The Kane Chronicles

Rick Riordan

I'm sure many people have read at least one of Rick Riordan's book series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones, as well as 8 books for adults. Riordan created these books because of his love for mythology. He wanted to bring the joys of learning about mythology to students.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians is based on Greek gods, and The Heroes of Olympus is based on both the Greek and Roman gods. After Riordan finished the Percy Jackson series he started to write the Kane Chronicles.  The Kane Chronicles are based on Egyptian gods, and the Egyptian magicians. There are two books in the Kane Chronicles right now; The Red Pyramid and The Throne of Fire. As of now there is no information on the website on when the next book in the series comes out.

Ra was the sun god who protected  the world from armies of the chaos serpent Apep. Ra was also the first pharaoh. Isis was the goddess of Magic, and Osiris' wife. To get Osiris on the throne she had a poisonous snake bite Ra's leg. Ra knew that Isis could heal him, so she made him give her his secret name. If a person had your secret name then they could control you. Since Isis knew Ra's secret name she convinced him to retire from being pharaoh leaving Osiris to take the throne.

Here is the next insallment of: The mini Adventures of Furry Fury and Pon Pon!

A Visit from Royalty

This last week the Africa Mercy had the honour of showing Princess Anne and Sir Tim the ship.
Princess Anne is the daughter of the Queen of England and Sir Tim in Princess Anne's husband.

Who is THAT?

The High School have all been combined into one photo. Can you see who is who?

The different part are

- left eye

- right eye
- nose
- mouth
- left shoulder
- right shoulder
- left hair
- right hair
- top hair
- left ear
- right ear
- head template
 

See if you can see who is who...

The voice of the PreSchoolers

We had a little interview with the preschoolers to find out what their favourite foods are and we got some pretty interesting results...

Question 1: What is your favourite food?
Josh - cereal with custard and milk!
Renier - mmm... meat!
Elisha - Carrots.
Janice - M&M's
Nathaniel - GRAPES!!

Question 2: What is your least favourite food?
Josh - Cheese and lettuce...
Janice - I like raisons in a box but NOT in a bar!!
Max - Meat, and uhm mash potatoes.
Xavier - lettuce.

Question 3: Where does your food come from?
Josh - Dining room!
Renier - dining room then my mom brings it.
Janice - It comes from the MARKET!!
Max - Dining room.
Xavier - from Marty and my dad..
Nathaniel - The dining room.

Question 4: Where does your food go?
Josh - in my belly button!
Renier - when you don't want them you take it to the trash.
Elisha - To The MARKET!!
Janice - I don't know!!
Max - TRASH!
Xavier - To my tummy.
Nathaniel - My tummy.

The Antiquity Tour: take a quick trip into the ancient past!

I walked out into the Mid-ships Lounge to find priceless artifacts and manuscripts laid out carefully on our little cheap coffee tables. Among the manuscripts there was a blackened fragment from a Dead Sea scroll.

The history and origin behind the Dead Sea scrolls is simply fascinating. In 1947 a young Bedouin Sheppard was out looking for a sheep he had lost. The Sheppard wandered up to a cave and threw a stone in, hoping he would hear his sheep, instead he heard the sharp shattering of a clay jar that had been left undisturbed for 2000 years until now.

Let’s take a quick detour back in time to understand where exactly these scrolls came from and why they ended up hidden away in the caves of Qumran.

Sectets of German Condentration Camps Revealed

A few years ago my history teacher showed a video that was shot in a concentration camp shortly after the war in Europe ended.  He had us write a paragraph about what we felt after watching the video. A year later my English teacher had us write a story. I used the paragraph that I wrote at the end of this story. So I hope you enjoy this story.

The Secrets of German Concentration Camps Reviled

          “No, No I won’t go!” yelled twenty-year-old Maria.  She was running from someone but she didn’t know who; all she knew was someone was chasing her.  Then she woke up.  That is how it went every night, but tonight she was awakened not by her mind, but by someone pounding on her door.  Sighing she got out of bed, put on a robe and went to answer the door.   

            “Yes, can I help you?”

            “We have reason to believe that you have been harboring Jews and taking more ration cards for you and your family than needed.”

            “I’m sorry but I know nothing of this.”

            “We need to search your home.”

            “I told you that I know nothing of this.”

            “LET US PASS!” yelled the head Gestapo agent.

            The Gestapo agents pushed Maria out of the way and searched her parent’s house anyway.

The Gestapo walked through the house and destroyed everything of value, even Maria’s mother’s fine china that had been given to her mother on her wedding day.   Once the Gestapo finished they took Maria and put her in a truck full of other people and started to drive away.  As they drove away Maria looked at her house through tear-filled eyes and wondered if she will ever see her family again.

King James Bible 400th Anniversary

King James came into power over a sea of turmoil. He was the protestant son of Mary, Queen of Scots who had been seen as a dangerous enemy due to her strong catholic faith. The people were scared, anxious and unknowing what this new King would bring to their country. Would he keep it Protestant or Catholic? Across the sea in England Queen Elizabeth, the second cousin to Mary, contemplated along side her people this fearful situation. When Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, died childless it was King James who would become King over England. What would happen to her protestant kingdom she had worked so hard to preserve?

...80's DAY...

About three weeks ago had 80's day in the academy where everyone had to dress up as 80's but they never said which 80's so we had some interesting 80's styles. And here are photos to prove:

"Wake me up before you go, go ,go..." good 80's song.

Brother and sister (Emma and Max)

 Academy teachers

The preschoolers with their teachers.

Kindergarten and Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

"We are from the world 1980's grade 4 this is our
grandpa who had also turned 80 here with us."

 Grade 6

Grade 7&8

Grade 9&10

Grade 11

"So beware and get ready to be splashed with 80's!"

10 Resons why Living on Land is Better than Living on Ship!

So in the counter attack of Alisia's "10 reasons why living on Ship is better then land" I am going to write about why living on Land is better than living on the ship

1) No UHT milk/milch! - This is milk that has been heat treated so that it can withstand higher temperatures and not expire, but it leaves the milk with a nasty after taste.

2) Next Day deliviery - When on land you can order things off the internet and have them delivered to your door the next day whereas on the ship it could take months to get here.

3) Better Internet - On land you can use Youtube, Download music, videos and shows

4) Can get away from Work - We live at work here, no matter where you go, your work colleages are always around and always wanting to ask a question

5) Malls and Shopping - There are no Malls and no shopping centres on the ship for obvious reasons.

6) My Own Room - Here on the ship families and many singles have to share a room.

7) Up to date Movies and Music- We are so behind the time that we have not seen movies or heard music that have come out over a year ago, let alone know about them

8) No Privacy - Everyone on the ship knows your buisness and you know everyone elses, this might be due to the fact that the walls are so thin and if you move in one room, they will hear you in the next.

9) Silence is golden - There is always a machine running or someone talking or some music playing everywhere you go.
10) Social Life - We, the youth, have decided that we do not have a social life. If we lived on land there would be places to go, people to see and places to do things.

10 Reasons why Living on a Ship is Better Than Living on Land

1. You get to see your friends 24/7
2. If you have trouble in a class you can find a teacher any time
3. You learn about different cultures
4. You learn different ways to say one word
5. You pay $0.75 for a one shot frappachino
6. You become friends with people from all over the world
7. You experience different foods (whether you think it's good or not is your choice)
8. You get the opportunity to work in almost any department on board
9. You get to celebrate different holidays from different countries
10. If you break a bone you don't have to wait an hour for a cast, there are doctors everywhere on the ship!

Spiritual Weekend

This weekend we had a spiritual retreat. Instead of going off ship on a retreat we had it on board.

It started on Thursday night at our community meeting, where our speaker talked about the Tabernacle (where the Holy of Holies is, and where the Priests did their work in the old Testament). We then had a worship night ending with ice-cream in midships.

Friday night we had a journey of the Tabernacle with different types of stations where you could experience and just have moments of silence with yourself and God. There were seven different types of stations and they were: 1.) The Tabernacle entrance.
2.) The Bronze Altar
3.) The Bronze Laver (basin)
4.) The Table of Shewbread
5.) The Golden Lamp stand
6.) The Golden Altar
7.) The Ark of the Covenant

On Saturday at 10:00 and 14:00 there were workshops. On Saturday night there was a worship service and all were invited to come in the presence of the Lord and worship His name.

On Sunday morning people came and brought old manuscripts from ancient days (further details still to come).

Sunday night we had our church service ended with the messages about how the whole weekend for everyone was, anyone could stand up and share a story of them about what has happened. After that our high school girls (Hannah Palmer, Rachel Cairncross, Lara Palmer, Carys Parker and Michelle Marx) did a dance and we had a lot of fun.

It was a great weekend getting closer to God and learning more about Him.

Any Ideas?

We are starting to run out of ideas and not wanting to repeat anything to soon, we are asking you, our readers, for ideas for future articles. If you have any questions about the school, life on the ship,or any ideas for what we could do comment and let us know. We also would appreciate any feedback you have to offer us.

Did you get them all? Well, here are the answers!

What If?

What if elephants flew?
What if dream never came true?
What if there were no more tears?
What if life wasn't a slave to fears?
What if money came free?
What if our eyes were opened to see?
What if all leaders were respected?
What if love was perfected?
What if that baby was wanted?
What if looks were not flaunted?
Have you ever stopped to ask yourself-
What if?

Spot 7 Differences, answers will be coming soon!

Statistics

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When you visit this site please comment on this post with your first name and were you are from.

The Two Blondes and Two Brunetts!!

A long time ago-- actually precisely one week ago, there were two blondes and two brunettes who set out on an adventure. The brunettes were called Carys and Alisia, and the blondes were called Lara and Michelle. They were off to Banana Island, just the four of them, alone, by themselves, alone.

They hired a boat and a driver who took them to Banana Island. On their way there, a storm was in the brewing. The four girls sat in the bobbing boat applying lip-gloss and such girlish thing when the storm hit. It hit like a stone shattering through a delicate window. They were tossed and turned and churched and blown about everywhere. They had never been so wet in all their lives, the phrase “drowned rats” could not even describe their soaked appearance. The foaming water had sunk deep into their skin, and they were all shivering violently.

Here is the next addition to the awesome comic series: The (mini) Adventures of Furry Fury and Pon Pon! ...I regret to inform you all that the amazing Linde is no longer living here on the ship. She has moved to Norway and so from now on I will be creating the comics by myself. (Much to my dismay) But despite my own sad feelings The Adventures of Furry Fury and Pon Pon MUST LIVE ON!!

Soul Surfer

AnnaSophia Robb portrayed a courageous 13-year-old girl named Bethany Hamilton in the 2011 movie Soul Surfer.
On October 31, 2003 a 14 foot (4.3m) Tiger Shark bit off her arm just under the shoulder. In the movie AnnaSophia showed how calm Bethany probably was when the incident actually happened. That same day Bethany's dad was supposed to have a knee sugary, but was interrupted with a nurse saying that a girl had been in a shark attack. Upon hearing this Bethany's dad started to freak out thinking it was his daughter. When he found out that the girl who was in the attack was Bethany he wanted to see her right away.

Bethany lost 60% of her blood that day. It was a miracle that she survived. Shortly after the attack Bethany wanted to get back into the water as soon as she could.
Bethany started to work hard to get back into shape to compete again. She had to make her right arm stronger to make up for the loss of her left arm, so she started to do one handed chin ups and push ups. She started with some help but as her arm got stronger she started doing them by herself. Her dad even made her a special surf board that enabled her to duck dive under a wave without loosing her board.

The way the directors made this movie was amazing, especially the shark attack. The effects that they used on AnnaSophia's arm to make it appear not there like Bethany's was amazing. This movie was really well done. I enjoyed watching it. If you want to know more about Bethany go onto bethanyhamilton.com to find out more about this courageous person.

The following list has all the awards that Bethany had won from her website http://bethanyhamilton.com

AWARDS/HONORS

• Belief.net “Most inspiring Person of the Year” award – Finalist (2003)
• First Pitch Honoree for both the Oakland A’s (2004) and the New York Yankees (2005)
• ESPY Award (by ESPN) – Comeback Athlete of the Year (July 2004)
• FOX Teen Choice Awards – Courage Award (2004)
• Wahine O Ke Kai (Woman of the Sea) Award at the SIMA Waterman’s Ball (2004)
• Gene Autry Award – Courage and Inspiration Values (2004)
• Mildred “Bob” Didrikson Zacharias Courage Award from the United States Sports Academy (USSA) (2005)
• USA Today – Free Spirit Award (2005)
• Honolulu Citizens Award (2005)
• Woman of the Year from Gorbachev (Germany) (2004)
• Olympic Torch Honoree – Hawaii’s First Ever Triathlon (2004)
• Honolulu Citizens Award (2005)
• Woman of the Year from King Fahd of Saudi Arabia (2006)

Images found on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_Hamilton and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Surfer_%28film%29

NEW UPDATE!

On 27th Feburary 2011 the Africa Mercy arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone. The plan is to have a 10 month field service.

On the 10th December 2011 the Africa Mercy plans to go to Ghana for a couple weeks for a rest and then off to Togo again for a 6 month service.

After 6 months in Togo, the ship shall head to Tenerife in the Canary Islands and then to Guinea.

This has been Lara Palmer giving you your update.

...The Story of Rebecca Noland...

One of the greatest advantages working with Mercy Ships is that you get to meet so many people from different countries with different backgrounds, experiences and witnesses. In this way, Mercy Ships are truly representing the 2000 year old model of Jesus Christ where all this experiences and talents are used to Glorify God in West Africa.

This is the story Rebecca Noland(26) known as Becca, born in California and grew up in Arizona. Her calling to Mercy Ships began in a “lady’s room.” while she attended university.

While being in university she heard about Mercy Ships but wasn’t ready to attend because it seemed so far away. A few years later her friend from church told her that she signed up for Mercy Ships, and Rebecca felt like God was calling her through that friend. On a day after church in the lady’s room there were three girls she didn’t know turned out they all have been in Africa and one of them already spent a year on Mercy Ships then she knew that was her final confirmation from God that she needed to go to Mercy Ships.

Her initial commitment was to join short term for 6 months, so she thought. That commitment turned out to be 18 months already.

Becca is planning on going home at the end of this outreach and she is prayerfully considering coming back in the Togo field service 2012.

She loves living on the ship because of the close community but it is very different from her life at home. The biggest difference she says, that she’s more independent at home and has more freedom in her schedule.

Having friends on the ship from different countries she says: "that is a great thing because you get to know their cultures learning new languages and get to try their special foods such as Belgian chocolate and South African milk tart." But there are also hard parts. Not always understanding each other when certain phrases have different meanings in your country and different cultures have different ways of doing things.

One of her greatest miracles while being on the ship she says: “It would be the miracle with God’s timing and protection over little Josephine, I was working as a charge nurse the night that her breathing tube got blocked and God brought me and another nurse who was specialized with those types of patients into the ICU at just the right time. All the things that took place with Josephine while she was here that night and also how we a specialist fly out from Kenya all that showed me how present God was in all of it and He still does miracles everyday.”

During our interview these words of her moved me: “When I was little I always wanted to become a vet, but the more I thought about it I realized I would rather work with people because they have souls. After I became a registered nurse (RN) I told people that it must have been my destiny because it is also my initials Rebecca Noland (RN).”

Interviewed by Michelle Marx

Africa Mercy Independant Film Festival 2011

Some of you might remember last May when we did an article on the Film Festival. Well, we had another Film Festival put on by Jay and Beau. There was a whole week of crew member running around the ship trying to get a film done. When the day of the festival came the whole crew got dressed up and attended this "premiere." This year there were ten different entries. They ranged from comedy to fights, to romance, to the remake of a book and even a selection of poetry. There were a number of prizes and no team went un-rewarded. Each team had to include the phrase "It's a Trap" and a bottle cap. Yes, the bottle cap from the old soda bottles.

Early Bird Registration

Enormous Madonna stickers.

Several Teams

Cutest Picture Award

Cool Certificate

Journey to the Center of the Earth Elementary Girls

Most Original Content

Awesome Certificate

Original Poetic Vignettes – Tom

“Wild Card” – Most Imaginative. (First Prize)

Abstract Sierra Leone art pieces.

A Lizard’s Tale - Cairnecross Clan

Best Musical (First Prize)

Special selection of local Sierra Leone music. (5 CDs)

Bunny Chow Love – Allison, Selvanus, Carmen

Best Comedy (First Prize)

Collection of Local Sierra Leone Films.(5 DVDs)

Mastermind – Alex and Stuart

Best Drama (First Prize)

Loud Sierra Leone Drama Movie Posters (5)

Sal & Amor – Juan, Ville, Lycia, Marco, Federica

Best Visual Effects - Costumes, Special FX, etc. (First Prize)

'Oakley' and 'Nike' sunglasses. (5 pair)

The Man in the Apron – Josh

Celebrity Judge’s Choice (First Prize)

Signed photo of Dr Gary Parker. (5)

Under the Ship—Anna

AMIFF 2011 Best Film (Grand Prize)

Mamba restaurant meal! (5)
Trophy!!!

So You Think you Can Dance Africa Mercy—Murray, Jeff L, Jeff H, Rob, Christoph

Razzie Award (Last Prize)

A giant bag of rice.

Chicken Fight -
Beau and Jay

A ton of the crew got together for pictures afterwords to remember the day.














One of the people started a dance called the Virginia Reel so there was a lovely amount of people dancing in the middle of the cafe.




All in all we had a fun time. I can defiantly say that I can't wait for the next festival.

WE ARE BACK!!!

After a year of absence from this blog, we have decided to revive it. Much has changed in the past year. Many may remember Alanah John, Emma Chris, Kim Anna, Linde, Carys, Lara, and myself. Some of us have stayed others have left the ship to do other things.

Alanah left with her family in December of last year. She is now the wife to a professional body builder.

John has let his hair grow and became the first person to have an orange Afro. He is also working on creating a world famous band using a cat, a tractor, and a ball of string.

Emma became an astronaut and is currently traveling through space, she is millions of miles away from Earth. Sadly, we might live to see the return of the great explorer...

Chris has grown to be 6 foot 9.35612 inches. He is the youngest person to try out for the NBA and make it. I don't know when his first game will be, but I'll keep you posted.

Kim Anna is now studying to be a professional gymnast on ice skates. So far she has become very flexible, and has broken at least one bone in each limb. Somehow she can still skate and do gymnastics at the same time.

Linde has also left. She is now studying to be a major film director, editor, and singer. She will probably excel in this new career choice and make millions if not billions; while ridding the world of bad tasting sprinkles

Carys, Lara, and myself are still on the ship and we are having the time of our lives. We have managed to take over the ship, and now we are all supreme rulers of the Africa Mercy. The adults surprisingly agreed to this, on one condition... we must go to school.

We also have a new person to add to this paper staff. Her name is Michelle. She is a bright 16 year old girl who has a random love for skydiving and paintings about food.

We hope you will enjoy reading this blog again.

Disclaimer: All of these things are made up, so none of these things are true.