Here I am in not-sunny Kiel

I finally arrived aboard the Logos Hope late Saturday afternoon, just in time for supper. The gangplank looked a mile high, pretty steep for a pretty sore foot. Holding on with both hands and looking only at the next step, I made it to the top and wondered how on earth would I ever get down again.

After meeting a lot of new people and re-meeting several I’d met on Logos II, I called it a night and went to bed early. The next day while showering I discovered my sprained ankle was red, hot, swollen and painful, so down to the clinic I went. The same lady doctor I’d interviewed on Logos II examined my foot and declared it inflamed / infected, put me on antibiotics and off my foot! No more stairs, foot up when seated, and initially she told me 5 days of bed rest and no flying! I explained that I was only here for a week, needed to do interviews and take photos, and was scheduled to fly home to South Carolina on Saturday. She looked doubtful and told me “maybe.”

This morning I dressed and headed to the elevator with intentions to visit the clinic again. My foot looked better to me, and the doctor had said to come see her again this morning, so — but the elevator door on my deck (5) refused to open. The receptionist Patricia, who I’d also met on Logos II, called someone to come fix it, then called the clinic to let the doctor know I couldn’t get there. The doctor said she would come to my cabin in a while and check my foot, so back I went, lay down with foot propped up, and began re-reading one of the books I’d brought.

She arrived after a little while, said my foot was better but not well, to take all the antibiotics, still no stairs, and to keep my foot up anytime I was sitting. No walking except when absolutely necessary. Later on she brought me more pain pills, something similar to Tylenol, if I needed them. So far I rarely need to take the pills, which is good.

Since I can’t go wandering around, people are coming to me here in the Dining Room to talk, be interviewed and have their picture taken. It’s not bad, actually. I’m sitting at the family table of Andy West, have had a chance to talk to his wife Melody (Andy is in the states right now with his mom who has had surgery), and being spoiled by a wonderful lady named Geri Weirich. Geri and her husband Del are project workers from California. He does electrical work (retired electrical engineer who worked 30 years doing computer programming for military applications with Boeing). Geri works in the galley part time, baby-sits part time, and helps whoever needs help – like me. She has waited on me, carried things, fixed my plates so I don’t have to stand in line, and generally spends all her time being as useful to as many people as possible. She is pretty, upbeat, cheerful, and a loving bubbly addition to the ship. I have had a chance to talk to her and Del and will try to get a photo of them together.

This is a huge ship, especially compared to Logos II. Work is going on all over, welding, painting, wiring, building, etc., etc., to get the interior completed. The floor here in the dining room looks cardboard-covered. Large sheets of something like particle board are taped together with duck tape. This is to protect the new carpet that has already been installed while construction is going on. At first it looked weird, but now I’m used to it.

I’ve done a number of interviews and taken pictures, which I’ll write up when I get home. For now, I update my handwritten notes, get names spelled correctly, ask questions about ship functions and activities, and generally satisfy my curiosity. I am so grateful to Jon Crowe for helping me get my laptop set up and to all the other folks who are so welcoming and helpful. More later from cloudy-today Kiel, where the buildings surrounding the port are beautiful, historic and would make wonderful photos as soon as we get a more sunny day.

Shhhh…!

Today is Shhhh day here at the GO Conference, which means it’s prayer day.  Every day so far has started with a general meeting, worship followed by a lecture / seminar type presentation, and after that there has been a 15 to 30 minute time for prayer called shhhh time.  No or very little talking is done as people sit and read their Bibles, or walk through the grounds and pray.  Today began differently, with a Prayer Medina -

Okay, what is a Medina, I asked the other day.  It’s a “marketplace” sort of like a flea market, where stalls (or in this case tables or spots on the floor) were set up to represent a variety of “goods” available to buy.  Several days ago there was a Medina set up for various countries around the world where there are OM teams at work, each one manned by a person in the dress of that country.  Some offered samples of the food, or literature about the area.

The fellow manning the Eqypt table wrote the name Bette for me in Arabic.  (He’s a very fair-skinned American working in Eqypt, and although he was dressed as an Eqyptian and speaks the language, he looks like someone we’d see back home in Florence.  He has been one of the Discovery Group leaders.  It’s a bit disconcerting sometimes to see a scenario like that, and there are quite a few of them here…)

Today the Medina areas set up represented a variety of prayer needs, such as the need for freedom from a bad habit or sin – that was a cross; or the need to plant seeds somewhere (seeds of love, forgiveness, healing) – that was a table covered with actual seeds; the need for living water – that was a swath of water-colored cloth running down from several levels. There was a golden calf prominently displayed – you can guess that what one represented.

There were handouts available for those who wanted to follow a suggested list of prayer needs as they prayed and meditated during the day, as the people weren’t required to stay in that room all day and could go out for walks or go to the dining room, main lounge or to their rooms, which is what I did.

The Shhhh time began after breakfast with several worship songs followed by an explanation of what each “marketplace stall” represented, and then the quiet prayer time began.  It was broken only by the lunch meal during which everyone could talk, but afterward a new Shhhh time began for the afternoon.  It has been quite a different atmosphere here today as everyone respects and honors this specially set-apart time.

Tonight’s meeting / worship will be outdoors and we were encouraged to dress warmly.  I seem to have added a slight cold with sniffles to my achy foot, so I will probably only observe for a while and perhaps take a few pictures.

Mission Possible – but not always easy or pleasant -

Today was “Mission Possible” day. The conference-goers were given some instructions last night, then this morning were sent out in teams to their various “mission fields.” Because of my foot mishap I did not take part in the adventure, as each team went through the process of applying for a visa, purchasing airline tickets, flying to their destination, going through customs, etc. Each team met with a variety of problems, all simulated of course. There were points set up across the town of Mosbach as foreign cities, and realistic scenarios took place in each location for each team. Some airlines presented ticket or luggage problems. Some visas were difficult to get. Some customs officials were harsh and unpleasant.

The point was to present a variety of situations that would test ingenuity and intelligence, as well as put prior instructions and planning to the test. This took 4 to 6 hours of the day. After returning to the conference center, the team members were debriefed as to how well they thought they had done in their situation. This evening I talked to several people and even though they were aware this was a simulation, it had given them a lot to think about. Some were better prepared than others.

They had been told to dress warmly, to pack an overnight bag, take reading materials and a lunch. In some “countries,” items in the bag were questioned. Reasons for entering the country were questioned. One married couple had one bag between them, and although the husband carried it and the wife enjoyed that part, later they got separated so only one of them had any luggage – no food or clothing for the other.

I would have liked to photograph the teams as they participated, and even listened to the debriefing. I will try to talk to some other people tomorrow so I’ll have a better idea of what happened to them, how they fared, and what they would do differently next time. This sounds like a game as I type it, but it’s very serious business when you travel into an unfamiliar part of the world and not everyone speaks English, or speaks it well enough that you understand each other perfectly.

While the teams were out, I visited the OM Ships HQ office next door and met a lot of people. I was very glad to have that opportunity. Some of their staff have agreed to work on the Logos II during the next 6 months and have already left so those offices were empty. I stayed for the staff mid-day prayer time before returning here for lunch.

The food at the conference is very good, lots of vegetables, hot coffee, milk, fruit and fruit juices, several varieties of sliced sausage (what we usually call lunch meat) and cheeses. Today we had delicious fresh pizza along with all the other dishes.

A lady from a nearby town who had been working in the kitchen came and sat with me at supper. After telling me that she just came to work whenever there was a conference, she raised an interesting question. I had told her that I worked in the OM Ships office that raised awareness, prayer, people and money to operate the ships, and that prompted her question – didn’t we already have plenty of money? She thought that OM must have plenty of money since the food at the conference was so plentiful that people could even have seconds. As simply as I could, I explained that because it costs so much to purchase fuel and equipment, raising funds was an ongoing process and need. I hope that she understood. Her English was very good but not perfect.

This was an example of culture differences in understanding, I think, and I wonder how widespread that misunderstanding is. She was familiar with OM because she has helped out several times in the past, but she was not aware of how some things work. She is attending the meetings as well as helping out with the practical work and I hope she will continue to be interested. I asked if there was any possibility she could visit one of the ships some day but she and her husband have four teenage children at home and it may be a long while before they are able to do so. She did say they would like to plan for that in the future.

My foot is very stiff, sore and swollen today. I think it’s good that tonight there is no meeting and I can rest the foot a bit more. I look forward to having it much better, and soon.

Here in Mosbach, surrounded

I can’t get my pictures out of my camera yet – somehow I managed to leave my USB camera cord at home in the states. But this is a beautiful small town nestled in the hills and mountains of Germany, historical and well maintained. Cobblestone streets, gabled shops, lovely fields and even a castle.

Several hundred people are here, mostly young people. There is a sprinkling of us older folks who I can relate to a bit better. The workshops, teaching times and worship are excellent, the food is good and except for my tender foot (twisted it) I’m enjoying the time very much.

The Mill (where I am staying and the meetings are conducted) has a river running under it. After all, it was a working flour mill in the past. The river generates electricity for the Mill, and the excess power is sold to the local electricity grid. I think they should offer a tour of the power plant down in the basement! I like to see how things work…

Today I was taken on a drive to the local castle and a little walking tour of its environs. There is a gift shop with artifacts on display, including suits of armor, weaponry, period clothing, plus postcards and souvenirs. Several members of the family who have owned the castle for generations still live in part of it that I assume has been modernized somewhat. There is a hotel, restaurant, and chapel there also. There are many acres of vineyards and farmland belonging to the castle that you drive through to get to it.

Carol Ann and Mike Poynor were my hosts for this afternoon. Carol Ann is an official tour guide for the area, so she explained some of the history of the place. There are tunnels under the castle grounds (it sits at the top of one of the mountains) that are a military base, off limits to tourists of course! These tunnels have been used for generations and now are controlled by the German military, but you would never even know they are there, just driving along.

My camera told me “Memory card full” when I took the first shot from the balcony at the castle, drat. Carol Ann has some pictures, however, and will share some with me. The photo above is one I found on the internet.

After that we drove into the town of Mosbach, walked a couple of blocks, had cake and coffee at a wonderful little coffee shop, and came back to the Mill. These images, again from the internet, are of the part of town we walked through. Notice, there are no cars – they are in a parking lot a block away. That makes the shopping area pedestrian-only, which is very nice. Click on these photos to enlarge them for viewing. The tall building is the town hall and used to be a church.

That was enough for my achy foot this afternoon but it was a great time. I appreciate so much the Poynors’ kindness and generosity in treating me to this afternoon adventure!

What’s it like, a root out of dry ground? Hmmm. Nutgrass…

Pretty, isn’t it? To most of us in the US, nutgrass is a nuisance in the lawn. It’s not the same as Charleston grass or Centipede. It doesn’t grow in nice, neat, small blades. It’s not easy to manage. Still, one clump is sort of pretty, growing wildly any-which-way.

As I was praying and meditating the other night, Isaiah 53 verse 2 came to mind. “For he shall grow up before him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground…” And then the Lord spoke to me. What does that mean, like a root out of dry ground? Have you ever considered that?

No, I hadn’t. I knew this chapter referred to Jesus, and I’d sort of thought it meant he would die. A root out of dry ground dies, I thought. But then the Lord said to me, Think about nutgrass for a minute. So I did. How does it grow?

I thought some more. Well, it — it grows by spreading underground, actually. It doesn’t just have a single root, it has multiple spreading rootlets. When there is no water, the top root may protrude out of the ground. It appears dead, dry, like that root out of dry ground in Isaiah 53. But it’s not dead. It spreads sideways underground, sending out little rootlets searching for water. When it finds water, then the small root turns downward to the water, and sends another tender plant upward.

That’s what Jesus did, the Holy Spirit said. And that’s what the church is doing. The tender green plant grows, so green and healthy and strong, but if a time comes when for whatever reason it begins to look dead, it really isn’t. It just spreads underground those searching roots, seeking the water again. It will find water, nourishment, strength, and another tender plant will spring up.

Most home owners will tell you, you can’t kill nutgrass! You can pull it up, stomp it flat, cut it off or poison the leaves, but those roots are still underground. You can pull some of them up but you can’t get them all. Sooner or later, it will rise again. Jesus did, and his church does!

You know, I have a different attitude toward nutgrass today.

Going to Germany with OM

This is the place I’m going to in Germany for the GO Conference (Jan. 15-26) — a training conference for all new recruits to Operation Mobilisation. I’ll be staying in the Mill, where OM Ships HQ offices are located and where the meetings will be held. Pat and Terry Brown from Florence will also be attending. I’ll get to meet a lot of the “names”I’ve been reading, talk to new people and take lots of photos.

The photo below is the ship, Logos Hope, where I’ll be visiting the next week. About 80 or so new OM recruits will arrive the same day so it will be a busy week! I hope to be able to observe some of their on-board training, do a few interviews, wander around and take many more pictures. I should be returning home on Feb. 2nd, barring any cancelled or delayed flights. Pray for me, that all goes well with travel, luggage, etc.!