Subic Bay was full of excitement and ministry.  I was able to build several strong relationships and become more familiar with my work. The ministry is doing great things for the kingdom.

This was the last port before the ship moved into dry dock.  Again the Filipino people are so friendly.  I was able to welcome thousands of the people on-board to Logos Hope’s Book Fair. Also Subic Bay has been very Americanized so there were several American Navy personnel and families in the area.  We also have many Port Volunteers that come from the local area to volunteer on-board.  It’s great to get to know them and hear how God is working in their lives. I primarly was focusing the majority of my time with my own co-workers; these are the people I’m with all the time and able to feel like I have an influence on.  We enjoy telling each other our stories of how God has grown us and made us who we are, but also to inspire and encourage each other that God has done and will continue to do great things in our lives.  We spent several occasions going out in the local community to share some time together away from work, but we also of course work all the time.  So, I appreciate my team and how diverse it is.  We have lots of fun and excitement on-board.  Whether dancing in the cash line, telling jokes in the life boat (entrance), or just helping each other with a problem.  My new team and position has allowed me to appreciate my time on-board more. 

My role in the World’s Largest Book Fair has been a great big blessing from above.  I think God for His gifts.  Since making a change to the book fair I’ve worked now in Subic Bay and Manila.  I have been able to get used to all the machinery and tools necessary for this position.  Below you can see me making preparation for the dry dock, we had to move several books out of the hold to make room for the technicians to take off the wall panels.

 

Dry Dock is a 9 week period when the ship will be closed to the public and the crew will either make repairs to the ship or go out on Challenge teams.  The Ship’s Community is split between those who go on challenge teams and those who stay for dry dock.  Challenge teams are groups of people who go out to the local community for the length of dry dock to do ministry.  The rest will stay behind to maintain the ship. 

Before dry dock I was able to do a bit a preliminary work for my time during dry dock, LIT, (Logos Intensive Training).  I connected with a local church in Malacabat that my sending church has partnered with.  Through the churches I was able to develop a relationship with the local pastor who is a brother-n-law to one of the serving pastors at the sending church.  After making several correspondences I was able to make a trip to the church about 1 hours drive by public transit to the church.  There we we’re able to attend the weekly prayer meeting and visit with church community.  This was a great time as I was able to pray with the church.  The following day we also attended a Bible study and meet some more of the local people I will be able to minister with during my challenge team this upcoming season with LIT. 

Our crew is made up of over 400 peoples coming from over 50 different nationalities. We have a great ministry where we’re able to use the ship as a tool to attract people to the ship to share with them our testimony and what God is doing in our lives.

For the next 9 weeks the ship will be in

Dry Dock or on Challenge Teams!

This time onboard/onshore will be “challenging” for many people. The work will be more strenuous and longer hours.  But that’s why they call it “Challenge” Teams.  They’re design for us to grow in the challenges of life.  We each have a different task, but we will each undergo strong difficulties. 

Please pray for the crew of Logos Hope during this next intense 9 weeks, and for me to have new inspiration on the ship and my walk with God.

I will be doing LIT, Logos Intensive Training, a mix of the challenge teams and hard work repairing the ship. We will be onshore doing ministry with the local community of the Philippines.  We will also be doing a great deal of Bible study, teaching, presentation, and faith trips.  This includes reading through the entire Bible (9 weeks), giving sermons, and lectures at local schools, and more. So far we've covered the spiritual and academic side, this training also includes a very intense physical work out.  We will also be working in the heat of the Engine, Accomadation, Catering, and Deck Departments.  Wherever the greatest need is we will go and help. Our bodies will literally be streched in every direction during this time.  

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.  Trusting in God has been a daily thing for me.  I gotta give God my heart and soul of every moment.  It is so humbling to be in the Philippians and be doing ministry. 

The people here are so kind.  I want to be more involved with them. I’ve seen so much in this time with Logos Hope.  It has grown my heart for the people.  I would like to do ministry long term with these people. 

 A couple of sister pose for a picture.  This girls are so beautiful but you can see how life has worn on them by looking into their eyes.

You can see the joy this child had with our presence.  As you look at the background you are sadened by his home.  "Smokey Mountain" where many thousands of homeless live.  It is like a huge wasteland full of garbage.  

 Children of God, 

 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

 

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

(Psalms 127:3-5 ESV)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26-29

Cebu, Philippines

Cebu was very humbling and exciting time of growth in ministry.  I’m learning many things by allowing God to be the center of my life. 

Evidence of my faith is shown through my daily encounters. I "love that which is holy, and hate evil”, Psalm 97:10.  I am experiencing genuine Christianity everyday. I know I have been forever changed by the free gift of God.  I live a radical Christian lifestyle everyday onboard the Logos Hope. Others can see this by my works and attitude I show them.  I want to run to the top of the hill in wave my banner for the Kingdom of God, Matthew 5:14&16, Isaiah 60:1.  My love for God grows stronger everyday.

My love for children and community development continues to grow as I love working with the locals and sharing with them new things about my culture and vice versa.  It is amazing to see God working in me and through me.  I’m always challenged in a sea of spiritual growth to remember to continually do the simple things, acknowledging God as Holy, regarding Him with utmost respect (to fear God is to a reverential trust for God) and knowing everything is dependent on Him; I’m always being mindful of His Glory by keeping a kingdom perspective. There are many was to do this, the most common are through worship and our adoration.  By giving praise to our Father our Creator and Sustainer; living a constant faithful lifestyle that is pleasing to God. 

Ministry Day 1.18.12

This day would change my attitude for the future.  I’m so thankful for what I have.  This day was amazing in every way.  I want to thank God for letting me experience such poverty. 

In my studies I learned about slums and people who were stuck in a life with little hope of escaping poverty, but experiencing it first hand is so much more than studying about it.  We started our ministry day by going to an orphanage, Christ for Asia.  At the orphanage we we’re able to connect well with several of the orphans and play with them while preparing for the evening activities. 

The orphanage houses a boys and girls home of about 100 kids from 4 to adult age; also part of the ministry is to feed those in the community who cannot feed themselves.  A group of six of us prepared a meal for the many mouths in the Philippians that otherwise would have gone hungry that night.  We served a local dished that required a lot of preparation, but we knocked it out quickly amongst all the volunteers, (there were several others working with us from the orphanage).  After the meal was prepared we planned to go to 2 sites to distribute the food to the hungry.

We as a group from Logos Hope live onboard a ship that has everything a typical household would have.  It’s like camp but on water and we move all around the world connecting with the local community.  What I’m trying to say is that we have “our bubble” the ship and don’t experience much of the true culture until we step off the gangway and embrace it.  We don’t see the real aspects of life because we’re not there long enough for the people to open up to us to see it.  Busy working onboard sometimes forgetting I ever left home.  Going through the local orphanage we were able to see things only few outsiders encounter; although the poverty is everywhere in the Philippians.  This was on another level. 

For the next several hours we embraced the young Filipino kids and shared with them our love.  We played, kissed, and hugged on these kids who had little to nothing.  Some barely were clothed some were not clothed.  We did a drama, sang songs, told Jesus stories and more all with a joyful heart and laughing with them.  I connected well with the kids and loved the whole thing, realizing maybe this would be something God would have me direct in the future. 

After we feed the kids we played with them a bit longer before we left to go to our next site.  This was near center city and was very chaotic part of town if you could imagine.  (Another part of the Filipino culture is that it is very chaotic.  They have few traffic lights and that makes for chaos getting through an intersection.)  There was a group of homeless men at this site and several kids.  Again we played games doing sport and face paint and such.  I connected with the kids but also well with the men.  We gave a lesson to the men and more, I was able to talk with one of the men inviting to the ship the next day.  This was an awesome experience as I could feel a strong connection with him and could sense the Holy Spirit moving.  As he came to the ship I gave him a shirt and a Bible in the local language.  This was so cool! I invited one of the volunteers to pray and talk to this guy.  It felt amazing, I tell you God is doing great things. 

Christmas All Over, Again

Christmas in Singapore is going to be amazing.  I’ve already gotten a small taste of the culture and was able to give them a dose of mine. 

I was told before arriving, Singapore will be much busier than the previous ports.  Singapore has many local contacts that are like family to the ship.  GBA Ships has been to Singapore 30+ times and has a strong relationship with the people, and the Dulous was decommissioned here (former GBA Ship) a couple of years ago.  The last few days have been spent working hard in the galley preparing the food for on-board events and the crew.  I find this is a never ending challenge, everyone needs to eat sometimes more than once too.  The compliments I get for my hard work are very inspiring.    Plus…

Grilling 120 steaks at once, that's a real man's grill

Work in the galley has been exciting, though working long hours I’m enjoying getting to know my shift better.  We recently lost 2 steppers (10 week program) and gained 2 more steppers.  The 2 that left were English speakers and communicated very well; the 2 new steppers are from South Korea and speak very little English.  This is going to be a struggle so please pray in regards to communication and building relationships within my shift.  Also pray for N. Korea as they have a new dictator since the death of their former leader, (Dec 19).  I’ve developed a new passion for Koreans leaning some of their language and developing a relationship with the ones in the catering department. 

Church Day in Singapore I spoke with others from the ship to a local youth group

The first few nights in Singapore, Logos Hope hosted a performance, “International Night”.  This is where the crew shows off their passions and cultural diversity.  I was able to perform swing dance on stage with 6 other couples from all over the world.  (It’s amazing to see how much an impact America has on the rest of the world, swing dance is only 1 way.)  The finale was amazing too.  All performers danced to the beat of an African choir and sang their cool song.  The whole crowd was on the feet and dancing.  What an amazing day and way to start my time in Singapore. 

American Swing dancers hangin out after the show

Prayer and Praise

Hebrews 6, That I am and will remain anchored in God’s steadfast love, compassion, mercy, and grace.

Lamentations 3, The Lord’s love never ceases, therefore we can put all our hope in Him.

                I’ve been having an amazing time in missions with the Logos Hope.  God is really challenging and teaching me these first few months.  He always continues to amaze. 

                Working with the crew has proven to be very challenging.  Challenges brought through culture and communications mainly but also relationally with Him too.  It’s kind of like the cross Kasey uses for the youth (FBCM youth leader). 

 You see how the arrows point.  The two arrows running horizontally are a representation of our relationships here on Earth, and the other how we connect with God vertically.  With culture there is always a conflict with over 40 different nationalities represented.  It seems every time you open your mouth you offend someone.  Next, communications, this seems to be a problem no matter how well you know the culture.  I know this something I saw a major problem with in some areas of my life back home.

                With these challenges I’ve come to find the only way through these challenges is through the many juicy fruits’ of Spirit, Galations 5:22.  If we want to continue to have a vital relationship with God we need to stay in step with the Spirit.  Just praying for others and myself to have God rain these fruits down on us and have them represented in our actions has been very satisfying. God's love is relentless. 

                I’ve seen so many answers to prayer too.  It’s been a great blessing to see God at work!