Singapore (MNN) — There are plenty of Christmas celebrations going on during this holiday season. But how many of those can say they're based out of a ship?
Part of the Operation Mobilization ships ministry, the Logos Hope ship has just docked in Singapore after a four-month port in Malaysia. OM's Rodney Hui says the Logos Hope is now just feet away from one of Singapore's largest shopping malls.
While there, says Hui, "We are free to share the Christmas story, which is what we love to do. After some restraint in Malaysia, we are really free to share–in a very attractive way–the Gospel, the Christmas story, right on the busiest street of Singapore."
It's an exciting event for the ship. Typically the Logos Hope functions as a sort of floating book store. It's filled with Bibles, educational materials, training resources and more. The ship, with 300-400 crew/staff members, tours around the globe to work with local churches and to reach out to the cities they visit.
The ship has a history of attracting a lot of visitors, and this Christmas stop in Singapore should be no different. Hui says over the four months in Malaysia, "A total of 414,000 visitors came to the ship."
Those aboard Logos Hope are in good spirits after that successful journey. Over 7,000 Bibles were sold, and OM was able to maintain excellent relations with the Malaysian government by doing their work openly and complying when books were deemed inappropriate for Malaysian shelves. The Gospel was spread, and the believers on the ship are still held in great standing with the nation.
The prayer is that the same will be true of the time in Singapore and then in the Philippines in the months ahead. The Logos Hope will stay in the Philippines from January through June 2012.
Until then, pray for this upcoming Christmas celebration. Pray that many would be interested in the Christmas story and board the Logos Hope to look for more materials.
Also pray for some needed resources on the ship to be provided. The Logos Hope is in need of two new generators, which will cost around $8 million. If you want to help with these needs, click here and help keep the Logos Hope afloat.
