Here we go!

Yes it is true I have been able to get on this thing again and will try to enlighten you over whats been happening in the last 4 weeks or so.

OK as you are reading this I am in the Carribean (sp?) island of St.Vincent and the Grenadines-oh yes! Today I went to some waterfall which was pretty sweet and then visited the place were the film "Pirates of the Carribean" was actually filmed-lovely place didn't bump into Kiera Knightley though unfortunatly... So been here only 2 days and in 2 weeks I will be flying home-so you need not cry anymore!

The 2 weeks in Cork really flew by it was very enjoyable and encouraging at times but also very discouraging and boring at other times. At work I have bonded very well with most of my shift so it is great banter when I am working which is a real blessing because some days it is very hard to get out of bed at half 5 or to watch others go to play football knowing I have work to go to! My cabin also is still great entertainment with the 3 guys-pretty much every day is a new adventure with them and usually has some sort of comical outcome! Arran nearly got thrown off the ship because instead of going to work 1 day he went to a spa with his girlfriend and just left a note explaining himself-it was very very funny! Ministry wise I have had some really encouraging experiences in Cork- 1 involved me meeting this guy in the cafe onboard and chatting for a long time about his life and struggles, which ended with me eventually praying for him and encouraging him to look to Jesus- so I hope and pray for the best in that outcome. The other event was sharing my testimony with some youth guys in this youth-cafe-drop-in-centre-place. I hadn't planned to say it but after a time of other people in the ship team saying their own 1 of the youth turned to me and asked what my story was. So I was shocked but am also really happy he asked me-so again I hope and pray that some of the guys were impacted. Another cracking story from Cork is that I was asked out of the blue to act in a kids event as a pirate so after agreeing on the day of the drama I was standing there in my pirate gear and some woman tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to find Kyla and Tim (a legendary Canadian couple who served on the same mission team as me to Romania last summer and who I thought I'd never see again!) staring at me! It actually took me about 2 days to get over the shock (and slight embarrassment) but it was so amazing to be able to meet and speak with them again. They were on another mission trip in Ireland with OM so were getting trained on the ship for the few days before it, what are the chances! Finally in Cork played in the football tournament between all the ship people and the groups (called PST's) they came to the ship in (I was in the "leftover" team as I don't have a PST) which was great fun. We eventually got to the final which I am very proud of however lost which was disapointing. I got "male player of the tournament" though so I am honoured.

After Cork came a 12 day sail across the Atlantic which I was really dreading after the vomiting exploits of the last voyage but I "found my sea legs quickly" as us experienced sailors say so it turned out to be an amazing time. We were extremely blessed with calm seas pretty much all days so the journey was such a cool time. It sucked a bit that we couldn't go out to land or anything but stuff like sunbathing, working and having general bant kept me away from contracting cabin-fever. Also the stars at night were unlike anything I have seen without all that light pollution blocking it. We also saw dolphins-braaaap.

OK I've said a lot so you can digest that until my next entry.... But please continue to pray-especially for energy in the warm conditions and to adapt to this new culture and make connections with the people I meet.

Finally hope all is going well and tell me if any big transfers have happened- Adebyor to Man. City? Crouch to Spurs? Eh?!

Yeah so bye for now!