From the African Continent back to firm roots in Europe?

I naively believed that our going back to European ports such as Las Palmas, Spain and Valetta, Malta would be a good break from all the pressures and stresses of the needy, broken Africa. Boy was I in for a surprise…This transition has proven to be the greatest culture shock I have ever lived through so far… Some may call it going from poverty back to luxury or from “savages” back to “gentle folk” some even talk about changing planets… Talking of things they know not, pleading with us to help this land that is so “miserable”.
We’ve got it all wrong! Seeing this country should be a wake up call, catching just a glimpse of what to “struggle to live” means, I’ve realized that this continent has more hope than ours does. Please! Let’s not turn it into a mess with our materialistic approach! They didn’t need Televisions, they do not need internet, and they do not need our “solution to every problem” our “cool” technologies tend to lead people astray from God!
I’m not Amish…! Let’s help with transportation, basic necessities and yes communication, but let’s focus more on the “What” then the “How”! Let us help bring up men and women of God seeking to glorify Him in all that they do.

It stressed me out to see once again the superficial relationships (it felt like being at my high school) where guys play with girls bodies and girls play with guys feelings.
The make up, the gadgets, the money, the stores, the fast-foods all not making our world even a little better… Have they truly made a difference in peoples lives? Yes! B destroying us! Distracting us everyday from the truth that remains!Listening to John Piper talk about not wasting our lives I finally understand the sad hopeless status of our falling world… Churches trying to attract young people through frivolous fun, people calling themselves followers of Christ whilst quenching the holy spirits’ rebuke of their sin, or just families lost in the maze of making their small world better before they die. There is such a BIGGER PICTURE, oh how my heart cries for our sight to be restored! Let us learn from the past so as to build something that will last: A life of integrity and love built in our Saviour God.

Challenge..

When we got to our third African Country : Liberia, we discovered another of the poorest countries, recently rebuilding itself from its civil war. I desperately needed to find a way to restock my energy and motivation level...The artificial African attitude of the big cities was wearing me thin when it came to my social capabilites and I wasn't sure what to expect of the challenge team I was going on.
I ended up doing on a 5 day challenge team with Ross Hickling (Canada), Daniel Hardie (Wales) and Ben Shutz (Switz.) at a missionary's home (2 hour ride away).
It turned out to be awesome!!! The vision of James (Libieria) and Kathleen (Canada) Ngenda was motivating and refreshing. The work involved some plumbing, but most of it was carpentry which was nice for a change! Not to mention that the Ngenda family had four kids at home (and one abroad) : with about the same age range as my brothers and sisters. This family environnement really boosted me and gave me courage to keep going, we eventually ended up extending our stay there a two extra days to finish helping out!


That also meant that I got to have my birthday at their house where they had accepted me as one of them.. =) With Josh, Joy, Noah and William (the youngest) whom gave me a carved girafe, one of his personal possessions.. it reminded me so much of Wesley back home!!! (the action not the girafe..)

When our time had come to an end we had built the second story primary floor and put in all the window or wall frames to mark out: two offices, a small bathroom, a small kitchen, the hallway and a nice sized conference room. (other small installations such as a drain, roofing and windows were also put in place)
The "Grassroot Center" will be used as a place for people to meet, talk, read (yes, they have a nice library) and educate themselves, with a vision for adults whom haven't had that privilege... yet!

Well, that's the end of West Africa, thinking of all we were able to experience of this wonderful continent, the Logos Hope gently pushed off from Monrovia... On its way to rejoin Europe after a full year of the Carribean and Africa. Fare thee well Africa and God bless.

Black Stars

We just happened to sail into the African country of Ghana the day it played Uruguay in the world cup. We were secretly wishing that they’d win, but we ended up hearing the bad news that fell over the country like a veil of mourning, the Black Stars had fallen…

The Ghana Black Stars (the national team’s name) are quite a good parallel to the Ghana style of life and culture. A proud, independent, self-sufficient, yet extremely curious and friendly people, they benefit from a very rich and resource-laden country that has not struggled with the pangs of civil war like those around them. In Accra’s art center I had the pleasure of watching skilled men build drums right before my eyes: starting from a short log that they carved out, sanded, sculpted and equipped with a fresh goat skin recently dried, to a final product varnished and decorated. This of course, was right before I got swamped by men trying to sell me their wares, using every argument possible to make a few dollars..

I also had the privilege of taking part in an orphanage building project with a group from the ship.

A group of simple people already working at a small orphanage of about 30 kids have quite a larger picture: having only the first of a three two-story building project, they’ll be able to house a couple hundred orphans on a large piece of land when all the buildings are completed.

Sometimes these projects motivate me so much that I wish God would call me to stay and invest the next few years of my life to participate! Yet I do know that God has not called me to stay in Africa (well, not that I know of) so I just keep helping out and learning from these incredibly “bigger pictures.”

Africa is NOT what the media describes it to be. Of course, there are needy dependant people, terrible sanitary problems and many homeless children, yet there’s something else behind this continent… something I can’t find a word to describe, somehow linked to their culture. All I know for now is that sending money to these countries is not very effective: we need more people with a vision of the "larger picture," able to merge into the country's culture, bonding men together in order to rebuild these countries through their own people. They have what it takes, they have the time, they have the ressources, they just need a passionate motivation. If only they would turn from being nominal Christians to become a nation of true God-serving people, the transformation of this continent would be almost immediate and life-changing in the history of the world.

Welcome to Africa

On our first day in Africa, I was waiting for the ship to be cleared so that we could go ashore in Freetown, Sierra Leone after our two-week trip across the Atlantic… I was kind of restless and apprehensive not knowing what to expect of a country that has been torn to pieces ten years ago, by war, famine and suffering. I finally heard the long waited page that we could go ashore, I joined up with Andy and Simon, two good friends, and we were about to go out the door when five girls asked to come with us (which we didn’t mind) because girls need to have at least one guy in their group in order to leave the ship.

With the help of a local we ended up spending the next half hour trotting through the streets of the City as well as fending off all the marriage offers given for the girls we were escorting.. !

When we finally made it back to the port entrance, Andy (Germany) and I let the others go in. We spent the next thirty minutes talking with a group of people which slowly built up with time. We got to get to know people like Peter and his little brother Mohammed (they haven’t got parents), Asi, Annar, BaiBai, Abou, Fedea and many more.

As we walked back to the port entrance, we were hand in hand with these young men (which is still an awkward situation for me) smiling, chatting and telling them that we would see them tomorrow on the ship.

They are very friendly yet desperate to leave their country, with no work, school that costs money and crazy situations, its no wonder that they want to marry in order to leave..

Yes, we are bringing knowledge to this people, but I pray and urge you to pray, that more than that, we would bring them hope through the time we spend with them, the good talks and especially the love we can share with them.

End of the Caribbean?

Zoooming by, created in order to keep man accountable to God, this vague concept of time does not seem to ever slow. Yes, our last two visits to Antigua and St Kitts announce quite clearly "Our Caribbean time is coming to an end!", Dominica, our present port is the last port we are visiting before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to reach out to West Africa!

In St John's, Antigua I had the opportunity of playing soccer as the sun set (see above) enjoying the warm homie feeling of the Caribbean, for yes, I have gotten used to the "mindset" of the Caribbean. What mindset you ask? The one of "Yea Mon, it's gonna be alyrigh", a very laid back culture from the children whom always seem to be just "hangin" to the old men with their Bobcaps sitting on a wall. It will be very strange going from this very open culture to the more "restricted" countries in North Africa.

I've also been busy with my band on the ship, enjoying playing on Sunday mornings for church and Monday nights for worship nights. Playing trombone is one way for me to relax and just praise God for who He is. I do miss my euphonium and am looking forward to taking it in my arms when I get home..

We only stayed in St Kitts for four days due to our schedule but many people came and it left me the impression that it is a beautiful welcoming country. To get a feel of it's land, a group of friends and I climbed "Monkey Hill" and got an awesome view of its surroundings. We also discovered mangoe trees (which were ripe for this is their third season) and tree Crabs.

Ash, Simon (two of my close pals onboard) and I observing the lay of the Land...

Prayer Points:

-My leadership role in the Plumbing departement has proven to be quite stressful and I'm not sure I'm handeling it correctly, pray that God would lead me!

-The piping project in the Engine room is going well (apart for the fact that we still are waiting for specific pieces) pray that we would do a great job as well as finish with the project!

-Pray that God would lead me to do more personal ministry with people I meet (sewage guys, people in the streets or guys I meet on church teams.)

Thank you for praying,

BeeeerRRRRrrrmmMMuuuUUUUdaAA!

Bermuda? The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear "Bermuda" is the place where Merlin (The Sword in the Stone) went on vacation with his flower shorts... Well it isn't far from reality for Bermuda is made of numerous small islands somewhere in the Atlantic. With 60 000 citizens it is also the fourth richest country in the world! (in average pay per person) 7.00 US$ for a cheese... That's not cheap. But its economy is not its only strength, it also has beauty beyond imagination with its striking clear blue waters and pink beaches.

As we touched down in Hamilton a team of 12 (the "Gold Team") was put together to welcome at the Willow Bank Hotel between 150 t0 200 supporters of the Logos Hope ministry. I was chosen to be one of these 12, welcoming and just being available in any way for these people (transport, communications, food etc...). The first day of their arrival I got the immense pleasure of being the "luggage man", one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is that I had a golf cart to help me... I miss driving so much!

We had five amazing days getting to know our supporters and explaining to them our futur projects for the ship.

Personally I learned how to take initiative when it comes to services (calling a taxi, giving info, contacting the right people). Yes, we did get to enjoy the island at the same time, the simple fact of passing in front of such a gorgeous view (first picture) every time you're putting luggage away was... well, a blessing. It is true that the Island is beautiful, yet I must explain that as it is a norther island it was very cool at the time and wearing long sleeves was not uncommon...

Fruit of this port:

-Motivated supporters having a new passion for our ministry

-A good donation for our school projects in __ (a futur port of call)

-Books and ministry (yes we did have many visitors)

Pictures of Atlantis (as promised)