Saturday, October 1, 2016

Captain Ann Featured on YWAM Ships Kona Facebook Page



"I'm a Newbie. A youth in YWAM.”
Captain Ann Ford has been with YWAM since completing her DTS in 2014. She’ll be leading the School of Navigation and Seamanship (SONS) starting at the end of this week.
SONS teaches seamanship skills though sailing, navigation and how to be a watchstander. Students will learn everything they need to know to get their captain's license and they’ll get some sea time as well.
This will be Ann’s 3rd time leading this school.
At a young age, Ann was sailing by herself. She would, eventually, serve on the Coast Guard and spend a year sailing around the tropics. She has a 100 ton motor captain’s license.
Even though she can captain a motorized vessel, she prefers a sailing ship. “I love the freedom to move on the water with just the wind.”
Besides leading SONS, Ann switches between being on a ship and fleet support. Fleet support takes care of the needs of our 3 ships. They send crews, coordinate outreach teams and get them parts/supplies.
When asked if she could be doing anything she wanted, she replied: “I’m living it right now. Being able to sail and serve God at the same time.”

Pacific Link Outreach in Madang Complete

Madang Outreach Completed With Thousands Served The m/v PACIFIC LINK and its team of volunteers visited 94 villages throughout Bogia, Sumkar, Madang and Rai Coast districts over the course of eight months. More than 48,000 health care and training services were delivered by the YWAM Ships Kona vessel, valued at over 4.6 million Kina (or $1.45 million USD). YWAM Ships Kona director Brett Curtis said that the first voyage to Madang was transformational for so many people. “Thousands of lives have been impacted over the last eight months, including one family that had three blind from cataracts. Each of them regained their sight with a 40-minute operation dramatically improving the future for their entire family,” Curtis said. “It is easy to forget how much we rely on our vision until we meet someone who has lost it and the complexities it brings to the entire family. It was wonderful to witness their new lease on life and to hear how our crew befriended them explaining God had not forgotten them.” Curtis said none of these results would have been possible without people sacrificing their resources and time for the people of Papua New Guinea — both locals and those traveling long distances to participate in the work. “We are very grateful for the volunteers who joined us from around the world, our generous donors and Madang provincial health officials for partnering with us in making this voyage such a success,” Curtis said. Other field activities delivered include over 5803 immunizations, 1294 dentistry procedures and public health teaching delivered to 5,293 people.  Madang Province director of health Markus Kachau said that the collaboration with YWAM Ships has strengthened health care delivery in Madang. “Our partnership with YWAM has been a great support in helping to achieve the objectives outlined in our health plan,” Kachau said.

Final week and receptions on Board the Pacific Link.

Medical ship in the news.



Women's prayer ministry blessed the ship.



Provincial health officials.



Appreciation from the chief engineer.


Engineers at the Maritime College.


Reception with all of the different groups that worked at the port and helped us. They were so excited to see the out reach video and know how much they had helped serve their people by supporting us at the port.



Robbert was a great help to me as the purser on the ship. During the receptions he shared about observing cataract surgeries and talking to people who could see for the first time in years.

Pacific Link weeks 2 and 3

Papa Louis and Mama Sue served on the ship for the entire eight months the ship was in Madang.



Hard-working local crew on board.



Crew receiving their SOLAS certificates.



Captain Iain Kerr giving a tour of the bridge.



National Day of prayer and repentance.



Meeting with Provincial Health and Hospital officials in Madang.




Dr. Atua

Week 1 on M/V Pacific Link in Madang PNG

We ate well



Shopping by dinghy

STCW SOLAS training at PNG Maritime College in Madang. Two of our crew are in there.

Whale photos from Airley Beach by Andre


Thursday, August 4, 2016

Airlie Beach And Whitsunday Islands

I spent time with Hal and Cathy Strong on their yacht Amanda.


YWAM Newcastle

Out and about with Mike and Karen Thorpe in Newcastle.

S/V Ruach



 Shakedown cruise in Germany
 Jesse was my student last year in the School of Navigation and Seamanship. now he is the ships Manager on the Ruach.


I spent the last few days in Newcastle Australia helping YWAM leaders to set up Fleet Support for their new vessel the Ruach (means Spirit in Hebrew)

Update from Australia





Dear  Friends

I want to thank you for your prayers and support.  My time in Australia has been very fruitful.

Here is a summary of the Ship Equipped Ministry conference from our YWAM Ships Kona Director, Brett Curtis:

“We discussed issues of communication, crisis management, interfacing with Government and developing marine training to better meet future regulations, as well as having various Fleet Support offices helping new ministries come online with things such as insurance and technical assistance. We learned that we now have 24 vessels in our fleet. Our fleet is growing in both size and influence and we all agreed upon the need to develop very intentionally as we move forward. We heard the first day from Loren and Darlene Cunningham, the Founders of YWAM, as they recounted the early days of pioneering with difficult lessons learned: Listen very carefully to God, keep Jesus central, don't quit, and grow in strength together - referencing the UofN and Ships' twin vision.

In typical YWAM style vessels of all shapes and sizes are being used depending on the local need.

Lessons being learned in the PNG theatre are proving instructional for other locations. God is giving us a training ground to engage in a nation together as twins. “

I was able to meet with leaders who also have Maritime training as their Primary focus and we are moving forward as a team. 

From Townsville, I rode with new friends, Hal and Cathy, to Airlie Beach and  encouraged their vision to use their 50 foot Ketch in Missions in Melanesia. I stayed at the YWAM Whitsunday Base and was excited to see how God is growing his network of mariners.

A short stop in Brisbane allowed me to get my visa for Papua New Guinea (PNG) and make more friends at YWAM Brisbane. 

I was picked up at the Newcastle airport by Mike and Karen Thorpe with their speed boat in tow.  After a delicious lunch of fish and chips on the beach, they launched the boat and gave me a grand tour of Port Stephens.  The sights, sounds and the smell of outboard motor exhaust brought back so many memories of of my childhood, cruising in the San Juan Islands in Washington State with my family. 
My first three days in Newcastle were Rest and Recreation while seeing many sights in the area.  Then we had two days of very productive meetings with the “Ships” staff at YWAM Newcastle.  I shared my experience in Ship Equipped Ministry and Fleet Support and they created a structure that will help them move forward with their new ship the S/V Ruach (Ruach means Spirit in Hebrew).

Tomorrow I fly to PNG.  Please pray for my health and safety as I serve as Ship Manager onboard the M/V Pacific Link for a month.  I will be updating my blog where you can also find information on how you can partner with me in reaching the isolated with the Love of God.

Blessings,

Captain Ann





Thursday, June 23, 2016

Captain Ann goes to Papua New Guinea





Sailing from Oahu to Kona on a 44 foot sloop last month, God showed me how far he has brought me. Crawling on the foredeck to rig the storm jib in 30 knot winds and steering through 12 foot waves in the Alenuihaha Channel, I felt home again. My amazing crew helped with all the repairs and preparations before  departure. The six day sail, with a stop in Lahaina, Maui, provided real ocean sailing experience. Your prayers over the last 18 months have made a difference!

Would you prayerfully consider partnering financially with me as I continue to follow God’s lead this year?  In July, I will be attending the Ship Equipped Ministries conference in Townsville, Australia.  Leaders from Youth with a Mission (YWAM) who use Ships to reach isolated areas are networking to create a long term vision and work together to be more effective.  The biggest need in all ship equipped ministries is trained and qualified crew. I will be developing on-board training and documentation to help our crew advance and fill the crew needs within YWAM.  If you know anyone who has deck or engineering experience, please pass on my contact information.

From Australia, I will fly to Port Moresby, then to Madang in Papua New Guinea. After nearly a year working behind the scenes in the Fleet Support office, I am excited to be going to serve as the Ship’s director on the M/V Pacific Link for 4 weeks. The ship has been operating out of Madang since January.  You can read about the amazing results of our medical outreaches  at ­­­­­­­ http://ywamships.net/new-vessel/  .

I return to Kona just in time to lead the School of Navigation and Seamanship (SONS), a twelve week course, which includes 3 weeks of on board sailing, beginning September 29. http://ywamships.net/sons/

All of us in YWAM are volunteers.  Your prayers and financial support make the difference in the services and training we provide  If you would like to receive a receipt for your tax deductible donation click here http://www.ywamepj.org/donate/#how .  If you don’t need a tax deductible receipt click here PayPal.Me/AnnFord.

I would love to hear from you.  Please let me know how I can be praying for you.

Blessings,

Captain Ann