Author Archives: Chris Young

I’ve arrived in Holland

I have arrived in Delden, Holland at a conference center called de Kronze Danne. I am here to train and prepare for my two weeks on board the Logos Hope. The conference centre reminds me a lot of surf camp and soul survivor. I am staying in a cabin with 4 other men in a block called ‘de Els’ which seems to be an L shaped building. Of those I am staying with one is from Switzerland, one from France, one from South Korea and one from the UK so this is good preparation for life on the ship. There is a main area called ‘the Hof’ where we have worship and teaching for the 250

de Kronze Danne

new recruits. There is also a massive dining hall where we have our meals together and between meals where everyone seems to bring their laptops to use the internet. My first day here was nice and easy while we got to know our surroundings and each other. I have met a number of people, some of who will go to the ship with me, others who I may only see in heaven but are still amazing people to meet. Also I have seen some familiar faces from last time I was on board, I thank God for that. Our first actual scheduled event was a praise and worship session in the evening followed by an introduction to the wonderful staff and and the program for the week. Today we only have a couple of sessions planned (including our ship meeting) as we all slowly adjust to our new surroundings. Tomorrow we will get into some good teaching and preparation. It’s going to be a very good week-and-a-bit.

TV Fast

Today is the second day following the end of a 40 day fast of Television. During the 40 days I have tried to not watch any television at all, the exception being when I spend time with my parents. Yesterday I arrived home in the afternoon from church and sat on my couch in front of my big TV with an hour or two to kill. I sat for a moment pondering my next move. Watching TV would involve removing the towel I had placed over the TV and retrieving the remote controls from the entertainment unit. I chose what may have been the more lazy option, or simply the one that I would enjoy more: I reached for a book. With all the entertainment in the world at my fingertips including many hours of recorded television and three game consoles, I reached for a book. I wanted to know the next adventure in the story.

So apart from forgetting to watch TV, what have I gained? During the time I’ve been not watching TV, I’ve read a lot. This inculdes both the fantasy fiction allagory novel that I’ve been enjoying and severeal inspirational teaching books. One in particular “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan has taken me on an amazing journy of discovery with God. I beleive I connected with him more during this time that I would normally and I heard from him more and more concerning my relationship with him and others. It has been a fantastic time of learning and growing, all by switching off the TV.