Safely In Suomi

Suomi is the Finnish word for Finland! This is one of the many things we’ve learned already since our safe arrival today! As soon as we touched down in Tampere, we were met by an OM Finland rep who whisked us off to the office nearby. There was a little time for a bite to eat and briefing session before we headed back out again to our first meeting in Rauma. This small and scenic town is on the west coast and we shared about the ships to a church youth group. Surprisingly, the group leader had the most questions about joining OM! Back to Tampere late in the evening, where we’re being hosted in a lovely place by a British-Finnish couple. They even let us use their computer to update our blog!

Flying Trip To Finland

Currently there are over 4,000 people serving with OM worldwide (600 alone with the ships). So where do all those people come from and how do they hear about the organisation? Big OM home office like the UK, USA, Australia and South Korea have staff working full time on recruiting, but the smaller teams often have more invitations to speak in churches and to youth groups than they can possibly accept. Recently the office in Finland asked if  anyone in the ships office who could take some of these many opportunities on their behalf. We agreed to help – providing they would translate! And so, we’re going to Finland - for five days packed with opportunities to invite local Christians to join what God is already doing through OM. Here’s a picture (above) and link to the church Paul will be preaching at this Sunday: Link here

Gifts From Afar

Living away from home there are many things to miss – friends, a first-language and especially important for Japanese, FOOD. Nobby has been very blessed to receive several packages full of Japanese ‘goodies’ since we arrived in Mosbach. While no-one has sent raw fish through the post, gifts of spicy noodles and ingredients for miso soup have been very appreciated. Fortunately the quality of rice in Germany is quite a good too, so Nobby can prepare a Japanese style meal and treat herself to a taste of home every now and then. Many thanks to everyone has blessed us in this way – little details like that make a big difference! Here’s another very touching story of what one visitor did for a Doulos crewmember who was missing home. Link here.

Time For Fellowship

The little place we rent in Mosbach is a huge blessing to us. It’s about the right size, affordable and close to everywhere we need to be. We quickly decided that we wanted to share this blessing with others and open up our home once a week. Initially we planned an English bible study group, but realised people in the ships office receive a lot of teaching anyway. Instead we saw how the singles here have a great need for fellowship and so we started a simple games evening. Word of mouth soon brought a few ‘regulars’ and we sometimes meet twice a week - friends from our local church and Nobby’s German teacher have even joined us! Pictured here from left to right are Nobby, Marlyse (Switzerland), Tim (Northern Ireland) and Stefan (Netherlands) playing the classic German game Siedler von Kataan (Settlers of Cataan).

Instant Feedback

OM ships welcome one million visitors each year. That’s a lot of people climbing up the gangway, and each of them has a story to tell about their experiences on board. In the past, personal accounts of lives being impacted would trickle back to us here at the head office and we do still receive letters from every corner of the world. However, with today’s interconnected world, instant feedback is available through the Internet. There are a whole host of people posting their experiences of a ship visit online. This one link came to us recently from a visitor to Doulos in the Philippines – it’s both informative and encouraging. Stories like this keep us all motivated and focused on the greater task God has called us to! Link here.

Keeping the Doors Open in East Asia

Doulos is scheduled to return to Japan this spring… but getting the necessary permissions for that to happen isn’t easy. Teams from the ship making preparations in the ports of Fukuoka, Kanazawa and Niigata are already considerable amounts of paperwork. With less than 1% of the population being Christian, there is no doubt that a ship visit would be a massive boost to the country’s Church. The small OM Japan team based in Kanazawa would also see their profile significantly raised by having Doulos arrive in port. As a couple we have a personal interest to see the ship visit in Japan not just happen but be embraced by the local communities. Pray with us that the concern officials have towards the visit would quickly disappear. 

Teething Pains

Nobby’s teeth pains date back to her very first week with OM. From that experience, she knows needing a dentist while being abroad isn’t fun… We are very blessed here in the ships office to have a team member’s wife who is a qualified dentist with her own surgery right in town – and speaks English! She’s spent a lot of time looking at the work Nobby needs done to eliminate what has long been a source of pain. Praise the Lord that this treatment should be finished today! We’re also extremely grateful to kind folk at Wycliffe Baptist church in the UK who raised funds to help us meet the costs involved – not easy on a missionary’s budget. One person even ran a half marathon to send a support gift for the work. Having such people stand behind us is a huge huge blessing!

Tentmaking as a Teacher

All OM ships’ official communication takes place in English – it’s the lingua franca (for want of a better word) of the organisation and all those joining the crew must have a reasonable grasp of the language. Indeed, in today’s world knowing some English is a valuable, if not vital skill. Having been a language teacher in Japan, I (Paul) am finding even in small Mosbach there are people who want to improve their English. So, once a week I am teaching a group of ladies from our church. Being ‘older generation’ they never had chance to study English at school, so they are at a low level, but what they lack in knowledge they make up for in enthusiasm! They’re also willing to pay for the service, so we’re raising some extra funds to give back to the ministry.

Reality Check

Newspapers are always accused of only telling bad news… However, are Christians equally guilty of only telling happy stories? Rest assured that there are plenty of difficult and challenging times in the ships’ ministry. Right now, Logos II is in Malta and a team of crew are serving away from the ship on nearby Gozo island. Amongst a population of 28,000 islanders, there are only six known Christians.  This is undoubtedly hard ground to sow seeds. Pray for this team, pray for this island and pray that God will give all those involved strength to serve Him through the ship ministry.

BBC Standing Behind Ship Visit to Britain

Promoting the ships in every way possible! Part of Paul’s job involves building relationships with news organisations. Having secular media feature the ships is a great way to show God at work through the ship’s community and when Christian news organisations feature the ministry, this raises financial support, mobilises prayer and is a recruiting tool. Of course publicity is also vital in each port, informing people about the books and teaching seminars available on board. Logos II is heading to the UK in early June and the media attention has already started! BBC radio got in touch with the ships office and requested an interview with Paul – Praise the Lord for such a large and free publicity opportunity! Here’s a link for the article Paul also submitted to their website: BBC Cornwall

Back in the Day

Imagine being in an environment where everything around you is not just strange, but totally, totally foreign. This image is from 1999, shortly after we joined Doulos in Papua New Guinea. The culture there was so different, but in God’s way, that was an excellent exposure to international mission. God loves the remote tribal communities of New Guinea just as much as He does anyone else. The values, daily life and customs of the people are so different, but they are created in His image too. The famous Bible verse begins ‘For God so loved the whole world…’ - in Papua New Guinea we were exposed to how diverse His creation is. We also saw the Church’s need for teaching resources and local pastors’ delight to find them on Doulos. After such an inspiring start to serving with OM Ships, and receiving so much love from the local people, it’s no wonder that many who joined Doulos back in 1999 are still in mission work today.

One Small STEP… One Giant Leap of Faith!

When we first joined Doulos, every six months a group of Short Term Exposure Programme (STEP) recruits arrived. These 15 individuals follow an intensive two-month training course, working and living alongside crew and getting involved in the regular onshore ministry outreaches. Being ‘fresh’ and highly motivated, their presence really encouraged us regular crew. Demand for this programme is now so high, they run five times a year on both Doulos and Logos II. Nobby’s role at the ships office is co-ordinating the details of STEP applicants from around the world. She also receives feedback from the participants about how they grew and learned through the experience. “It was great to meet people in the Philippines and share the Gospel with them. I’ve never done evangelism and ministry like that… Living on the ship has changed my perspective on life back home,” wrote a recent STEP ‘graduate’. Here’s a video one STEP group made about their experiences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1T-FUyYWTw

Traffic Jams in Taiwan

It’s been no less than seven years since Doulos was in Taiwan, and we were both on board at that time. For me (Paul), Taiwan is a land of significant memories. I did my first short term missions trip with OM there in 1997, and was overwhelmed by the experience of working in a team of international Christians. During that trip I also received my first calling to join Doulos. Now the ship is in Kaohsiung, at the the south of the island and during the first weekend in port over 18,000 people came on board! The resulting traffic clogged up the town… To those serving with OM Ships, large crowds in Taiwan shouldn’t be a surprise. The largest number of visitors recorded in one day (27,200) came during the ship’s visit to Taichung in 1988. Here’s a good summary about the present visit – http://www.chinapost.com.tw/news/archives/taiwan/2007312/104416.htm

Small Town, Huge God

Why not Paris or New York..? Why is the headquarters of such an exciting international ministry based in such a small place as Mosbach, Germany? Well, I could mention things like cost, central European location etc. However, something I’ve been thinking about recently is how God uses the small, meek and humble, not only the mighty and strong. Being in a major city, there would be so many distractions around us. As it is, here in Mosbach the staff at the ships office are more than work colleagues – we are a community that meets and prays together regularly. Just last week some of the people here took a long prayer walk in the beautiful hills and countryside that is just minutes away. None of this would happen if we were in a place like London. Neither would we have the support of so many churches in Germany. In short, God has placed the ships office here in Mosbach in His wisdom. Although that’s not easy for us as a couple, we have to trust that it is part of His plan for the ministry and our lives.

Marriage Made on the Waves

Here we both are, outside the OM Ships headquarters in Mosbach, Germany. We met on the Doulos ship, after joining at the same time in September 1999, and no, it wasn’t love at first sight. Took us two years to find out we liked each other! People often ask us what it’s like to be in a cross-cultural marriage (I’m British and Nobue’s Japanese). Since neither of us have any other experiences of marriage, then it’s difficult to compare really! Besides which, men and women are cross-cultural anyway… We’re both blessed to find a partner that is committed to serving others and centred on God, that’s what’s most important.

Ships Serving the World

Doulos was more than a mere ship… being on board impacted my life in more ways than almost anything else I’ve ever done (besides becoming a servant of Christ and getting married!). Living among 300 Christians from around the world was an awe-inspiring glimpse of what Heaven might be like. Travelling to different countries and serving people wherever we went taught me so much about what’s important in life. Putting aside the good income that my educational level suggests, my wife and I now serve at the headquarters of OM Ships, the organisation that operates Doulos. Here’s a picture of Logos II, another ship in their fleet.