Final Mercy Ships Update: August 2013

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.

Candace and Murray are now back in Cape Town after five months with Mercy Vision in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. We are preparing to board another ship early next month! But this time it is not the Africa Mercy... Along with Murray's parents, we are boarding South Africa's polar research vessel, S.A. Agulhas II, and are sailing to the island of Tristan Da Cunha, the most remote inhabited island in the world. As we have mentioned in previous newsletters, we are following in Murray's grandfather's footsteps - he was the first person to accurately map the island in 1937. Even in this age of satellite technology, Grandad's map is still one of the most accurate ever done of the island!
 
It will also be special since Murray's grandfather, Allan Bryant Crawford, wrote many books on Tristan Da Cunha and supported Mercy Ships throughout his latter years. He dedicated his final book, Memoirs - North, South, East & West, published in 2006, to Mercy Ships. The following is an excerpt from the dedication page:

It is for me a great pleasure and privilege as an ex-naval reserve officer and maritime meteorologist to dedicate these memoirs to my favourite charity, Mercy Ships. On hearing of this idea, Mrs Judy Polkinhorn, Executive Director of Mercy Ships [UK], expressed her wholehearted support.

We will be away until October 10th, and will then re-evaluate our plans for the future. Candace will most likely return to Indiana in time for Thanksgiving, and Murray is still hoping to be in America by then, but if not then, then hopefully Christmas. It seems that the visa process has unfortunately stalled at the moment. That being said, we have a number of prayer requests and answers to prayer to share:
 

• We are still waiting to hear from the USCIS regarding our application. We are hoping to hear that we have moved on to the next step by the time we return to South Africa in October.

• Murray has both his unabridged birth certificate and police clearance certificate. This is a huge answer to prayer! We now have all our papers in order for when we are given the go-ahead for Round Two of the visa process.

• We will not be extending Candace's relative's permit. It will expire while we are out of country at Tristan, and so her passport should be stamped back into the country on a normal 90 day visitor's permit.

• We are very excited to have the opportunity to visit Tristan!

 
Thanks again for your continued love, prayer, and support! We will continue to send monthly newsletters so please stay posted for more of our adventures! We appreciate all of you.

Love and God bless, Murray and Candace

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