Jamaica

Jamaica, known as the “Little Jewel in the Caribbean" has a population of 2.8 million people and is the third largest island in the Caribbean. The island is 4,411 square miles, slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut in the U.S. The official language is English, but their national language is Jamaican Patois. The name Jamaica comes from a word of the Arawak Indians, "Xaymaca", meaning land of wood and water. Today, the sugar industry is the highest employer in Jamaica - in the eighteenth century the island was the world's largest sugar producer.

Jamaica is famous for many things including Bob Marley and reggae music, their bobsled team, very fast runners, Blue Mountain coffee, Rastafarians and Jamaican jerk spice. Here are a few more fun facts about Jamaica:

-Jamaica was the first country in the Western world to construct a railway, even before the United States! This was only 18 years after Britain!

-Jamaica was the first Caribbean Country to gain independence.

-Jamaica was the first commercial producer of bananas in the Western Hemisphere.

-Apart from the United States, Jamaica has won the most world and Olympic medals.

Goodbye Ship Children!

Last night, we had a ship family celebration to say goodbye to three of our ship children. After being on board together for almost 1 1/2 years, it's quite sad to say goodbye. Here's one last picture of us all together. But with new crew joining soon, we'll soon be getting more children I'm sure! :)

Awesome video about Guyana teams!

Check out this awesome new video - click here!

The video highlights three of the teams that went out into the communities while we were in Guyana. The first team was the one that John and I were apart of. You can barely see me in the background with a purple dress on. I'm so glad that our videographer made this awesome video so you can better visualize Guyana. Thank you Ruben!

Hello Jamaica!!

We arrived very early this morning into Montego Bay, Jamaica! We'll be in Jamaica for nine weeks, so we're quite excited! I leave tomorrow morning for the onshore training for new crew members, so please be praying for me! I'll be off the ship until February 3. John will join me at the training on the 28th. Please pray for energy, stamina, and clear communication for us. Thank you!

Goodbye Aruba!

We sailed away from Aruba last night at midnight and will arrive in Jamaica early Wednesday morning. The seas are quite rough, so we're really rocking! Pray for smooth sailing! Overall, Aruba was a wonderful port with 17,354 visitors.

Cute picture of sailing into Aruba

 

Preparing for new crew!

Soon we'll have 69 new crew members joining the Logos Hope! Twice a year, new crew members join the ship - September and February. Before coming to the ship, new crew members have an on shore training to prepare for the ship. I'll be helping again with training the new recruits (I helped with the September training as well). I'll be off the ship from Jan. 21 - Feb. 3 at an on shore site in Jamaica. And John is coming as well for the second half of the training! Yipeeee! I'm most excited to train on team work and goal setting! John will be training on hospitality and partner development. He's quite excited as well. Please keep us in your prayers while we're on shore training. The time will be really fun, but also very tiring and strenuous. Thanks!

New Year's Eve Pictures

 
 
 
 

Haiti

Many friends and supporters have emailed us asking how the Haiti disaster is affecting the Logos Hope. We have gotten back to many of you individually, but also wanted to put below our ship's "official" response to the disaster.

Haiti Response

Our hearts go out to the nation of Haiti, devastated by the recent earthquake. We want to help in the most effective way we can, and are in discussion with OM Caribbean and others about possibilities. Initial research shows that it is not feasible for Logos Hope to berth in Haiti at this point, but it may become possible for teams to be sent or for the ship to visit at a later stage.

Ship teams have proved effective in boosting rebuilding efforts following natural disasters in places like Grenada after Hurricane Ivan struck and in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. We sincerely hope that Logos Hope can be part of OM's response to this situation. Further information will be available very soon. Thank you for your support for OM's part in the relief efforts already underway.

Aruba Prayer Event

Last evening, I had the wonderful privilege of sharing in a prayer event we had on board for Arubans. In each port, we have a prayer night for the local people in which we share prayer requests from around the world and then set up stations where people can pray. I was asked to share prayer requests for children around the world. I shared about child prostitution, starvation and education. All three are very heavy topics, but I think it's really good for people to have a clear picture of what's going on in the world around us. We can better pray for needs when we know the facts. My biggest passion in life is helping hurting children, so I was so thrilled to be able to share with people prayer requests for children around the world.

STEP Aruba

As I've mentioned in past postings, one of my jobs on board is coordinating a program called STEP (short term exposure program). The program is for young people that are interested in short-term missions (10 week program 0n board). This past weekend, we welcomed a new group -- STEP Aruba. We have 15 young people from 11 different questions. This is my 2nd group to coordinate, so am excited to start a new program. We had a 3-day orientation for them and today they started their jobs on board. The best thing about this STEP is that John is going to be my STEP co-coordinator! The person that did the job last time wasn't able to continue in the role, so John will be assisting me this time around. We're really excited to have the opportunity to work together.

Aruba

Aruba is a 21 mile long island in the Southern Caribbean Sea. Unlike much of the Caribbean region, Aruba has a dry climate and an arid, cactus-strewn landscape. Because it has almost no rainfall, Aruba was saved from plantation and the economics of the slave trade. The Netherlands, the Netherland Antilles, and Aruba form the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Aruba enjoys one of the highest standards of living in the Caribbean region. About three quarters of the Aruban economy of based upon tourism. Approximately 80% of Arubans are Mestizo, meaning they are a mix of European and American-Indian descent.

Goodbye Curacao, Hello Aruba!

Yesterday morning we sailed away from Curacao and arrived in Aruba in the evening. Thanks to God for a short, smooth sail! ;) We're thrilled to be in Aruba!! We're right in town next to the cruise ships, so it's a wonderful location. The better the location, the more visitors we have, so we're praying for big crowds. Funny enough, last night when our ship came into our berth, we're nose to nose with a Royal Caribbean cruise ship called Enchantment of the Seas, which my family sailed on back in 1998. So cool! John's brother Curtis sailed with us and then left for the airport early this morning. Praise God for a wonderful time together. We'll post pictures soon.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010! We had an incredible New Year's Eve and New Year's Day here in Curacao! John's brother Curtis flew in to visit us on the 30th and will stay until the 7th. We're having a great time with him. So fun to have him here to ring in the New Year. As soon as our internet gets a bit faster, we'll post some pictures.