On our last weekend in Montego Bay, Jamaica many people queued for hours to visit the Logos Hope. To bless these people as they wait patiently in line we held a concert on the stage outside the ship. Early on Saturday morning the AV and events teams got our hands dirty putting out a portable stage and setting up some serious AV equipment to provide a high quality sound that could be heard far away.
Local artists and crew members performed on stage and people were captivated by their performance. Many shared their testimonies and the Gospel.
Pictured above is Sam Stainer from the U.K, the newest member of my AV team. He is a professional audio engineer and has run his own AV business for a few years before he visited the ship in London. He was impressed by the opening ceremony and talked with the AV manager on board who encouraged him to join up for two years. Immediately he decided this was what he would do, so he began to close down his business and a year later arrived in Montego bay. Praise God for bringing the right people at the right time!

I don’t cry often, but before the sun came up this morning I was standing outside crying and there was little I could do about it. My good friends Ravi and Philipp – along with many others – were leaving the ship forever. We’d had many goodbye parties and farewell speaches and now the dreaded moment had come, carrying bags down the gangway and packing them into vans, lining up for one last hug, saying my last goodbyes. There was no doubt we’d gone on an incredible journey together – for 8 months combined I had known them, and they had changed me as much as they had encouraged me. I hope to visit them both in the future, when I don’t know. I hope the ship will visit India one day, but I doubt it will visit Switzerland (being land-locked and all).

Since joining the ship I’ve made new friends, and now it’s time to focus attention on those relationships, but at the same time – people will come and go, but God will be with me all the time – and I need to learn to rely on Him and not on friends. Then I can truely be a friend to others, when I don’t put my needs on them.

One thing I have learned from the story of Jonah is that God will use even the most unwilling missionary to acheive his purposes. This week I had the opportunity to reach out to several people in the course of my own affairs.

One thing that made the Dutch Caribbean special for me, was that we were allowed to go onshore by ourselves, and in Aruba we were berthed near a lovely shopping strip. So knowing that my opportunites for such things would be limited in the future, I put on a hat and grabbed my wallet and left the ship, telling only the watchkeeper that I was no longer on board.

Where would I go? What would I do? I didn’t know. I simply walked down the street and begain to look at some souvineers for sale at a stand. A lady was calling out for island tours and another lady – a tourist – was partially interested. I went over to get some more information. The tour seemed relatively cheap and I though to myself “why not” so I agreed to come and so did the other lady. Waiting for the bus to pick us up we chatted breifly, she was from Germany and was holidaying on a cruise ship with her husband. I shared breifly where I was from and the name of my ship – which to her seemed like another cruise ship.

The tour guide took us to these amazing rock formations in the middle of the island for some photos where she took some photos of me with my camera. Then we went to this amazing little catholic church. While we were there she asked a little more about my ship and I explained how I work on board the ship and that everyone is a volunteer and we work for two years without going home – she was amazed – so then I explained what we do in a port, and then the reason being that we want to tell people about Jesus and pass on the blessing he has given to us. She was suitably impressed and said she might come visit one day, since her ship is next to mine.

On the way back to the town, the tour guide pointed out at the ocean and said “That ship there is the Logos, the book ship” – and saying this pointed straight to a very similar looking ship called Freewinds. The Freewinds is actually a vessel owned by Scientology, and is a training vessel. So I helped him to understand that the Logos Hope was actually berthed in the cruise ship terminal. Then he said “we usually like to visit the logos because we can get cheap books, but this government minister has stopped them selling books”. This was true, but 3 days after we arrived we settled the matter and were able to sell again – so I explained this all to him and the others in the bus, so he said he’d come and visit in the next few days with his family.

After I left there, I went to Taco Bell, the famous American fast food chain for mexican food. Having never been there before I figured it a good experience to eat there once. So I ordered a Quesadilla in a combo with chips and ice tea. When they called out my number for my order they called it out in Spanish so I just looked blankly at her until another lady said “That’s your order!” and I took it. We both left the counter together and she seemed friendly so I asked if I could sit with her. She was from Venezuela holidaying in Aruba for a few weeks with her husband and daughter. She was very surprised to hear of someone from as far off as Australia so I was able to share all about the ship and it’s purpose and my time on board again. She was very interested and said she would come check it out soon.

Leaving there I went in search of an internet cafe and along the way purchased a fantastic T-shirt with the map of the caribbean on the back. I found my internet cafe and watched some youtube videos and news videos from ABC – Video is blocked on the ship due to bandwidth restrictions. Then I tought to head to the cinema, though I was a little early.

Along my way I walked past a small museum that I had heard about from the line-up team. I went inside and paid a small fee to browse the museum. Inside I found many historical cultural items and learned a little of the island’s history – especially surrounding slavery and racism.

When I left the museum I was given a free soft-drink by a vendor associated with the museum so I saw it fit to sit and chat with them for a while. They found out I was from the Logos Hope and were excited to hear that it was indeed open for business and they resolved to visit it soon.

Then I headed for the cinema where I saw Avatar in 3D. It was a mind-blowing cinema experience, and I understand why my friends back home encouraged me to go see it if I had the chance. 3D has definately made some advances in recent years, and the cinematic effects in the movie were amazing.

After the movie I realised that it was already 7pm and I’d need to buy dinner as well, which was fine with me – so I went to a Chinese restaurant and ordered Mongolian Beef. That meal made me very happy and I thanked the owner and waitress for their wonderful food and service. As I was paying they asked me where I was from (obviously a foriegner). I was able to share again that I was from the Logos Hope – and immediately one of them recognised the name Logos from previous visits. They also resolved to visit in the next few days.

Returning to the ship for the night I thanked God for a fun day out, for the freedom to do as I please, but also for the opportunity to encourage people to come and visit the ship and to share with tourists about the work that Christians are doing on the island. I prayed that those people would indeed come to visit the ship and find on board ‘More than books’.

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in Georgetown, Guyana as we travelled to Church. The pastor of this small church plant and another leader had come to the ship to pick up myself and four others in two cars. As we left the city area the landscape became very rural. Cars shared the dusty dirt roads with pedestrians and horses slowly making their way, and either side of the road were fields and houses. As the car pulled to a halt we looked out the window, all I saw was a house with a two storey wooden house with a white picket fence, but beyond that I could hear the sounds of people singing praise to God.

As I entered through the gate in the fence I found myself in a makeshift church building complete with wooden pulpit and a number of wooden pews and some speakers and microphones and a piano keyboard – all contained within the front veranda of the house behind it. Much care and effort had been spent to dress up the inside of the church to make it a fantastic place of worship.

We were ushered to seats at the front of the church on what appeared to be a stage area – since it was slightly raised and sepearted from the seats and sat behind the pulpit. The service was beginning and a lady was opening the service in prayer, not the kind of prayers you’d find in an aussie church but a prayer of praise and worship – a motivating prayer accompanied by the keyboard playing. At this time there were very few people in the church – in fact there were more on the stage – and I was wondering how we would do our demonstration that required 20 volunteers. But slowly and surely, just like in my home church, people began to arrive as we sung songs of praise to God. God’s spirit was there and the people gave Him praise, and being there I put aside what I considered to be poor musicianship to praise my heavenly Father. If we in Australia struggled musically and technically as much as this church did then we would find our church empty, but these people don’t need good sound or singing in key to praise God.

We were each looked after like royalty and given a large bottle of water each (which came in very handy). When it was time for us to speak we each introduced ourselves with our name, country, work and reason for coming to the ship. Then it was my turn. Anne and I presented a missions presentation. I had only done this presentation once before in Barbados, and I had done the easier part, now I was doing the hard part – facts about Islam, Hinduism, Budhism and China plus an evangelistic and mission challenge. For a moment I froze on stage because I didn’t have any notes – thankfully Anne handed me the notes and as I read and the church was very encouraging I gained confidence and spoke more dynamicly and from the heart. It was a great experience.

After this, Hannah gave her testimony and Campbell preached a sermon on missions.

After church we went to a leader’s house to have lunch. They cooked a wonderful Guyanese meal for us and allowed us to rest and some of us to sleep on the couches. We were very encouraged and recharged by their hospitality. The pastor told us about his work in the interior of Guyana where there are many Amerindian tribes and very simple living.

After lunch we went to a Sunday School party at the church. Hannah did clowning and the girls sung a song ‘My God is so big, so strong and so mighty’, then they called me up. I was going to tell a story called ‘You are special’ by Max Lucado. I sat on a chair facing a semi-circle of kids and began to tell the story. I asked my friend Campbell to be the God character in the story and I invited two kids from the audience to play the parts of other characters. At one point I had one little boy sitting on my knee listening to the story. The kids really liked the story and applauded long at the end. I hope that it taught them to not worry what other people think of them, but just remember that God loves them no matter what.

After the sunday school the pastor took us to a wedding of some Indian friends. They had arranged for us to come and try some Indian food, so we came in were seated and each given a large leaf to use as a bowel. Then we each received a portion of rice and seven unique ingredients like chicken, mango and many things I didn’t recongnise. It was called ‘Seven Curry’ and you eat it with your hands (we were given water to wash our hands). It was a fantastic meal like I’ve never had before. And they sent us off with some sweet cake-like stuff when we left. I dont understand why they were so nice to us when it felt like I gate-crashed a wedding, but that’s just how nice they are. Then afterwards we returned to the church and they gave us some of the ice cream and jelly they gave to the kids. So many blessings! And that’s how it seems to go with Church teams, you go to be a blessing but you are blessed in return.

In Vieux Fort, St. Lucia the Ship’s company was able to participate in a Sabbath week. The ship was closed to the public so many people who work with visitors were able to help out in other departments so everyone worked only one or two days in the week. The focus of Sabbath week was to regroup, refocus, and reconnect with God – not that we should ever be disconnected. A guest speaker came to teach us about the Tabernacle of old testament times and the bronze alter and basin and the holy place with the showbread and the golden alter and the most holy place – the holy of holies, where the high preist would enter once a year to make attonment for the sins of the people. We learned in detail how these elements of worship, submission and approaching God were a foreshaddow to the work of Christ and the relationship we now have with the Father. The crew were encouraged to move into the Holy of Holies, since Christ has torn the veil and ushered us in so we may worship the Father.
My team and I worked a little more than some others, but we were able to attend all the sessions and really refresh ourselves, and we were a big help in blessing the ship’s company.

A tabernacle is set up in the Hope Theatre for a demonstration

“More than books – a whole new experience” is the motto for Logos Hope in the Caribbean. Little did the crew know that the recent visit to Barbados would prove just how true the motto is. For many on board, being forced to go to anchor due to bad sea conditions was more than frustrating. It prevented people from coming on board for more than half of the port stay. However, it also opened up new avenues to build relationships with people on shore and gave crew the chance to see their commitment differently. A renewed vision seems to have been born for the ports Logos Hope visits, as people were inspired to pray when they couldn’t act. As a result, those on and off the ship saw God working in ways they never could have imagined.
— Logos Hope communications team.

Do you recognise the style of building in the photo above? That’s right – it’s a nightclub. It’s probably one of the best equipped facilities in Barbados for clubgoers, and not only that, it also has a reputation among locals for all types of immorality. So what am I doing in this place? Am I doing club evangelism? Not exactly no.
Recently, this club ran into financial difficulties and had to shut down. The owners contacted a Christian missionary couple who had some contact with the club while it was running. They offered to sell the facility and it’s rights to this couple. Thinking of the absurdity of owning such a place, they said no. But in praying about it they felt God urging them to buy it. They received a number of confirmations from God. So they purchased the club and re-opened the doors. They are continuing for the most part to run it as it was before. Music is still played and alcohol is still dispensed. The owners pray consistently for the patrons and recognise that as owners they have some authority over the place. They will try, I suppose, to reach people within this framework.
On Friday nights they have a ‘Christian night’, where they only use the main auditorium and have christian artists come to perform. This particular night there was a youth event run partly by the ship and also featuring many local Christian artists. There were an OK number of people there, but more people would be better. Please pray that more non believers would attend the Friday night concerts and hear the Gospel, and also that people would be impacted by the different atmosphere of the club under Christian management.

I awoke one morning to the sound of the public address system. It was the captain’s voice. “Good morning ship’s company” he said. And you know that if the captain is speaking it’s going to be something important. He went on to anounce that we would be leaving the port immediately (and it was around 6am) and going to anchor a few kms off the coast. Bad weather nearby had caused large swells and the ship was being damaged in port. I went back to sleep since it was my day off.
It occured to me later that we would stay at anchor for a few days – in fact it turned out to be a week and a half – and for all that time we could not have any ministry onboard and we were very limited on what we could do onshore. On the first day the captain allowed the use of our rescue boat (up to 6 people) to take people to and from the shore – only on business. Then later we hired a service to pick people up, and this weekend we were able to use the 80 person lifeboats to do ministry ashore.
While we were essentially stuck on the ship we had an extra prayer night and movies and nintendo on the big screen to keep us from going crazy. I participated in a leadership training course to help me in my new position. The AV team was able to relax a litte as there were no onboard events and only a few more community events.

As I entered the church the music had started and the pastor was praying. Smartly dressed lady ushers stood at the door to welcome me as I entered the small church building carying a box of props for a missions presentation. We were guided right to the front pew of this traditionally furnished church building to sit in the front row. Though traditional in it’s furnishings, the band was lively and loud and the pastor was almost shouting his prayer above the music. Adorned in my sunday best, complete with purple tie and my white skin, I – along with 3 others from the ship – stood out like a sore thumb. The worship began. What surprised me most at that moment is that it was an old chorus from 60 or 70 years ago! They performed it as if it was brand new and there was no missing the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. As we continued to sing it occured to me that we had been singing for quite some time, and had repeated many verses over, but still I was delighted to worship the Lord in such a way. And then finally the time came for the very reason we had visited this church.

We had come to give a missions presentation and share our testimonies using volunteers from the audience and various props. The aim was to show them how much of the world has been reached with the gospel, and what is being done to continue it’s advance.
If the world were represented by ten people, then only one of these ten people would be born again, bible believing Christians who place their faith in Jesus Christ, whom they confess as their Lord and Saviour. Another two people would be nominal christians who may attend church occasionally and call themselves christians, but are not saved. And a further three people would have heard the gospel of Jesus but for one reason or another not responded to it. These are ‘reached non-christians’. So the gospel has covered approximately 60% of the world’s population. Of the unreached, one person would be Muslim, one would be Hindu, one would be Budhist and one would come from China. Though there are many more nations and religeons – these are the big four.
If the world’s christian missionaries were then represented by ten people, then only one of these 10 would work in the unreached world where people have not heard the gospel even once. 3 would work amongst the reached non-christians and 6 would work amongst nominal christians. “The harvest is plenty but the laborers are few, therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers into the harvest field”.

Many in the church were amazed at the imbalance of missionaries in the unreached world, I hope and pray they will seek God as to how they can help. Maybe it is by going, maybe it is by praying or giving or mobilising. The other three gave their testimonies to the church and the pastor concluded the service.

After church we were invited to someone’s house for sunday lunch. It was a fantastic time to chat with local Christians and fellowship with them. I thank God for a great experience and the chance to encourage others to join the mission.

This weekend I headed up the AV team for two big events. It was certainly a big weekend for the whole team.

The first event was a 3 hour epic youth event featuring a local band and a number of vocal acts from a UK Hip Hop group that is visiting the ship. I headed a team of 9 people: Sound, Backstage, Lyrics, Lights, Spotlight, 3 camera operators and a video switcher. Everyone did a fantastic job and we created a fantastic atmosphere. The message was ‘Reach for Life’ motivating young people in St. Lucia to make good life choices and to give their lives to Christ. There was a drama that demonstrated that you can’t sit on the fence, you must choose Jesus or Satan. At the end of the event, 20 youths gave their lives to Christ, and that’s what it’s all about.

The very next day the AV team got to work bringing the quayside stage out to entertain the innumerable visitors waiting in line to get into the book fair. The UK artists sang up a storm and a number of local youths stepped out of the queue to listen and cheer. The next day a local band came to play and entertain guests. They were a fantastic worship band that everyone liked. The plan was to have testimonies and dramas and puppets and all sorts of different ways of communicating the gospel. Unfortunately a huge storm cloud came overhead and it poured down rain. I rushed to cover everything and a number of people helped out. I was completely soaked but nothing was water damaged. It was a good opportunity for me to test out a new sound system that I built the previous week from left over gear, and people really enjoyed the show while it lasted.