March 2022 Update - Bye Ghana and Hello Liberia

It is so exciting for me to be working on a vessel the size of Logos Hope. It is providing me with a lot of learning opportunities.

Working Deck on the M/V Logos Hope

It is hard to believe that it has been 2 months since I arrived in Africa. Time is flying by, and I am settling in well onboard the ship. Upon arriving in Africa, the beginning of February, I had a week of quarantine followed by a week of orientation/training. Then in mid-February, I started working with the Deck Department here on M/V Logos Hope. I spent 4 weeks serving with the Deckhands to get to know them and learn how the basic deck jobs work here on the Logos Hope. This included doing jobs such as: washing the exterior of the ship, maintaining the ship exterior (dealing with rust and painting), participating in weekly emergency drills, removing the trash from the ship, preparing the ship for sailing, helping take in and put out gangways, unloading and loading vehicles and other ministry "tools" upon arrival and departure to a port, helping with mooring (running ropes to the dock) the ship upon arrival and departure, and anchoring as needed. When we are sailing, I am also helping with watches in the bridge. On the sail from Ghana to Liberia I learned how to do celestial navigation. That was a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed working in this capacity. After my 4 weeks working with the Deckhands, I have now started shadowing the officers on the ship. I should be doing this for the next several months. The last two weeks I have been working with the officer over all the lifesaving apparatus on the ship. I am looking forward to all the learning opportunities that my time on Logos Hope has in store. Please pray that I would be able to learn and retain all that God has for me in this time serving as a Cadet.

Transforming Nations

This month we have been in 3 different ports in two different countries along the west coast of Africa. The first few days of March were spent wrapping up our time in Tema, Ghana. We then sailed to Takoradi, Ghana, where we ministered for 10 days. I was able to participate in an eyeglass clinic one day, where we did eye exams and distributed free eyeglasses to those in a needy community. After departing Takoradi, we made a 5-day sail to Monrovia, Liberia, where we will we remain through most of the first week of April. We have seen God do some amazing things in these ports. We have had over 52,600 visitors on the ship in Ghana. Below are two videos that the ship put together for each port we were at in Ghana. They summarize the ministry that we did in each place. I would encourage you to take a few minutes and watch some of what God has been up to over here! Stay tuned to my April update for a report of what is happening in Liberia.

Above: Click above to see a video recap of our ministry in Tema, Ghana, Africa.

Click above to see a video recap of our ministry in Takoradi, Ghana, Africa.

Giving away eyeglasses at our one of our onshore eyeglass clinics.

Playing with some children at the eyeglass clinic.

This little girl in the front was so shy at first, but we quickly became friends, and she became my shadow for the day. She also brought a lot of other children over for us to love on a little.