Good byes and Hellos!

Hello everyone! Warmest - or shall I say hottest? - greetings from us being in Benin now!

It has been way too long since you heard from us - I really apologize and thank you who faithfully show interest for what is going on in our lives. With our last two months being very busy I postponed writing too long - but no more!!!!

I will start to write one short summary about each week now for you with the most current pictures - so you can stay updated and be part of our time here in Africa as much as possible! So checking out our blog will become rewarding again!!!!



As I was thinking about all that has happened in the last months and about giving it a fitting title, I came up with GOOD BYE and HELLO ( Auf Wiedersehen und hallo) - I think you will soon know what I mean!

Good bye Liberia! At the end of December 08 all the patients were able to go (which was a huge answer to prayer!), everything got packed and secured away, lots of hard good byes had to be said (after 1,5 years many good relationships had formed!), and in the end the gangway was lifted and we left our "home country" for the last 1,5 years - not knowing if we will come back one day...

....and hello sail! Let me tell you, it was a rough one! Not like here on this picture! 6 days of stormy sea - a lot of seasickness and me (Andrea) without Wolfgang to help me with the kids (who weren´t seasick at all and FULL of energy!) for he had to fly home to Germany already from Liberia to sort out some important things workwise.

Hello Christmas season! One thing that we got to experience on the sail was the pre-christmas time (quite untypical for us Germans in shorts and T-shirts as you see on the picture) with decorating doors, crafts night, a special winterwonderland , baking together ... and most of all talking and reflecting on the reason why we celebrate Christmas - the greatest gift of all that God made us through Jesus!


... and good bye to unreal hope for snow! This was one of the beautiful door decorations here on the ship (with Amy´s friend Nathanael hoping for snow in vain).....



.... for we got to enjoy the "real stuff"! No, it didn´t snow in Africa (you would have heard that on the news for sure!) and neither in Tenerife. Because of the important things Wolfgang had to sort out at home we decided to fly home from Tenerife where the ship was maintained and prepared for the next outreach and be home over Christmas. And even though that was not what we would have planned this time or even chosen we can truly say that God used this change of plans to really bless us (let alone finding airfares for 49 Euros including tax!)


Hello Munich! We were able to stay with my parents and are very thankful for a really good time, including Christmas - the kids absolutely loved it at Grandma´s and Grandpa´s! Why do I only mention them? Well, Wolfgang was very sick in bed over Christmas (not used to German germs anymore... :-)) ... and I was not there! Two friends of mine blessed me with an incredible gift:


flying with them to New York (hello NYC! - and doing it over Christmas was the cheapest time!) - a week "just me" (all moms will understand how great that alone is) together with two great girls!
Someone from Mercyships who lives in Boston blessed us with free accomodation and spoiled us rotten! (Thanks Luxanne!!!)


Hello rest! After Wolfgang worked for a few weeks at the private practice in Munich as part of working on his medical status him and I were able to take some time of rest including a really good debriefing for missionaries ...



....while our kids were spoiled and loved by their wonderful grandparents!
Too fast came the time for them though to say good bye to Oma and Opa and my brothers Thomas and Markus as well as many wonderful people again, but Amy also missed our cabin, the only place she remembers as our home!


Hello again Tenerife! After our time in Germany we had 4 days in Tenerife before the ship sailed away to our new outreach destination Benin.
Right from the airport we got "kidnapped" by a wonderful family living in Tenerife and were shown great Spanish hospitality!



School started again while we were still in Tenerife...
but David´s class started with doing lots of fun stuff while they still could enjoy them....



...like icecream in Santa Cruz Burger King! (The faces speak for themselves...smile!)



Hello to "old" and new people on the ship! While we were gone almost half the crew on board had changed .... as you see is saying good bye and hello something that is part of our whole time with mercyships! Here Amy and all of us are excited that our good friend Barbara from Munich is on board for 6 months...


.. and hello to Uncle Klaus!!!! We are excited that Wolfgang´s brother Klaus also joined the ship and is working in carpentry for two months. As you can see he is almost an African already! (smile) All the Africans on board think Wolfgang and him look sooooo alike and call Klaus "Hello doctor!"


During the sail we were busy getting our old cabin to this state - being offered a slightly bigger cabin to move to and using this chance to declutter and get rid of things that have accumulated and say good bye to cabin 6224...


... working hard to clean it thoroughly....


.... even using kids labour (Kinderarbeit!) - but don´t worry about exploitation - they got as much pay as we grown ups get here on the ship ...smile (what is nothing!)....


..... and saying hello to our new cabin 5222! We really enjoy our new home here on the ship and invite you to come over for a cup of tea or coffee!


Moving to this new cabin though meant a price to pay: For weeks we prepared Amy that once we move down she will sleep in a big bed (not her travel cot anymore) and then she is big enough to not need a pacifier (Schnuller in German) anymore! We decided to donate it to the poor little fish during the sail who would be so happy to play with it! We wrapped a nice colourful band around it, asked the captain for permission (for it is not allowed to throw things into the water to avoid false man-over-bord-alarm).....


... and celebrated this significant event in Amy´s life with a party on the bow! Amy was very brave and threw her beloved pacifier into the ocean, and believe it or not: fell asleep at night without even crying! (so why did we wait so long????)
But nothing seems to come without a price to pay - immediately with that she stopped her after-lunch-nap (Mittagsschlaf) - another reason why you haven´t heard so much from us latety.... I miss that time!


But maybe out there we made some wales happy with a little pink pacifier.... they for sure made us happy when we got to see them!



And it got even better! Hello dolfins!!!! What a priviledge to see such beautiful sealife in free nature! Not only the kids were so excited!


But even the smoothest sail can be long - even "pepped up" with a few firedrills etc.... we were ready to say good bye to sailing!
The plan was to arrive after 9 days but one hour before the shore our main engine (Hauptmotor) had severe problems, so we had to anchor and couldn´t go in. It really brought us together to pray - for protection (Benin is the capital of the Woodoo cult!), for the whole coming outreach, our unity on the ship with almost 40 different nationalities and many differences, for the people we will meet and want to help. We realized the importance of the bible verse in Psalms 127;1: Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain....". We really need God´s help for everything we do in Benin!


The motor could be fixed, and one day later we were able to say hello Cotonou harbour!
Or better: Bonjour Cotonou! It was a very exciting moment!


Hello to our new dock - quite a busy workplace and not very secure for children.
But it is easier and safer to walk around in the city than it was in Liberia, so here some first impressions of Cotonou:


This is a typical view from the port - the houses are simple -, but not so destructed and burned down like in Monrovia through the terrible war.


People are very poor, but you can tell right away the difference not having had war in this country!


Hello to crazy traffic! These motorbikes are called "Jimmy Jean" and are EVERYWHERE! You will not miss them - just be careful to be missed by them yourself!



Another typical African impression - can you imagine all this trash and the smell it develops when it is 112 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees celsius) ? Better not....



The heat comes from this round hot thing here - that blessed us with the most beautiful sunsets on the sail! It is amazing to watch it and be reminded of God´s promise that his goodness (Güte) and grace is with us every day in a new way!


I want to close this post with a sign I saw in New York that says something we want to do during these next challenging but also exciting weeks and months here in Benin - and we like you to be part of it!

Thanks so much for all support and interest! Good bye and Au revoir - till next week!!!!