OM Ships Website

This week, John and I participated in a re-entry training as we’re preparing to head home in a few weeks. The OM Ships website has a short article about it on the website today www.omships.org. If you click on the photo, you can see John on the far left next to the window with a green shirt on and I’m next to him with a red shirt on. Check it out!

Liberia

Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean. The population is approximately 3.5 million people and cover 43,000 square miles. The capital of Liberia is Monrovia (where we’re berthed) and over half of Liberia’s population lives in Monrovia.

The history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States. Liberia was founded and colonized by freed American slaves with the help of a private organization called the American Colonization Society in 1821-1822, on the premise that former American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there. These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia (Liberia denotes “liberty”), establishing a government modeled on that of the United States, naming Monrovia, their capital city, after James Monroe, the fifth president of the United States and a prominent supporter of the colonization.

A military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William Tolbert, which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to two civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy. Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation, but statistics indicate that about 85% of the population are living on less than $1.25 a day. Liberia is considered one of the worlds poorest countries, with 85% unemployment.

As of 2006, Liberia has the highest population growth rate in the world. Similar to its neighbors, it has a large youth population, with half of the population under the age of 18.

Hello Monrovia, Liberia!

We arrived in Monrovia, Liberia this morning! We are really looking forward to our two weeks here. We had a really smooth sail for our last voyage, so that was a big answer to prayer! We even saw a group of about 50 dolphins jumping and swimming right by our ship, so that was so special for our last sail.

Goodbye Takoradi, Ghana!

Yesterday evening, we set sail from Takoradi. Hard to believe this is our last voyage! I (Jennifer) got a little choked up thinking about embarking on our last sail and heading into our last port. We still can't believe how fast the time has flown. We're due to arrive into Monrovia, Liberia on Friday afternoon. In our two weeks in Takoradi, we had 63,972 visitors. Praise God!!

AIDS Presentations in Jomoro District

Yesterday was a FANTASTIC day -- what a dream come true!  We spent the entire day giving AIDS Awareness presentations to remote villages in the Jomoro District of Ghana (by the border of Cote d'Ivoire).  We were with a team of seven people from the ship and we each had a section of the presentation that we gave.  Before giving our presentation to the villagers, we first had to stop and see the chief of each village to gain his permission to address his village.  What an experience.  It was one of those days that I had to keep pinching myself to believe this was really happening.  What an incredible experience and honor both have been able to be on this team.  Enjoy the pictures!

Record Breaking Day!

Yesterday, we had a record breaking day for the number of visitors on one day.  We had 12,028 visitors!  Our previous record was just over 8,000 on one day, so we beat the record by 4,000!!  Thank you Lord!  We are overwhelmed with joy by the number of people here in Takoradi that have been visiting our ship.  What a day to rejoice!

Local Church this Morning

This morning, we had a wonderful time at a local church here in Takoradi.  We were on a team with two other friends -- Steve (USA) and Alex (Russia).  The service was so lovely... but long!  Nearly 4 hours!  :)  We sang so many beautiful songs, complete with African drums and dancing of course.  We delivered a ship presentation, drama, and a testimony and also gave a short presentation to the children's Sunday school as well.  We felt so loved and welcomed.  There was 200+ people in attendance and it was so nice seeing all of them dressed in their brightly colored traditional African clothing.  This will probably be the last local church we visit, so we were so thankful for this a wonderful experience.