Sunday, December 16, 2012

St. Lucia

Every year for some time now, our Scandinavian crew members have shared the St. Lucia story with us. Interestingly, she was a martyr from Spain, yet is celebrated with light in Sweden! (You may note some of our teachers volunteering to help out, particularly the bride of the next day, along with a several of our students… including the elves bringing Swedish pastry breads!) Normally, we cannot light any kind of fire or candle on ship, but for this event the captain and fire panel watchers make an exception, and we all love it!

This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.
  ­­ 

Christmas Cookie Bake

Every year we turn our dining room into a giant Christmas cookie bake. Everyone who wants to participate gets a lump of dough, and we all share cookie cutters. The results are delightful! Here are a mom and daughter, the Captain and his son, and some of our fun-loving singles.

This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.
  ­­ 

White Elephant Christmas

Of course, it would not be Christmas onboard if we did not have the usual White Elephant gift exchange (used and often hilarious items). We live in small spaces, and have limited access to new items, so this is our idea of fun.

This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.
  ­­ 

Shipmates and Weddings

Some have referred to the Anastasis (our previous ship) and the Africa Mercy (our current ship) as “the love boat.” Lots of couples meet here and end up getting married, and just yesterday (Dec. 15) we celebrated another multicultural wedding. The bride is one of my fellow teachers, an American, and the groom is a Nigerian who has served with our Reception and Galley. They will be settling in Nigeria next year, when their service on the ship ends.
Here you see the bride led into the church by the school principal and the kids who participated. Finally there is a photo of the bridal party coming in to the reception table. And here’s the groom and bride together!

This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.
  ­­ 

Classroom Christmas

Well, of course, we could not stop at the door. Soon Christmas was in the windows, on the walls, and even on the fish tank! We are celebrating the Lord’s coming. Hope you are, too!

This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.
  ­­ 

Christmas Door Decorating

One of the traditions on the ship is decorating the doors for Christmas. We actually have a competition. Here are my seventh and eighth grade kids doing ours… Believe it or not, it was Josie, the one from Ghana who has never lived with snow, who came up with all the fun snow ideas!

 


This message and any attachments may be privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure - Mercy Ships.

  ­­