Bridge of Hope, India

For my last church visit in Visak, I had the opportunity to not only spend time at a church, but also see the large building project on the same property, which included a hospital, orphanage and vocational school. A friend of mine on board from the Netherlands told me that her local church just began a partnership with this organization called Bridge of Hope. Upon arrival, you really only notice the church at first. But after walking around the back, you start to see how big the property really is. We were welcomed by a very kind older gentleman (one who has a supporter from Phoenix ironically), and enjoyed some tea while getting to know more about what B.O.H. was all about before going to the church service. Afterwards, they gave us an official tour to show the school and hospital, which is still under construction. There are many branches around Southeast India that are performing free eye surgeries and giving medical help to many people in need as well as offering scholarships to young adults who otherwise couldn't afford a college education.

Free Medical and Eyeglass Camp in Sabbavaram, India

The Logos Hope paired with a non-profit Indian mission called Operation Blessing for five days to provide free general health and eye care for the people who live around the Visakapatnam area of Eastern India. I had the privilege to serve on the 4th in a very poor market area with a lot of people in desperate need of medical attention. Two doctors from the ship and many local doctors and medical students met at a community center to set up for the day with myself and nine others who were dressed in look-at-me bright blue Logos Hope shirts to help wherever needed.
After riding for almost an hour in a school bus that was only slowing down to avoid hitting stray cows on the road (stopping at a red light seems optional in this part of India), we finally made it to our destination to meet the people from "OB". The friendly Indian doctors had plenty of experience doing this sort of thing, so they made every step really easy and stress-free. They brought their own medical-mobile that is sort of like a book-mobile except filled with x-ray machines and pills that make you happy in lieu of Nancy Drew. My job was crowd control and escorting the elderly to each station who had trouble walking or standing. The visitors first had to sign in before waiting for blood pressure, weight and other vitals. Then they waited for either an eye examination or general health if they had any sort of pain. People from all ages came to experience God's love from volunteers who had an immense heart and desire to help any way possible. At one point, my job was handing out comic book-style illustrated versions of the New Testament in the local language of Telugu, and I encouraged those with new spectacles to try them out on the books, albeit most were Hindu. Of course, I can't speak much more than a few phrases, which made it even better having the local helpers nearby to translate. Other ship people assisted the doctors and handed out clean drinking water among other things.
Overall, the response was fantastic and the people were so grateful to have this type of free service available in their area. Just watching the genuine care, medicine and glasses being handed out again and again really warmed my heart. Oh, and in case you were wondering about the last picture, allow me to explain: I took a snap shot of some people waiting for their prescribed pills while I was sharing with them a bit about myself. So, even if it seems like a scene from a scary movie, they weren't trying to break down the gate to attack me, in reality they were so much fun to talk to and surprisingly patient...patients.

Dutch Reformed Church: Galle, Sri Lanka

Dedicated in 1755, this beautifully preserved historic church is located in the tourist area of Galle Fort and is known for seeing many visitors year round. I believe it to be the first place I've spoken at where shortly after the service, a bus full of Asians holding cameras quickly departed a sightseeing bus to flock inside for a closer look. It was also the first time where I faced a surprising challenge to have not one, but two translators. The first from English to Sinhalese, then from Sinhalese to Tamil as both are widely used in this region of Sri Lanka. This required great concentration and effort to remember what I was talking about by the time it was my turn to speak again! It was also the first time I spoke while standing on tombs...which were scattered around the entire church floor, dating back even before the church was completed.
As usual, the Logos Hope sent a team with me to present ourselves, our country and how the ship's ministry gets involved with the community in every country where it is docked. The other five people were from: Germany, United Arab Emirates, Northern Ireland, Holland and England. We all enjoyed a traditional meal for lunch which involved eating with our hands as they do here, and consisted of delicious rice and curry, as well as some other Indian inspired dishes. Normally I don't stand on tombs or eat with my hands, however I chose to follow the old saying: "when in Rome..." or in this case, Galle!

Challege Team: 9 mission conferences in 5 days throughout Southwest India

Early Friday morning, my team of five people embarked on a journey from the Logos Hope to a small town named Chenannur by way of bus, tuk-tuk and a lengthy train ride. Our mission was to represent the ship's ministry as well as the entire organization of Operation Mobilization at many mission conferences that were being held throughout the rural Southwest. The program we brought included: introduction of ourselves, ship and organization information, personal testimonies, and a sermon. The organizers of our team decided to make me team leader, which was a new experience for me. I've led church teams in the past to 1-day locations, but never anywhere this far away for so many days.
Other than myself, the people represented the countries of: Canada, Papua New Guinea, Peru, and the U.K. Needless to say, the local people (most of whom never left their small town) were astonished to not only see, but personally meet people from all over the world...four different continents to be exact! Our host, an overseer of 18 different churches was also Director of Hospital Ministries India(HMI). He picked us up from the train station in the "HMI" van and took us to his home for dinner before dropping us off at the orphanage where we'd sleep. No matter where we drove, the land was a thick and lush bright green jungle contrasted only by a rainbow of strikingly painted homes. Perhaps it is a cultural fad to have a house bright blue with orange and green trim? Or a home with three shades of pink? For some reason, they did not seem out of place once you are introduced to their colorful culture and personalities.
As the title explains, we had to visit nine different churches in only five days which would've only been accomplished with team unity. My goal was to meet every morning and have a daily briefing, devotion, and prayer for one another. Without that, the cohesion wouldn't have been nearly as strong. We tried hard to look after one another and esteem with encouraging words. This is one of the specialties of OM ships: so many nations in one place for one purpose and goal.
Besides preaching at churches, we also spent a lot of time eating. Indians love to eat and show hospitality by giving more food to guests than one could handle. We would have a big breakfast, drive to church, eat, drive to some one's house, eat, drive to another church, eat, another home, eat...not to mention that every bus ride included a pit stop on the side of the road to purchase fresh fruit (that was filling in itself). Not a single meal went without Indian tea, which complimented the Curry and other spices quite pleasantly.
My Indian experience was nothing less than sensational. The amount of knowledge I've gained from the culture, the public speaking experience (with a translator) and the overall lesson to be flexible with an attitude of being prepared at all times, taught me infinitely more than if I would've never left the ship. I suppose that is one of the purposes of a challenge team: to stretch oneself out of any comfort zone and look only to God for comfort and peace.

Orphanage for boys: Somewhere in Sri Lanka

It has been a while since I've had the opportunity for ministry somewhere besides a local church (not implying that I'm tired of visiting churches), but it was a nice change of pace going to an orphanage. Upon arrival, my team and I were expecting a couple kids and were shocked when more than two dozen guys from 5-18 years old came outside to greet us. Even though we arrived with eleven people from the ship, we split up (some went to a retirement home, and some to a girls orphanage) which made it me plus three others: Adam from Texas, Teschee from Japan (the one behind the camera), and Saravanan from India.

We began by showing a short ship film for children starring one of the kids who lives on board, searching the entire inside of the Logos Hope for the captain. Afterwards, all four of us introduced ourselves and spoke about what life is like living with 400 people. Then I pulled out some life jackets I brought along and made the offer for some people to try it on and demonstrated how we would rescue someone by performing a "Man Overboard" drill. This gave us plenty of opportunities to share our faith openly and allow then to ask us questions.

We proceeded outside to play some games with the soccer ball (I hardly remember having the kind of energy they had!), and then I had an idea to teach them hacky sack. As I stood inside of the circle already formed from the soccer ball game, I kicked it to each one of the kids to see if they could return it. I still can't believe how focused they were...we played for over an hour straight and could have gone on for literally hours more. Unfortunately, with the Sri Lankan heat and humidity consuming me in the worst way, I slowly stumbled back inside the house where I was greeted with a cold glass of Avocado juice (which is delicious by the way). The boys shortly followed me inside and asked if I'd like to watch the World Cup Cricket game on T.V. that was currently being played in the same city. After weighing the options of returning to the ridiculous heat or staying inside for cool breezes via fan and sports on the T.V., I quickly decided on the latter.

A few other guys who originally went to the retirement home came to meet us for dinner and attempted to explain the game of Cricket to me. Not sure if my brain was fried from the heat, or I have a general dis-interest for Cricket, but by the second hour of watching, I was more confused than when it started. Dinner was then served and all of us enjoyed a home cooked meal Sri Lankan style. Which is a story in itself!