Annual Activities Report: 2003        En Español

PORT MERCY   1019 North First Avenue, Lake Charles, LA  70601  E-mail: info@friendships.org

It is awesome to have you standing with us as we grow.  Together, we can take great ground for the Kingdom of God!

November, "Spirit of Grace" departed for Israel. After 23 months in the making, the ship sailed with a wonderful crew of 37 people and 2,000 tons of fantastic goods to be distributed to needy families.  Here is a partial list of goods that were transported for the mission to Israel: Corn, Beans, Wheat, Dried Fruit, Crackers, Pasta, Dried Potatoes, Baby Food, Soup Mix, Tomato Products, Dry Milk, Water Purifiers, Gauze, Baby Incubators, Reading Glasses, Crutches, Disposable Gloves, Dental Equipment, New and Used Clothing, Bullet Proof Glass, Industrial Glass, Vinyl Coated Fabric (Industrial Tarp Material), Paint, Doors, Toys, School Supplies, Blankets, Dishes, Mattresses, Linens, Paper Products, Shampoo, Soap, Toothbrushes and hundreds of other needed items.   Supplies are being utilized to assist recent immigrants to Israel and help other families and individuals in need.  Many children are without their daily essential provisions.  Because of continual terrorism in Israel, the tourism indusry is severely depressed.  This effect brings a domino effect on many other industries in the nation and has created a temporary, but critical, situation with the Israeli economy.  It is a huge blessing to be able to help a friend in need!

Christmas Eve 2003 after 54 days at sea, the great ship "Spirit of Grace" and her mighty crew arrived in Israel and docked in the port of Ashdod. In spite of many major obstacles that had to be overcome, the people of Israel opened their hearts and the great nation of Israel opened her gates to our mission. Although the government had no law in place which allowed them to waive customs and port fees for such a gift of love, their head offices committed to finding a way to receive the supplies without our organization having to pay customs or any other fees. God made a way where there was no way and broke through bars of iron! Thanks to the Prime Minister's office and the Ministries of Finance, Transportation, Tourism, Welfare and Defense, that way was established. The "Spirit of Grace" arrived as the guest of the government. The officials of the Port of Ashdod hosted us with overwhelming love. On Christmas day, we were served a scrumptious dinner by the port and honored for what we were doing for the nation. They sent us gifts of fresh Israeli produce, filled our tanks with fresh Israeli water, hired a tour bus to take us to the historic city of Joffa and even gave us a festive New Years Eve Party aboard ship. Our first class custom and ship's agents worked without charge and took care of every need. Also, provided without charge for the "Spirit of Grace" were Tugboats, pilots, moorage, warehousing and stevedores to offload the ship so our crew did not have to do this work. We discharged our precious supplies, which are being distributed to people in need throughout the nation. Our wonderful crew, who have invested two years of their lives into this mission, had very special private tours of many of the historic sites of Israel. "Israel Relief Fund" and "The Joseph Project", two organizations with whom we joint-ventured on this mission, treated the crew to these tours and our great guide made them extraordinary.

We will have more follow up information on the actual distribution of goods in the months to come as delivery is completed.

When work in Israel was done, "Spirit of Grace" sailed from the Port of Ashdod to Kalamata in Greece, where they stayed for a week of rest and relaxation before embarking on the 30 day sail home.  A long, hard but rewarding mission complete!

June of 2003, we made our move from the Port of Galveston to PORT MERCY in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  This is the home we have been hoping for since Friend Ships acquired our first ship in 1985.  17 acres and lots of waterfront make this a dream come true.  This sets the foundation for building a real mercy outreach throughout the world.  We have begun to load and send boxcars of equipment and supplies from our many storage facilities in California and move them to Port Mercy.  Rail access  through the property allows these to be delivered right to our door!

At Friend Ships "Village" in Roatán, we created our first art prototypes and test marketed items we intend to teach at our single Mom's Art School.  These crafts will be created and sold to the island's many tourists. Items include gourd "art", luffas, key chains, refrigerator magnets and jewelry.  Test marketing has gone better than expected and we are anxious to start the program in full-swing.  In addition, our crew was trained in Fire Fighting and the team is now the official Volunteer Fire Fighting Department for our area of the island. We've conducted regular ministry to schools and hospitals, distributed supplies, sponsored a basketball clinic and hosted a ladies seminar. Friend Ships medical and dental teams treated hundreds of patients on the island, hundreds more on the mainland and distributed hundreds of pairs of reading glasses.  

This hurricane season Disaster Response Ship "Hope" and helicopter "Angel of Hope" stood ready to sail in the event that a major hurricane damaged Central America or the Caribbean. Fortunately, this season our services were not needed.

"Storehouse One" in Los Angeles continued the local food outreach: collecting and distributing more than  2 million pounds of food in 2003.  In addition, crew collected and shipped hundreds of tons of supplies to Port Mercy for Friend Ships international missions.

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2004

SHIPS: Our goals for 2004 include a second relief mission to Israel with "Spirit of Grace". We plan to take "Hope" on a medical outreach and leadership training mission to Honduras in the spring or early summer.  Also, a special guest speaker in Roatán for Friend Ships sometime this year will be the Christian boxer Evander Holyfield, the only four-time Heavyweight Champion of the World in history!

PORT MERCY: We have many long-range plans for developing and improving the facilities at our new home base.  We are currently working on the development of tent and tarp fabrication for disaster relief.

ROATAN:  We intend to prepare the harbor to berth our ships right alongside "The Village" at Roatán.  Early this year we will be hosting a four month fire training camp where young men and woman will be trained as volunteer fire fighters.  They will also receive instruction on public health, prevention of drug abuse, crime prevention and be ministered to spiritually by church leaders and Friend Ships guest speakers.  This is a combined effort of the Honduran Fire Department, the Secretary of Public Health, the Honduran Institute for the Prevention of Substance Abuse, the local Bay Islands Church Community and Friend Ships International.  In addition, we hope to run the "Friend Ships Art Academy" in full operation, providing training and aid to many single mothers and their children.

LOS ANGELES: We plan to continue food distribution through local ministries, as well as collect supplies for Friend Ships international missions.

Previous Annual Activities Report 2002

Previous Annual Activities Report 2001

Updated June 2004