It has been a great visit to the Bahamas and quite an eye opener.
Before we came, I thought Bahamas was just an extension of the USA and was a very rich and modern country. I didn't realise that actually it is only the tourists and the big businesses that are rich, and many people here live in similar conditions to other Caribbean islands.
We have seen it all this past 2 weeks. From the incredible luxury of the 5 star Atlantis Resort on Paradise island,and the massive cruise ships and private yachts that fill the harbour to the back street shacks of the poor Bahamians that provide the workforce for all the hotels and tourist attract
ions.
We have been very blessed with a chance to catch our breath after Jamaica, enjoy a few rest days but also experience great ministry opportunities, particularly over the Easter weekend. On Easter Saturday, we held our first ever full International night onboard - called Hope Night. For anyone that has been involved with OM ships in the past, you will know that International Nights were a highlight of most ports.
Involving many of the crew, there would be cultural dances, colourful costumes, music and drama and a clear message of the gospel in many ports.
Heather, Liam and Kara all took part in the Scottish dance and in the Finale, and Steve helped out with the AV.
On Easter Sunday, we showed the film, The Passion of the Christ, in our theatre for both locals and the ships community. I hadn't seen this film since it first came out in the cinema a number of years ago. It was a real challenge to watch it again and realise how much our Lord suffered for us.
Also during this port, the ship has been blessed by a Christian foundation called WinShape, part of a Christian owned American quick service restaurant company. A team came and provided customer service training to the crew, a whole range of activities and outings for the kids over the Easter weekend and a night away from the ship at a hotel for all the couples.
Another great thing about our visit here has been linking up with some of the locals and one lady in particular has been very kind and generous, taking families out and treating them. But for her it has also been a blessing to be a part of what God is doing through the Logos Hope and attending a number of the events onboard.
On the voyage to Nassau we had a world champion unicycler sailing with us. He gave a demonstration of his skills on our top deck one evening at sea and chose Liam to help him in his show.
As you will hopefully be aware, we had many thousands of school children come onboard in Jamaica. Please take a few minutes to watch this video that has been produced all about our school programmes onboard.
