The Elevator Pitch

My (John) mom sent me an e-mail last week asking for a short description of the ship's ministry: An "Elevator Pitch". I thought that the answer carries relevance for all who are tracking with us.

The Logos Hope ship has an international crew of 350 people from 40 nations. Together, we have three areas of focus: Knowledge, Help, and Hope.

Knowledge in the form of books and seminars - a 6,000 title book fair, and seminars ranging from business to discipleship training.

Help in the form of community development and outreach - construction projects from houses to playgrounds, and community events like trash pickup teams and visiting hospitals and orphanages.

Hope in the form of practical and relational evangelism: living Christ's loving kindness to the in-firmed, imprisoned, homeless, drug addicted, orphaned, widowed, rich, poor, employed, bored, troubled, scared, timid, nominal, and lost.

Soon we will be traveling from port to port, stopping for two to three weeks in each port. The past six months have been a unique time while the ship has been outfitted for the above ministry.

I think that covers what the ship does.... and to answer the question "What do John, Jennifer and the rest of the ship's company actually do each day?" Here you go... Everyone has a 40 hr/wk job that contributes to running the ship ministry. There are six divisions on board the ship:

1) Marine operations: Deck - mooring, chipping rust and painting, watch keeping, and driving the ship; Engine - mechanical engineers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and welders.

2) Hotel & Catering: cleaning the inside of the ship, cooking 1600 meals/day baking bread, cake, cookies, and catering events.

3) Corporate Services: finances, room bookings, van bookings, airline tickets, administration, purser, and A/V.

4) Public ministries: event planning, ministry opportunity planning, and line up- teams sent two to three months ahead of the ship to a port to connect and facilitate births, customs, and other partnership.

5) Personnel: Training, health care, school, personnel, and community development.

6)Partner ministries: Guest relations, communications, public relations, and development/fund raising.

I now work in the partner development/ fundraising department of the partner ministries division. Jennifer works in the guest relations department of the same division.

Hope that's helpful! :)