What a great two months

Some of you know that Irene, Benny and I have been on the Logos II for the last couple of months in the Caribbean. Many of you I am sure immediately say- wow, nice life!!. The Caribbean is a great place,  but there is another side to the beaches and hotels, and that is poverty, crime and one of the highest HIV prevalence rates outside of sub saharan Africa. It was that other side that we sought as the Logos II community to minister into. In six months we distributed 700,000 books, and saw over 200,000 visitors come on board. We personally felt very blessed and challenged by the experience, but it again opened our eyes to the value and place in today´s world of a work like OM Ships. In those months on board, we lived out our calling, ´to bring knowledge, help and hope to the people´s of the world

mission-net: The clock is ticking

Less than 10 months to go, and the time is flying, but we are tremendously excited about the remaining months until the congress. We now National Motivators in over 35 European countries, and new ones are joining each month. It promises to be a truly international congress! With registration now live the forms are starting to come, so please don´t leave it until the last minute, as we really do have a limited capacity

 

9 weeks in the Caribbean

Many of you may have been wondering where on earth we have been for the last weeks. Our telephone is off the hook, and we are nowhere to be seen. Well just to clarify, we are still alive!. The telephone can be explained by changing telephone providers – unsuccessfully I should add, thus the dead phone line for all this time. However, we have also been on board Logos II for that amount of time in Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados and in our present port of Trinidad. It has been an amazing time, with several hundred thousand visitors, but we are ready to come back to Germany as well now. It will also give us a chance to hook the phone line up again!!!

Back in the Caribbean

Logos II has been back in the Caribeban for a month or two now. After a fairly rough voyage across the Atlantic, the Ship arrived in Bermuda, and then moved onto Freetown and Nassau (see photo) in the Bahamas. Great numbers of people are visiting the Ships, and she will sail to other islands such as Jamaica, Antigua, St Lucia, Barbados and Trinidad in the next couple of months. The Doulos is in Papua New Guinea, before moving onto some of the south Pacific Islands and Australia and New Zealand later in the year. The Logos Hope is still in Germany being renovated but will move to Sweden for a Drydock and then hopefully into ministry later this year. Keep praying!!

mission-net continues to grow

I realise it has been a while since I have been in touch last. No excuses, but things have been busy. Things with OM Ships continue to develop and grow. We have three Ships at the moment, the Logos Hope, in Kiel, Germany, the Logos II in the Caribbean, and the Doulos in Papua Neu Guinea.

I am also really busy with organising a big mission congress next year called mission-net. 6000 young people from over 40 countries will be there, and it will be a chance to receive teaching and training on the subject of missions, attend seminars and workshops or an exhibition with 200 mission agencies. Find out more at www.mission-net.org

Back in 1994

The last time two of our Ships were together was in 1994 in Toulon, France. At that time it was the Doulos and the Logos II. Now we have two ships together again, the Logos Hope and the Logos II. For one of the Ships, the Logos Hope, the future is certain. After a period of further renovation the Ship will begin its ministry ´serving the peoples of the world´. The logos II´s future is still uncertain. It may be that we will get rid of the Ship after a period, however it is also possible that we will keep the Ship running for a further period of time. Only time will tell

Life in the fast lane

Below is a short clip of the Logos Hope leaving Trogir and making the journey down to Split, Croatia. This it did in an unbelievable 40 seconds, bringing a new meaning to the words life in the fast lane!. We now have two Ships alongside each other, and are beginning the hard work of transferring many of the things that are on board Logos II across to the Logos Hope. It is going to take some time, but everyday we see progress being made and we are one day nearer seeing the Ship finally ready for service

Finally, the day has come!

It has finally arrived. As you will see from the picture, Logos Hope is now in Kiel, Germany. The photo is taken from the Web Camera that is mounted on board the Logos II. Both of our Ships are just 200 metres away from each other. For us who work in OM Ships, this is a historic day that we have been waiting for for a long time!!. Now Phase II of the project begins, the phase that will see Logos Hope completed and ready to begin the next exciting chapter in our history

A free turkey dinner

One of the great things about working in an international team is that you get to celebrate everyone´s different national festivals. Last night it was the American´s turn, as yesterday was Thanksgiving. This is a bigger event than Christmas for the American´s and is a time when families celebrate the provision for the founding father´s as they survived the first winter after landing in the now United States. Last night we celebrated with them with three turkeys, and more apple pie than I have seen in one place for some time. I think we should should pass a new law in Britain to have a thanksgiving day as well. It would be worth it just for the turkey!!

If only it was always like this

The sea looks reasonably calm, but the majority of the time the Logos Hope has been sailing, has been anything but smooth. The ship rolled over 20 degrees at some points in the voyage. She continues to make her way to Kiel in North Germany. If you have not already, take a look at www.logoshope.org, where you will find a great little webcamera as well as virtual voyage tracker so you can see exactly the progress the Ship is making. Our other Ship the Doulos is going absolutely nowhere though, as at the moment she is in Drydock!