Hello all, it’s Kiara again, now nearly nine months into my time on board Logos Hope! For those of you who know nothing about this and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about. Logos Hope is a missionary ship, sailing around the world (currently South America) sharing knowledge, help and hope with people – I sound like a walking, talking advertisement for the ship but we say this to people nearly every day, so it’s now forever ingrained in my memory.
Although this title – lessons from Logos Hope - may suggest you’re going to be learning something from reading this it really is more of a story of how God has been working in my heart these past few months; if you do somehow manage to learn anything from my ramblings it’s more of an added bonus.
Lesson #1
We must give our ALL to God.
in the book store
You may be reading this thinking oh woah this girl has got her life sorted, she has given it to Jesus, is serving Him away from her family, her friends, her home. She’s really given it all. If you think that you are wrong. Very wrong. I’m realising more and more how tightly I cling onto my own life, giving God little bits and keeping the rest to myself. If I take a look at my average day and ask myself how much I give to God, I am ashamed.
I thought that this was just a problem I had at school; too much homework, too many people to see, too much to do to really give it all to God but now I’m away on this journey I realise it doesn’t matter where you are, it doesn’t get any easier to give it all to Christ. I fill my days with things that don’t acknowledge God at all. At home, it was Netflix and even on the ship we have our own intranet version of it because when you are serving God seemingly, you still need your daily dose of movies…
So, the lesson here is that it takes a conscious decision to give your all, you can’t expect it to just happen magically someday. I’m only at the start of this step towards giving God my all, but I hope this lesson may make you ask yourself how much you really give to God and encourage you to provide him with your all.
Lesson #2
It’s not about finding yourself it’s about finding Jesus
“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Matthew 10:39
While travelling we meet and hear people all the time trying to find themselves, people travelling to do it, going to the ends of the earth to somehow find happiness but guess what: the ends of the earth don’t bring joy only Jesus does.
The ship was recently in its most southern port of call, Puntarenas, Chile, right at the very bottom of South America, taking the call to go to the ends of the earth very literally. Besides it being freezing down there what I experienced most was that fulfilment can never come from anything other than God. Whenever I am low, too tired to work another shift in my role in the café on board or just wishing to be home, it isn’t great food (although Latin American food now has a very big place in my heart), wonderful people (of which there are 400 on board from 60 different countries) but only Jesus that brings peace and joy.
Lesson #3
The power of prayer
Guys, the power of prayer is real. On the ship, we believe that to truly hear something it needs said three times (this may be because, for many people on board, English isn’t their first language) but I think this principle applies here too so let’s put it to the test. The power of prayer is real. The power of prayer is real.
I guess I always believed this, but a lot of the time I lacked the faith to really believe that it was right for all my prayers. In my heart, there were some things that I could pray about for God to work in, but I thought that He wasn’t interested in the mundane of my life, that I shouldn’t be praying for the little things. The ship is slowly teaching me the very opposite of this. Every single day I’m made aware that I can’t do even the simplest of things without Him, that He wants me to pray about them and that the power behind those prayers is so real.
I was recently made a shift leader in my department on board the ship, a step I was both super excited and nervous for. I hadn’t anticipated all that would go into this new role and a couple of days into it the thought of another shift brought only negative thoughts to my mind, which after months of absolutely loving my department I knew was not good. I shared with a few of my friends on the ship my trepidations and, it is a missionary ship, their answer was, of course, prayer. For the rest of this story, you need a little context: a shift leaders’ role in the café is basically to delegate the functions for the team and then fix any problems that arise during the shift. Simple right? Except for every single problem that can possibly occur usually does. The ice cream machine breaks as soon as a school visit walks through the door. The coffee machine starts spitting foam. Popcorn gets burnt. Until this point of my time on board, I had never once experienced a ‘perfect’ shift when not one, or more likely, all of these things had not happened. But, on this day, the one that I had least looked forward to, somehow nothing went wrong. I really can’t emphasise enough how unusual this is. And looking back what was the only difference in this shift compared to all the months before? It was the most prayed for shift ever. The power of prayer is real.
There is something beautiful about giving everything to God in prayer, a real weight lifted off your shoulders. I’m not saying I’m now perfect and that my every second is spent in perfect communion with God, but I’ve definitely learnt that prayer works and to rely on it. God wants us to seek Him just like His word says.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find: knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Matthew 7:7
Conclusion & Prayers
To end, I just want to encourage you. Whatever you’re at right now; whether that be in the middle of exams, already blissfully enjoying your summer, or working 9 to 5 - give your all to God, find your identity in Him and not the fleeting things of this world and rely on Him in prayer because the power of it is so real. He even cares about that revision you’ve been putting off for way too long, so pray about it!
I would also love it if you could pray for a few things for the ship as well:
We are currently in a drydock period where the ship is closed to visitors, and most of the crew have been sent all around the world (I’m in Paraguay working with LETRA, a bible translating organisation). Please pray that all the work will get completed on the ship and for a fruitful time for those serving on land.
Pray that as the ship’s crew comes back together next week and travels to Argentina that we will quickly readjust to life on board to work effectively.
I have also decided to extend my time here for another year (yikes, writing that down makes it seem way more real). Please pray that I will really trust in God to provide for this year, both financially and spiritually.
And finally, please do get in touch if you would like to hear more, or even just want to say hi, I would love to chat. If you would like (slightly) more regular updates about what I’m getting up to, I would love to add you to my newsletter too!
Love and prayers,
Kiara
