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future plans
saturday, 16th may, 2009 |
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When we returned to Mercy Ships in 2008 we came back for a 2 year commitment. This will end at the end of this year so it's time to start thinking about future plans. Mercy Ships has become our home and we really feel that this is where God wants us for the moment. Drew is really enjoying the Deck department and in his job as assistant bosun he has been able to have some more responsibility within Deck. He has been really encouraged by the other officers to continue his Maritime education and look to becoming a Deck officer.
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Thus we have decided to come home in December for Drew to go to Maritime school in January to train to be an officer. He would do his training in Newcastle at South Shields Maritime Academy. The training takes 6 months, at the end of which are some pretty nasty exams. If all goes well we would take the summer to have some rest before heading back to the ship in October/November time for another 2 year commitment.
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So, that's our thoughts at the moment. We would really appreciate your prayers for this as much revolves around paperwork that Drew needs to get done this year. At the moment he has sent off his training book to the Mercy Ships office in the IOC for them to get his Deck Rating certificate from Malta, which is the flag-state of the ship. Once this is obtained he will need send this, and all his other certificates, to the UK's Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to get his Able Seaman's licence. And then once he has this and enough sea-time he reapply to the MCA for eligibility to undergo "Officer of the Watch" (OOW) training. Once he deemed eligible he can apply to South Shields to get on the course. So a lot of paperwork is ahead!
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Drew is also hoping to go to Operation Mobilisation (OM) for a bit of sea-time. In Mercy Ships we don't really move round a lot and this isn't great if you are a sailor! For his application for OOW he needs to show he has done 6 months "actively involved in Bridge duties" within the last 12 months . To help with this he is hoping to serve on the new OM ship when they sail from London to Ireland to the Grenadines. This would be from June to August - a time when the deck department are really low in staff - which may present a problem in Drew getting time off. He also needs to be accepted for OM who usually only take people for 2 years. Please pray that Drew would be accepted for the ship with no problems!
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While Drew is off sailing, Laura is going to be having a little holiday at home for 6 weeks. Drew will join Laura for the last week before we both head back to the ship to finish off our year here. We certainly need a rest but are really looking forward to catching up with people while we are home.
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So those are the plans at the moment, some more tentative than others. We will keep you up to date with where things are.
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