Dear all our lovely supporters,
This is just to give a quick update on our plans for the next few weeks. We still have heard no word on our visa process, which continues to teach us patience and trust. In the meantime though, while we wait, we have decided that while Candace has a job as a nurse in Indiana, I'll be heading back to the ship to help out in their Reception/Purser team. I've been having a number of dreams about Mercy Ships and have found myself missing the ship quite a lot lately. It would also be good to be kept busy with a distraction while Candace and I continue to be in separate countries.
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Dear All,
The months have flown by and we are already into the month of December, would you believe it?! Candace and I enjoyed our last few days in Cape Town before she had to leave to head back to Indiana. Her visa for South Africa expired on November 7th, and our paperwork hadn't come through for me from America, and so we find ourselves indefinitely separated by paperwork and an ocean, for the first time in our married life. It was a difficult farewell at the airport with many tears shed on both sides. It has been a difficult last month for both of us as we miss each other so much. Please pray that God would use this time to grow us closer together in Him - may we also learn to rely more on His strength than on our own. Hi All,
Well, since we last wrote Candace and Murray are back safely in Cape Town after an amazing time on Tristan da Cunha. We were able to visit one of the outlying islands, Nightingale Island, and see Atlantic yellow-nosed albatrosses sitting on their nests! We also saw a colony of Rockhopper penguins and seals too. We didn't get to climb to the peak of Tristan though - but I guess we have to leave something for another visit! Dear All,
Thanks so much for your continued support to us as we have served on the mission field with Mercy Ships in West Africa and at Zithulele. It goes without saying that we could not have served in these places without your prayer and financial support, and for this we are very thankful. God has been so faithful and we feel very blessed! We attach a photo taken on our last day with the Mercy Vision team at Zithulele. Dear all our lovely supporters,
We trust that you are all well as winter makes its appearance in the Southern Hemisphere and the weather warms up north of the equator. :-) Candace and Murray are slowly settling into our life at Zithulele in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. We've had our fair share of challenges here, but there is a lovely community that are very inviting. In many ways, it reminds us of the ship. We go to church on Sunday evenings, play Ultimate Frisbee on Mondays and Wednesdays, and have started attending a great Bible Study on Thursdays. We've been invited for supper at people's homes, and today had a lovely pancake breakfast with the hospital superintendent and his family. We have felt so welcome and have loved sharing our story of our time with Mercy Ships in West Africa. It's actually made us quite homesick for our floating home! Greetings friends,
We trust that you are all well and had a blessed time over the Easter holidays. Since we last wrote, Candace and Murray had a lovely week showing Candace's parents and sister around Cape Town. We have also submitted round one of our US spousal visa application to the United States Citizen and Immigration Service. (U.S.C.I.S.) This is currently in the initial review stage. This process could take longer than two months to be accepted - so we're very much in a waiting stage at the moment. We have most of our paperwork ready for round two of the process, with the exception of Murray's unabridged birth certificate which we are still waiting for from the Department of Home Affairs in Pretoria. Murray has also applied for his police clearance certificate from the South African Police Service. This also needs to go through Pretoria and therefore may take two to three months to get back. It seems every important document has to go through Pretoria - which makes sense since Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa. Dear all our lovely friends and family,
Candace and Murray are now back in Cape Town for a few weeks, after being part of the Mercy Vision team in the Eastern Cape. We were there for three weeks and were involved with cleaning and setting up the eye surgical unit. Once the surgeries started, Murray was involved with transportation and administration, while Candace worked as a nurse in the pre-ops room, helping ensure patients were medically fit and ready for their surgeries. It was awesome to see over fifty people, who were once blind or partially-sighted, regain their sight! It was a privilege to be part of the team! The plan is for us to return to Zithulele in April to continue working alongside the eye team. Dear All,
It has been a frenetic start to the New Year, and Candace and I have had many adventures during our time in Cape Town - but I won't be focusing on those right now. Dear all our wonderful friends and family,
Well, it is almost the end of November and that means it is almost time for our departure from the Mercy Ship Africa Mercy. It's been a really busy month, as both of us have been training our replacements and passing over responsibilities. But the training process went incredibly smoothly for both of us, and we have had a few days to relax, pack, and sort out our thoughts ahead of our departure this coming Wednesday. Dear all our wonderful friends and family,
We have now reached the end of October and the Guinea Field Service is going well. Murray has had a busy last few weeks, with his supervisor being in the UK for a while. He has been the only one in the Purser's office - usually there are two - and has had an interesting, challenging time. Guinea has been quite challenging in terms of immigration and customs, and Murray has had to deal with many issues. There have also been three cancelled or postponed flights over the last week, which has meant a lot of work organising airport runs for both arrivals and departures. But throughout the time God has been good and everything has come together nicely over the last few weeks. |
Murray and Candace Crawford
Murray joined the Africa Mercy 3 years ago - first for one year and then for a longer term. This has enabled him to fulfill two of his desires - to make Jesus known to those in need and to be at sea on board ship. He loves servicing Christ. On 4 March 2012 he married Candace Miller whom he met on board and they will continue to serve the Lord together. Archives
December 2013
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