stood and cried out, "If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink.”  Then to the woman at the well He said, "...Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst… the water I shall give him will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life,” John 4:14.

Pray for Jeff*, Brent*, Howie* and Gary* as they grow in their new life in Christ. I meet weekly with each of them for Bible study. Pray that they would successfully live out their faith, choosing a Christ-like attitude as they respond to the unpredictable prison conditions and constant close association and proximity with others. * real names not used

Pray for continued access into institutions and good relations with chaplains and security.

Beginning in September there will be several more men cleared to begin attending church with us Sunday mornings. Pray that this weekly opportunity to leave the prison environment and join our church family would encourage and help them to grow in their faith.

We are very thankful for all of you who continue to faithfully pray for us because prayer is vital. We need wisdom and courage for each encounter as we share the gospel. 

Enjoy these last few days of summer and may the Lord Jesus, the Living Water, be your source of refreshment and the One who truly satisfies your heart always.

Blessings,

Robert and Susan