A New Look for A New Year!

I have been working on updating the look and the content of my blog.
As I have been settling in to my short stay at home I have been directing my time towards family,friends, and raising more financial support for 2009.

If you are interested in helping financially support me you can do it through one of the following ways:

Secure Online -by clicking here

or

by sending a check to my Forwarding Agent Kay Blakeman at the following address

Kay Blakeman
c/o jessica campbell
1210 E 7th
Beardstown, IL 62618

For tax purposes, a receipt will be mailed to you. Thanks!

Also if you want to receive my mailings please email me your email address@ jeska297@hotmail.com

Continue to keep me in your prayers as I spend time with family and friends as well as prepare to return to Africa at the end of January.

May you experience Gods love in 2009!

I am HOME!

After 33 hours of traveling, a canceled flight, and a 6 hr delay I have made it home....and it is oh so wonderful. There are time when I find myself in a daze and wonder where am I really and the there are times when I find myself thinking about all of my friends who are still on the ship or at home on holiday....... I am finding it really hard to find words to sum up the past 6 1/2 months and I am also find it hard to express "what my favorite thing was" but I know I am so blessed and thankful to be home with all the ones I love so much.

I have been reunited with best friends/ family and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of them real soon.

I drove my car today

I had GOOD homemade food

I went to church

Took a bath

Slept in a Queen size bed

Played and loved on my Dogs

Held my friends 4 month old baby for the first time

Congratulated Kristy on her engagement

Showed Pictures

Told stories

All in one day!

This will be my last post for at least a few weeks.

More to come once I get fundraising under way and start to prepare to return which by the way I leave January 27 to head to Spain to meet back up with the ship.

So until then I will be fully immersed with friends and family and the fun that comes along with them.

Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS and enjoy the little moments that God has blessed us with.
Often they are the most overlooked but the most abundant.

I'm going home

I have this tear off calendar that I have been reading this year, and a few months ago I remember turning to December 22 and writing Going Home. It wasn't until today that I actually read the quote. I found it rather appropriate and fitting.

My flight leaves Tenerife at 6pm my time and after an overnight layover in Germany, a short stop in Chicago, and a short flight to St.Louis from Chicago I will be home. Pray for good weather and NOOOO snow or ice.

What an Amazing time I have had these past 6month. What an Amazing God we serve.

PS for those of you who don't know I will be returning to the Africa Mercy January 28, for a year in Benin West Africa. So this is not good bye , just a simple vacation home.

More to come on that later.


See you all SOON!

Tenerife Adventures!!!!!

What an action packed last few days I have had here in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Friday we arrived at 6amish and a few hours later I was shopping, and enjoying the lovely atmosphere of Tenerife.

Friday afternoon a few of us girls could not wait to get into the city's center and do a little shopping. It turned out to be more window browsing than anything. We were all just so excited to be able to walk around in peace with little attention being drawn to us.

After about 2 hrs into our day we all had to sit and talk about how crazy it was that one day we are in one of the poorest countries in the world, the next day we are sailing up the coast of Africa in our home, and the next we are in Spain shopping. It is crazy to think were and what all I have done in the past few weeks/months.

After shopping we went to a little outside Cafe and had dinner and dessert, and after that we roamed around the city and just just simpled enjoyed 1 being able to be out later than 11:00pm and 2 being able to be out and be with just girls and feel safe.

Saturday I hit the road at 6am in pursuit of Mt Teide, the tallest Summit in Spain. And it is was volcanic. A group of 8 of us began they adventure of hiking the mountain around 8:15am. It took us 6hrs just to get the the highest peak. Boy oh boy was it challenging. There were times when I thought I could not take another step. But once I reached the top I was in aww of the Lords beauty. It was so magnificent that I believe I might have gotten a little teary eyed.

After our mountain adventure we went to a German Friends house for super and desert, then back to the ship. I think we arrived back around 10:30pm. What a rewarding day!

Today I was in need of sleep so I slept in and then meet my roommate Carmen for lunch after she got out of church. We had a really nice lunch out side at another cafe and then just sat an talked on a bench for about an hr. Tonight I went to church and packed.....because I leave tomorrow to come HOME for a month! woo hoo

What a great last few days I have had!

Tenerife from the ship

GRASS!!!!!!! oh how we missed grass!

Christmas lights in the trees

A pool in the middle of the city that is supplied with water from the tide of the ocean

a nice tree

City street lights........ wow

Before the hike.... it was so cold. We were guessing about 25degrees

Just getting started

Yep I climbed up that, and really that was the easy part

Regardless of the fact that we thought we were going to die at times, we still took nice photos

Snow!

The active volcano

One of the views from the top

I made it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and there was LIGHT!!!!!

If you look really hard in the horizon of the picture below you will see the lights of Tenerife. After 6 days of sailing, lots of rough water, a few issues with the port, and several sick crew members we have arrived. Just a few minutes ago I stood out on deck 7 and looked at the lights that gleamed ahead of us.

We are 30 mins out and we are scheduled to pull into the dock around 6am Friday.

Which means I will be able to catch my flight on Monday.

Next stop St.Louis Mo :)

We mean BUSINESS!

This morning the captain and officers of the Africa Mercy fired up all four engines. So we are picking up speed in hopes that we will arrive in Tenerife SOMETIME tomorrow.

Along with all four engines comes more jolting, bumping, and sea sickness. Oh my goodness!

If you look at the map above we are currently the red dot and our final destination is the group of Islands almost directly above the red marker.

We are getting closer People!!! :)

My View

This is the view from my office. HAHA I had some busy work to get done today, and instead of sitting in a stuffy ship office I decided to take my work outside to deck 8. So while I worked I enjoyed the views. I have decided that regardless of the nice views I am almost over the excitement of sailing, and we have 3 days left. God help us all!

Currently we are somewhere..... I think we are in between Senegal still and Mauritania.


Side NOTE: This time next week I will be getting ready to head to the airport......with that final destination being. HOME!

I feel like I am on a bad Rollercoaster Ride..............

The sea is rough today...............


but the sunlight feels soooo good.

What a rough life...... back to work tomorrow.

We are currently cruising along somewhere off the coast of Senegal, Africa. If you are looking at the map above the Canary Islands will be our final destination 4 days from now.

Stayed tuned for more sailing updates.

Fire Drill and Sail Off

Pictures from yesterday. In the morning an "At Sea" fire drill, just to make sure everything was ok before we left. The rest our pictures of departure and then a few of the sunset last night.

A few things that I am loving about being at sea.

1. The sea is a beautiful deep cobalt color... I have never seen anything like it.

2. The sun is out in full force...good for my tan.

3. The sky is so beautiful at night and the moon is so big.... tonight metier shower.

4. I am sleeping really well..... the swaying of the ships makes me fill like I am being rocked back and forth.

We are currently some where off the cost of Guinea. We are Moving right along.

Emily and I at the fire drill

I am ready...for whatever comes our way while at sea.

Paul taking my picture from Deck 8 while we were waiting to depart Liberia.

Carmen and I on Deck 8.

Oh my Gosh.... we are moving

Leaving the port

Looking back to where we had just been docked for the past 11 months

Sunset last night......

We are SAILING!

We are sailing. We left Liberia are 2:30 pm my time. We are currently somewhere off the coast of Sierra Leone. Things are going smoothly. 

Relax Grandma no signs of Pirates.... :)  

More updates and thoughts to come tomorrow. At the moment this is all a little surreal. Give me some time to rest and process and I will be back. 

Keep us in your prayers as we continue to make our way to Tenerife. 

Well that was FUN!

Pictures from the last day of packing and moving the dental clinic. This happened a week ago, I know. However I no longer have a camera...mine was broken at the orphanage, and I am a depending on other peoples pictures to get me through until I can get home and get a new camera.



I just felt like I should post the pictures from the final day considering I had taken you on a packing journey starting with day one of pack up. Blog Closure if you will.

At the end of the day last Wednesday........ a fellow co worker and I sat back and said.....

WELL THAT WAS FUN!

Tomorrow we sail! WOO HOO!


Loading up the truck

At the end of the day



What once was our clinic is now and empty room

unloading at the ship

The container where all our stuff will be stored until Benin

Up Up and Away

Just in case you were wondering how all the Land Rovers were moved from the dock to Deck 8, now you know.

Any day now we will be leaving Liberia and heading to the open sea for 6 day with our final destination, Tenerife. People all over the ship are busy getting everything in order for the sail. It is not everyday that you get to see a Land Rover dangling in mid air.


The Land Rovers all lined up on the dock. Getting ready for the lift

Lifting the Land Rover from the dock to deck 8

The Land Rover being lowered to the deck.

It is as EASY as that people!

Black Out Weekend

Tomorrow at 7am a ship wide black will be in effect. There is a need for some work to be performed on the ship in order for us to sail away to Spain next week. The definition of ship wide black out is.... no water, no electricity, no power sucking toilets, no air conditioner, no food, no lights, no entertainment, no nothing.....

Everything will be shut down at least until Sunday afternoon ish at the earliest.

With that being said.... the ship is going to be HOT and DARK, and will somewhat resemble a dark bat cave.

I will be heading of ship tomorrow at 8:30am to head to the orphanage for the last time and from there I will be heading to a guest house on the beach. It will be Monday at the earliest before I have contact with anyone via the Internet. Just FYI!

17 days People! I can't wait!

Being Productive

What a productive day I have had today! Oh the things I can do when I have the day off. :)

This morning around 9:30 4 of us jumped in a Land Rover and set out for the Craft Market. I figured given the fact that we are leaving Liberia in a week and Christmas is just around the corner I should probably go shopping. So we did. Shopping in Liberia is a little different than shopping at home.


Once we stepped out of the car we heard shouts of come to my shop, by from me, I have real fine carvings for sell, and the list could go on for days. Once you enter a shop you browse around at the different carvings, crafts, jewelery, drums, and other little items that are for sale. If you find something that sparks your interest you ask " How Much" regardless of the price quote given, you always respond with No, to much, and then the shop owner will counter your offer throwing you a price that for the most part is in between their original offer and your original offer.


My uncle Steve would be rather proud of me. I have learned somewhat the skills to negotiation. At home I never negotiate anything, but here it is expected. The rule of thumb is they tell you an original price that is sky high and you in return offer them a price that is dirt cheap. Then you have room to work, and in the end more times then not you can get the item for your true desired price. I don't by any means cheat the sellers out of money, I just offer them what I think the item is worth.


So after about an hr or so at the craft market I end up returning to the ship with gifts for my family and a REALLY nice drum for the kids at Frances Gaskin, which by the way was funded by the Bible Study of Kristen and Nate Brewer. THANK YOU!

The story on the drum is actually interesting. I purchased all my gifts and was thinking I was done, and then it dawned on me.... I have to get a drum for the kids so I can give it them tomorrow morning. Dang it! I am almost out of money. So I look in my purse and see that I only have 10$ left. My initial thought is I will just give Evelyn and Emmanuel the money and they can in return purchase the drum. Then my next thought was.... it would be really nice to give the drum to the kids, see their reactions, then I know for sure they got it, then I can take a picture of them with it and send to Kristen and Nate's small group. So I decided to look around.....Sure enough the first drum shop I stop at there it was, the "drum" that I knew the kids would love.

I ask the man how much and after a few negations we settled on 55$ for the drum and the case. I agreed that 55$ was a good price and I informed the man that I had to go back to the ship to get more money and then I would return to purchase the drum. Inside I was hating myself. I would have to go back to the ship get more money, take a taxi to the market which takes a while, get the drum, and then take a taxi back, all the while doing this trip all by myself. I was not happy about this idea, but I had to do it.



Then I thought I wonder if any of my friends have any extra money I can borrow. I asked them and finally Emily said I have 30$. I said can I borrow it. I take the money back to the guy and say this is all I have 40$ what can you do for me. He said I really want to give it you, but that is too cheap. I said come on its for an orphanage, please. He was tossing the idea around in his head, when a customer standing in the same shop heard me and said..... I will pay the rest. WHAT! you will pay the rest for me. He said yes if it for an orphanage I will pay the rest. I payed the man my 40$ and grabbed my drum and walked away thanking God for the little blessings!



We returned to the ship and immediately I rushed into the dinning room to have lunch with the dental teams day workers. Today on the ship we had a thank you lunch and ceremony for the 120+ day workers that have been working for us. After we indulged in a delicious African meal prepared for us by our awesome dinning room staff, we went up stairs to the chapel area and had a ceremony. As I was sitting there I was thinking.... this place could not operate without the help of these lovely people. They work so hard and it so so amazing that we can come into a country and get 120+ locals to stop their lives for 10 months and work with us. I think if you asked any one of them they would say, they are honored to serve with Mercy Ships, but in reality we are honored to have them serve along side us.


After the ceremony I said good bye--- to Agnes my dental assistant who I have really grown to love. Alvin, Henry, Marilyn, Sieh, Anthony, and John. All of which have been working for MS since I have arrived first of June.


I also had to say good bye to Lucy.... my ward day worker friend who's house I went to a few Sundays ago. We took one last photo, exchanged emails, and as I walked down the dock towards the road with her, hand in hand... She said to me...... I came to Mercy Ships late...... and by the time I started working here everyone already had friends, so I prayed and prayed that God would provide me with a friend...... and to my surprise he provided me with a much younger friend whom I love as much as my own daughter. Praise Him for that! I fought back the tears pushed my sunglasses closer to my face and hugged her goodbye.


I am not sure if I will ever see her again on this earth, but I know for certain I will see her again on the streets of gold, and like I told her today.....then and only then will there be no more good byes.

Our time here in Liberia..... is drawing to a close..... and it is sad at times.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Yesterday we finished packing up, organizing, sorting, junking, and labeling. We finished 1 day ahead of schedule. Friday when we said our morning prayers before we started packing up we said, "God please allow us to be done with this by Wednesday." Who would have thought we would have finished a day early. As a reward for all of our hard work on Friday and Monday we took today off. Tomorrow is our scheduled move day. We will start at 9am and head to the clinic with MEN and trucks. We will load everything that you see in the picture above into the trucks and carry it back to the ship and load it into the dental container. After everything is moved we will sweep, mop, and be DONE!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel and I see it......!

Before we started on Monday............................

At lunch time............

At the end of the day....................... still smiling

and still playing with the kids................... :)