Dear family, friends and followers of Sail and Serve, greetings from beautiful Papeete Tahiti!

I tried to send news from Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas, but the wifi there just wouldn't cooperate. Whatever the case we are safe and sound here in beautiful French Polynesia and ready for whatever God has planned for us next, which we've been told is "abundantly more than all we can ask or imagine."

After a lot of preparation and work to get through the Panama Canal we met up with Steve and his crew on Wandering Dream (which Steve and some of his friends have sailed from England) just outside Panama City off one of Las Perlas, the beautiful Islands on the Pacific side of Panama, and set out into the great blue Pacific. We'd originally met Steve on the Caribbean side in Panama and actually wound up transiting the canal with him and one other boat from France.  Although we lost radio contact within the first 48 hours we maintained contact via email on our satellite phone which we bought primarily for emergencies and weather updates, but have found it works well for staying in touch with other boats which is a comfort so far offshore. We are actually expecting to see Steve and one of his crew this afternoon as they are to arrive here from the Marquesas today.

It took us 36 days to cross from

Panama to the Marquesas which may seem like a long time.  Actually, it is a long time. Ironically though, the routine that is developed after just a few days at sea seemed to be just the right formula of stability and order for Beatrice, and even Josh seemed to thrive despite being deprived entirely of his beloved Internet. Gabriella would likely function well living in a washing machine or the Sahara or a dungeon so you needn't pray for her anymore :)

Mark, our American crew who lives in Sydney left us recently after having completed his transpacific experience. Since he has sailed from Tahiti to Australia before the trip from Panama to Tahiti covers the whole ocean. Before even joining us Mark flew from Sydney to Singapore and London for business, then on to Raleigh-Durham North Carolina to visit his brother, and then Panama just to begin his 5000 mile odyssey with us. Mark was a great help in a lot of ways but especially for the night watches which would have been rather draining had it been just Beatrice and I doing them.

Homeschooling probably went better than at any time since we moved aboard and we all feel so blessed by this whole experience.  We know that so many of you are praying for us and we are deeply moved by that fact and are well aware that it is your fervent and regular prayers that are moving God's hand to sustain and strengthen us through the difficult times of which there are many. Keep praying for Ella too just in case.

On Easter morning we crossed the equator and just like that went from Spring to Fall as we passed from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern.  So there will be no summer for the Shoemakers this year! We are confident though that those of you with compassionate hearts who also know how much we love summer will mourn this grievous loss with us :)

During our passage, and since, I've felt God's hand upon me and His presence more powerfully than at anytime in my life including the very difficult period when I battled Colitis and ultimately wound up losing my Colon and about thirty pounds to it after two surgeries. God was very present then but has been even more so now. Every day before my morning watch I spent two to three hours poring over God's Word, meditating on it and delighting in His Presence. Every day I read Spurgeon and C.S. Lewis and spent time writing in my journal.  I'll never forget that experience.  Talking to God on the night watches was special too. I found He talks back if I'll just shut up a while and listen.  At one point it occurred to me that we were more than a thousand miles from any land in any direction and below us there was at least three miles of water. Above, the Milky Way stood out in sharp contrast to the black velvet of the sky and beyond it there are billions of other galaxies with billions of stars in them in a universe that is not just expanding but accelerating its rate of expansion.  It seemed that it was to this vast and desolate place that God had purposely brought me to show me a simple but profound truth: it's not all about me. It's not about me at all in fact. It's about Him. It's all about Him!

As I listened to this message I began to apply the principles of this upside down, backward Kingdom He'd set up where to be first we must be last, to be great we must be a servant of all and to find real, abundant life we must die to ourselves. I'd long known these truths of course,  but as many of you know well it is one thing to know something with our minds and another thing entirely to get that knowledge into our hearts in such a way that it becomes a part of our daily practice and habit. I feel like I am at the very start of a long journey down the road toward truly denying myself daily and taking up my cross to follow Him, but I am utterly ruined for anything other than pursuing the King of Kings wholeheartedly. He has so thoroughly captivated my heart that I cannot imagine a life that would not include following Him to the very ends of the earth if He would call me there.  Who knows he might!

We've met and are staying in touch with several other cruisers who are using their boats for Kingdom purposes. The aforementioned Steve on Wandering Dream, who actually just arrived since I've been writing this and is checking in next door right now, plans to visit a Bishop on Madagascar and go to some Christian Schools there as well.  David and Rick and his wife Terry on the Catamaran Sea Angel,  which is just a couple boats down from us on the dock here will be using their boat for Sea Mercy (seamercy.org) dedicated to getting health care professionals to remote islands. Then we have our lovely Aussie friends who we met on the Caribbean side in Panama aboard Maranatha. Phil built the original Maranatha which was ruined in a tremendous flood in Bundeberg Australia several years ago,  but he and Pam have purchased another of the same design and for many years have done volunteer work with Churches and schools on remote Islands near Papa New Guinea.  We are hoping to see them again somewhere out here as well, but if not maybe in Australia.  If nothing else they have given us contact information for the leaders of the YWAM base that is closely connected with their home church.

One of the things we'd read about this crazy lifestyle called cruising is that you form a lot of strong bonds with people who are facing the same challenges and experiencing the same victories as you run into them in different places. Until Panama we had not really had that happen. The time since has made up for it though and we are feeling more connected daily with this great community of likeminded adventurers. Although we’ve not often felt led to give away our Gideons Bibles both Beatrice and I gave away quite a few of them in Panama and felt a strong urge to pray for those we'd given them to.  We are still in touch with many of those people. It is not inconceivable that the primary thrust of our ministry would be towards fellow cruisers,  but God has not clearly shown us that yet.  To be honest we are not at all sure why exactly He called us out here. We are certain He did call us here though,  so we will just have to trust that He will let us in on the WHY, when He is good and ready to do so.

Meanwhile we will just continue to look for ways we can serve Him in the everyday chores and interactions with the many wonderful people we meet.   It seems in many ways we are still in a boot camp of sorts and though we are eager to be fully functioning in the roles and purposes God has designed us for, right now He has us just waiting and watching. While we do so it's become clear to us that our purpose out here is not tourism,  so although we’ve been able to get a good taste of the culture, people and scenery as we pass through we've foregone many of the sights, sounds and attendant expenses that many of those around us are enjoying. It seems God is drawing us forward towards something significant, but we don't know what it is or what it will look like.

Your prayers and support are so important to us and we cannot begin to thank you enough for them. Please persevere with us as we wait on God and see what He has in store for us next. After some work on the boat and someday sails in French Polynesia we will head to the Cooks and see what if anything we might be able to do with YWAM there. Stay tuned and we will let you know what is developing with us ASAP. As always we would love to hear from you and know what is new in your life and how we could be praying for you.

Kenny, Beatrice, Joshua and Gabriella