“I want you to approach a member of the crew and ask them these 5 questions”. Wei-ling from Taiwan encouraged the Chinese visitors to talk with the crewmembers in the room and ‘break the ice’. Having little else to do I stepped out of my box and said ‘Nin hao‘ to a man as he approached. We were only able to exchange names and countries as he didn’t speak a word of english – but he was still very happy to meet me. Another brave woman approached me and in broken english asked me how long I had been on board and what was my favourite food. Answering her in english first, then in Chinese I could tell her I had been on board already for 1 and a half years and of course my favourite food is Chinese food! (But I also like pizza!)
Together we sung songs to our heavenly father – though I understood only some of the words. They were very encouraged by singing together and by the talk from my friend Shaun who is from China and is staying on board for a short time. I also had a wonderful time and be thankful that I could be used by Him even when I can’t barely communicate with people.

“You have got to be Chris’ dad!” is something I’ve heard a lot this week. You see my Dad and I look almost identical, give or take a few years – so it would be impossible for me to hide the fact that my parents have been staying on board Logos Hope this week. After spending a week onshore getting some much needed R&R and spending quality time with my parents, this week I am back to work. In fact this week I am starting as the leader of the AV team. You may remember that I was the team leader some months ago until the opportunity for someone more experienced and gifted with team leading could take the burden from me for a while. Catherine has done a magnificent job of bring us together as a team and sorting out scheduling and logistics and I hope that I have learned well from her example. I also feel that I have good support now from my supervisors and from my team as well. Please pry that I would be a good team leader, always looking to the needs of my team.
While my parents have been on board my Dad got a taste of what it is like to work in the AV team, and boy did we work hard. Dad helped me to set up all new music stands and a lectern for the main meeting room. He was also able to re-string a guitar that had been disused for some time – and now it sounds great! One night he had the opportunity to work with a larger team as a camera man for a youth event. Packed with over 400 youth from fellowships the event was a great success. All in a day’s work for the AV team.