Bienvenue au Sénégal!

 Greetings from Dakar, Senegal...

Bienvenue au Sénégal!  We arrived in Dakar, Senegal, last week after a four day sail from the Canary Islands.  It has been almost two years since we applied to serve with Mercy Ships, and it is hard to believe that it took this long to see the vision become a reality.

Acquiring our sea legs...

The sail was an incredible experience full of wildlife, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, lots of community fun, and many opportunities to test our sea legs.  We were blessed with mostly smooth sailing and arriving in Dakar was a surreal experience.  We have around 30 different nationalities on board; and the flags of those nationalities were waving as we pulled into port.  

Sunrise at sea is a sight I won't forget.

Worship on the bow.  So grateful to experience this again.

Dolphins, whales, and flying fish are some of the many wildlife we saw.

We were welcomed by many people as we sailed into Dakar.

The Country Engagement Team (CET) on the dock in
Dakar watching the Africa Mercy's arrival.  Some of these people watched it sail away
two years ago, not sure when it would return.

Caleb and his buddy watching as we docked in Dakar.

Representing our great country, the USA!

Fulfilling a promise...

In 2020, the ship was in Senegal doing a field service with over two thousand surgeries planned.  It was pulled away early due to COVID.  When the ship left, there were many patients who did not receive their scheduled surgeries.  Mercy Ships made a promise to return to Senegal, not knowing at that time it would be almost two years until that promise was fulfilled.

We were greeted in the port by the Country Engagement Team, which is a group of people who remained in Senegal during that time.  They kept in touch with the current patients, they helped screen new patients, and they paved the way for the ship to return.

The Africa Mercy docked in our new home for the next 10 months.

Bringing hope...

The first patients will begin arriving at our off-ship quarantine site this week, with anticipated surgeries starting the last week of February.  The off-ship quarantine site is affectionately known as The HOPE Center, which stands for Hospital Outpatient Extension Center.  Jeff was able to get a tour of the facility as he will be in charge of making sure it is supplied with everything they need to care for patients, family members, volunteers, and day crew.  Click here for a great article with more information about The Hope Center.

The HOPE (Hospital Outpatient Extension) Center

Hope Center

The children in the Academy made signs for The Hope Center. 
"Welcome" in English, French, and the local language, Wolof.

We are so grateful to be a part of the crew that is fulfilling that promise made two years ago to the Senegalese.  I look forward to sharing their stories here as we learn more about these incredible patients who will receive hope and healing.

Prayer Requests...

Patients:

-- Pray they remain COVID free and have safe travels to the ship (some of them have to travel for days to get here).

--Pray for successful surgeries and that they can see the love of Jesus through our words and actions.

Crew:

--Pray that COVID stays off the ship.

--Pray for safety as we explore this incredible country.

--Pray that we can share the love of Jesus in our words and deeds to those on and off the ship.

Support us...

Did you know we have a physical address in the US where you can send us mail and it will get sent over to the ship?  We'd love to hear from you!

The Scace Family - AFM

PO Box 2020

Lindale, TX  75771

As always, if you’d like to support our mission financially, please use the donation link below to make a tax free donation.  

DONATE HERE

Interesting sights in Dakar.

Caleb taking it all in from his perch on Daddy's shoulders.