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and the call was given to respond, this
young man felt a power push him up
off his seat and forward to the front,
where he make Christ the Lord of his
life. It was in this moment that he felt
the love of God for the first �me. For
the past 3 years he has been helping
lead a youth ministry in his church.
As well as an encouragement for him,
imagine the li$ for ship’s co. to hear a
story that reminds us that what we are
doing is not in vain—God is using our
conferences, he is using our human
efforts for his glory.
Indeed there are many plans in a man’s
heart, but thank God it is His purpose
that will prevails.
Watch Tom’s video tes�mony here
http://www.logoshope.tv/
04.01.13 No ma(er how hard you throw a
boomerang, it always comes back—because
there are forces ac�ng on it that make it
return. We started to get the “boomerang”
feeling when, during our sailing from Hong
Kong to Taiwan, we received a message
from the Captain over the paging system
that we would have to turn back to Hong
Kong due to problem with the Engine that
meant we could not sail on.
Along with a sense of disappointment, there
was also an acceptance, learned during our
9-week-that-became 9 months Drydock
�me in Subic Bay, that we are subjects of a
Greater Power than ourselves Whose
purpose will prevail, though we have many
of our own plans (Prov. 19:21).
Take for example the two missionaries who
are ministering in very difficult circumstanc-
es in very closed countries (that we cannot
name here for
security
reasons) who
‘just happened’ to be in HK during our
�me of unexpected return. They were
then able to take �me with ship’s co.
during our prayer nights and we were
able to join our hearts together as we
interceded for their countries and their
circumstances. They le$, encouraged
and upli$ed.
Take for example a Tom Halpin from
Ireland who was vaca�oning in HK with
his parents. As he travelled across the
river in a ferry, he recognized a ship
that he had last seen in Belfast, N.
Ireland in 2009. At that �me he was an
agnos�c, but a(ended a youth
conference on board (held in the very
room where he was recoun�ng his
story!) A$er the gospel was shared,
09.01-20.01.13
We sat in a circle in the living room
singing songs of worship in German
and English. I was playing guitar and
my new friend, Jonathan, was playing
the cajon (an acous�c drum box).
I had travelled to Mosbach, Germany
to a(end the GO (Global Orienta�on)
conference for all new OMers. I was
there, in my capacity as Personnel
Manager, to interview all the guys,
couples and families as well as
connec�ng with representa�ves from
the Sending Countries.
I was able to take a few days break
with my parents who had come to
Germany to see me. During this �me
we were able to visit some friends of
the family who I hadn’t seen for years,
including a re�red Lutheran Pastor,
Fritz, and his wife, Hedi. What
a joy to see this godly couple at whose
manse I collected many a happy memory—to
see that he is s�ll involved in ministry and
serving the Lord. The back story here is, my
parents hosted their children for a cultural
exchange when
they were in
their teens
(early 1980s).
These ‘kids’ now
had their own
children, one of
whom is
Jonathan who is
good friends
with my
youngest
brother, Josh.
A mul�-
genera�onal
friendship is now thriving, because of my
parents’ decision to host a German
teenager years and years ago.
We never know what future joy we reap
as we go the extra mile and invest
ourselves on behalf of the Lord.
Dan, Wendy, Enya, Ariana & Maya
Mailing / postal address:
OM Ships Interna�onal
Alte Neckarelzer Str. 2
74821 Mosbach
Email:
Jan-Mar 2013
Hong Kong (re) Bound
Old connections renewed
HONG KONG
One of the wonderful facets of ships
life are the farewell tes�mo-
nies—5 minutes that each crew
members gets at the end of their
commitment, to share what God has
taught them during their �me on
board. These opportuni-
�es are wonderful �mes of commu-
nity building—of hearing each oth-
ers’ story.
During recent farewell tes�-
monies, we have heard numerous
accounts of the call of God that indi-
Page 2 TIDES & TIDINGS
Feb 2013
- Wendy helping organize 10,000 dresses that
were given out during our visit to Cambodia
during an ini&a&ve in partnership with the
organiza&on “Dress a Girl”. To read more,
visit <bit.ly/XSnXf0>
Goodbye and Hello! 13.02.13 Dan: A$er having just said goodbye to a large
group that le$ the ship just 2 days before, ship’s
company lined up outside the Logos Hope to greet the
latest group joining the Logos —PST Sihanoukville*.
What then followed was a full day, organized by my
team and I, of welcome and orienta�on to the next
year or 2 of their life onboard their new metal home.
Despite my team running around like chickens-sans-
heads , it was a fun day! *PST = “Pre-Ship Training”
Amy and her son (England),
running through the welcome
tunnel before climbing the gangway
to their new life.
Dan visi&ng a local church with a
group from the ship. During this visit,
Dan led worship, while Phil (Australia)
preached. Different cultures.
Same God. Amazing!
One of the unique facets of ships
life is the farewell tes�monies—5
minutes that each crew member
gets at the end of their
commitment, to share what God
has taught them during their �me
on board. These
opportuni�es are wonderful
�mes of community building—of
hearing each others’ story.
During recent tes�monies we
have heard numerous accounts of
the call of God that individuals
have received to further mission
work in different fields, for
example Tanzania, Germany,
Philippines, Lebanon (to men�on a
few).
It drives home what seems to be a
recurring refrain: that OM Ships is
a training ground for future
ministry. Wendy and I are living
tes�mony to this truth as
CAMBODIA
we reflect on 7 years
serving the local church
and now one year back in the mission
field…all because of a fire that began
in our hearts on the Logos 2 in 2001.
The Logos 2 no longer sails, and one
day the Logos Hope too will be a pile
of rust, but the spiritual legacy of this
ministry, and all believers who
faithfully serve God, whether
overseas or in the local context, will
echo on into eternity.
From the Logos Hope to God knows where…?
03.02-19.02.13 Here are some las�ng things that
happened during the 2 1/2 weeks the Logos Hope was in
Cambodia:
716 people were reported to have made a commitment to
Christ during dental and medical outreaches, as Logos
Hope partnered with local ministries.
• 33 teams went out from the ship
• 1584 people received medical treatment
• 198 pa�ents received dental care
• 1228 people received new glasses
• 7229 dresses were donated (in coopera�on with “Dress
a Girl”) as well as many given out through local
chari�es (10,000 in total!)
an opportunity to mentor and disciple
those who are employed by the café.
During our visit, we got to worship in
Khmer at their local church, visit the
Night Market in Phnomh Penh, and to
spend a morning at the café.
We had a great �me of fellowship with
this family. It’s a strange and
wonderful experience to visit friends
from home (Canada) in their home
overseas.
The Logos Hope was also able to bless
the Gateway Café with a good quan�ty
of university textbooks and other study
books for their “University focused”
ministry in the café.
16.02-18.02.13
One of the things that
we were most looking
forward to was visi�ng
our friends from
Canada who are
serving in Cambodia. So
for one weekend we
visited Ma( and Nary
McCullough in Phnom
Penh where they run an
outreach café to
University students,
called “Gateway Café”.
As well as an outreach
to students, it’s also
provides Ma( and Nary
1,584 people treated
Visiting friends
Inside Story Headline
Wendy got the opportunity to MC in an English Café
onboard, an event that provides local people to meet
and connect with English speakers onboard in an
in�mate, coffeehouse seQng. The visitors were
comprised of both Buddhists and Chris�ans.
While sharing about the ship’s focus on spreading hope,
the crew members on each table got to share their
tes�mony. As a result, one person accepted Christ!
Page 3 Spreading knowledge, help and hope to the port cities of the world
A woman thanking Becky (England) for the water
purifier donated by the ship.
Our ships den&st, Kris (Russia) during a dental procedure
MC Wendy in da house
To see a documentary video of
our �me in Cambodia, please
visit this link:
hDp://www.logoshope.tv/
video/60640617
A R
ece
nt
sch
oo
l p
ictu
re
Spreading knowledge, help and hope to the port cities of the world
26.02 Wendy MC’d a Woman’s Cafe at which Marita (Finland)
shared about the message of Mary and Martha and priori�zing
�me with Christ. From this, one woman came to the team and
said how she was now looking at her marriage with new eyes.
The team were pleasantly surprised the women a(ending the
conference thanked their hosts with gi$s of baskets of fruit.
THAILAND At the same �me the ship was in Bangkok, this city host-
ed the “Interna&onal Leaders Mee&ng”, a conference
for 450 of Opera�on Mobiliza�on’s Field
Leaders and representa�ves.
There was a real buzz on board as these
leaders visited the ship, many for the first �me and got
to see in reality what they’d heard so much about. Ship’s
company were told by one leader in morning devo�ons
that there is just something about the ship that increas-
es interest in missions wherever it goes—just our pres-
ence in a country sees interest in local mission work
increase, ready for the local OM team to follow up on,
a$er we leave.
I got the chance to lead worship in an event hosted
onboard for the ILM leaders. Let me tell you, it is quite
emo�onal to look out at this crowd and just consider the
thousands of years of experience represented, symbolic
of the work God is doing in OM and organiza�ons like it,
the world over! As
we joined our voice
in singing “In Christ
alone”, it was a
beau�ful statement
of faith shared by us
all.
Thailand OM Field Leader, Woody Kim shared the
following worrying sta&s&c,
in a country where less than 1% of the pop. is
Chris&an, and 94% is Buddhist, there are 4000
churches, only 2000 of which have a Pastor.
Only 1/2 of the churches have a Pastor!
One of the big needs in the Thai church is discipleship.
Thai Chris&ans were coming to the Logos Hope, lapping
up any teaching that we had to offer.
During our �me in Thailand, I had the chance to preach 3 �mes,
in 3 different conferences on board:
• 26.02 A Pastors Conference, about leadership and legacy
• 06.03 A young men’s event on leadership
• 07.03 A college students event on living “A Dedicated
Life”
One interes�ng observa�on: the least well a(ended event was
the young men’s event on leadership. 120 �ckets were printed. 9
people came! But the event s�ll went on, accompanied by a real
sense of purpose among the team who put together the event.
I introduced myself to the first person who turned up. I
asked where he goes to church. He looked at me a li(le odd and
said “I’m a Buddhist”. I explained that I’ll be talking about leader-
ship from the Bible; I hope that’s OK. He said it was.
Towards the end of my message, I felt impressed to
“dras�cally rewrite” the la(er part of my message and instead
weave in the message of the gospel. I don’t know whether it
made any difference, but I’ll never forget the day I preached
the gospel to a Buddhist during a Chris�an conference on lead-
ership!
A$er this conference, one a(endee came to me and
said “God was speaking directly to me”. Another came to me
and said “I’ve never understood the rela�onship between
God’s holiness and his love. Now I understand”. Humanly
speaking, with only 9 aDendees, this conference was a “day of
small things” but we serve a God who’s economy of scale is
vastly different to ours. Praise God!
I.L.M.
Te
ac
hin
g a
nd
Dis
cip
ling
“For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are s&ll to be done
In this city”
This song was wri(en in Pa(aya, Thailand by Irish worship
band “Bluetree”. There is deep darkness in this country
where idols are worshipped, where sex-trafficking is an
ever-present reality. Yet, we can and must con�nue to
proclaim God’s supremacy over this place.
“"In the midst of all that darkness and craziness—when
it's so impossible to see God—He's s�ll God. He's s�ll
God of that city. He s�ll longs a�er every single one of
those people, and He s�ll wants rela�onship with every
single one of those kids, every one of those women and
every one of those pimps. That's our God. That's the God
who is massive, mighty, and amazing." - Bluetree
We had over 80,000 visitors onboard during our time in Thailand!
Ca
na
dia
n M
ea
l d
uri
ng
ILM
