STEP of faith!

Hey! Just wanted to let you all know that I have started up a new blog for my 2 year adventure on board the Logos Hope. The web address is: http://www.rippleeffect.travellerspoint.com I hope you check it out and enjoy hearing my stories as I serve the Lord overseas.

Hey!
For those of you who are on the ball and are already checking out my blog. I just wanted to let you know that the frequent changes are just part of my experimenting with a new look for my blog! Hope you like it when I'm finished.
Sincerely, Rosanna.

LONDON: Well London is big, busy and just about everything else. The ship was berthed in Canary Wharf, which is the ritziest business area of London, so we looked a bit odd surrounded by all these shiny skyscrapers. The city itself is a mix of all things old, new and whacky. The tower bridge, big ben, parliament house, Westminster abbey, the London eye, the river Thames, the British museum, Piccadilly circus, Hyde park, Camden town... The list of things to do and see is endless. I actually had the opportunity to go to all of the places listed and more. On one of my off days I went on an outing with Bommel, Brad, Norman and Elise first to the British Museum and then to Camden town. The British Museum is HUGE!! We spent about 3 hours in there and I didn't even see 1/18th of there was to see. As I said we also went to Camden town which is a market that covers blocks and blocks of land. It was a bit gothic but it was fun to just have a look and experience what it was like. During our time in London I had the chance to get to know a project worker from Sweden who was on board for 2 weeks. Her name is Rebecca and although I didn't really get to know her until the last week we got to be really good friends and she was such a blessing in my life, even if only for a short time. Another thing I got to do I London was to go to the Theatre. On our last day in London Carlos, Sammy, Geri and I all went to the globe theatre to see 'Romeo & Juliet' live. We got the cheap seats for £5, which turned out to be standing (?) seats. The part I haven't told you yet was that the show was 3 hours long!! Yeah, you heard me right we stood for 3 hours with only a short break in between. It was worth it though the show was great but I don't think I'd do it twice. Did I mention that I was part of the flag parade in the London Launch event??! It was so cool! The Logos Hope project was originally launched in London so it was fitting that they held the official launch in the same building as the previous launch. Lots of the crew were bussed out to the location and it was an amazing evening! They worship band came from the ship and they did an amazing job. I finally got to hear Brad (a South African friend) sing properly and was pretty impressed. The flag parade came right at there end of the evening and it was really impressive as all of us walked down the isle/steps, all dressed in black, and carrying our flags. By the time it came to sail away from London I think most of the crew were well and truly ready for it. It's not that we didn't enjoy London it's just that it was soooo Full On and we were just ready for a rest and that's exactly what Cork was. We spent about 2 days sailing from London to cork and it was so nice to see all the green as we sailed in. Cork has much more of a big town atmosphere rather than a city atmosphere. The first night in port I had signed up to go on the prayer drive and so I ended up going with Ee Vee (another STEPper) and an older guy form the ship. Our 'prayer drive turned out to be a little different than what we expected but I think, no I know, God planned it that way. As we were being driven to our hosts house we found out that in fact we weren't not going on a prayer drive in the strictest sense but to a healing service. No I know this might sound a little prejudice (Ok a lot prejudice) but this automatically put me on full alert and I was thinking Oh No! Not this mumbo jumbo dancy prancy stuff! We arrived a little late and already had a suspicious attitude but I was really impressed with the way they conducted the service. The Leader taught straight form the bible about healing and gave a good biblical foundation for the way things were done during then service. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all and was really impressed by the sincerity of the people. It was really encouraging to see a healing service being done in a truly biblical way without all the hocus pocus stuff that usually comes with it. Well I'm actually going to leave it there for now. I will continue this update next time I continue this update! Hehe
God bless you all and please keep praying for me!

I'd like to share a bit about myself and something that God has been teaching me.

For me in my life I've never had a real goal or calling in life. Some people have God speak to them out of a vision or dream but that never happened to me. I've always struggled with this lack of direction because it's very hard to push forward if you're not sure that you are going in the right direction. Around Dec 2007 I was 16 and in the process of looking for a job and going for my drivers license. My life was changing and I was really stressed and frustrated by the lack of direction in my life. One day I was in my room crying and pouring my heart out to God when He spoke quietly into my heart and said "just hold my hand and trust me". It was then that God started to show me that life isn't a race up a mountain to see who can get to the top first, it's like the walk of a blind man, clinging to God's hand as he guides us, step by step, through life. Sometimes I'm a bit of a slow learner and I have often let go of God's hand, only to stumble into a hole, but God has always been there to pick me up. God doesn't always speak through visions and thunder, sometimes His voice is a whisper in your heart or a gentle hand guiding you, opening and closing doors. I like the saying from the movie, the sound of music "When God closes a door He always opens a window". That's so true and God always knows what's best. I think maybe the point of what we do on earth isn't the destination but the journey. We can't change yesterday, we don't know what tomorrow will bring but we can live today, abiding in God's will and clinging to His hand. Just keep holding onto God's hand and living everyday to His Glory. God will never let you down.

Prov 3:5&6
Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.

Wow what a week! I'll give you a brief overview so you know what I've been up to:

Early last week all of the other STEPpers arrived and I only worked on Tuesday because we spent Wed, Thurs and Fri in STEP training. The first two days were kind of boring but there was a few things that I'm glad we did. Wednesday morning not everybody had arrived so we just had a casual morning getting to know each other and playing a few team games. All in all I think we're not a bad bunch, there are a few quirks but that could just be my presumptions and perceptions as well so I'll reserve final judgement for now. I'll post there photos on my blog when I can get through so you can see who I'm talking about. In the afternoon we went for a prayer walk, which was very nice too. Thursday morning we watched an incredibly BORING safety movie and I (don't tell anyone) very nearly fell asleep several times ;D After that we took a "Full" tour of the ship and I even found a few new places so that was good. Friday we got lots of different teaching but what stood out to me most was the teaching on Cultural differences. I never really realised just how much your culture plays into how you act and what you do. It made me realise just what a miracle the peace and unity of the body on this ship was. God must have His work cut out for Him with us bunch of Quirks. Saturday was my Eday. I had the afternoon shift so I worked on Deck 4 from 1pm to 10pm. I was so blessed to have an amazing and impacting chat with an old lady I met in the I cafe. My first post was to be in the I cafe to help clear dirty tables but most of all to stop and chat with people. On of the people I stopped and chatted to was an old Catholic lady, named Evelyn (I didn't have any trouble remembering her name =D) who had travelled a fair way with her church to come and see the ship. She had just been on a tour and was sitting on her own getting her breath back. I can't remember exactly what we talked about but we did talk for while a while about the ship and I told her about myself and what I did. Near to the end of the conversation she told me that while she had been climbing all the stairs during the tour she'd hadn't thought the trip to the ship was worth it but after talking to me she knew it was. She said that God had brought her there so that she could talk to me. Wow what a privilege to see God work through you and minister to other people. That old lady made the next 8 boring, dead quiet hours totally worth it! Sunday was my off day so I managed a small sleep in before breakfast and Church. The service was really good teaching and after the service I had some lunch before figuring out what I was going to do with my afternoon. I wanted to find someone who would come shopping in the city but not many people have off days on Sunday so I ended up heading off by myself. We were allowed to go out on our own in Cardiff and it was supposed to be pretty safe but I still wasn't feeling very good about walking 30 mins to the city on my own and thankfully God knew that. I'd only just started the main stretch to the city when I saw a group of Ship people standing in a bus station. I headed over and as it turns out they were going on an outing together to St. Fagan's. Now the Lord is truly amazing! I had really wanted to go to St. Fagan's but as it was out of town a bit and I didn't think anyone else was off on Sunday I had given up on the idea. Little did I know that God had it all planned out for me. My friends invited me along and It didn't take me very long at all to say Yes Please. I don't have time to tell you all about the visit now but I will put it all in a blog for you later. I had a really great and a little eventful afternoon. Lots of pics to show you! Monday I was back to work but that wasn't so bad because I kind of liked getting back into routine. It helps to keep you stable. I spent all of Monday vacuuming. It was a big job but the sense of accomplishment when I finished everything was sooo rewarding. Tuesday was quite and eventful day! Every time we are at sea for over 24 hours we have to do a safety drill. This is where everyone on the ship has to quickly make sure they have long sleeves, pants, closed shoes, a hat and then report to their 'muster' stations. We had on of these Tuesday morning so we all went along and did the drill and then went back to the usual. Then at 12:30pm we had another call only this time it wasn't a drill!!! What happened was that somehow a small smouldering fire had started in the toilet paper hold. Because it was a smouldering fire and it was in a hard spot to get to they had to call in all 11 BA (Firemen) teams and had to refills over 50 air bottles as the BA teams worked to get the fire out and the smoke dissipated. Meanwhile the whole ships company was detained to Deck 6 for 3 Hours!!! Praise the Lord that no one was hurt and the fire was safely extinguished but we are officially on Toilet paper rations as most of our supply is either burnt or soggy from all the water they pumped into the hold.

This is the break in between email 1 and 2. I copy and pasted this from any email because it was easier and more time efficient.

Hey! Here comes part two: The rest of Tuesday wasn't nearly as exciting but we did manage to get all of our work done so that was good. Tuesday night we had Port Praise which is where we have an evening thanking those who worked hard to organise the previous port and also hear stories of how God worked during our time there. It was really good. Wednesday I worked all day again. I started the day with the wrong attitude, I'm ashamed to say, but once I realised, I prayed that God would change my attitude and immediately I felt better and then in the next few minutes 3 people specifically smiled at me and said hello. Wow! Oh, I forgot to mention that George Verwer, the founder of OM, is on board the ship. Wednesday night he did one hour of teaching and then afterwards I sat with Imogen and we had a very deep personal talk about God and different things in our lives. I discovered that Imogen and I are on the same spiritual level and we have very similar biblical beliefs on most topics. It was really exciting to talk to someone and find out that they are where you're at. We also prayed for each other and prayed for the ship. Some of the leaders expressed the view that they thought that the ship was coming under special attack as sail into London and since then I've noticed that a lot of people have been getting very tired (Including me) so we prayed against that and that the Lord would use the ship powerfully in London. God provision is amazing because he unexpectedly changed my schedule from a 9am start to a 1pm just because he knew that I'd need the sleep after talking to Imogen. Thursday morning I had a great sleep-in but unfortunately I'd forgotten that it was the first morning of my study group so I accidentally missed that. Ooops! The leaders were really nice about it though so I'll just make sure I'm on time next week!! Until I started work I just had an easy morning, I think I emailed the first half of this email and did some other stuff before work started at 1pm. I was put on guest cabins with a couple of other girls and we raced through them so we'd be able to stand on deck when the Ship came into port at London. We were able to stand on the deck so I brought out my Australian Flag and stood on the deck with Eliese. We had a really great time up there and it's really funny because our berth is right in the middle of the flashest business district in London and we are surrounded by high buildings and skyscapers. The offices have glass windows so you can have good fun watching exactly what people are doing in there offices =D. Once we had headed down from the deck I had a shower, got dressed to go out and the went to Port Orientation. Once the orientation was over most of us all headed out to take a prayer drive/tour of London in 5 red double decker busses. It was sooo cool. Three of the busses met at the city hall and we all encircled it and held hands as we prayed over London. As we drove we also got to see the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and lots more. It was really interesting but Emily and I were so tired by the time we got back. Yesterday I had morning shift so that meant that I had to start working at 6am, which is not so easy with only 5 hours sleep, but through God's grace I survived and I actually had a really good day. Morning devotions was the first ever event in the Hope Theatre which was only just finished in time for London. They've done a really great job and the devotion was a time of giving God praise and thanks.I till 3pm and at 5pm I ate dinner with a couple of STEPper friends and some new project workers that I hadn't met before. Later I went and sat at another table with Eliese and some other friends. Eliese, Emilie ( a different one from my cabin mate Emily Wynne) and I decided to go for a walk to have a look around and find a Starbucks. For some reason the Ship people just love Starbucks. I think it has more to do with it's free WiFi than with the coffee though. We had a nice walk and then just enjoyed sitting around and having a good time. Later we went to a Marks & Spencers ( kind of like an IGA) and I bought some chocolate ( good value and no artificial colours or flavourings!) and some small packets of chips. When you're on the ship it's better value to buy your snacks in bulk when you're in port than buying them individually, Although the ship shop is pretty good value and they do sell Speculaas and other Dutch foods. Yum. When we got back Eliese and I went up on deck 9 for a while to try watch a movie and enjoy the evening but we couldn't hear anything so we moved inside a watched a 3rd of the movie 'Amazing Grace' (My own personal copy which I scored for free! Someone on the ship has a whole box full of them. Not bad Huh!) before chatting for a while praying together and then heading off to bed. This morning I had morning shift again so I vacuumed and cleaned/made up guest cabins all day. I finished work at 3pm, had my shower and decided I'd better finish this email to you ( I started it in my lunch break) before heading off somewhere else and forgetting about it. This evening I might see if I can find some one who want's to come and do a bit of shopping with me after dinner. There's a few things I need to get and it's nice to get of the boat and outside into the fresh air when you can. Tomorrow is my Eday and I'll be on the service desk all day. I've never been there and I'm really looking forward to it. Monday some friends and I are planning on getting together and heading into London to see the sights. We want to go on the London Eye and do all that touristy kind of stuff so it should be lots of fun. I'll tell you all about when I can.

I think the last few days on board have been the start of a new faze in ship life. I think most of the honey moon period has worn off and on Monday morning I just wanted to curl up and be at home. At the same time persevering has also bought it's own rewards and In the last week I've has so many good conversations with friends who are serious about their faith and about serving God. It's really encouraging to see that you're not the only one and that there is other young adults out there that think the same way as you and are on the same sort of spiritual level. I was right when I guessed that this trip would be a Huge challenge and a Huge blessing. I don't think I'll come home as the same person who flew out of Perth Airport two and a half weeks ago.

A few prayer points: That I would spend time each day talking to God and studying His word, That our internet would be up and running soon, faster and better than ever, That I would be able to be a good friend to the people around me and that God would use be to bless them, That I continue to grow closer and closer to God as He teaches me new, and not always easy, lessons every day, That I would be less judgemental of those around me and focus on changing myself not them, For God's protections of this ship and For sound sleep and restful nights for all of the people on board.

Newsflash! I did find someone to come for a walk with me. Imogen and I had a great time walking, browsing and chatting.

God bless,
Rosanna xoxo