Shipyard

3 May 2005
We remain in Mobile, Alabama (y’all) at Bender Shipyard where we boarded the ship in January, 2004 during dry dock. The ship's surveyor (a trained nautical engineer who inspects the ship and approves it or specifies repairs to be made) pointed out some areas that require work before he can sign off on our registration. This work centered on the cargo holds in February and March but now it deals with the deck of the dining room, pantry, Amazon Cafe, bookstore and crew lounge. This means dismantling the walls and flooring of these spaces and doing a bunch of cutting and welding. Bill has been kept busy tearing things up and putting them back together again, although the torn-up stage is lasting far longer than originally planned.
This, of course, has postponed (and possibly may end up canceling) the outreach to the Dominican Republic.

Mobile is a beautiful city—we love the Live Oak Trees that line many of the streets. We are attending the “Downtown Fellowship”, a church that began as a street ministry in the city. We are also blessed in that our car is here so we are not restricted to the use of the ship’s vehicles and are free to come and go as we wish.
Even with all the usual places around us—grocery stores, book stores, restaurants, theaters, it has been a trying time as it is hard to be still and serve by waiting. Our desire, of course is to be in outreach mode, serving those who have physical needs as well as spiritual needs, but God has seen fit to put our ship on hold for this season.

We have come to realize a few things during this time of service. We have been so focused on wanting to GO, that it has been frustrating us to STAY, to not know the “when” of it all, to not get to where we want to be in the world, to have plans change often, sometimes from moment to moment. The lessons we are learning are that it is not necessarily about the finished product or results, but it is all about the process by which you get there. It is about waiting on the Lord, even when you are anxious about getting on with it all. Then the realization comes—This IS the “getting on with it all.” To say this has been a character building experience is an understatement. It has not been an easy thing and remains a day-by-day challenge for us.

The good news is that when all the tearing up, putting back together, chipping, grinding, painting, and refurbishing is completed, this vessel will be ready to sail to the next outreach. We may not be on her when she goes, but we know that what we are doing in the preparation stages is truly missionary work and we are glad to be here at this time, for this season, for this “extreme makeover!” It is not only the ship that is being made functional, but we are personally being fashioned into vessels that are more like the Maker and that can be used for His honor and glory.

We ask for your prayers for continued favor with the immigration officials her in Mobile, for protection, safety and stamina for all those who are giving their time to be here on the ship. We ask for grace as we deal with all the dust and dirt. We ask you to pray for wisdom for our leadership as they make the difficult decisions that are ahead of us. We ask that you will pray for us to be content in the work the Lord has laid out for us to do and that as we wait upon Him for our future, He will clearly direct our path.

Our plans at this point in time are to complete our commitment with Mercy Ships the beginning of December then return home to Snohomish, Washington. That’s the plan, but if we look at this past year, we see that plans change all the time. We want to be available to what the Lord has in store for us. We are content in knowing that His plans for us give us hope and a future and are for our good. It is our joy to give Him all the praise and the glory!
Bless you all, dearest friends! Bill and Rebecca Long