It is hard to believe that we have just received our 5th intake of new recruits since joining the Logos Hope. On Wednesday 95 people arrived on the ferry from Trinidad after completing their Pre Ship Training (PST) to join the ship. The arrival of a new PST is always a milestone in the ship's calendar but this one is extra special because it is the first PST to arrive while we are in full ministry and it is the first time that we have reached our minimum manning requirement.
The whole group were given a very noisy welcome as they made their way along the quayside through a tunnel of flags and greetings.
Later we all ate dinner in our ship families - we have 2 new family members - a guy from the Netherlands and a girl from Malaysia.
Then it was on to the PST party, organised by the last group to come onboard back in Denmark.
The impact that 95 new people have is amazing, particularly as our numbers were down to around 300 so this group now form about 25% of those onboard. It has also been sad to say goodbye to many of those that we have shared the past 2 years with. On Sunday, we will say goodbye to Mike and Ann which will be hard as we have served together now on 2 ships for a total of 5 years.
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to go out on a church team and found myself at a little pentecostal church along with 3 other ship people. The service was the longest I can remember - 4 hours and very loud with enough speakers and sound for a room 10 times the size. But it was a blessing to be able to go and challenge the church about missions and share about the needs of the lost in the 10/40 window.
This past week, I played cricket again for the LH team - we got well beaten by a very good local side but I was able to share with them about why I was on the ship and what God has done in my life.
Last night, Heather was asked to do some training in mime for a small group of locals - then 21 of them turned up. Heather had a good time with them and they are coming back on Sunday to perform in our Sunday service.
On Monday the ship sails for Port of Spain in Trinidad but we are staying behind for a few days break here in Tobago and will then catch the fast ferry across on Thursday.
