Joslynn's Blog

Hi everyone,

Four days ago, I walked up the gangway to my new home, the LOGOS HOPE!!!! While it is hard to describe exactly how I felt the moment I arrived on the ship, I knew right away that this place is where God wants me and I am so, so thankful to be a part of such a dedicated ministry.......... the day that I arrived (Sept. 9th), I had no clue what to expect, but I can say for sure that everyone on my team, including myself, was ready to stop living out of a suitcase, we were excited to be done with endless hours of training, we were ready to sleep on a real bed( instead of the floor) and we were ready to see the place we would call "home." As we rounded the last bend and saw the ship for the first time, a huge shout rose up among our bus; some people broke out in tears, still others just sat in amazement!!! Before us was not only the Logos Hope, but there was also hundreds of people waiting for us. Tons of people were standing on every deck and also in front of the ship, waving their national flag, waiving their hands like crazy and jumping up and down! When I stepped off the bus onto the port, it sounded like I was in a huge stadium where hundreds of people were cheering and shouting. Then, all of a sudden, it was like a massive rush of people, running toward one another. My team almost sprinted toward the ship, and many of the ship's crew ran toward us as well... It was so amazing to see people from all different nationalities welcome us with hand shakes and hugs.  I was suprised to hear so many people say to me, " Welcome to the ship Joslynn." I thought it was so neat that  many of the crew knew my name already. But then, I realized that I had a name badge on with my name in bold letters. Ooops!.... WIthin minutes of arriving on the ship, I met my "Big sister" (for those of you who don't know, everyone arriving on the ship has a big sister or brother who shows them around and helps them get accustomed to ship life)... Then, I got to tour the ship, and let me tell you, I felt so overwhelmed after visiting all nine decks on the ship and trying to remember where all of the places were! AFter being on the ship for four days now, I am finally finding out where everything is, without asking for directions...I feel so blessed to be here!!!

         One of my favorite parts about ship so far was the prayer tunnel that my team participated in. The first night I arrived, all of the ship's crew formed two lines facing each other (like a tunnel) and my team was told that we would walk through this tunnel so that the crew members could pray for us. At first, I felt a little uncomfortable to have so much attention directed toward us, but as I walked through the line of people who were holding up their hands, praying to God outloud, and laying their hands on us to pray for us individually, it was so evident that God's spirit was there! I am so encouraged by the people's faith here as well, they are very genuine and you can see that they want to worship God unashamadely.

Well, thank you all for your prayers and support! I am praying for you all too, and I want to thank everyone who has been such an encouragement to me through letters and comments. May God richly bless you all!!!                             

                                                                                                                                Joslynn

Here are some pictures from the beginning of my trip. I had originally posted these before I left the Go-conference (the first conference I attended from August 19-30), but  the internet got shut down when I was posting them and so they all got erased. I wasn't able to access the internet after that, until I got to the ship... So, sorry about that. I hope you all enjoy seeing some pictures from Holland..

(First picture) Adam, Maria, and me at a chinese restaurant in Holland. (second picture) The beautiful river that was right along our hotel. It is called "the stuw" in the swedish language. (Third picture) This is what the buildings looked like where I stayed at my first conference. It was gorgeous!

(first picture) This is another picture of the buildings that I stayed at in Holland.  (second picture) This was me, Christina (my fellowship group leader) and Tami (a lady in my fellowship group who is on Logos Hope as well). (third picture) This picture was taken after the 2 1/2 bike ride we took on our first day in Holland. You can't really see it in this picture, but we were soaked!!!