One in a Million!
Logos Hope receives her one millionth visitor in Monrovia, Liberia.
LIBERIA - 19 August, 2010
A major milestone was reached as the one millionth visitor climbed the gangway to visit OM's ship Logos Hope in Monrovia, Liberia, this week. Francis Mulbaha, a local university student, was welcomed at 1300 local time on Wednesday 18 August by Director Gian Walser (Switzerland) and Captain Dirk Colenbrander (Netherlands). The ship's mascot El Capitano was on hand along with crewmembers in national costumes. Excited, as well as somewhat overwhelmed by all the attention, Mr. Mulbaha said he had heard about the visit on the radio and was keen to come on board to find books for his studies as well as his family. To mark the occasion, Mr. Mulbaha was presented with a gift of books and a discount voucher for the onboard book fair.
"To reach a million visitors is a wonderful testimony to God's grace and faithfulness," said OM Ships International CEO Peter Nicoll. "It is our privilege and a great responsibility to welcome so many people in these past eighteen months and we have seen so many lives changed as a result. This is only possible because of the faithfulness of partners around the world who support this ministry financially and in prayer."
Just a few days previously, Logos Hope was honoured to receive the President of the Republic of Liberia, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. "Knowledge is the one thing that propels any person, any group, any nation," said Her Excellency. "So when you come and get us exposed to the books you have, you contribute a whole lot to our rebuilding process." After a short welcome programme, the President mingled with local citizens on the Visitor Experience Deck, especially the young ones. The President has a passion for children, books and education and was very appreciative of the value of the visit of Logos Hope to her nation, still striving to recover from the devastation of civil war.
As well as the high quality educational and Christian literature and events taking place on board during the visit, Logos Hope teams are involved in development projects on shore, including building projects, and medical and dental clinics. Accompanying Mr. Mulhaba was his brother, who came hoping to receive dental treatment. He was able to go straight from the ship to the dental clinic taking place just ten minutes away at the Redemption Hospital.
Liberia is the third country in Logos Hope's tour of West Africa, following visits to Freetown, Sierra Leone and the ports of Tema and Takoradi in Ghana. In Sierra Leone, libraries in rural communities were established using books donated by Logos Hope together with the National Postal Service. Training for librarians was also provided on board to ensure the newly established libraries are well looked after and can provide access to life-changing literature for many years to come. On board, seminars on establishing and running a small business in line with Christian ethics and principles were provided in partnership with the international organisation 'A Call to Business'.
During the visit to Takoradi, Ghana, a new record for visitors to Logos Hope in one day was set, with 12,028 visitors coming on board on the last Saturday in port. Interest in Christian literature was immense, and a Bible was bought on board every 52 seconds the ship was open! Every visitor has the opportunity to hear about God's love for them and many lives have been changed for eternity as people respond to the Good News.
Since the ship's launch into ministry in February 2009, Logos Hope has visited 39 ports in 30 countries in Europe, the Caribbean and West Africa, to bring 'knowledge, help and hope'. Over two million Christian and educational books have been distributed through the book fair already.
For latest news and further information including the future port schedule, visit www.omships.org. To support the ongoing ministry of Logos Hope, please contact your local OM office, or give online at www.omships.org/donate.
Ken Miller
Communications Manager
OM Ships International
We can hardly believe we have just one week left on board the Logos Hope. Please be praying for our last week -- for all the packing, saying goodbye to friends and bringing closure to our time. We have had a wonderful two years on board the ship. Time flies when you're having fun! We knew the time would fly and it did. Thanks!
We had the incredible privilege of welcoming Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to the ship this morning. We hosted a welcoming ceremony for her and her staff, in which John and I wore our American cowboy costumes to welcome her. She loved all of the national costumes! We are so thankful for her visit today and for her support of our ship. What an awesome honor to welcome a President on board the Logos Hope!!
Her Excellency Sirleaf is the first female President to have been elected in all of Africa (elected in 2006). She has done an outstanding job in working towards rebuilding their economy after their devastating civil war.
Yesterday, I (Jennifer) had the awesome opportunity to visit an AIDS hospital here in Monrovia. Along with three others from the ship, we presented a program to the patients -- first to the women and children and then again for the men. I gave an encouraging message about God's strength -- that the joy of the Lord is our strength. We brought gift bags to each of the patients filled with basic necessities (soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, comb, etc.). We really enjoyed our visit and loved meeting each and every one of them and having the chance to pray with them. The patients receive visitors very seldom, so it was such a privilege to visit them and to bring to them the message of hope.
Watch the latest ShipShot video called "Hope Team." This is a great example of the types of teams we send out into the community on a daily basis. Enjoy! Click here.
This week, John and I participated in a re-entry training as we’re preparing to head home in a few weeks. The OM Ships website has a short article about it on the website today www.omships.org. If you click on the photo, you can see John on the far left next to the window with a green shirt on and I’m next to him with a red shirt on. Check it out!
The history of
A military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William Tolbert, which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to two civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country's economy. Today,
As of 2006,
We arrived in
Yesterday evening, we set sail from Takoradi. Hard to believe this is our last voyage! I (Jennifer) got a little choked up thinking about embarking on our last sail and heading into our last port. We still can't believe how fast the time has flown. We're due to arrive into Monrovia, Liberia on Friday afternoon. In our two weeks in Takoradi, we had 63,972 visitors. Praise God!!
Yesterday was a FANTASTIC day -- what a dream come true! We spent the entire day giving AIDS Awareness presentations to remote villages in the Jomoro District of Ghana (by the border of Cote d'Ivoire). We were with a team of seven people from the ship and we each had a section of the presentation that we gave. Before giving our presentation to the villagers, we first had to stop and see the chief of each village to gain his permission to address his village. What an experience. It was one of those days that I had to keep pinching myself to believe this was really happening. What an incredible experience and honor both have been able to be on this team. Enjoy the pictures!
Yesterday, we had a record breaking day for the number of visitors on one day. We had 12,028 visitors! Our previous record was just over 8,000 on one day, so we beat the record by 4,000!! Thank you Lord! We are overwhelmed with joy by the number of people here in Takoradi that have been visiting our ship. What a day to rejoice!
This morning, we had a wonderful time at a local church here in Takoradi. We were on a team with two other friends -- Steve (USA) and Alex (Russia). The service was so lovely... but long! Nearly 4 hours! :) We sang so many beautiful songs, complete with African drums and dancing of course. We delivered a ship presentation, drama, and a testimony and also gave a short presentation to the children's Sunday school as well. We felt so loved and welcomed. There was 200+ people in attendance and it was so nice seeing all of them dressed in their brightly colored traditional African clothing. This will probably be the last local church we visit, so we were so thankful for this a wonderful experience.
Yesterday was a really tremendous day! In the morning, John and I were hosts for an exciting event on board. We had an event for all the chiefs in the area. Wow, what an experience! It's certainly not everyday that you meet 50 African chiefs dressed in their beautiful robes and lavish gold jewelry. The event coordinator asked several crew members to crew in their "national costumes" as the chiefs were also dressed in their traditional clothing. John and I dressed like cowboys and really had fun! :)
Later in the day, I (Jennifer) joined a team of ladies from the ship to give an AIDS seminar to a local nursing school. What an honor and a privilege! We did a one-hour seminar on the social and emotional impacts of HIV and AIDS. There was about 150 nurses in attendance. They were very attentive and interested in our presentation. It was so encouraging to see so many young African men and women desiring to become nurses in their country. Now I can add to my list of experiences "college lecturer!" ;)
The posting on the OM Ship's website today is about the school visits that John has been involved with as an actor. Check it out - www.omships.org. Interesting!
On Sunday afternoon, John and I MC'd an event on board called "Marriage Revival." What a GREAT event! We had 120 locals come on board for an afternoon of teaching and renewing their marriage. The main speaker was a local pastor/ professor (of business!) and did a fabulous job. In addition to enjoying MC'ing the event, we also really enjoyed the messages. We got lots of great new tips and ideas for a healthy marriage... from the African point of view! ;) What a blessing.
The group of volunteers working through some questions. We had about 50 volunteers yesterday!
We love interacting with the volunteers. They are always so friendly, lively and fun! They always make us laugh. ;)
While John teaches the session, I act as the "scribe." One of the topics we discuss is how God describes His love for us in the Bible in so many ways. He loves us like a hen loves her chicks; like a shepherd love his flock and like a father and a mother love their children. Here I'm taking notes about how God loves us like a mother. They always have such good answers!
Early yesterday morning, we set sail from Tema, Ghana to Takoradi, Ghana. We arrived into Takoradi early this morning. We are thankful that it was a relatively short sail as it was ROUGH! Whew! A few times last night, we thought we might roll out of bed. :) Tema was an excellent port for the ship. In the 14 days that we were open for visitors, we had over 52,000 people come on board. On our busiest day, we had 8,000 in one day! We sold lots and lots of books - about 137,000 books in total. And the most exciting part of the book sales was that we sold one Bible every minute our book fair was open! We're really looking forward to this second port in Ghana. Hard to believe this is our 2nd to last port!
As many of our readers know, mentoring is one of my main passions in life (Jennifer). So I am thrilled to announce that last night, we kicked off a six-week course for crew on board that are interested in learning more about mentoring and being mentors for younger crew members on board. When one of our chaplains on board mentioned that she really wanted to run this course, I (of course!) offered to help train. Last night we had our first session and it went really well. We're going to run the course on both Friday and Saturday nights. We had 40 people sign up which is so encouraging! Last night, I trained on the Mentoring Continuum and the Constellation Model of Mentoring Relationships (both are concepts that I've learned since joining the ship). Before coming to the ship, I worked at a mentoring program for at-risk youth, so most of my knowledge of mentoring was between a caring, stable adult and an at-risk youth. Since coming to the ship, my understanding of mentoring has broadened quite a bit and I've become more familiar with the adult-to-adult type of mentoring. Over the past several months, I've actually been mentoring four younger female crew members which has been an absolute joy!
Since the Logos Hope took her maiden voyage 17 months ago, we've been having school visits in each port. We bring several classes into our 400-seat theater for a fun kid's program almost each day the ship is open. The program is called "The Greatest Treasure." On busy days, we have up to five programs a day! The program is very interactive and exciting for the kids. A group of sailors are looking for the "greatest treasure" which turns out to the be the Word of God. We also share about God's love and what our ship is all about.
John and I have helped with the program before (welcoming children, etc.), but have never acted in the play before. Since we're in our final stretch, we decided to go ahead and try something new and participate in a training to learn the play. I'm happy to say that John played the part of the Captain twice this week. He did a GREAT job! I was so proud of his "pirate" captain voice. So cute. The kids love it. We're so happy to still have the opportunity to try new things even in our final months on board.
John's birthday on the beach!
Our drumming instructor, Master Okoe.
My new little friends!
Our new friend, Thomas, the head waiter at Big Milly's. We loved connecting with all the locals working at Big Milly's. What a great staff.
Happy 4th of July to all of our American readers! Hope you have a wonderful day celebrating the gift of our independence today with your friends and family. Hard to believe we're in Ghana today celebrating an American holiday! :) All of the Americans on board will celebrate together tonight with a BBQ. May today be a wonderful day of celebration for you. May we never forget the amazing freedoms we have as Americans and all those who sacrificed their lives to enable those freedoms. May God bless America!
Our friend Emmanuel Shaw (that runs the Mercy Children's Orphanage in Sierra Leone) is featured today on our OM Ships website (www.omships.org)! The article will be on the main page for only a few days, so check it out ASAP! How wonderful!
We arrived into Tema, Ghana last night around midnight! We haven't been off the ship yet today, but are anxious to go out and explore soon!
I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing all the different types of jobs that John had during our time in Calaba Town -- digging, carrying water (on his head African style!), pumping water at the well, and breaking up rock to make gravel. Just a few of the many ways John served the people of Calaba Town during our week there.
What are so thankful to experience Africa together!
A few girls from our team, along with our local friends.
All week, we drank water from this little bags!
One of the last nights, we had a dance party with some of the locals. So fun!!
John and I, along with a team of seven others from the ship, spent June 21 - 27 in the community of Calaba Town. Our task was to build a church for the local community. There was a "church" in the town, but it was just four sticks with material around it, providing just a little shelter. Over the week, we build a really solid foundation and begin the construction of the church. What a week! We stayed at the home of the pastor, which was quite a tight fit for nine of us, plus him! We certainly had a interesting time as there was no running water and electricity only came on for a few hours twice during the week. We were so thankful for the opportunity to stay among the locals for the week though. We found it fascinating to observe how they do their daily tasks -- washing, cooking, ironing, and bathing. What a eye-opening experience for us. Wow.
We built incredible friendships with the locals. A group of the church members helped us each day in building the church. They were so strong and such an incredible help. They were so warm, kind and open with us. We also loved meeting all of the children of the village. They LOVED playing with us and we loved playing with them too! :) Two very special friends we made were Mustapha and Patrick, whom both dedicated their lives to the Lord. Praise God! This week will certainly be a week we'll remember for the rest of our lives. God truly broke our hearts for the things that break His.
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