Passion Groups

We are all given the opportunity to join 'Passion Groups' where we have the opportunity to learn different skills - mostly cultural dances and musical skills. As well as learning more about the different cultures of those on the ship, the passion groups bring opportunities to connect with people through the performances. 

I am part of a worship band on violin and voice that plays in different worship nights (Monday), prayer nights (THursday) or Sunday services onboard as well as being recruited to form bands for the various events onboard. I am also part of clowning, percussion and I have just started the Hope Gospel Choir. We had our first performance tonight! (12 Nov 2011).

Lead singing at PST Penang welcome party

Clown, anyone?

Pick the normal one... if you can!

Worship band for Teens in Mission event - Port Klang, Malaysia

can you see the violinist? 

This was the line for people to visit the ship in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
It was over an hour from the city to the port where LH was docked,
yet these 3 lines extends further behind the camera 50m and the line
at the top going off to the right extends another 100m down the road...

International Night (I-night) in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.
We have one of these in each port, a big cultural event
where many of the passion groups get to perform. Not just
a show, but a performance to connect with the local people as
we talk with them after the event, and depending on the port
a short message is often shared.

On stage is the Parade of Nations, people dressed in their local
costume and flag and on the floor is the percussion group.

In the 'One Night with the King' event

Qatar

After Abu Dhabi, we sailed to Doha, Qatar another country in the Arab world.

In Qatar, there was a souq (market) walking distance from the port.
Many interesting things were to be found there, including colourful chicks!
Not to worry, it was only dye - as they shed their down and grew
real feathers, the feathers grew in their natural colour.

Lots of beautiful animals and birds to visit with!

The centre of Islam in Qatar - beautifully lit up at night.

Museum of Modern Art

Girls out having a night at the souq!

A man peddling donkey rides at the souq

Yep - that's a real turtle!

   

Work in the pantry/galley

Upon joining the Logos Hope, most people are assigned into 1 of 5 departments: angels (accommodation - cleaning), engine room, deck (cleaning & maintenance of the outside of the ship), pantry (dishes) and galley (kitchen).

I became a part of the pantry team. It was shift work for 7/8hrs a day: either 6am - 2pm or 1pm - 8pm and our job was to clean and maintain the dining room and clean all the dishes. Each team consisted of a pantry and galley team working together - we started every shift together in prayer, then at the end if one team was finished early we would join the other team to pitch in until everyone was done and finish in prayer. It was great fellowship and we worked hard, but had some amazing fun together at the same time.

My first galley/pantry team

Random photo I like, taken during a pantry party
out on deck 8.

The Awesome Foursome - over our 6 months together, many others
joined and left, but we four stayed as the core together and
had some marvellous times together.

One of the downsides of cooking for 400+ each meal is that you rarely
see the entire meal put together until it reaches your plate - on this day,
I grated over 1m cubed of cheese...

When you live on a ship, you are dependent on others to ensure you
will have enough water. This was during our time in Colombo, Sri Lanka
when during a public holiday weekend the water barge didn't come
as scheduled and the ship ran out of water. The galley functioned on
a few spare bottles, nobody was allowed to take showers, there was no
laundry and we went through every single plate and piece of cutlery
onboard, so we started using plastic and the alcohol cleaning
solution to wash our hands...

On the same day as the above photo, with no more plates to wash,
things got a little interesting in the pantry... ! :) 

With Madeleine (Sweden), my pantry shift-leader

Farewell party for 2 of our workers on deck 8

Newsletter #2

A mini ship tour!

The Logos Hope is longer than a football field and has 9 decks. The engine room is at the bottom, laundry room and a few cabins on deck 1, deck 2 is cabin space, deck 3 is the book hold, mess and engine room corridor, deck 4 is our visitor deck, deck 5 is the lobby, some offices and cabins, deck 6 is the dining room, Logos Lounge and some meeting rooms, deck 7 is more offices, the staff lounge and the bridge, deck 8 is family cabins and the school and deck 9 is the outside top deck of the ship.

Welcome to the Logos Hope!

ship docked in Port Klang, Malaysia

My first cabin - my bunk, top left

The book fair - visitor deck 4

the dining room, deck 6

stairs down to deck 2, D section - my area

Upon joining the Logos Hope...

Although our training was in Dubai, we drove 2 hours from the training venue to join the ship in Abu Dhabi, therefore we are known on the ship as PST Abu Dhabi. A new group joins every 6 months and most stay for 2 years, so there are always 4 PSTs onboard at one time.

The first view of my new home... can you spot it?

Arriving at the ship

My cabin - mine was the top left bunk.

A beautiful shot of the port of Abu Dhabi.

A beautiful afternoon. The badge you can see on my front is one
we all wear at all times when outside our cabins. Not only does it
identify us as being allowed on the ship, but is used to swipe us
on and off the ship, allows us to open certain doors that the general
public cannot and also to enter the engine room.

A sunset from the ship

Jumping off the pier next to the ship in my lifejacket

Learning how to float using our clothes, in case of no life jacket

This is a floatation suit - in the event that you are stuck out at
sea for long periods, this helps you to float and keeps you warm,
even if water seeps in.

We were each taught how to flip the life raft in event that it is
turned upside down. These fit up to 25 people and have rations,
in the event that we need to abandon ship in the middle of the ocean.

On the ship, our biggest danger is actually fire. We are all taught how
to use a fire extinguisher, fire hose and blanket on different kinds
of fires, such as this one.

To extinguish a person, you would put a blanket over the top of them!

Using a powder extinguisher.

Fun during fire training with my friend Rike from Germany.

Within our first 24hrs at sea for each sail, it is the law
that we have a muster drill. We all assemble as quickly as possible
at our appointed stations, dressed in long sleeves, long pants, socks,
closed-toe shoes and a hat under our life jackets. Some people like
to be a bit funny, but ironically, this outfit does cover all the rules!

First sunrise on my first voyage - from deck 7 overlooking

the car deck (yes, we have 3 ship vans that the crane 

puts onshore to aid in transporting teams in each port).

Our first sail - leaving Abu Dhabi.
The one with her arms in the air is my best friend Becky - this was
her first sail as an official deckie, where she was taught how
to pull up the anchor on the forward mooring station.