We arrived in Dallas Texas and were immediately greeted by two friendly fellow Mercy Ships volunteers, followed by the potent 43-degree heat. Texas in the summer is hot, and we’ve had to slowly adjust to walking around the beautiful Mercy Ships International Support Center campus. Our accommodation is a cozy three-bedroom cottage located next to a pond near the rear of the property. The setting is peaceful and beautiful, but a fair walk from the parts of the campus where daily life happens. We’re all getting our daily steps in!














Dara immediately connected with another girl her age from California, and soon our families connected as well. Dara became part of a friends group that now includes more Americans and Dutch girls, often travelling and hanging out around the campus together. Sadly, not all of her new friends are headed to the Africa Mercy like us (some to the Global Mercy), but it’s good to see her finding a new social group that is on this journey with her.
Ivan and Cal also have a new friend, and they spend a lot of their daytime together around the campus. Ivan and Dan have enjoyed learning new tabletop games from another father, who will be our neighbour on the Africa Mercy, quickly becoming a Friday evening tradition. The first two weeks have been a mix of time in the pool, gym, and just hanging with new friends while the fathers have been in Basic Training.






Rachel has connected with many of the other mothers and other volunteers who attended basic training or had spouses in training. She’s looking forward to joining Orientation and learning more about Mercy Ships and the others around her. We’ve all enjoyed connecting with the global community here, enjoying interacting with other volunteers heading to the Global or Africa Mercy from the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, the UK, Ireland, and others. Every conversation is a wonderful blend of accents and world views.
Dan completed his basic training classes this past Friday. As required by international maritime regulations, long-term crew need to take basic marine courses to prepare them for life on a ship. This included first aid, crowd management, firefighting, personal survival skills, and security awareness. Each class included lectures and exams which required 70% or higher scores to pass. Many of the classes included practical exercises and timed drills. In the firefighter course, Dan had to demonstrate getting dressed in his gear in less than three minutes, donning a life jacket in less than 60 seconds, and getting into an immersion suit in less than two minutes.











One of the memorable moments from his training was wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus, full firefighting gear, and crawling into a shipping container where a pile of wood pallets were burning on the other side. We entered in pairs and learned how to direct the water hose to use minimal water when putting out fires in enclosed spaces. Other exercises included dragging a dummy from a smoky room, jumping from a 1m platform into the pool while wearing an immersion suit, getting in and out of a life raft, and righting a life raft that had capsized.







As we look ahead to our final two weeks in Texas, our family joins together for Mercy Ships Orientation. The kids will attend their orientation with 30 other kids from around the globe. Meanwhile, Rachel and Dan will take Mercy Ships onboarding classes of their own, learning about the mission, values, and purpose of the work Mercy Ships does. We’ll all learn about transition, ship life, and get tools that help make this life change a little easier.
Continue to play for safe travels and peace as we prepare for the long journey from Lindale to Madagascar, via Toronto and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We ask for prayers for favour as we travel, for bags to arrive, for smooth flights, and for God to continue to be faithful in preparing the path ahead of us. His faithfulness is so clear to us again and again as we step out on this journey together as a family. We are also grateful for your prayers and tangible support, which encourages us as we travel.
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