Ship Sailing Reports:  

January 2^nd 2007

Spirit of Grace is now back at Port Mercy.  It was exciting to see all the friends and fellow crewmembers from Port Mercy waiting to greet us at the dock.  It has been such a blessing to have been part of this mission and it is exciting for this new year and what God will do. 

January 1^st 2007

We are expected back at Port Mercy tomorrow! How exciting! We plan to be at the mouth of the river at 6 am and then it will just be a few more hours sailing up the river.  

December 29^th 2006

The ship and crew are still doing well.  It looks like the ship will arrive at Port Mercy on Tuesday the 2nd now!!

December 28^th 2006

News of the distribution of goods delivered by Spirit of Grace has started to come in.  The Israeli cities of Sderot, Kiryat Shmona and Ashdod have made arrangements with the Joseph Project to receive large quantities of tarpaulin rolls to use for the needs of their cities.  They will use the tarp for shade coverings at kindergartens, homes for the elderly and other institutions and/or to use as emergency temporary dwellings.  The network of JP distribution centers reports that they have given out tons of clothing - as much in one month as they normally have available all year!   Thank  you Lord!

December 27^th 2006

Which each passing day the crew is more excited about the return to the USA. It’s getting close! We are still eating well, and we still have Christmas turkey!

December 26^th 2006

Christmas Day was a great day. Most of the crew did something to help make the day even more special. Dinner was excellent with turkeys and all the fixings.  We also had a drama about the Good Shepard. We finished up with a white elephant gift giveaway which was lots of fun. 

December 25^th 2006

Merry Christmas! There was so much happening on Christmas Eve on the Spirit of Grace.  The crew had a fun fashion show with creative and outrageous outfits, followed by poetry readings at our coffee night.  It was a great time.  There is excitement in the air as we sail closer to the Caribbean Islands and then to Lake Charles, Louisiana.   

December 22^nd 2006

All is well and all crew are continuing their daily tasks.  What a great day, early this morning we were blessed to see a full rainbow over the ship.  Many crew came out to see this beautiful sight.  It is truly awesome to see the vast and beautiful ocean, everyday it is different and so beautiful.  We are reminded each day of how Great and wonderful our God is.

 

December 21st, 2006

The Captain reports that the sea is so calm it feels like the ship is hardly moving. What an answer to prayer! Projects onboard continue. Normal daily duties in each department continue. The crew is doing well.

December 20th, 2006 

The Captain reports the weather is glorious! We even spotted whales off our port side to the delight of many of the crew. We are getting more festive here and are decorating a one of a kind Christmas tree that crew have made from wooden pallets…..

December 19th, 2006 

The crew and ship are continuing to make good  progress.  And, the seas are calmer today!

 

December 18th, 2006 

We are now well settled back into our  sea schedules and we have been continuing our prayer times each evening. This week also saw the start of our Christmas movie season with the showing of "It's a Wonderful Life", which had quite a large turn out. Please keep us in your prayers as we have been through some swells. Although they are not large, they hit at just the right angle to make us roll and as the ship rolls so do our tummies, causing a number of the crew to be rather green. The seas are starting to calm down a little now.

 

December 15th, 2006 

The ship and crew are doing great. Last night pizza was served and it was a big hit with the crew. We have diverted from our course a bit in order to avoid a storm. Our crewmember who hurt her thumb and flew home from the Canary Islands is doing well and the doctor is expecting  a full recovery .  

Summary December 6th - 14th, 2006

Earlier this week, the Spirit of Grace came into dock in the Canary Islands in order to allow some crew to return home for various reasons and to replace them with others, and also to continue on with some other work. On the 11th , Spirit of Grace left port after crew members Dess and Joel Butler, Stan Langaker and David Condron joined the crew. They are all happy to be underway, headed for home, although it was a blessing to see some sites in the beautiful Canary Islands.  The sky is overcast and there have been swells causing some of the crew to turn a little green again!  At the current speed the ship should arrive back at Port Mercy on January 2nd.  The ship is running very well. The deck crew has been able to continue on with projects and are making good progress on them.

November 17th - 27th, 2006

It has been a week of big events. Thursday was Thanksgiving and the galley crew really outdid themselves. Others helped and were able to prepare some of their favorite dishes. The crew mess hall was decorated and it was a great time. We spent time giving thanks to God for the great things we have seen Him do amongst us.  Saturday Coffee Night was a great time of fellowship and enjoying some yummy fruit smoothies and coffee and on Friday we gathered together to celebrate Shabbat.  We have seen the hand of God all around us. We ask that you remember us in your prayers as we continue our voyage back home, that we stay encouraged and built up in the Lord. 

November 16th, 2006  

Spirit of Grace is sailing for home, mission accomplished! Supplies are flowing throughout Israel, so many humanitarian groups having received goods to distribute to those in need.  It is a great satisfaction, knowing that we have done what God sent us to do. Thank you so very, very much to each one of you who sent us.  Our hands working together have accomplished an awesome and beautiful thing.

 

News while in Israel: The Associated Press article was posted previously and was picked up by hundreds (perhaps thousands) of newspapers and websites around the world.  If you would like to read the article, click here.  Also, Don Tipton, Friend Ships Executive Director composed a letter to our Jewish friends to explain the heart of this mission.  We had it printed in Hebrew in the local Ashdod, Israel newspaper.  If you would like to read it, click here.

     

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October 15^th -  October 28^th, 2006

We are continuing to work our way through the paperwork that needs to be completed for discharging of the ship's supplies.  Today we received one of the final permits and expect to start offloading within a few days. The Port of Ashdod has been very gracious to host us at the dock all these days even moving us to the Israeli Navy Base when the port was especially busy. The crew has been able to see the country, continue on various ship maintenance projects and visit with TV, newspaper and Internet reporters who are publicizing our efforts here in Israel.  The weather is beautiful and all is well. Thank you for your prayers

October 9^th -  October 15^th, 2006.

As the Spirit of Grace crew wait for the Israeli holidays to complete and final permission to discharge the supplies, we are greatly enjoying Israel.  We'll update the site again on Monday when government offices are back in action.

 

October 1^st -  October 9^th, 2006.

Another great week.  The Spirit of Grace arrived in Israel and was at anchor for one night!! We awaited permission to come into port. The port is very busy now and short staffed because this week is a series of very special holidays.  After being told there was no way we could come into dock, we received a call mid-morning that we would be to the dock by 2:30 pm.  The ship was brought into a comfortable berth just before most Israeli's went home to celebrate the holidays.  We were quickly cleared through immigration and can now relax and prepare to offload.  While waiting a to discharge, the crew have an opportunity to visit Israel.  Thank you Lord!  The crew are very excited to be in this wonderful land!!!

 

The Ship in Israel...	Land!!!!	Crew meeting after arriving at Port.

 

September 24^th – October 1^st, 2006.

It has been a great week on the Spirit of Grace. We are now in the Mediterranean Sea and moving along nicely. The big praise report is that we were able to pick up our water- maker parts and now we are back to making our own fresh water for all of our needs. This had been arranged by the staff at Port Mercy in Lake Charles. To take possession of the parts, we had to meet a small shore boat at the Rock of Gibraltar. It was great to see land again!  We were able to have our morning devotional meeting outside on the quarterdeck as we were passing by “The Rock”.  Of course, to celebrate that night, we just had to watch "Casablanca" for movie night. The seas have been very smooth with some days almost like glass, which is a big praise for some more than others!! Our coffee night went well this Saturday with some yummy smoothies, although we still haven't quite got the texture quite right yet. This was accompanied by live praise and worship music on the quarterdeck which made for an extra special evening. This week we also fitted in a talent show. The galley crew has continued to make us some great meals. The domestic department ladies have been looking after us all, and have been able to paint some of the passageways in the house. Engineering has been going well and the team was very happy to see the water-maker parts which they put to good use immediately.  The deck gang has been keeping busy painting the outside of the house. The bridge team has been doing great  especially in the heavier traffic that we had going through the straights  and also here in the Mediterranean. Preparations continue to be made for our in-port schedules. All the paper work for arrival in Israel is being worked on.  We’ll soon be there. Excitement is mounting!

 

September 17^th – 24^th 2006.

We are now well over the half-way point to Israel. This week the ship has been rolling a lot as the swells are coming in from just the right direction to cause this. The galley crew continues to cook great meals, although sometimes it needs to be fairly simple food, because the ship is rolling too much to do much on the stove top. The crew is taking each new challenge in stride. Bible studies and devotional meetings continue, as do movie nights and coffee nights. One coffee night, fruit smoothies were also on the menu. Although they had been in the freezer a little long and had become more like sorbets, it was a great night. We watched the movie "Fiddler on the Roof" this week and we had a fun time watching it and singing to it. The girls were able to have a guy-free movie night and I think they enjoyed not having our running commentary during "Anne of Green Gables"!  The engineering team is keeping us going while the bridge team keeps us on track.  Things are going well and we are still enjoying just being at sea.

September 10^th – 17^th 2006.

The Spirit of Grace has now been at sea two full weeks! It has been an exciting week. Once again the ship has had to watch out for the effects of Hurricanes Helene and Gordon. The crew is holding up well, even with some large seas from time to time. With the rolling of the ship there has been some seasickness amongst the crew but most now have discovered their sea legs. They also found out what had not been tied down well enough in their cabins and work areas! The galley crew continues to make wonderful meals.  The housekeepers have been busy keeping the ship clean and tidy as well as managing some painting projects in the house. The engineers have  been keeping the ship running, and moving towards the destination. They have been working on learning as much as they can about the ship’s systems. The deck department has been working on the decks, removing the rust