The first Logos II personnel have transferred to Logos Hope! Pictured above, this group have officially joined the crew of OM’s latest and largest vessel. Over the coming months more will follow… but not enough! There are 414 berths allocated for crew on board Logos Hope and when the ship begins ministry in the coming months current estimates are that 280 of those spaces will be filled. Pray that God will call a sufficient amount of His people to serve on board, helping this ship reach its full potential to reach millions around the world with His love.
Our daily commute to the OM ships office passes three construction sites. Nothing special about that, except it’s only a ten minute walk! Firstly, the building where we rent an apartment in is currently undergoing a facelift. Next comes the work to redirect roads by the Mosbach West train station. Finally, the conference facilities at the OM base here are being upgraded. This project is the most different, since the work is mostly being done by volunteers and financed through gifts. It’s also the most exciting – in January the upgraded venue will host the Global Orientation event to train 200 new OM personnel.
An ‘oldie but goldie’! This promotional video about Doulos was mostly filmed in 2002 while we were on board. Indeed, working in the onboard communications department, Paul was more often than not standing next to Peter, the cameraman, while he was filming. Sadly that also meant not actually appearing in the video… Footage from Doulos visits to three countries are featured - Myanmar (Burma), South Africa and Mozambique. Quite a mix, but included together the video gives an accurate display of life on board and the ministry’s diversity that is still applicable today.
It’s a rare opportunity indeed. International Director of Operation Mobilisation Peter Maiden is presently in Mosbach for meetings, and he shared at the ships office weekly devotions. There are 600 personnel in the ships ministry, but that is a mere fraction of the 4,000+ based on land in the wider OM world that he oversees. As a speaker Peter uses a softer style built around a logical persuasion – very different from George Verwer, the former International Director, but equally effective. Folk at our church in Reading, UK, already know this though. Peter delivered the main sermon there one Sunday last November.
OM Ships perform heroic medical work around the world, right? Wrong! That’s the work of Mercy Ships, formerly a part of YWAM. OM Ships operate the vessels Doulos, Logos II and Logos Hope, which offer educational literature, teaching seminars and practical help. However, as the only comparable ocean-based ministry, we do keep in touch with the Mercy Ships team. In this spirit of partnership, Mercy Ships Vice President of International Operations, Jim Paterson, based on board their vessel Africa Mercy, recently sent OM Ships congratulations for reaching a milestone in the project to launch Logos Hope.
Paul has become an uncle for the third time! The new born boy (no name yet) is a welcome addition to his brother’s family in the UK. That’s three out of three as far as being an uncle to boys go, with no sign of any daughters among the wider family yet… While the news is reason for celebration, it’s at times like this we feel the miles of distance between us and any other relative. That is certainly one sacrifice involved with serving at the OM Ships head office. Hopefully we can visit the UK again soon! In the meantime, we praise God for the baby’s safe arrival and pray for his good health.
The time has come for the last voyage of Logos II! Over the last 18 years, the ship has welcomed ten million people on board in 82 different countries. Countless lives have been improved through the educational and Christian literature left behind in each country. Whole communities have benefitted from practical assistance and development projects the all-volunteer crew have completed. Finally, churches and Christians have been impacted through the many teaching conferences Logos II has hosted. Leaving Cuxhaven today, the ship will sail to nearby Kiel and await the arrival of Logos Hope.
Some people collect stamps or coins. We collect churches. Already associated with fellowships in England and Japan, we’ve added our church in Mosbach to the collection. The congregation at the town’s Evangelical Free Church number about 40 or 50 and while many of the folk there are twice our age, they are very friendly and welcoming. The building is close to where we live, so that’s convenient too. The 90 minute services are the one time during the week we are in a totally German-speaking environment, so it helps our integration into the local community as well. Their website, in German, is here .
People never forget meeting George Verwer. The American founder of OM is now in his late ’60s, but shows no signs of slowing down. George maintains a hectic schedule of speaking appointments all round the world and has never lost his vision of challenging Christians to get out of their comfort zone and serve God overseas. The organisation he founded – Operation Mobilisation – is celebrating 50 years of ministry this summer and today there are 4,500 OM personnel serving in 110 different countries. Praise God indeed for George’s life and testimony! A good write up about him is here .
Doulos has been in Hong Kong less than a week and is already ’making waves’ there. The public’s response to the educational and Christian titles in the book fair has been very positive, with 3,800 visitors on the first day. Here is a message from a student who came on board. ‘I went to Doulos today, it was so much fun! I had a lot of fun browsing in the book shop… Your books are much cheaper than bookstores. Don’t worry, I’m definitely coming back! Your ship and the crew are very nice people!’ No doubt the wonderful location allocated to the ship - at the heart of the territory (above video) – is helping the visit’s success.
Doulos has just opened to the public in Hong Kong and has already caused a buzz among the territory’s media. TV crews, journalists and photographers were all present at the ship’s official opening ceremony. News about the visit has even reached media in Beijing (here). Meanwhile, as soon as news went public that Logos Hope will head to Kiel we had an enquiring journalist from the city contact the ships office that same day. Pray that all the publicity will ultimately lead people to visit the ships and have a meaningful conversation with crew or find a book about faith.
To help us sail the seas, OM Ships has produced it’s own world map! Pictured above, these will be available in the book fairs on board the ships and form part of the many educational resources on offer to visitors. With pictures of Doulos, Logos II and Logos Hope on the map, there is also the dual purpose of keeping the ministry in people’s thoughts and prayers. From our experiences during our years on board, church supporters, friends and family couldn’t always locate the country we were serving in. Now, with these new maps, there’s no excuse!
No sooner is Logos Hope redelivered to OM than confirmation arrives of where the vessel’s outfit will be. Only weeks after plans to head to Bremerhaven were dropped, two ports in north Germany offered space for this final stage of the project. Berths are needed for Logos Hope and Logos II to be alongside together for an extended period and the Ostseekai in Kiel (above) seemed to best fit the requirements. OM Ships International are thankful to God and authorities there for the huge discount offered. Logos II will arrive in Kiel on September 19th and we pray Logos Hope will follow soon after.
It’s official! Responsibility for Logos Hope is today being transferred from Shipyard Trogir to OM. This doesn’t mean the ship’s departure is imminent, but it is a major milestone achieved in the project. A Passenger Ship Safety Certificate is now being sought and voyage preparations are underway. Logos Hope is expected to depart Croatia in four to six weeks’ time and head to a port which is just about to be confirmed in north Germany. Praise God that so much has been achieved and that miraculously this stage of the project has been reached without major injuries or the bank balance going below zero!
Over the last eight years, we’ve sailed the world serving people, lived in central Tokyo and relocated to south Germany. Surely that’s a unique combination that no-one else we know has experienced or can relate to. Wrong. There is one! Meet Martin – he was the Doulos baker when we were on board and when he left he accepted a job to work at a German bakery in Tokyo, literally down the road from where we lived. That time in his life came to an end and now he’s back in his home of south Germany, very close to where we are now! All in all, that makes Martin a fairly unique friend in our lives!
Doulos is sailing from South Korea after an 11-week visit. Normally when the ship visits the country, crew actively promote mission involvement to the many Christians there. However, this time that aim was greatly complicated by the kidnapping crisis in Afghanistan. OM too have learned the hard way about sharing God’s love in a culturally sensitive manner and today the ships are welcomed in a whole range of limited access countries from Burma to Bahrain. Pray that this display of communicating the Gospel sensitively will be the greatest legacy of this Doulos visit to South Korea.
What do you do when your work disappears? With Logos II stopping ministry and Doulos due for a long dry dock, the number of Short Term Exposure Programmes (STEP) OM can offer on the ships has dropped dramatically. Since Nobby’s main role is processing and co-ordinating the applications for these programmes, she’s lost most of her work for the foreseeable future. So, she’s now helping the ships office finance team. Operating with different currencies, global transactions and balancing very limited funds, working in this department will certainly be a learning opportunity!
Weekends are for fun and family. What does that mean for us, living in a small town with the closest relatives a timezone away? Fortunately, when we’re not on the road, we’ve found more than a few ways to spend weekends in Mosbach. Firstly, the local mall here does a great breakfast of fresh bread, chesse and coffee. That’s a good start to Saturday. Later that day we invite a few friends from the ships office team over for a fun evening of games and fellowship. Sunday mornings are spent in church and in the afternoon we often hike through the beautiful hills. It’s almost a pity when Monday comes round!
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
Posted by shipsbecks 
