Purpose and Passion
When we left for the ship almost 18 months ago we thought we knew what our purpose for going was. We knew that God had placed in our hearts a desire to see disciple-makers thriving. We expected to be leading the Bookfair through the changes related to opening and ministering in Europe with very different dynamics and demands to South America and the Caribbean where the ship had been.
We had no idea that we would end up spending more than a year and a half in the Caribbean (Jamaica, Curacao, The Bahamas, St Vincent, Curacao, St Vincent, Curacao, St Vincent and heading to St Lucia next). This has meant a lot of caring for our fellow shipmates through a global pandemic and not being able to go home. Many moments were spent encouraging them through months of lock-down, and waiting, waiting, waiting for the Bookfair to open again. We have also spent a lot of time coaching many young people through personal challenges and seasons of significant grow.
The purpose of Logos Hope is sharing Knowledge, Help and Hope and doing that in such a way that we contribute significantly towards OM’s vision of seeing Vibrant Communities of Jesus Followers among the least-reached. As we have dealt with our own missed expectations around what we thought these 2 years onboard would be like, we have learnt that how we express our purpose can take many shapes in different circumstances and seasons. What has become particularly clear is that regardless of the role in which we will be serving we know that God has lead us to care for, coach and encourage missionaries on the field while serving alongside them, so that those disciple-makers can thrive in the purpose God has for them. And we will continue to do that until God says otherwise.
Prayer: For those that we are journeying with. That we would have wisdom as we care for them and they would have clarity in where and how God is leading them.
Praise: That I (John) get to coach and encourage the Bookfair team members, as we take on the challenge of opening the Bookfair onboard with strict COVID protocols and a very small team.
Patience and Perseverance
In our last update I had the pleasure of sharing that we had opened the Bookfair in the SVG Cruise Ship Terminal. For 4 weeks, the Bookfair Team and a small group of C-dayers (crew allocated to a ministry day) would set up tables, tarpaulins, gazebos, a cash desk and signage so that we could make about 300 different titles available to visitors. Although it was good to be able to welcome visitors again and saw many books and lots of Bibles bought, we kept praying and hoping that we would somehow receive permission to open onboard.
In the first week of July, we were fortunate to have several government Ministers visit the ship and we were able to show them the Bookfair and explain the COVID precautions and protocols that we have in place. Several stressful and prayer-filled days passed until we finally received confirmation that we were able to open onboard. Not only does this mean that we don’t have to set up and pack down every day, but visitors are able to browse all 5000 titles that we have onboard and have a more complete Logos Hope experience. While we were seeing 15-30 people in the Terminal on most days we now have hundreds coming onboard each day and we are very proud of our current record of 319.
We believe that opening onboard in St Vincent had an impact on the blessing that we have received permission to open onboard in St Lucia as well. Each visitor that we welcome onboard is helping us learn how to do this better and safer and we look forward to even more effective and purposeful ministry in future ports.
Prayer: That the literature that has gone out in St Vincent will continue to have an impact long after we sail away.
Praise: For the thousands of people (currently a little over 2000) that have visited onboard in Kingstown, St Vincent.
The Benns 