Despite the lack of posts in recent weeks, life still goes on in the Africa Mercy's galley.  

BBQ cookouts on the dock - grillin' like a villain. 

Say hello to three cooks who helped prepare a Thanksgiving meal for 400 people.  Family holidays away from home are bearable only because of family like these guys.

One of the first passages of the Qur'an.  Islam is not as big in Madagascar as it is in some West African nations, but it is still a small part of the culture here.

Kikiss' uncle and I.  This guy can speak Malagasy, French and Arabic fluently, without nearly as much access to schooling as I 've had, and yet I still struggle to speak a few words outside of my first language!

Kikiss and his uncle.

A passage from Job, seen in a small shop where some friends and I had a bit of coconut milk and coffee.

       The past month has been stock full of happenings.  I moved to a different galley team, and while this brought heartache to me for leaving some of my pals, it also brought opportunity to work on the hot side and get to know a different set of amazing people.  The hot side of the galley is where we prepare everything that needs to be cooked or heated and is something that I have aspired for ever since arriving on the ship.  The co-workers on my new team are just as incredible as my old team mates, and getting to know them and their service has been a huge pleasure.

       On one of my days off from working I went biking through town.  I came upon a large group of men playing a game.  They invited me to play with them for a bit with the help of a man they called "Rasta", who spoke some English.  We could hardly understand each other, yet I somehow found out that his name is Kikiss, that he is Muslim, and that he wants to learn more English.  We agreed to meet a few days later. When the day came, Kikiss showed me around town while we practised his English and my Malagasy.  Then he introduced me to his Uncle.  He lived in not much more than a shack, but it was more than what most Malagasy people have to call home.  His uncle read a passage from their Qu'ran in both Arabic and Malagasy for me.  I was deeply reminded that day of who some of the people whom I am trying to serve here really are; how they live, what they believe, and what Mercy Ships means to them.  I'll be looking forward to learning more about the Malagasy culture with my new friend Kikiss.  

       The passage in that little shop in the last picture, a shop among dozens of other huts on the road, and hundreds of little shops in town, is from Job and in English reads, "Oh that I may have my request and that God may give me what I want."  I have seen that God is answering this prayer in many people's lives through Mercy Ships.  That is why it is such a blessing for me to be able to work alongside the men and women of this ship.  Isaorana anie Andriamanitra ary ny vahoakany!  Thanks be to God and His people!