Together For the Cause of Christ

MMO Team with host Pastor Cherubin, Pastor Mike Ascher of Virginia, Evangelist Larry Brinker of Mississippi and Captain Buddy…heading out in the early morning to clinic

Dear Friends of Sea Hope

Annual Shipyard Maintenance
We have just completed a very busy spring and early summer.  February and early March was spent gathering parts and material for our annual haul out in Virgin Gorda, BVI.  This led to a very productive maintenance period where the hull was cleaned, inspected, and painted, and some important corrective maintenance was performed.  This boat yard is only 75 miles from Puerto Rico and it is really a blessing to have such a facility close at hand.

Survey Trip to Dominica
After we returned to Puerto Rico, Mary and I visited Dominica for a survey trip.  We have truly been blessed the past two summers with no major hurricanes in the Caribbean, but we all know eventually one will come.  Due to it’s location, Dominica seems to get hit the most often, and I want to be prepared to respond quickly when the need arises.  It was a fruitful trip and I believe a path has been set for us.

Stateside
Mary and I then went back to North Carolina, so she could speak at a Ladies’ Fellowship, and we were also able to visit two supporting churches and present the ministry at a new church.  Praise the Lord for a new supporting church in Cornerstone Baptist in Mooresboro, NC.

Medical Clinic and Relief Trip to Haiti
Coming back to Puerto Rico, we busied ourselves getting SEA HOPE ready for one of our most ambitious trips yet.    The trip centered around carrying a 9-person team from Medical Missions Outreach and 11 crew members, six of which were on their first trip aboard SEA HOPE.   In addition, we carried around 17,000 pounds of food, about 2000 pounds of hospital supplies and 250 folding chairs.  While in port, we also replaced about 20 missing boards on the pier.  The medical team saw 815 patients and 70 salvation decisions were made.  We just praise the Lord for those that met the Great Physician.   As the medical team prepared to depart the ship, MMO Missions Director Robbie Ellis stated that “we started as two different teams but ended up as one serving together for the cause of Christ.”  All I can say is Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.

Frank Olafson, Russell Scherlie, and Cole Burge working on replacing boards on the pier in Haiti

The finished product

Frank Olafson and Barney Hall, two veteran Sea Hope crew members with first time crew Orlando Cartagena and Russell Scherlie

The MMO Medical clinic in action

Clinics were in some remote areas…the team reported people just appeared out of the bushes…

The Aristides presented the gospel to folks in groups, and then approached everyone one on one…

The clinic team in action

Patient registration…

Patients waiting for medication

Dr Martin in action with a patient

Off load was an all hands evolution

The MMO team pitched in to help with the off load

Rice, beans, and medical supplies were on the aft deck

Chandler is a worship leader in his church. His wife is a nurse. They were a blessing to be around.

Sue LaFrance driving the manual way…she was actually quite good at it…

On the way back, we stopped for a short swim call…

The water was 90 degrees and quite enjoyable…

Larry Brinker is an evangelist who runs Redeeming The Time Ministries/The Brinker Family. He is also an experienced airplane pilot and it did not take him long to adjust to driving Sea Hope, although at a much slower speed than he is used to…

Orlando Cartagena is a deacon at his church in Caguas, PR. This was his first at sea experience and he was such a blessing….

These three ladies did a marvelous job of feeding the crew, the medical team, and sending lunches to the clinics…

Josefina Scott and Sue LaFrance made their first trip on Sea Hope…both of these ladies were just a joy and blessing to be around. They really took a lot of burden off of Mary…..

One marvelous crew

We also met missionaries Killick and Nehemie Aristide who are serving in Les Cayes, Haiti.  These native Haitians lived in the United States for many years and are US citizens, but as parents and grandparents, they returned to the native land to reach the lost.  Hopefully we will be able to continue to help them in the future.

The Aristides stayed with us on Sea Hope and did the evangelistic outreach during the clinics…

Marina Update
When we returned to our marina Safe Harbor Puerto Del Rey, we found out we have to leave by the end of July.  The marina has decided to stop allowing docking on the seawall where we have been the past 25 months.  As of this writing, we are not sure where we will move to, but are trusting the Lord to open a door for us.  Our desire would be to move to San Juan Harbor, but where He leads, we will follow.  Change is never easy, but we know He knows best.  Please pray He gives us a plain path.