PORT MERCY, Lake Charles

This month we would like to share with you a brief look at each major aspect of the work the Lord is doing here at Friend Ships as this is a time of exciting growth and opportunity. But first, here is an update on this month’s activities.

The work on the Eye Surgery Truck and 22 Mobile Medical Super Clinics is progressing very well.  Doors, windows and air conditioners are being installed. The Eye Truck is receiving a whole new interior and the clinics are getting exterior paint.

We sent a team to Los Angeles to pick up three truck loads of equipment including boats, trailers, trucks, a cement mixer, an air compressor, a man-lift and a scissor-lift.

We received a wonderful donation of 75,000 diabetic test strips that work with 5000 diabetic testing machines that were previously donated. We also received many other items including tarp, ceramic tile, and a search light for Spirit of Grace.

The facility in Roatán, Honduras continues to host church conferences each weekend and is seeing many positive changes all over the island because of them.  Soon, ten percent of the entire population of Roatán (75,000 people) will have attended a weekend seminar.

We continue to prepare for the upcoming hurricane season and our planned fall medical missions with Smile of a Child to St.Kitts/Nevis, Haiti and Honduras.  In addition, we have invitations to send medical teams to New Orleans, the Islamic nation of Mauritania and to take a ship to Australia to base and provide aid to Asia.  We are praying and considering each of these new opportunities.

As promised, here is an overview of all we are currently doing. It is only the Lord that could accomplish even one of these programs.

DISASTER RELIEF

The ships Hope and Mersea, and our Bell Jet helicopter are ready to respond to people in times of natural disaster with spiritual support, food service, commodity distribution, roofing repair, chain saw service, medical aid and emergency radio broadcasting.  To date, we have provided response to Hurricanes Andrew, Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma here in the U.S. and Mitch in Central America.

STOREHOUSE ONE

Based in Los Angeles, Storehouse One is a food program that has collected and distributed 56 million pounds of food to people living in the U.S. through local churches. Storehouse One continues to distribute food every week.  A smaller version of this program operates from Port Mercy, providing food to local Christian ministries.

MEDICAL MISSIONS

When the ships have not been utilized in disaster relief, Friend Ships has conducted several medical missions to locations in Honduras and in Haiti. Once on site, a ship serves as a base to house crew and medical staff. As well as providing medical care, the staff provides ministry, children’s activities and food service, all completely free of charge. This year we will be working together with Smile of a Child, under the direction of TBN’s co-founder Jan Crouch, to conduct medical missions in St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti and two locations in Honduras. We are fabricating an eye surgery truck to be added to our available equipment and Smile of a Child has sponsored several Super Clinics to be placed permanently at TBN facilities in impoverished nations to be used by medical mission teams. We plan to transport these mobile Super Clinics aboard ship.

FRIEND SHIPS VILLAGE, Roatán

Strategically placed just off the coast of Honduras in Central America, this Friend Ships base houses a large conference center that is currently being utilized by local churches to host weekly discipleship seminars with amazing fruit being produced!  Past activities there include medical missions, trade school training, shelter assistance and disaster relief.  We are planning to work in coordination with Central American ministries to establish a mission based Bible School that will work alongside Friend Ships to provide disaster relief services when needed within Central America and the Caribbean.

ISRAEL

We have run two missions with Spirit of Grace to Israel, the last trip bringing relief in 2006 after the war with Lebanon. Friend Ships has just been incorporated in Israel as a nonprofit entity and we are exploring our next activity there.  We are considering the development of a lip and cleft palette clinic in a refugee center in Jericho and ongoing humanitarian aid missions for the benefit of Jewish immigrants and Arab families in need.

HAITI

Friend Ships is working to assist Smile of a Child to establish a permanent well-equipped hospital to help the children of Haiti. We have run missions there in 1994, 2005 and 2006 and medical missions in 2005 and 2006.  A medical mission is planned for later this year.