Leaving today to on shore training

I'm leaving in just about an hour for our 12-day on shore training for new crew members. We're currently berthed in Tobago, but the training is going to be held in Trinidad, so we'll be taking a 2 1/2 hour ferry over to Trinidad this afternoon. Should be fun! The new crew members will arrive at the venue on Sunday evening, so we'll have a few days to set up before they arrive. The training will be held at a Christian conference center, so it should be pretty nice. John will be coming out for a short visit next Friday - Sunday, so I'll be looking forward to that! Please be praying for a GREAT training for the new crew members and for me as I'll be leading several training sessions.

To the beach in a lifeboat!

Last weekend, several of our "deckies" on board took us on our adventure to the beach in our ship's lifeboats! What an expereiece! We really packed on the life boat. I guess it was good practice in case we really ever need to use them! What a hoot!

Our ship photographer Tom Brouwer took these fun pictures!! Tom captured this hilarious picture of me leaping into the ocean. Can you tell I'm excited to be in the Caribbean? These photos are so priceless. Thanks Tom!

Goodbye Grenada, Hello Tobago!

We sailed away from Grenada yesterday afternoon and arrived safely into Tobago this morning! Grenada was an excellent port for the ship. We had over 25,000 visitors to the ship and sold over 45,000 books! Between St. Vincent and Grenada, we've sold more books than all the European ports combined! Ship's company was able to visit over 20 churches to strengthen and encourage them and over 150 came to know the Lord through an Evangelism event that happened throughout the port. Praise God!

Trainers!

John took a few cool pictures of the trainors that are going to lead the on shore training for new crew members (see previous blog). The first one is pretty funny! As you can see, it was a bit windy! :) There will be seven of us leading the training for 100 new crew members, so pray for us! We are: me, Thomas (Switzerland), Becky, Alison and Maureen (all from the UK), Mel (Australia) and Giordanni (Brazil). We will leave this Friday for the training and come back to the ship on September 9. I'll be gone from the ship for 12 days, so am really looking forward to being on land for a bit. But I'll definitely be sad to be away from John that long! We are very thankful that he'll be able to come out for a visit about half way through, so that's a blessing! Please be praying for our team. We're really excited to train and welcome our 100 new crew members!

New Job for Jennifer!

I am very happy to announce that I have a new job on board! Managing the Guest Relations Department on board was an incredible learning experience for me, but I'm definitely ready to move on to another job. :) I'll be joining the Training Service Department on board at the end of this week. The Training Services Department's purpose is "To support the ship's ministry by providing and coordinating all non-technical training for ship's company, so as to add to the development of people, the spiritual growth and to the enhancement of the ship's ministry." I will write more soon about the specifics of my job (once I actually start!), but was wanted to let everyone know the good news. My first "assignment" will be to help lead the pre-ship training for our new recruits joining the ship. We have almost 100 new crew members joining the ship in a few weeks, so I'll be leaving the ship on Friday to help lead their on shore training before they join the ship on September 9. Please pray for a great time!

Grenada - Isle of Spice!

Grenada is popularly known as the "Spice Island of the Caribbean." The island has a moderate tropical climate that ensures the success of spice production. The island is famous for cocoa, mace, clove, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Grenada is the world’s second largest producer of nutmeg (after Indonesia), providing 20% of the world supply! Even with all of the spice exporting, tourism is the main economic force in Grenada. Grenada has many incredible beaches around its coastline including the 2.5 mile long Grand Anse Beach in St Georges which is considered to be one of the finest beaches in the world, and often appears in countdowns of the world's top 10 beaches. (We can testify to the truth of this statement! The water is so clear that you think you're swimming in a swimming pool!)

Caribbean Church Service

This morning, we had the opportunity to attend our first Caribbean church. What an awesome experience! The church was so alive and on fire. We loved it! There were lots of "Amen's" and "Hallelujah's" throughout the 3 1/2 hour service. The preaching and music were electric! The church is actually the home church of a fellow crew member from Grenada, so we really enjoyed being able to visit his home church and meet so many wonderful people in the congregation.

Goodbye St. Vincent, Hello Grenada!

We sailed away from St. Vincent last evening and arrived in Grenada this morning! Thank God for a smooth and very short sail! St. Vincent was an AMAZING port for the ship! We had over 43,000 visitors -- almost half of the island's population!! The number of books sold in our book fair was more than all of our UK ports combined (London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast). We sold 63,000 books and gave out thousands of free books as well. Praise God! Enjoy a few pictures from lovely St. Vincent and the Grenadines!

August Ship Photo

The above photo of the Logos Hope was taken by Logos Hope photographer Tom Brouwer in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Every month, an image is available for you to use as your computer desktop image. Each month a new image will be made available and will include a mini calendar for that month. Click here to downtown this photo!

Stories of Hope

Logos Hope now has a podcast! Check it out! You can listen to the stories online or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. Hear the latest stories from the Logos Hope.