It's been a while so here is an update

Hello Everyone,

Well it really has been a while since I last sat down and wrote to you all. I have been incredibly busy over the past period here on the ship as 3 weeks ago I took over a second job on board the ship. So I am now not only the sales manager taking care of the ship shop and café affairs, but I am also filling in as the IS manager for the ship. What is IS you might ask well you are probably more familiar with the term IT which here on the ship covers everything to do with computers, printers, scanners and the phone system. So to say the lest the last few weeks have been a steep learning curve for me as I have been working long hours trying to help out as much as possible in our already short staffed IS department.

How did it happen you may ask that I of all people have ended up been the IS manager when I actually have no official background in IT. Well, why I was chosen I am not completely sure about, but the reason someone was needed to take over the position until a permanent replacement could be found is because the old manager had to go home do to health reasons of her husband who was also serving on board. So if you could keep them in your prayers as they are still waiting on some test results now that they are back home.

One thing that has really kept me busy over the past 2 weeks is we are currently working on upgrading the email server for the whole organisation of Mercy Ships. This is a huge project, but one that is really needed as our old email system is an antique by IT terms. We are fortunately nearing the end of it which I am really excited about as it will mean I can hopefully work a little bit less in IS and do some more of my other job in the sales department.

One thing I am really looking forward to is I am going to get to see my whole family together for the first time since 2008. My Mum, Dad, Brother and Sister will all be coming to visit me on the ship at the end of this month. They will be staying on board for a week and then we will all be travelling to Ghana which is the country next to Togo and going up north to where my grandparents, my Mum’s parents used to live as missionaries. This should be a great time for my family together and a much needed break for me as I am going to be ready for a break by the end of this month.

Looking ahead we still don’t know very much about what is going to happen when the ship goes to South Africa in August, but we do know that we will be going and getting the much needed work done to the ship. There are still a lot of smaller details as well as some big ones that need to be sorted out before the ship leaves to sail down there, so please remember this in your prayers. Also the advance team for the ship that is down in South Africa trying to prepare things for the ship could use some extra prayer as they are having trouble meeting with people, because everyone is so focused on the world cup currently.

Well that’s about it for now, sorry it’s been so long. Please feel free to write to me and tell me how you are doing I would love to hear about your lives as well.

Tim.