To Kill a Mockingbird

There's a lot of ugly things in this world, son. I wish I could keep 'em all away from you. That's never possible. -Atticus Finch

That quote by Atticus Finch portrays the main theme of this movie. To Kill a Mockingbird was first published as a novel in 1957 by Harper Lee. The movie adaption was released in 1962 by Universal Studios. The story centers around a young girl named Scout and her brother Jim. Their father is a defense lawyer who agrees to take on a case in which a black man was accused of raping a young white girl. Of course, in this time society was much different, and Atticus Finch, their father, had much opposition and hatred directed towards him because of his decision to help the black man.

This movie promoted many good values, and I enjoyed it very much. Atticus is a very good role model for his children, teaching them about tough issues in life such as poverty, death, racism and the value of education.

To Kill a Mockingbird definitely sticks to its PG rating. There is no bad language, and no violence. The only aspect that would make it unsuitable for children under the age of 12 is the theme of rape, as well as a few descriptions of violence. For example, a woman tells how a crazy son stabs his father in the leg with a pair of scissors, and the sheriff reports that a man fell upon his own kitchen knife, killing him. There are also two scenes that are somewhat spooky and suspenseful.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable movie, clearly portraying the depression-era times in its black and white form. The book has also come highly recommended, and though the ending is very bittersweet, you come away from both the book and the movie feeling challenged by the social injustices that are still rampant in our world today.

Final comic

Enjoy this final comic (or poster)...

lights...camera...ACTION!

The red carpet was rolled out for the Africa Mercy celebrities (a.k.a all crew) on Saturday the 15th of May during the hospital ship's third annual film festival. Every crew member came dressed appropriately in fancy evening gowns or clean-cut suits. As the evening commenced, the Africa Mercy's chaplain Marty Schwebel and the Executive Chef Jesse Mitchell began to present the films rich in comedy, tragedy, drama, and suspense.

The first film, submitted by motorman Gray Quaicoe, was a music video of Bill Withers' Lean On Me. Gray's second film presented a cruel boxing match full of sweat and ketchup blood. Quaicoe ended up winning an award for "Best Editor".

The 7th through 9th grade girls of the Mercy Ships Academy presented a three-part thriller called "Detective Snuffle and the Murder of Amanda Montgomery". Carys Parker (grade 9), script-writer and actress as Detective Snuffle won the "Best Actress" award.

A group of adults in their 20's made a spoof of the TV series Glee, using the hospital's ward as their setting. They came up with original choreography to Amy Winehouse's "Rehab".

Welder Jeff Howard and his wife Megan created a film with a message saying that we are all like matches: if we get too heated up about something, we burn and affect others by burning them. So stay cool! The two also submitted a home video of their 3-year old son Max running around in their apartment with a pillow stuffed in his onesie. The crew was in stitches laughing at this young star's experience. Jeff Howard was rewarded with the prize for Best Screenplay.

Jenz Smedegaard, the ship's carpenter, was rewarded with the prize for Best Supporting Actor, as he played supporting roles in Gray Quaicoe's boxing film as well as Micah and Hannah's movie "Hope and Healing".

The award for the overall-winning film was presented to Micah Holden and Hannah van Leeuwen. Their movie called "Hope and Healing" replayed and exaggerated all the annoying situations typical on the Africa Mercy. Ranging from 2-minute showers to fights in the laundry room, the whole film was centered around a young woman desperately trying to find a quiet place where she could read her book in peace. As every crew member could relate to each of the situations presented in this hilarious manner, those who attended the Africa Mercy Third Anual Film Festival loved the movie "Hope and Healing" and the judges all agreed that it was the best film of all.

There were several other outstanding movies that aren't mentioned here. The atmosphere during the presentations and afterward when awards were being presented was memorable as everyone took pictures in groups and pairs in their beautiful gowns and smart-looking suits. A time for fun, excitement, and fellowship, the Third Annual Film Festival was a success yet again. We look forward to next year's film festival with fresh ideas and new films.

Academy Science Fair

On Wednesday the 5th the Mercy Ship Academy had a science fair for the students from grade 4-10 to display all the projects they had been working on for the past weeks.

There was a variety of projects, ranging from growing bacteria to launching potato's out of a potato gun and everything in between. There were Smiles and laughs and also some gross looks. There were observers with questions and students with answers.

There were also three judges that came in before the science fair started. The judges were: Mary Lou Maulsby, Olly Peet and Josh Nitsch. They were judging on things such as the most creative, the most scientific etc.

The high school students that won are:

9th and 10th grade:

Judges All Around: Linde Tvedt

Most Scientific: Carys Parker

Best Biblical Application: Lara Palmer

Most Creative: John Palmer

Appreciation and Participation: Chris Cole and Alisia Jacobsen

All (well most) of the students had a great time showing off the hard work they put into the project.

These are some pictures of other projects that were at the science fair. Enjoy!

The Spread on Bread

I have done a game where I ask people to close their eyes and eat the bread with a random spread and guess what it was. We tested two male and two female

The different spreads were:
1. Strawberry Jam
2. Blueberry Jam
3. Orange Marmalade
4. Mayonnaise

Person # 1: Dulce Pavon

1.Orange
2. Mango
3. Orange
4. Butter

Person # 2: Peter Koontz

1. Strawberry
2. Blueberry.
3.Orange Marmalade
4. Mayonnaise

Person # 3: James Soumanou

1. Strawberry
2. Mango
3. Orange
4. Mayonnaise

Person # 4: Aimee Kick

1. Strawberry

2. Blueberry

3. Orange

4. Butter

ENJOY!

Sometimes the Answer is Yes, and Sometimes the Answer is No

Volunteers have been giving up their time to come and serve the poor and needy with Mercy Ships for the past 30 years, coming and going as God calls them. One volunteer is still here today, Gary Parker; in the hospital he is known as Dr. Gary.

Dr. Gary previously served onboard the M/V Anastasis; little did he know that the day he walked up the gangway in San Diego in the year 1987 marked the beginning of a very long stay. It was there he met his wife Susan and raised his family in a small cabin located on the upper deck. He had discovered his heart’s passion and his calling in life, serving the sick and hurting people of West Africa. His skills were desperately needed, and many days he would never even see his children as he worked from early morning until dark. Yet he enjoyed his job greatly, using his hands to save faces and lives.
Currently Dr. Gary lives and works onboard the newest addition to the Mercy Ships fleet and at present, the only Mercy ship, the M/V Africa Mercy. He lives onboard with his wife and two children. Dr. Gary is a maxillofacial surgeon and the chief medical officer onboard the floating hospital located on the lower deck of the ship.

Throughout his many years of operating, Dr. Gary has witnessed his share of miracles. There are times in the Operating Room and wards when things go urgently wrong, and Dr. Gary cannot depend on his skills alone to fix things. But through it all God has always been there for him, and has preformed miraculous healings and signs that Dr. Gary still treasures in his heart today.
One of these life-changing moments took place on the Anastasis, which was docked in the Ivory Coast in the year 1992.

Three year old Bienvenue came to the ship with his mother, who was desperate for help for her little boy. Bienvenue had a tumour hanging off his neck the size of a big mango; it had appeared suddenly and grown at a quite rapid pace. Dr. Gary had his doubts about the little boy, but he went ahead and took a small piece from the tumour—a biopsy—sending it away to experts. They would be able to tell him exactly what type of tumour he was dealing with. When Dr. Gary performed the surgery to remove a piece of the tumour, he prayed over Bienvenue, as he did for all of his patients, asking for healing and strength. However, he clearly remembers that inside he was feeling like this Bienvenue’s case was hopeless.

When the results of the biopsy came back, they held bad news…very bad news. The tumour growing on Bienvenue’s neck was highly cancerous, and fatal. His heart sank; there was nothing he could do for the little three-year-old, who was so innocent and helpless. He would have to break the news to Bienvenue’s mother, who had so much hope in the doctors and nurses onboard. He would have to tell her that her son was going to die, and all they could do was go back to their village and wait. It was the type of news every doctor dreads giving. Dr. Gary had sent Bienvenue and his mother home while he waited for the biopsy results to come back. Now two weeks later, they had returned to hear the results.

Dr. Gary walked slowly down to the ward, his head spinning, going over how he would tell her, and what he would say to comfort the heart-broken mother. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t pay any attention at all to the little boy who was sitting in the middle of the floor playing with a balloon, or the mother who was waving frantically at him and pointing to her happy, giggling son. Finally Dr. Gary looked up at the woman. She was beaming and pointing to her son. He looked down; the boy on the floor was Bienvenue. But it was not the Bienvenue he was used to seeing, because where his tumour had been, there was nothing but sagging skin. Dr. Gary was in total shock; he could not believe what he was seeing. He ran over and pulled another doctor over to where Bienvenue sat playing. He watched as the doctor’s eyes widened and then popped nearly out of her head. No one understood what was going on. As far as she knew, the tumour had been there last she checked, when they sent them home tow weeks ago. How could a huge cancerous tumour just disappear? Dr. Gary sent them back to their village, still not convinced that the tumour was completely gone. He told them to come back in two weeks to see if the tumour had come back.

Two weeks later, they returned. Bienvenue was happy as ever, and his empty sack of skin that had once held the deadly tumour was getting tighter. Dr. Gary shook his head in wonder. This truly was a miracle. God had spared this little boy’s life. Dr. Gary told them to come back in another two weeks, which they did and Dr. Gary found that the sagging skin was even tighter. Finally he told them to come back one more time for a final check-up. When the mother and son came, the sagging skin was no longer there; it had completely healed. It was as if the tumour had never even been there.

With a joyful heart Dr. Gary said his goodbyes to the young mother and Bienvenue. God had answered his prayer for healing, and as far as he knows, Bienvenue grew up to be a healthy young lad; the cancerous tumour never bothered him again.

A radio broadcasting company found out about Bienvenue’s amazing miraculous story. They called Dr. Gary up, asking him if he would be willing to share Bienvenue’s story on the radio, which would be broadcast across America. After thinking about it, Dr. Gary replied saying he would, as long as they allowed him to tell the story of Fatimata as well.

Fatimata had come the same week as Bienvenue. She had a tumour bulging out behind her eye. She was three as well, and innocent as could be. Dr. Gary had prayed over her, with that same sinking feeling he had when praying over Bienvenue. He took a biopsy and sent it away. When it came back, the results showed that Fatimata’s tumour was highly cancerous as well. There was nothing he could do. The nurses gave Fatimata’s parents medicine to help with her pain. The nurses taught them how to care for their daughter, and then Dr. Gary and the other doctors had no choice but to send them away. The little family headed back to their village to care for Fatimata until she died.

The radio company turned Dr. Gary’s request down. They only wanted to hear the story where God healed Bienvenue. They had no desire to hear the sad story of Fatimata, and how God had not answered Dr. Gary’s prayer for healing.
However, in Dr. Gary’s view, God had saved one little three year old boy physically, giving him more time here on earth. In Fatimata’s case, it was time for her to come home to Him.

Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it is no, and other times He will tell you, not now, wait. (Gary Parker)

But in either case, God is doing what He knows is best. This is what Dr. Gary wanted to share on the radio. God will always answer, whether it is how you intend Him to answer or not. He never left Fatimata; it was just time for her to come home to Him.

Getting to Know Lord Ian McColl Better!

You have all heard Lord Ian McColl’s many informative and yet amusing talks. From his recommending of “eating roughage” to the stories of countless surgeries where God has intervened at that crucial moment and all things have worked out to the glory of God. I am sure we have all seen him around and we have all loved his stories but do we really know that man in the blue scrubs that walks around the ship with a smile on his face.

Alanah and I were curious about him and decided to conduct an interview to find out about his life and other random things.

Lord Ian McColl became a Lord in 1989 when he did some work regarding the disabled. He helped give many rights to the disabled and was considered a national hero. He has met the Queen many times and she was even the one who bestowed the honour of making him a CBE.

Lord Ian McColl met his wife at Wednesday 3rd October 1952 at 2:30. It was at a Hospital in a lecture theatre. She was a freshman and he was in the year above at this hospital. It was a meeting where all the older ones stood up and spoke about the activities and clubs. He was the only one with guts to stand and talk about the Christian Union. Jean was so taken by this that she had to go and meet him. 5 years later they were married.

In 1996 Lord Ian McColl was invited to a big dinner at a mansion by his good friend. Upon arriving he heard all about Mercy Ships and the amazing work they did all over the world. Lord Ian McColl was hooked and instantly got involved with all the different activities.

He was inspired to be a surgeon when he was 8. There was a friend of the family who was a surgeon: He was a great man. He loved God with all his heart and everything he did showed that. This inspired Lord Ian to be a surgeon because he wanted to be just like this. The interesting thing is that he cannot stand the sight of blood. He hates the stuff, he says it's nasty and shouldn't be played with.

He has many memorable surgeries but his most memorable was conducted 40 years ago. He was on his way to a formal dinner and was dressed up in a really old suit. It had been his fathers and was very old even for him. On his way to the dinner he was called to the hospital because a patient was asking for a surgery. Upon arriving at the hospital he learnt that this patient had cancer in the groin and that the operation on her would be fatal if done wrong. However, if it wasn't done it would also be fatal. He went to speak to the patient and tell her the situation. When he walked into the room she turned to him, pointed and said "That is a very old suit!" He laughed and responded with, "Yes, yes it is." He then told her the situation. Upon hearing this she told him to risk it and if it was a success she would make him a new suit. After working very hard all night, the operation was a success. She made him a new suit and to the day it is still the suit that Ian McColl wears for every formal event he attends.

Lord Ian McColl once did a study on posture. He was very curious about the spinal cords of humans and what makes them curve and stay that way. To do this he studied penguins and the looks of their spinal cords. He has many X-rays and likes to think back on that time and tell the many funny stories about X-raying penguins.

Believe it or not, Lord Ian McColl used to have bright red hair! When he had his children none of them had red hair and he was slightly disappointed. He also went through 5 grandchildren that did not have red hair. But finally his 6th granddaughter had bright red hair and Lord Ian McColl was very happy!

One piece of Wisdom Lord Ian McColl would give to this generation is "Acknowledge him and he will direct your paths!" This is a basis for living.

Lord Ian McColl's and his wife's happiest moments have been on the ship. They say they get withdrawal symptoms when they are away because they love it so much. Lord Ian McColl also says that he couldn't do anything without his with Jean because she has been a great companion and an amazing wife.

So now you know a bit more about the man in the blue scrubs. Next time you see him and you have a few minutes ask him to tell some stories, he has many more and is always willing to share them to anyone who will listen.

The Lieutenant Hénaff

As many of the crew on board the Africa Mercy have probably noticed, we currently have a French Navy frigate docked behind us. It is called the (LV Aviso Henaff), and she has a total crew of 89; 7 officers, 58 NCO's, or non-commissioned officers, and 24 petty officers and sailors.

The Henaff was launched in 1978, and its main purpose is anti-submarine warfare in coastal waters. It also does tasks such as public service--rescue and policing--direction, oversea deployment, monitoring maritime approaches, and gives support for strategic submarine forces. It has been travelling all over Africa, to countries including Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and Benin after going through dry dock in Brest.

The ship itself is 80.5 meters long and 10.3 meters wide. Much smaller than the Africa Mercy! Its top speed is 24 knots, made possible by 2 diesel engines of 13,200 hp. They carry a lot of technical and electronic equipment, as well as having one turret, 6 guns, 1 rocket launcher and 4 torpedo tubes.

Recently they have been patrolling the coast of West Africa, as well as doing exercises, training, medical drills and weapons tests. During the last sail, they even rescued a turtle! If you are interested in seeing more of their stops and activities, you can read the Henaffs logbook on the French Navy site at http://jdb.marine.defense.gouv.fr/batiment/lnf.

Many of the crew have been able to tour the ship, and containers have been moved to allow the sailors heading into town to walk along the safer side of the dock. Thanks to everyone who has welcomed them and let them see the work that we are doing here in Togo West Africa.

Gape Aloyi Celebration

At 6:20 a.m. my parents woke my brother and I up to get ready to go to a village 2-3 hours away. In a way I didn't want to go because of a tough week, an I would've liked to sleep in.

At 7:00 my family and I went down to the dock to get into a Nissan for a long ride. Josh (my brother) and I each had a book, he had his Nintendo DS, and I had my iPod, I also had a bag with my sketch pad, coloured pencils, snacks, and a water bottle (which I had frozen the night before). Before we left, I had already turned on my iPod, and started to read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. The back of the Nissan was really crowded because we had a box of Vitamin C drink mix for the clinic up there, and my mom's and the Tretheway's bag. After Sharon got her son Nathaniel settled in his car seat and my parents and the captain got settled, we where off.

After about 10-15 minuets driving we met up with some of the people we where going with, and drove for another 10 minutes and picked up another person. Then we where off yet again.

As always my mom had her camera out and ready to take pictures of the scenery flying by outside. She got some interesting pictures.

At a rest stop (not like the ones in the states) we got out and stretched out legs some people went to use the bush... anyway my mom took a picture of a structure that looked like it was a school, but I wasn't sure if it was still in use. Soon we where on our way again for anoth

er 1 to half an hour. After a bit we came to this little village that escorted us to Gape Aloyi and I knew that we where almost there. When we arrived there was a huge welcoming committee. After we made our way to where the chief was standing there was a little ceremony thanking us for giving money to build them a school. I won't go into details about the ceremony because I really didn't get it. After they where done the ceremony we went to a shelter made out of palm branches and logs. After we sat down some of the women and girls in the village started to dance in our honour. After one group finished the chief came out with the captain all "dresses up" in African wear (he still had his normal clothing underneath). After a short speech another group started to dance. Soon, some people started to bring the guests up dance. First up was the chief and the captain, then my dad and the chief, and then everyone else. I also had the privilege of doing the African version of the chicken dance..... it is harder then it looks...

After then dancing part was done, the chief showed us the clinic/pharmacy. One of the people told us that an organization came and build this clinic for them. Next they took us to see the current school. That was the main reason that we went, so that they could thank us for giving money to improve the school. When we all got to the school, the teachers had some of the younger kids sing to us. I couldn't understand any of the songs because they where all in French. By now it was about 1 o'clock and I was getting hungry. Since we didn't know how long until we ate lunch, my mom, brother and I went back to the Nissan to get some food. Then my dad called us over, and we went to go and eat. Our lunch had goat that they killed for us, lets just say, I had no idea what part of the goat I ate...

After we where done eating, we went out to give out presents to the chief and later supplies to the village. I forget what we gave the chief, but we gave vitamin C drink mix packages, and scrubs to the village, and a bag of candy and other goodies to the teachers to give to the children when they are good. After we had left, we drove a little ways away before coming to a little area that made this gin, made out of palm wine (if they made that in the states it would be illegal). When we got ready to leave, one of the men there presented the adults with a bottle of Voltirc water, or so we thought, it was that gin.

After driving for about a hour or more, we pulled over and gave it to the French people who invited us.

It was a really interesting day, and I was glad that I went, but I did learn to bring my water bottle out no matter what.

Sierra Leone

As we are busying ourselves with the Togo outreach, we are also excited about the news that we will most likely be going to Sierra Leone in 2011. The last time Mercy Ships was in Sierra Leone was from November 2003 to June 2004. Between the years 2001 to 2004, Mercy Ships had three outreaches in Sierra Leone. Now, six years later, the Africa Mercy is looking forward to visiting Sierra Leone for a ten-month outreach.

FACTS ON THE COUNTRY:

Geography

• Sierra Leone is located in West Africa on the coast, right of Guinea and left of Liberia.
• It has an area of 71,740 sq km.

People

• Sierra Leone has a population of 5,132,138.
• Infant mortality rate is 82 per every 1,000.
• Sierra Leone is the most dangerous country for a women to be pregnant.
• 60% of the population is Muslim, 30% practice indigenous beliefs, and a minority of 10% are Christian.
• English is the official language, though there is a variety of about (number) tribal languages.
• Common diseases include: diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, yellow fever, Lassa fever, malaria, and schistosomiasis
  

Government

• Sierra Leone got its Independence from Britain on the 27th of April 1961.
• Government type: Constitutional Democracy
• Capital: Freetown

Economy

• GDP-per capita (PPP): $900 (in 2009)
  
• Population below Poverty Line: 70%
• Currency: (Sierra Leonian) leone (SLL)
• In the Human Development Report of 2009, Sierra Leone ranks 180th, with only two other countries behind.

Civil War in Sierra Leone

From 1991 to 2001 Sierra Leone suffered from a civil war. The control of Sierra Leone's diamond industry was a major cause of war. The war finally came to an end when Britain stepped in and took control of Sierra Leone's government. The British also retrained the army to keep peace. In the nine years that this war went on, 50,000 people died and over 2 million Sierra Leoneans were displaced by the conflict (over 1/3 of the population), many of whom are now refugees in neighbouring countries. 100,000 civilians were deliberately mutilated (including children), an estimated 3,000 towns and villages (including schools and hosptitals) were destroyed by the war, and 10-15,000 children were abducted and used as soldiers. An estimated 3% of the population of Sierra Leone has HIV/AIDS due to rape and sexual abuse that was a rampant weapon of war. Because of the spread of HIV/AIDS, 1,000s of children were orphaned, and many of them also obtained the virus. There was and still is an immense shortage of food, clothes, shelters, medicines and other essential supplies.

Picture (first) taken from "It Dawned On Me" blog by Diane Beeler. (2008-2010 © All Rights Reserved)

Picture (second) taken from Shane's Flying Disc Show on flickr. (© All Rights Reserved)

by Kim Anna and Alanah

Middle Ages Poster

This time we made a poster instead of a comic strip in honour of what we learned in History class.

Enjoy...

Here is Chris' and my AWESOME comic!

Click on the picture to make it full size!

Rate it if you like it!

The 2010 Retreat- Agu Togo YWAM base

As I woke up on Thursday the 8th of April, I searched through my closet trying to find comfortable clothing. This was the day we were going to leave for Agu, the Togo YWAM base for our school retreat. The night before I had packed a backpack full of clothing, bedding, sunscreen, mosquito spray, a garbage bag for dirty clothing, a grocery bag for garbage, my asthma medication, and other toiletries. In another bag I put books, my Bible, a journal, snacks, a blanket, a sweatshirt, and any overflow from my backpack. At 8:00 we all gathered in the cafe area with all of our bags. After our parents prayed over us, we all headed out to the dock to pack 3 Land Rovers and a Nissan with all of out food, water, and bags. Once everything and everyone was loaded into the cars, we were off. After 2 1/2 to 3 hours in a car, we finally reached the base. After we unloaded the cars, we headed to our rooms. I was rooming with the other ninth graders.We got our rooms all set up, the mosquito nets hung, put all of our snack items high off the floor, and got changed into something cooler. We all gathered by the mango tree for a brief meeting before lunch.

When lunch was finished the 8th and 9th grade girls did the dishes. It consisted of dumping the leftovers, rinsing, washing, rinsing again, and drying 20+ dishes, in cold water (the base had no hot water heater). Then we all gathered at the main house and were split into teams. My team was Emma, Joey, Chenell, and Bendik. We choose a team colour, and we where given a flag to make a team name. Our team colour was green so we made our team name The Incredible Hulks. The other team names were Team Rice, The Blue Waljis, and Team Destroy. We then played Ships and Sailors. Miss Orman would call something and we would have to do that. After we played Ships and Sailors two teams went with Miss Orman and the other two stayed with Mr. Calvert. My team and the Blue Walgis stayed with Mr. Calvert to play Human Tug of War and my team sadly lost. After that we headed up to Miss Orman, and we played turn over a leaf, with a big piece of brown paper, my team did the first one fast, but we got slower and slower. After that we all went back down to the main house to have some free time before dinner at 6. While a group played the Frisbee version of Monkey (or piggy if your from the UK or anywhere in Europe) in the middle, I watched and laughed my head off. About 10 to 6 I went to take a shower, and boy did that feel good!
By the dinner time we needed our flashlights, to see where we were walking, and to see what we were eating, because the generators were not working. After dinner we gathered again for a devotional time, we sang, and listened to Marty talk and then we left. During this time, I had a wow moment with God. I realized that out of all the galaxies, all of the people past, present, and future, God knows all the names, and everything we ever said and will say, and the most amazing thing, HE NEVER FORGETS!! Since we had until 10:30 before we had to be in our rooms, my friends and I played mango catch. Let's just say that we ended up "killing" two mango's... After that we went in and my room mates and I talked until we had to go to sleep. At about 12:30 in the morning, I woke up, my face burning like crazy At first I thought it was just from being out in the sun all day, but that wasn't it. I wasn't the only one to be up at this time, every one except 6 people also woke up with burning faces. In the morning my friends and I were talking about it, and we discovered that it was the mosquito nets The directions said to wash and let air dry, but we thought that was if they got dirty, but it was wash before use, so, everyone who had burning faces washed their nets and they hung them out to dry.
After breakfast and personal time, we all hiked up to an outdoor church that was randomly in the woods, where we had our morning worship. After we finished we went back and got changed into our swimsuits, to go swimming in a waterfall. The first waterfall we hiked to wasn't safe to swim in, so we sat on some rocks and ate lunch. After lunch we all piled back into the Land Rovers and drove to an area to park, then we hiked for about half an hour, came to a beautiful clearing that was looking out into the waterfall, and as the guys went to the water, I held back and waited for my friends. Once they came we stripped down to our swimsuits and jumped in. The water was a lot more shallow than I thought it would be...

After everyone got dried off we started the hike back to the Land Rovers. Again we all piled into the land rovers and headed back to the base. When we got back we all headed up to the dining hall, and we met some nuns from the Missionaries of Charity the organization Mother Theressa started. When the nuns left we were able to go and take showers. After we took showers we headed up to the dining hall again, and we ate dinner, this time without flashlights. After dinner we had a little free time until we had to go to worship. On this particular night after worship, we had a camp fire because it was our last night at Agu. We roasted marshmallows, and put them on a cookie that had chocolate presses on them. Being American, I think that the best s'mores are marshmallow, gram cracker, and Hershey's chocolate. We stayed out until curfew, then went to bed.

In the morning we woke up to the sound of rain drumming on the roof. After getting dressed we went out to the clearing in front of the main house, and jumped in puddles, and played in the rain. After everyone got up, we met on the porch of the main house and set off to the stairs outside of the camp to make our prayer stations. The other 9th grade girls and I made the tomb, and put 3 crosses on top.As Marty told us to go up one at a time, we stood by each place and prayed about what the station is about. Soon every one was at the church at the top of the stairs, and we sang a few songs.

When we finished with worship we went back down, we all gathered in the dining hall again, and we made a poster in our small groups about what we learned.

All of the posters were amazing. After we finished getting all packed up, we did some final things, like cleaning the bathrooms, the showers, and sweeping out our rooms. After the guys finished packing up the Land Rovers and Nissan again, we all climbed in to start the long ride home. I was in a Land Rover with Marty, Miss Nikki, Allison, Miss Orman, and Mrs. Robinson, along with the 6th grade girls. As we sang some songs, Marty sang opera, and Bethany mouthed some of the words, while I read.

Getting back to the ship was a relief, but I wished that we could have stayed longer at the YWAM base.