In February 2010, a team of young people from The Kings Academy in Florence, South Carolina, served aboard Logos Hope in Jamaica for a week. Here is a report from Team Coordinator Rosalyn van Baaren to the parents following their trip:

I had the privilege of spending a week with your child. As parents, you may be wondering how the Missions Week on board Logos Hope went from my perspective. The purpose of the Ships ministry is to share the life-changing Gospel to thousands around the world. The ship’s crew and staff do this through bringing "Knowledge, Help and Hope." As a team we had a very busy week and it honestly feels as though we were away for ages.

Before we went, my prayer was that God would impact your child’s life in a special way. Being away from home and their normal environment provided a unique moment in which God could speak to them. On the ship, I would often go through the list of names praying for them, as I’m sure you were also doing back at home.

All different and all unique - some extroverts, some introverts, some easy going, others sensitive - they are a great group of kids! Although some did not know each other very well before the trip, they really did get to know each other much better. They worked well together whether on deck, cleaning pipes, peeling veggies, or even going off on Evangelism day when Ashton needed Benji to pull a bunch of kids off, who were using her as a climbing frame!

I was very impressed with the quality of these young people. Our time on board often included hard work with stressful and stretching experiences, but they all hung in there and pressed on. Being in this intense environment onboard did bring out some (growing) issues in their own lives, but the tears were tears of victory and joy. I believe they show much promise for the future and you have many reasons to be proud of them.

The team worked hard. Our kids are not used to working a full, mainly practical day – cleaning toilets, mopping floors, folding clothes, preparing food, cleaning lifeboats in the hot sun, dealing with people flooding into the bookfair who needed help in locating a book, or sharing their personal faith in the International Cafe.

They all had an E-Day (Evangelism), which meant they went with ship’s crew and staff to visit a school, youth center or Bible club. Most of the ships teams that went off the ship took one of our students with them. For some that was a little scary, very much out of their comfort zone.

If they weren’t off the ship, they were in the I-Café (International café) to connect with visitors there. Some loved this area, such an easy way to connect with someone and bring them a step closer to God. For others this was definitely out of their comfort zone. 

Training sessions were included in their ship-board activities, including:

· Evangelism training, when Holly Crowe shared some tools we could use to present the Gospel.   
· Movie night (Faith is like Potatoes), following which the Vision Team coordinator onboard challenged us to give our all to God and allow Him to use us to be World Changers. This was certainly a “God moment." 
· "How do I let God use me?" presented by our hosts, Josiah and Hannah. We split into two groups afterwards for further discussion. I was with the girl’s group and thought this very hands-on and useful. There was room to share about our personal quiet times and journaling, and to encourage each other in this. 
· Practicing Prayer, another session which impacted some of our girls.

The students participated with the crew in daily ship life. We went to the Ship’s morning devotions which was on encouraging others, lessons from the life of Gideon, and listened to a Caribbean Wycliffe translator tell us about their work.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all eaten with the crew in the ship’s dining room, a place to connect with crew members we had worked with or to meet new folks. The toasted sandwiches we could make in the dining room were a huge hit for our team.

Thursday evening we joined the weekly crew prayer meeting, praying for each other, the new folks who had just come onboard, and further afield for the needy, the children, the weak, etc. We prayed in small groups with the person next to you, perhaps a little different than what our students are used to.

The ship’s crew had a big impact on the students. During an evaluation, the kids were asked, “What do you take home with you from this week?” The biggest answer was “relationships.” They had been taught “salsa” and American swing dance (you should have seen them on the quayside practicing); they had clicked with folks from Scotland, Mexico, the UK, Holland, Norway, South Africa, the States, etc.

Many of the young ship crew members prayed with our students; they shared from their own lives, challenged them in their walk with the Lord, made them feel welcome, and had a huge amount of fun with our team. Several mentioned that although they didn’t know most of the folks onboard (over 300), they felt very welcome. Someone else who was shy at school felt very at home on the ship, was not afraid to walk up to ship people and have conversations with them, and really be himself. Their facebook pages will have become more international after this week!

What did the students learn? Many things.

· To share their faith in a personal way. There were many opportunties to share who Jesus is to them with visiting schoolchildren and others on the ministry deck. A number of people came to faith during our time.

· Life lessons, such as having a good attitude even if what you were doing was not “your” thing. If we have to do things we like and enjoy, that’s easy. If we have to do things we would not necessarily choose to do, like cleaning toilets, waiting for someone to turn up and tell you what to do next, or having to work longer than expected, it’s in how we handle these areas that we can experience growth in our character. I told someone to ask the question, “What does God want me to learn about my attitude towards this? Am I willing to be positive doing what I might not choose to do?”  Therein is growth, both in character and also spiritually. Some really got that!

· Stepping out of their comfort zone and doing something they would normally walk away from. I think this was my biggest thrill. A couple of the students were freaking out about going onshore to do Evangelism, days before they were actually scheduled to go out. I kept telling them that this was a moment of growth. It was great to see that they went for it. One girl gave her testimony when going onshore with a team, a huge step for her. She told me afterwards that it felt good to have done that. Many were stretched in different ways, and because of that I saw them grow.

· God’s presence being more real, through the sessions, the folks onboard, talking about our quiet times, praying together, being involved in evangelism, etc.

It has been a privilege to have been a part of this, to see these young people grow, try things, come out of themselves, work hard, have fun, be aware of the needs in this world - and who knows, there may be a couple of world changers in the pack!

Thank you for entrusting your son or daughter to us, and to OM Ships.
 
Rosalyn van Baaren
Short Term Teams Coordinator