After leaving Iceland, Logos II has just one official port of ministry left. While Christians in Cuxhaven, Germany, are eagerly awaiting the ship’s arrival and port programme there, crew on board are emotional for very different reasons. Logos II has ministered for 18 years, welcomed ten million people on board and blessed communities in 82 different countries. The ship is also home for the 200 crew and they will miss the familiarity, especially when details surrounding the launch of Logos Hope are still unconfirmed. Ask God to bless, guide and uplift the Logos II community at this time.
Volunteering on board an OM ship and working in the head office are certainly not the same. While we have a priviliged vantage point of all God is doing through the ministry, at the same time that comes from sitting at a desk. Every once in a while we miss being out on the field and having direct contact with the people crew are helping. Here’s a photo from one of those times – Paul’s visit to an orphanage in Vietnam back in early 2001. The Doulos Communications team produced reams of material about the ship’s first visit to the country under the heading This Is History - looking back now, it certainly was!
Efforts to launch Logos Hope are a whirlwind of activity. The OM Ships office in Mosbach is welcoming a stream of folk involved in the project, with everyone from chief engineers to event managers passing through. However, those like us supporting the regular work of Doulos and Logos II only have a window seat on any Logos Hope happenings. Fascinating as that might be, a six-month period when only Doulos is in active ministry is soon approaching. That means less work for us… Nobby has already signed-off on the last Logos II Short Term Exposure Programme and is now helping part time in the finance department
A totally different world, a closed land and an unknown entity… All just 50km from where Doulos is presently berthed. High level officials were approached and contacts on the other side established to pursue the possibility of the ship briefly calling at the region. With Doulos having a South Korean director too, the likelihood appeared better than ever before. Alas, it wasn’t to be. With time quickly closing a window in the Doulos schedule, the decision was made not to go. God is sovereign and His will is perfect. There are very few countries OM Ships have yet to visit. Pray that we can make it to this one soon.
Will Logos Hope or Logos II reach north Germany first? Actually, this is a race that isn’t supposed to be happening! The two ships need to be alongside together so resources and equipment can be transferred from the smaller vessel to the larger. However, ongoing last minute delays to Logos Hope in Shipyard Trogir mean Logos II is heading to the rendezvous point first! Schedule alterations are underway and more ministry ports for Logos II in north Germany being sought. And what about the new crew currently training at the GO Conference in DeBron to join Logos Hope? Read one of the recruits’ blogs here.
The pace that technology advances is relentless. When we joined Doulos in 1999, having e-mail access on board was still a novelty. This didn’t include regular internet access for the crew and in some ports hooking up any connection with the outside world was impossible. Voyages were a complete communications blackout… Eight years later, Doulos now has an advanced 24/7 satellite communication system, kindly sponsored by a South Korean church. Some of us older OM Ships folk are nostalgic for the past but the technology does help us keep supporters informed, as shown by this crewmember’s blog here.
Is football only about 22 players and a piece of inflated leather? Most of us in the OM Ships office would normally conur… However, when England plays Germany, it’s a totally different story. Approximately a third of the office team are British and another third German, with numerous marriages between the two nationalities. So, although last night’s game was officially a ‘friendly’, much was at stake in the office. And the score? England 1 Germany 2. Paul was naturally distraught at the result. His misery is compounded by the joy of his boss, who happens to be Scottish and married to a German.
While the hunt for a Logos Hope outfit berth is still underway, here’s the latest video of the progress on board. Evidence of the project nearing completion is clear - the bridge renovation is complete, the newly equipped galley is up and running, people are living on board in the refurbished cabins… In the coming weeks the shipyard work is expected to finish and the vessel sail from Trogir, Croatia. A final outfit period of six months in north Germany will follow. Praise God for the milestones that have been completed and pray for the workers and funds still needed to launch Logos Hope into service.
The rumour has been circulating for a while now. Ever-tightening shipping regulations are coming in 2010 that Doulos cannot meet, specifically regarding the volume of wood inside the ship being too great a fire risk. So it’s just a case of replacing everything to meet the new rules? Wrong. That work alone is a seven figure sum, besides which Doulos has already been on the seas for 93 years so a lot of extra work is also needed. Thus the decision has been made to scrap the ship in October 2010. Is it not better for Logos Hope to replace Doulos and keep Logos II sailing instead? Now that is a rumour!
They are arriving from all over the world… 230+ new personnel are joining OM this summer and they begin their time with a huge training conference in the Netherlands. The Global Orientation (GO) event lasts two weeks and examines a whole range of subjects, from serving cross-culturally to the Biblical basis of missions. For the participants, simply being at the conference marks a major milestone. Over the last months they have completed paperwork, prayed, raised financial support and said farewell to family members. Two years of an adventure with God awaits! Read one participant’s story here.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – Amidst the harsh environment, low temperatures and isolation, over 100,000 people live in the world’s most northerly capital. That was reason enough alone for Logos II crew to brave notoriously rough seas and sail to this North Atlantic island. Going where no OM ship has gone before, the vessel’s arrival is already big news in the relatively small community, with a government minister and local media attending the opening ceremony. With such a good start to the port programme, crew report that the reception in Reykjavik has certainly been warmer than the weather!
Living in a small town in south Germany as we do, it’s hard for us to find other cross-cultural couples to relate to. Fortunately, God is a faithful provider! Karsten and Sang Hee Schmidt are a German / South Korean couple who live about an hour away from Mosbach. They met on Doulos, about the same time we did, so we have a lot in common! We recently spent a very enjoyable weekend with them in the scenic part of the world they live in and greatly appreciate their friendship.
ANDY WEST – Quite simply, a legend in his own galley. Andy (USA) is not just a cook, he is the Executive Chef of OM Ships International. For a decade, Andy, his wife Melody and their three children have been with the ministry, serving on Doulos, Logos II and now Logos Hope. He was also Paul’s first boss, before Paul moved to work in the communications department. Morale on board is definitely boosted by the food, and Andy knows what people like to eat. He is fully trained, vastly experienced and a larger than life character armed with a whisk.
45,000 fishermen on some windswept North Atlantic islands… A call at the Faroe Islands wont produce the crowds OM Ships experience elsewhere. So why go so far out of the way? The Faroese are fishermen of a different kind – over half the population are active Christians with a huge heart for international mission. So much so, OM has an office there! At one time, we had seven Faroese on Doulos – a similar percentage of the US population would be 67,000! Their shipping experience is a huge asset to our ministry and the recent Logos II visit was full of the hospitality the Faroese are famous for.
The ground was frozen solid when we were in Finland. We certainly didn’t see signs of fresh vegetation, let alone fruit. However, five months on, we are rejoicing in the ’spiritual fruit’ that resulted from our short recruiting trip to the country in March. One of our last appointments was meeting with Onni Hytti, a former chief engineer with OM Ships. We delivered a simple offer – would he consider filling the same urgently vacant post on Logos Hope? “No, no and no,” he replied. Soon after Onni’s job situation became uncertain. Taking this as a sign from God, he is now confirmed to serve with Logos Hope!
TeenStreet – OM’s permier youth event shows no sign of slowing. Over the years, the number of participants at this event in Germany reached capacity. So now TeenStreet has gone global with programmes taking place in Malaysia, Brazil and more. This year, with Logos II undergoing dry dock in nearby Bremerhaven, 60 crew came to help with the massive logistics of a running a week-long Christian camp for 3,000 teenagers. Besides helping with the cleaning and cooking, the crew also mentored many of the young people and challenged them to serve in mission once they are old enough.
What does SMS stand for…? And the answer you weren’t expecting is ‘Safety Management System’. Being a global industry, the shipping world is full of wise rules and regulations. OM Ships International may be a not-for-profit, humanitarian and Christian organisation, but full compliance with every detail is still a must. In the past, we’ve left such details to an elite few specialists and contacts we have on the team. However, this approach was recently questionned in an independent audit, and so all of us at the head office are having some teaching about SMS, ISM, ISPS and more!
The OM ships welcome a million visitors a year. Numbers don’t tell the full story though. Here’s a video from two ports Logos II visited in the Caribbean and the overwhelming response from the public they encountered there. Why do people wait so long in line to visit? Many are keen to choose from the affordable educational literature on board; some want to interact with the international crew; others want to know more about a personal faith in God. We have certainly experienced port visits like during our time on Doulos and are excited by the larger capacity Logos Hope offers to meet such demand.
Writing the exciting stories is easy - OM ships’ crew building a clinic, donating school texts in a needy place, bringing words of hope in God etc. However, much takes place behind the scenes to make all of this happen and many of those details rarely come to light. For example, several Logos II crew recently worked late into the night because a new recruit arrived on board with the wrong visa. Elsewhere, after confirmation of an outfit berth for Logos Hope was withdrawn, one of our team is frantically searching for alternatives – while trying to take a honeymoon at the same time. It’s not always glorious, but it’s all for His glory.
Maintaining a 93-year old vessel isn’t easy… especially when the workforce is mostly made up of unskilled volunteers! However, the Doulos Engine Room team recently put in the hours to overhaul the ship’s 18 engine cylinders. Each one had to be completely taken apart and reassembled and having a few extra pieces left at the end wasn’t permitted! Fortunately, the procedure went well, was completed in time for the next voyage and fully approved by the external surveyors. Praise God for the professionalism and commitment of those on board.
It’s official… Logos Hope will not be heading for Bremerhaven, Germany. Upon closer examination of the details, officials there have informed us they are unable to meet all the necessary requirements needed for the vessel’s final outfitting phase. The hunt is now on to find another venue in north Europe where Logos Hope can undergo the last months of refit. Already there are positive contacts. However, with the contracted shipyard work in Trogir, Croatia, expected to be complete very soon, the pressure is on to confirm a port where the ship can head. Pray with us for God’s guidance and provision!
Being an international organisation, OM Ships operates across timezones. It’s therefore possible for an incident to develop on board while the office in Germany is closed. To avoid any communications blackout, we have a duty phone for out-of-hours contact that is always on. And this week it’s Paul’s turn to babysit the phone… wherever he goes, it tags along. Fortunately with two ships presently out of the water in dry dock and the third in warm South Korea, there’s little danger of any rogue icebergs causing an incident. Pray that the ships and their crews are kept out of harm’s way - especially this week!
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
