Life on the go

School

2007-04-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

So, I have not blogged in ages. Today I had two really tough tests and I just had this deep urge to blog. Weird huh? I guess some things really don't go away. It is hard for me to believe that in one months time I will have completed a year of school. Wow huh? Me, who never wanted to go back to school is over my head in assignments! To make even more ironic I love it. (that is for the most part) :) For those of you who don't know I am in school to become a Paramedic or Emergency Medical Technician. I really didn't know how I would handle this line of work, but so far it has been fine. I haven't freaked out in the emergency room yet. But my life is so different than what it was a year ago when I was living in Germany working for Logos Hope. It has been so good for me to back here. ...To have to intergrate back into my culture and find who I am at "home". About six months ago I started working at the Olive Garden, an Italian chain restaurant in the States. I have always wanted to be a waitress for some odd reason and now that dream has come true. :) That job has been challenging for me cause I was not at all use to working in the secular world, but I have been so thankful for the challenge. It is definitely keeping me out of my comfort zone. I definitely have a much deeper apreciation for servers. I have enjoyed all the different types of people that come in and living life with my fellow employees. I still have that burning desire to tell people about Jesus! ( may that never go away ) but I am learning how to do that here. Life with God is so uncertain, yet certain. I know that statement contradicts itself but it seems so true to me. I don't know how people can say that walking with God is boring and predictable. It makes me question if they have truly experienced the walk! - cause nothing compares!

Flight Terrorism

2006-08-10T23:51:00.000-07:00

I find that I am so surprised over this plot in England to bomb planes. Logoically the way our world is, I guess we should be at a place where we almost expect this type of behavior. Still, it saddens me deeply to think of the rippling effect this will have in the future. I still have not gotten use to all the new regulations that have formed since 9/11.

Bobby and I meant to be flying through Manchester,England on the 19th and 20th. Yesterday I spent the afternoon talking to my travel agent trying to figure out an alternate route, just in case. Right now I plan on sticking with our orignal travel plan. But it sounds like it will be quite an ordeal at the airport. They have advised that all passenger arrive at the airport 4 to 5 hours before their flight and no carry on items are allowed other than medications, travel documents and really that is about it. Please pray for us to have wisdom to know what to do.
Here is an interesting article that explains why they have banned almost all cary on items. check it ou - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,207879,00.html

What have I gotten myself in to?

2006-08-09T03:12:00.000-07:00

Becca, Sabine, and Monkia surrounding my brother at the airport in Croatia when we first arrived!

I think that is the question that went through my brother's head mutiple times this last week has met my different friends working on the Logos Hope!

We have been in Trogir Croatia for five days. The time is flying by! We are staying in an apartment off the ship. We are staying on third floor and the view is beautiful of the sea and the in distance you can see the mountains surrounding the city of Split. It really looks like a seen off the Lord of the Rings! The beach is a five minute walk away! Because of the heat we have been sleeping underneath musquito nets on the porch. It is wonderful going to sleep looking at the stars!! I will have to take a picture of it all and post it.

Bobby comes back each night with a black face covered in dirt! He was so tired his first night back he laid down on the wooden floor and woke up 3 hours later! :) Everyon kept walking by him and looking to see if was really sleeping!

It is amazing how natural it is for me to just pop back into this life. I find that I still call Germany home. Bobby kind of just raises his eyebrow at me when I do this!

We’re from the country and we like it that way!

2006-06-19T19:17:00.000-07:00

That song kept rolling around in my head as I was walking around looking at all the people attending the Kalona, IA, Exotic Animal auction. The fact that I notice it is probably just another sign that I have been away for a long time. I so badly wanted to jump on one of the fence posts and sing that song at the top of my lungs! J Thankfully my better judgment held me back! There was an unbelievable assortment of animals and fowl. I saw a type of bird that I had not seen since I was in South Africa staying in a mud hut! Bobby, my brother loves animals. I knew before we went that I was in for quite day, but really I had no idea. It all started when I left him to find a bathroom. I got a call a few minutes later on my cell phone saying, “Jaylene, you have to come out here and see these geese! I think I am going to get them and may be some ducks.” (Note to self – don’t leave him alone at animal auctions!!) So I made my way to the fowl pens. To paint this picture more vividly you have to imagine this big barn with fenced in areas filled with all sorts of feathered creatures. A smell of sweat and chicken poop. People eagerly going from cage to cage pointing and commenting in every which way and my brother right in there with him. I was soon left to guard his ducks and geese to make sure no one else would take them while he walked around to make sure this was what we were going to get. I am not really a fan of feathered animals, so, standing guard I was silently scheming as to how I could talk my brother out of adding to our steadily growing bird collection. (We already have 20 guinea hens at home on the farm) My determination growing steadily each minute as I listened to the geese honk. My brother thought he was doing really good with only getting geese and ducks, he wanted chickens, a fox, a raccoon… and was even interested in a llama! So after much debating he opted on just getting geese. So we headed in the sale barn where they were starting to auction off animals. After a long while they brought out fawns. I wasn’t paying too close of attention so when Bobby told he was going down to get a closer look I did not really think anything of it. Several minutes later I watched in horror as my brother bid and purchased a deer. To make things funnier while I was waiting for Bobby to finish up the paperwork from his purchases I overheard someone talking about a St. Bernard they had just purchased. (A few days before we decided that we were going to get St. Bernard and Lab puppies to have on the farm) So I asked them about it. It turned out the man selling them was there at the auction. Not long after I was driving the truck down the interstate with two geese in the back seat, Bobby was sitting next to me attempting to control the little deer that was panicking and I had our new St. Bernard curled up on lap trying to hide cause she was afraid of the deer. What an experience! I will laugh for many days to come over that crazy day. And our farm… it gets funnier and fuller every day!!

Monday June 11th

2006-06-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting in a park pouring out my heart to God over a difficult situation that overwhelms me – when I felt this peace, almost like the breeze that was blowing all around me, engulfing me. God is faithful; He has been and will continue. It is like that statement from Billy Graham, “Even though we can’t see or touch the wind we still know the wind is there. It is just a common fact. It is the same with God’s presence.” He is present and active!

Food Fight

2006-05-22T08:58:00.000-07:00

What better way to get re-adjusted back into the USA than a massive food fight? :) Well, however useful it is or not, that is how I spent last Saturday afternoon. Imagine this - 180 junior high kids (ages 9 -13) running around, loud music pounding in the background and a bright sun shiny day. In a big lot there was all these different stations set up - eg. you had to slide down a strip of plastic covered in oil and then jump into a pool of BLUE mash potatoes and then hunt through the mush until you found a gummy bear! :) OR playing duck, duck, goose with mash potatoes! I was team captain for 10 girls. I urged them to come up with a team name to which we there was 100% vote for "Peach Fuzz"! So Peach Fuzz we were for the day! I am not sure if I have ever been so flithy in my life, but it was great! Seeing the kids faces was priceless! At the end they had us gather and gave a very visual gospel presentation. They compared how dirty we were to sin. The had one of the kids get up into the dunking tank and dumped her in and when she came up she was clean which was compared to Jesus blood! What an awesome way to share about Jesus! :)

Sorry, do you speak English?

2006-05-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

Walking around the streets of Chicago I had a really freaky experience. I kept wanting to speak German to people. I mean it is not that my German is good by any means, it is just that when I am out away from my familiar surroundings, eg office and apartment - my mind goes to German. I keep getting surprised when the people around me speak English. It is so strange, really! I feel like a foriegner in my own country. I got so freaked out today when I met a friend of a friend. She at first meeting was so shallow and fake. Later on I learned that was not true, but that was my first impression! Well, this is day 2 of re-entry in the States! :) One day at a time! Tomorrow I fly back to Iowa! The cutlure shock continues. It has always been this way for me, returning to the states shocks me more than other place in the world I have been... and also takes the most adjustment!

leaving on a jet plane....

2006-05-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

In a 6 1/2 hours I leave Mosbach...wow....the day has come! The past week has been a blur! but even in the crazyness of goodbyes and painting...etc, it has been fun. Surprising when I really don't like goodbyes! :) There has been so many goodbye parties... it has been crazy! The Logos Hope team took me to my favorite restaurant AND made me play some of the fear factor games that I had used for the youth event, Teenstreet! I had to eat Veggie mite... this nasty brown horrible tasting stuff out of a diaper! oh my goodness! ... they have to love me to do something like that! It was a good time after I stopped gagging! I seriously have been overwhelmed by the love I have been shown. Mosbach has really become my home, I can see that now as I am leaving. This marks the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Thank goodness I don't go alone...God goes with me and His presence is what sustains me! :)

This is the life

2006-05-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took a lifeboat out to an island in Trogir, Croatia and camped out! It was spectacular!!

Goodbye Logos Hope…

2006-05-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I walked all around the Logos Hope, mostly remembering the past 2+ years that I have spent on this project. I was trying to let the reality that I might not step foot on Logos Hope again until she is finished. I would think that would make me happy, but instead I feel a pain that I can’t even express. It in a way is like cutting myself off from something that is so dear to me. I think back to my first visit to Logos Hope in Denmark. There she still looked like a car ferry. What a contrast it is now, the car deck has been split in two and you can easily see the shapes of offices, an auditorium and book holds on the bottom deck. The upper deck you can see where the bookshop will be and café for visitors. You can see on deck 6 new bathroom units sprouting up in the midst of a wide-open space. The first person even moved on-board a few nights ago. It is really happening. The process of seeing Logos Hope transform has been painful yet exciting a miracle….the different emotions kind of wrapped into one. As I was walking around with this pain, I thought, this is good. Pain is good. As much as it hurts I am thankful! The pain that I have shows me I have loved and given of myself. How sad it would be for me to leave fed up and wanting to wash my hands of the whole project? I am thankful for the people that I have met, for the things I have learned and for how I met God more intimately.

For two hours yesterday I walked around with Pieter jan (Netherlands), a fellow Logos Hope team member, interviewing different yard walkers. I was touched by one of the men, he was telling us how he had told some people about the crew of the Logos Hope, how they all work as volunteers. His face was so earnest as he was speaking to us. He said, “I tried so hard to explain what you do, but they just don’t understand, all they did was laugh.” He started asking more questions and why we do what we do. Another man we interviewed told us he was religious and believed in God, to prove his point he opened up his office door to show his poster of Pope Benedict. The only problem was the pope was surrounded by pin-ups. How do you figure? The experience grew my appreciation of the guys on our team and how they are constantly reaching out to the yard workers. Yet, in the process guard themselves. I asked several men if they would come visit Logos Hope when she was finished and returned to Croatia, they enthusiastically nodded their heads and said, “Definitely, yes!!”

Cambodia

2006-04-10T09:00:00.001-07:00

Laos

2006-03-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

Thailand

2006-03-31T10:55:00.000-08:00

My good friend Debbie

Cambodia

2006-03-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Who would think that a couple hundred Kilometers would take 2 days? Definitely not me! But that is what it took to get from Laos to Cambodia. My lowest point on that trip was sitting in the back of a flatbed truck that had been converted into seats with 30 other people with our feet propped up on watermelons that covered the floor. I had put my head into my lap for several minutes to rest and fell asleep. I awoke when the truck slowed only to lift my head and see 10 cow tongues on sticks, inches from my face... if that was not bad enough they popped in on the other side as well. I think this is the closest I have ever come to having a panic attack in my life. I could not move and there was absolutely nothing I could do to keep the tongues from dripping on me. ( I promise you I will have nightmares for years to come over this! ) I put my head down in Debbie's lap and started crying and laughing....I guess my way of coping in such situations! :) I finally sat up after what seemed like forever only to find half the people chowing down on a tongue. Needless to say I went back to Debbie's lap pronto! Thankfully it ended soon and we back to bouncing along our red, rutted, dirt road.

When we finally arrived to one of the very northern city of Ban Lung ( whose claim is to be the dustiest city in the world. - Which I definitly have no qualms aggreeing with ) we tried to call an old Doulos friend Peter Shackelford and wife of several months, Amanda. Only to find the phone would not work. We stopped at 6 different places trying to ask people if they knew an American or any foreigners. Finally we met someone who said he had a friend that knew everybody. He called his friend and asked him to come. A few minutes later he arrived, listened to the situation and placed a call to an American man who thankfully knew Peter! We then got the right number and found him! Walking down the dirt road to their home on stilts I had to laugh out of relief that we did not have to spend the night in a guest house minutes from Peter and Amanda's home! Thank you Lord!

Laos

2006-03-11T17:59:00.000-08:00

I cannot describe the beauty surrounding the Mekong river. The Mekong flows through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. My entry into Laos was through the Mekong. We spent 2 days on a slow boat going to the inner city of Luang Prabang. The first day our boat was rickety and old, made of wood bits that were splintery and falling apart. We arrived a bit late and so ended up sitting in the back by the toilet on a bunch of bags deafened by the noise of the engine! In the evening we stayed in this hill village. Everything was very smoking because of the slash and burn agriculture that they practice here. There were a group of adorable children out in the street playing with their flip-flops. One would run down the road and place their flip so it was standing up and the others would throw their flips at to knock it down. I watched for a bit and asked if I could play. They were so surprised but let me, all of our communication was through hand motions. It took me forever to the knock the shoe over but when I finally did I jumped in the air and yelled whoo hooo!! The kids that this was hilarious! And from then on whenever one of them would knock a shoe over they would copy me. :) The next day we made an early start and had a beautiful seats on a different boat. We could feel the breeze and sit completely on the seat! Towards the end of the day I crawled out and around to the front of the ship 'bow' where only a few people could sit. Such raw beauty of cliffs, mountains and rock formations. Dotted in and out were little villages on poles so they would not get flooded during the rainy season. I saw several children riding an elephant along the river. I was into the nature around me I was completely shocked when I looked at the French man sitting next to me start to roll some pot and begin to smoke. I guess that is the reality of why many people come to this part of the world. Many of the village people grow and use opium.

Day # 5

2006-03-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

The smells here are quite diverse. One of our main ways of transport around the city of Chiang Mai has been a motor bike. As you are driving along you get hit by smells that could curl your hair - like sewage, exhaust fumes, unusual foods, incense floating around from shrines and temples... or the extreme contrast of jasmine flowers or wonderful smelling food that makes you want to eat just a bite even if you are full. I think some of these smells are very distinct to this part of the world and bring back memories of places I have been.

Our showers here are from a bucket! Which even if you are roasting hot...the freezing cold water is a shock... you can have warm water but you need to boil it on the stove first. Which personally I just find is too much effort! :)

The toilets cannot handle toilet paper and so that must be disposed in a bin. Sometimes hard to rememeber. The most frequent toilet here is called the squat toilet.... I will let your imagination figure out what that is! :)

Tomorrow we leave for Loas. We will hop on a bus at 8am in the morning and from there take a boat for two days into and through Laos.

Thailand

2006-03-04T03:33:00.000-08:00

Have you ever been stuck on a plane runway bound in the middle of a blizzard? I had never been til yesterday! It was definitely an unforgetable experience! :) We sat on the plane in Germany for 2 hours waiting for the plane to be de-iced. The weather was so bad it took another 4 hours for us to take off...which I was convinced was not going to happen that day! So 30 hours later and 90 degrees hotter I have arrived in Chiang Mai Thailand. ( I missed my connecting flight because of the delay and so it proofed to be an adventure the whole way!) I had just warked through immigration thinking how in the world am I going to find my friend, Debbie when she turned around from the info desk!! :) That was cool! and a huge thank you Lord! Debbie's main source of transport is a little moped/motorbike which will sit two people. Quite an experience!!

South East Asia

2006-03-02T15:15:00.000-08:00

In a little under nine hours I will begin my journey to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia! I cannot believe that this dream is coming true!! Almost more than I can imagine!! I arrive in Bangkok at 6:30am Saturday and then catch another flight for Chiang Mai, Thailand. There I will meet up with a good friend, Debbie Witzkewitz! There is a couple from my church working in this city.. Nate and Catey Statezni, I hope to also meet up with them. The purpose of this trip is to explore the different work going on and to see this region of the world more. I am very interested in working here in the future and hope this will be helpful in knowing how to think and pray about this further! I will try to update my blog as much as can to keep you up to date with our backpacking wanderings! :) ...I am sure there will be many stories to be told!

Good-bye

2006-02-25T04:54:00.000-08:00

Collette...Es...Me
This last week has been one of craziness. We discovered that Es, my Filipino housemate was probably not going to get her visa that would enable her to return to the Logos Hope in Croatia. It was really quite an emotionally draining week. We tried so many different options to find a way for her to stay in Europe until hopefully her visa would come. It is one of those situations where you pray by faith that God will provide the visa, but then on the other side what if it is not His will? What if He has another plan or another way? From a human perspective it is a really hard situation. We desperately need someone in Croatia to help with all the admin work... Es knows how it works, she's done it. Some of colleagues were so sure she was going to get this visa. Yesterday there was a sense of disappointment that was floating around the office as Es was packing up her desk and saying goodbyes. Yet, a belief that God's ways are bigger than ours. We have to trust Him with our whys.
Up to the last hour of her getting on the plane things were bit crazy. She had cancelled a part of her ticket and confirmed her ticket straight from Frankfurt to Manila. At the check-in desk they told her that her ticket was illegal. I was standing behind her with our other housemate Collette and another friend Rachel. All I heard was illegal and saw the blood drain out of Es' normally tan face. She and I made our way over to the ticket desk. Both of our hears were beating so fast. I don't know what was going on in her mind, but in mine, I just kept thinking that she had 24 hours to leave Germany before she became illegal. As we were waiting in line I saw this man smiling and talking to his customer and was like Es we want this guy, we have to pray that we can have him. Several minutes later his desk was free. He greeted us with a big smile and asked how he could help us. He was from Africa which made for great conversation cause Es and I had been in Africa for 14 months on-board the Doulos. He took care of the ticket and all was well! It was awesome how God provided for us.
The week was not only crazy because of Es' visa situation but also because our Team leader Christy was preparing for a 2 week break. I think most everyone the Logos Hope team were working late making sure they got approvals and certain things were in place for she left. I cannot tell you how HAPPY I was that today was Saturday! I slept 11 hours! and ate breakfast at 12:30 pm! It was lovely. :)

Butter Chicken

2006-02-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

Me, Collette, Es (housemates) and Maria Chua (exdouloid)
I have had this Aisan cook book for over a year now. I keep looking at it, drooling over different curry dishes. I had never made anything out of it for reasons such as I don't have the right spices or I don't have the patience after work to go shopping and figure out what things are in German. Maria was passing through Mosbach so I thought now is the time I finally am going to give one of these recipes a go! I have to say, I was getting a bit nervous! Cooking curry is so different from anything I have ever made before! Es is a wonderful cook and very reassuring to have in the background to make sure I was doing it all right! As you can see below we cleaned up!! It actally tasted really good! Thank you Lord!! :) One of the challenges when it comes to cooking or baking here in Germany is that they use grams. For example... a recipe for bread would say 200 grams of flour instead of 2 cups. (that is an example not the conversion) I have made some very interesting dishes by my guesstamations of what 200 grams is! We never have a boring day, nor a boring meal. Another thing that can take time to get use to is the rubbish (or trash) system. To chew a piece of gum you need three different rubbish cans to dispose of it. One for paper, one for the metal wrapper and one for the gum (which is for all fresh items). When I was back in the states a last month I had to adjust myself to throwing everything all together again. Even in public areas here in Germany there will be seperate trash cans to throw everything away! So next time you chew gum in the USA - be glad you can throw it all in the same place! :)

The Danes....

2006-02-05T07:58:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that the Danish people would be kicked out of the Arab countries? I, personally find this amazing out of all the different nationalities of the world I would find the Danes of the last that would be struggling with the issues they are now facing....and all because of some cartoon. Our world is very unpredictable. Only God knows what tomorrow will hold. I am really saddened by this news. Sad to see how something so little can cause such an uproar and reaction. I was just reading an interview of the editor that released the comics to be printed. His intent in publishing this was not malicious but just commentary on the times. Why does this thing have to be made so big? It seems so childish to blow it up so big. It is completely out of paportion. I wonder if this will ever be resolved or if a backlash of responses will continue to flow. As I think about this issue I try to understand how and why Muslims react so strongly to this. I can understand how they can take offense but to burn down the Danish embassy in Lebanon. That is extreme. Do they think at all of how this behavior and reaction show them to be to the rest of the world? Check out the artical I am referring to -

Dogs + Chocolate = REALLY SICK DOGS

2006-01-28T08:24:00.000-08:00

During my last weekend in the States I found myself caught in the middle of a horrible snow storm. I went to a friend's house cause I did not think I could make home. My friend (Amber) was house sitting and also had the owners 3 dogs. This was not just any house either, it has been featured at one time in the Magazine, "Better Homes and Gardens". About an hour after I arrived we came back to the sitting room to find that the dogs had taken a bag of dark chocolate off of a table and eaten the whole bag the only thing remaining was little bits of tin scattered everywhere. I immediately freaked out remembering that a neighbor had a dog die cause it ate chocolate. My Aunt and Uncle are vets so I called them up asking what we should do. My Aunt was very concerned and said we needed to give the dogs peroxide to make them throw up. As we were hanging up she was like this will be really messy....with chocolate and all.......This was the beginning of many phone calls back and forth to different vets. After about 20 minutes the dogs finally threw up. (It was about 12am) I have never been so happy to see throw up in my life. I called back up the vet to tell them our happy news but they still thought it was an urgent possibly fatal situation and if we did not want any of the dogs to die we should still bring them in. The cost of just bringing the dogs in without any treatment was a staggering $100!! By 1am we decided that we could not risk it and loaded the three dogs in Amber's back seat and ventured out into the bad weather. On the way the dogs threw up again all over the back seat. As we walked into the vet hospital the smallest dog started falling over and getting stiff! Amber, Aaron (another friend who came with us)and I all looked at each other and fell into chairs in the waiting room waiting for news on our charges! Needless to say we were very thankful that we took the dogs in, one of them would have died! We finally climbed into bed at 5am! :)
I really felt like I had lived a movie!

On the Road again

2006-01-23T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well after about 7 weeks of being back in the USA and almost no writing on my blog page I feeling itchy to keep this thing up to date! This Wed (1/25) I fly out from my home airport back to Germany. On a side-note - This will be my first time since leaving five years ago to fly out from this airport and not make the five hour drive to Chicago! I am so excited about that! It is funny how the little things can excite you so much! :)
The time here at home has gone by like a snap of the fingers! I had so much I wanted to do when I came back...I knew it would be so hard to get it all done! ...actually impossible I think! But I am so thankful for all I was able to do and people I saw!

One of my highlights was having my friend Lilian come and stay with my family for a week! It was almost beyond what I could have imagined that we would both get to visit each others homes within six months!! We had a wonderful time together! I tried to give her a full on country experience....all the way from target shooting and tractor driving to line dancing! It was wonderful!

Planes, rental cars and BAD weather....and huge surprise

2005-12-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

One of the questions I almost daily asked is, "where are you now?" This question is very relevant to my life! :) Sometimes I have a tough time keeping track. About a week ago I made a plan to change my ticket to return to Iowa from the 21st to the 8th and surprise my parents!! The whole thing turned out to be quite the adventure! The weather was so badddddd the plane was delayed an hour! I then rented a car...but it was snowing so much and the visibility was so bad the first 2 1/2 hours I went only 40 miles! it took me a long time to get home!! I did not get back until 2am in the morning! On my final strech i started counting cars that were in the ditch to stay awake! ( 35 cars in about in 70 miles!) I finally arrived home...and after ringing the door bell for five minutes I reaized that no one was home!! It finally dawned on me that they must have stayed in town cause the roads were so bad! I had several moments where I was in the depths of despair that the plan had failed, but it quickly passed as I thought up a new scheme to surprised them in the morning and so.... I went back to a gas station and slept in the car! Of course in these parts everyone know each other! I awoke at 7am to see a man shoveling snow outside of my car.... I walked into the gas station and he said,"Jaylene Schlichting what are you doing sleeping in your car and even more, what are you doing in Iowa??"...so funny! After I explained and with the whole gas station still laughing at me I called my parents mobile and found out that they were at a hotel.... and showed up there!! So the surprise was still successful! :) and I continue to enjoy surprising many others as they see do double takes to see if it really is me!!

In the bottom of tank....

2005-11-25T07:14:00.000-08:00

Today we went down into the bottom of the ship in the bow (front of the Logos Hope). Through narrow oblong holes in the wall, to holes in the floor/deck climbing lower and lower into the ship. Several guys have been working down there needle gunning rust. We went down with a video camera through all different layers and holes. Quite a challenging process because it is pitch black down there. It all went off very well with only one slight hitch in the beginning...and that being me getting stuck in a hole I was trying to crawl through. Everyone came to help... which only made it worse. I was half way through and stuck at my waist/hips, someone grabbed my legs from behind and tried to stuff me through. Which was only worse because that caused my hip bones to rub on the metal which tickled so much! I for a moment thought I was going to panic cause felt very stuck, but eventually made my way out.

The weather here in Croatia is very cold. Not so much the temputure really, but more because of the fierce wind. It feels like it cuts through you! Yesterday when I was in the office I had two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, and three shirts....Plus a stocking hat and I was still freezing cold.

My first day here as I was walking to the ship I was filled with thankfulness that we have this ship! We have for so long been removing things out of the ship. It was so nice to step in and see some things being built. It started hailing here a few days later and after it stopped was this huge beautiful rainbow. It renewed me and re-engorging my faith that God keeps His promises! He is faithful!!

Thanksgiving

2005-11-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the day I was looking forward to all month! A group of Americans gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving several days early! This year's celebration meant alot to me because last year I spent it on an airplane!

Tomorrow at 4:30am I hop on a train making my way to Croatia. (It's on mornings like these that you really hope and pray that your alarm clock doesn't decide to stop working!:) ) I will be in Croatia til Nov 29th. I am excited to see the changes on board the Logos Hope since the last time I have been there! During my time there I will be writing stories like crazy....which invloves following people around, asking questions and basically gathering as much information as I can.

food

2005-11-13T23:57:00.001-08:00

The last three weeks I have spent in Singapore have been great! My horizons have widened further, especially in the area of food. HanTeck and SuLing - who I stayed with, took me all over Singapore trying all sorts of culinary delights. Most things I tried, but when it came to eating intestines for breakfast or frog glands for dessert..... that was just a bit too adventurous.
Dim Sum
popiah-
parankan - Malay/Chinese
duck rice
laksa
fish ball soup
lontong
sushi train
tapinyinki - Japanese
Roti prata
Black Herbal dessert jelly
Pineapple Rice
mango pudding
crabs
papa roti
Kaya toast
soursop juice ( looks like floating jelly fish )
Chrisanthymum tea
satay

The cusine in Singapore is definitely amazing! I also had a wonderful time with the people! I had a really hard time getting use to the friendliness of people. I found that people smiled a lot more at you and were generally much more open. Not that people are unfriendly here, I just find at times that smiles are limited. The friendliness was encouraging!

On one of our final days in Singapore we did a meeting called "Take the Plunge", for those who were more interested! We expecting maybe 10 at the most, but in the end had a turnout of almost 40 people! That was super cool! We had several professionals
who also showed some interest!...a few graphic designers, marine engineers, teachers...ect! Our time spent in Singapore was definitely worthwhile!!

Surprise!!

2005-11-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I went out exploring. I came back to my friend's apartment very focused on what needed to be done for that night's presentation. As I came in I noticed that the couch that had been in the room I was staying in had been moved out in to the living room area. I mentioned it to SuLing ( who I am staying with ) who responded that they had to move out to make space for something that had arrived. I walked in and was so surprised that no noise came out of my mouth. A good friend that I had worked with in the bookshop on Doulos, Debbie. Three months ago she went to Thailand to study and do some volounteer work with several NGOs. I really was not expecting to see her in Singapore! It seems everyone but me knew of this surprise and had known for several months! :) It was great!
We have 5 meetings left to go. Our presentation have certainly have not been wihtout their excitement...or perhaps more accurately is stress. Last week our computer fell on the floor breaking into three pieces. Thankfully after it was pieced back together it still worked. Another tricky factor for us has been having several meetings at the same time, so we as a team have had to split up several times. The presentation are going well! We have five more meetings to go!
Later I have to write about all the things I have done here.....

Singapore

2005-10-30T00:08:00.000-07:00

I have been in Singapore for 60 hours. I am enjoying it the culture!, and trying to take it all in. Preparations are in full swing for several holidays - for the Muslims it is Hari Raya, they are celebrating the end of Ramadan. And then there is the Hindu celebration Deepavali. This is all going on in the coming week! I am thankful because I seem to be adjusting pretty well! It was a huge change in temputure! In Germany it was about 40F and here it about 90F....and very humid, my hair sticks out! The food is wonderful!! Some sights make me be a bit squemish ....such as whole chickenns only missing feathers hanging up in restaurants being chopped up for all to see! I may be a farm girl...but I have never done so well with that sort of thing! Tonight I ate a type of fungus..... It was pretty scary looking a black, wrinkly thing.....looking a bit like a piece of rubber! It was like a chewy mushroom! Not bad at all! :) During the time that I have been here we have already done 2 presentations! Which have gone well for the most part! It will be great when our other team member arrives this next Thursday.

Spicy Noodles and Chocolate Milk

2005-10-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah I know, probably not the greatest mix! But nonetheless my dinner last night! It really was not so bad and they say milk is suppose to help with spicy food! :)
My last few days have crazy! Tomorrow I leave for Singapore! It seems as much as I prepare in advance there is always so much to do before I leave! In Singapore I will be staying with a couple from the Logos Hope team, HanTeck and SuLing Goh and their baby daughter Katelyn! One week later Andy Juliff (Welsh) will be joining our team. During our time in Singapore we will be doing presentations about OM International Ships. ( the official name:) ) ...I better get into practice. I find whenever I am speaking somewhere I have to watch my several for acronyms or in house sayings. Our schedule is starting to get pretty full, there is a few more openings though so I am praying those will fill up. As the schedule is right now we will be holding 19 meetings. I have quite a few old friends from my days on Doulos that I am looking forward to seeing and catching up with! Hopefully I can keep up with posting things on here. I arrive back to Germany on Nov, 15th.

Please pray for me....

To stay healthy... ( I am feeling a bit on the tired side)
At each of our meetings each one on our team can have at least one good conversation. If we do that each meeting we will have had one on one talks with 76 people!
For God to speak through us!
For opportunities that I can see and take to talk to people while traveling!

Thank you!

Wow!!

2005-10-19T17:18:00.000-07:00

I have a close friend, Vicky, who has been doing a line up for the Doulos. Several weeks ago she had to leave the country because of visa complications. It very much caught her off guard because she had done all the arrangements and in her mind there was no problems. So these last several week she has been in Mauritis with another line up team awaiting clearance to go back in. To add to the complications, she is the team leader and the ship is coming this Friday! I spoke to her Monday and she felt it was pretty certain she would receive her visa the following day. I got a message from her on Tuesday saying that it had fallen through, she did not receive it. Talking about being on the edge and really having to trust. Today she sent me a message, her visa was granted!! I was so shocked!! It has kept me smiling all day! It was a brillant reminder that God is alive and at work. These last weeks I have felt like I am choking from all the things going on and at times the hopelessness of situations.....but that is a perspective from a human view point. Do I truly believe that God is able to do more than I can hope or imagine?- For His name sake?

Out of Service?

2005-10-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

This picture was too funny to pass up! Work continues on Logos Hope! The good news is....not all of them have out of service signs! :)

Sometimes I cannot believe how fast a week can go by! My team leader came to me in the office on Tuesday and asked if I would be willing to lead the 2 hour prayer meeting on this Thursday instead of next week as planned! ( I had just realized on Monday that I needed to start planning! ) I really did not know what to choose as a theme to pray for. I was really praying that God would lead me in planning this. I don't want to lead a prayer meeting that meets to pray just cause it is "planned"! Wednesday morning at 1am I was awake thinking about it. What to pray for hmmm.... I mean there is plenty of things....but for this paticuliar time? I than thought what am I passionate about? What do I wish I took more time to pray for? And then it hit me - the lost! Jesus says, "He came to seek and safe the lost."

I found the following quote on the web. It is quite a humdinger.

"I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I might save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts ...no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brillant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls." - David Brainerd

Our world needs prayer!! As I was searching the web and different news sites I was overwhelmed with different situations crying out! What to choose? So much! The most peculiar was an article on Turkmenistan titled, "Turkman president bans lip synching". Last year he banned ballet and opera. He also railed about long hair and gold teeth. My oh my, what next?

Groceries

2005-09-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Grocery shopping is really not a complicated thing, right? That is what I use to think! I had not gone grocery shopping since I got back from Jordan and so decided last night it was time to go. (I really wanted salad!)Most of the time I walk (15 to 30 minutes one way depending on which grocery store). Which is really not so bad! But sometimes it just feels like it takes so long. Last night was one of those. I was just getting ready to leave the office and start my hike when I realized that my housemate had left me her bike while she was away on furlough. The only problem with that was I could not remember where she had told me she parked it. I had already tried to the week before to locate it. This being that I tried the key she had given me in the 50+ bikes parked out front. I decided that it would not hurt to try again! After about 10 attempts I found it!! :) I was so surprised it worked I almost passed it by! And man, I did get there faster! All was good when I remembered that I did not really have anything to put my groceries in. ( here you have to buy your plastic bags ) Thankfully, I did have an older bag with not too many holes at the bottom of my purse. I placed the bag on the back of my bike, kind of stuck in a spring that holds things in. I was making fine progress and about halfway home when my broccoli came flying out as I was crossing the street. I stopped and bent down to pick up my broccoli when my lettuce did the same thing. At that point everything came a part and still I was in the middle of the road! I am sure those at the stoplight were in hysterics watching! Finally I managed to collect everything and wobble my way over to the sidewalk. I got everything back in the spring and since my lettuce would not cooperate I stuck it in my purse! What I sight I was! Thankfully the rest of my trip home was uneventful! I managed to lug my groceries up to my third story apartment without my bag blowing out! My next project for the night was to fix my washing machine! :) But, that is a whole other story!!!

To Stand Where Moses Stood

2005-09-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

I never thought that I would stand on Mount Nebo where Moses saw the promised land before he died. This last week in Jordan was amazing! My, friend Lilian took me all over the place. One of the first mornings she told me she was taking me somewhere, but it was a surprise! As we were driving along I read a sign that said Mount Nebo... I was like, I know that name, I am sure I have heard that before. Lilian just started laughing and only laughed harder when it sunk into me where were going. A large bronze cross with a snake wrapped around stands facing Israel and Palestine. Underneath the cross etched into stone is the verse "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man shall be lifted up." Very powerful. At this spot Jerusalem is ~45 Kilometers away. Later that day Lilian and embarked on a hike in the 90 degree weather to the supposed place of Jesus Baptism in the Jordan river. I cannot tell you how overwhelmed I was to stand in that place. Just a stones throw away was Israel.

Jordan is very different world. Dark skinned people, palm trees, sand and white stone or cement houses line the horizon! I found the people to be very expressive - it is true hands gestures and facial expressions say so much! The people are very generous! I was very overwhelmed by the hospitality of my hosts - Lilian's family! I felt like a part of the family! The culture is very different than the western world. I felt like a wide eyed child taking it all in!

If you look really close in the picture you can see the Israeli flag in the distance.
If all this was not enough we also went to the Dead Sea. We floated around in the water and covered ourselves in the mud along with the many others! A very funny sight to behold - people of all ages, sizes and colors covering themselves with mud! Not a sight I will forget and still makes me chuckle to think about! The mud had a bit of an oily nasty feel to it, but man my skin was so soft after it was all washed off!

Petra was unbelievable! My breath was taken away at the sight of it! I was told there is discussion of naming it the 8th wonder of the world. To which I would whole heartily agree with! I was also sobered. There is place very high up in the rocks carved out into a circle shape that was used for child sacrifices. Petra is filled with many ancient temples and churches. Many ages of different thinking, almost kind of piled up on top of each other.

The best part of this trip for me was to spend time with my friend Lilian in her home country and with her family! It was very refreshing to me. I really feel renewed and almost like I have new energy that all of sudden burst forth! It was a great trip!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk

2005-09-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

I think that saying is disqualified when milk is spilled over your computer. My morning was very ....hmmm what would be the word to describe it..? Maybe intersting...I spilled a whole glass of milk all over my computer and desk. Thankfully it caused very little damage and gave me good reason to clean my desk! :)
This last weekend I went to Logos 2 for my first time! It was great to see the sister ship of the Doulos. I have waited for this opportunity for quite some time. I was pleasently surprised to see that I knew many people on board. It was great to hear the steady hum of the ship engine. A very familiar sound. And I discovered once again that I sleep the better on the ships than anywhere else.
Yesterday I had a big shock. My mom called to tell me there had been a huge fire on our farm. Several buildings and some equipment were burned. It took 25'000 gallons of water to get it under control. With this news still soaking into me, my main reaction is thankfulness. The fire was so close to my parent's home and was only discovered by a neighbor at ~1am in the morning. At harvest time every year I have strong desire to be home helping to bring in the crops. With the fired added to everything this year it definitely only builds that desire. I am thankful that I can trust God to provide for their needs, to give them support and the help they so much need to bring in harvest. It is an issue that I must again and again hand over to God and trust Him with. He has been faithful and I continue to trust him.

The Wheels on the Bus go round and round......

2005-09-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

and round and round! For 20+ hours I was on bus from Croatia to Germany. I was sure that I would be permently stuck in a sitting postion. :) In all honesty it was not that bad! I finished up to two books and had some extra time with God - and slept the other half of the trip. One of the adventures I experienced on this trip was the non-English speaking, drowsy woman sitting next to me. A few hours into our trip I felt this pressure on my right hand side. I looked up to see my neighbor's fast asleep body slowy moving towards making my lap her pillow. hmmm... a bit awkward! I thought, this is really not a problem - but soon changed my mind as it looked like my knees were going to be hugged! :)I slowly shifted my weight and my still sleeping neighbor moved towards the aisle. This was not any good either, she looked like she could at any moment teeter on to the floor. The best solution I could come up with was placing my hand above her shoulder to catch her if she should tumble over. I think we were good entertainment for the other travlers!
I enjoyed my time very much on Logos Hope in Trogir, Croatia! It was great to do physical work, hang out with the team living there, go swimming in the ocean, collect informoation for for story writing.... the list goes on and on!

my schedule for the next month
* Sept.4th-6th...I will be in the Netherlands on Logos 2
* Sept.10th-11th...A weekend trip to Switzerland for a friend's (Sarah Zbinden) wedding
* Sept.18th-25th...I am taking a week of break to visity my friend Lilian in Jordan

Dedication

2005-08-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Once again I was blown away by the dedication of the Logos Hope crew. A group of us stood out on one of Logos Hope’s decks praying. Every Thursday night the crew meets for prayer meeting, this particular prayer night we got a bit creative and took a tour around the ship praying for the different areas. Towards the end of the tour while we were on deck we had an open time of prayer. At least half the group had gotten up at 5am to begin work at 6am, yet they were still out there praying. As I looked around at the group – faces upturned to the sky praising God for all that He has done and is doing; I was overwhelmed. Watching these people pray I saw their hearts come out. It was like a cloud of praise rose up to God from our little group. It was a good reminder to me of how personal God is. Each person had a different view and thing they were thanking God for. There is really no other words for it than, Awesome!

The Market Place (Trogir, Croatia)

2005-08-18T04:10:00.000-07:00

So many different smells assaulted me as I walked through, even with a stuffed up nose. Old craggy faces call out to you to buy their fruits and vegetables. My friend Sabine is well known. The sellers call out her name and break out into big smiles when she passes by. She stops and says hi and chats a bit in the Croatian she has picked up mixed with English, German or a few Russian phrases. I watch fascinated as they go back and forth discussing about grapes and tomatoes. Rosa a sweet weathered old woman with work harden hands always is at her stand. Dirt is permantly etched into the sides of her fingernails. Her face lit up when she saw Sabine. From Rosa we bought most of our stuff, not because hers was the best, but because of the friendship Sabine and her had formed. Down a couple tables another white haired woman hollers at us not to forget her while holding up a head of lettuce. Sabine nods her head in assurance that she has not been forgotten. We finish a successful trip to the market laden with veggies and fruit and wander back to our second story flat (apartment).

Aug 15 - 27

2005-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Prayer Resquests:
For safety as I am working and helping out on Logos Hope in Trogir,Croatia. Everything is torn a part and I am helping in this process. We are tearing out walls and bathrooms and different bits.

For Creativity as I need to build some story material for the Logos Hope webpage. I have several ideas, but I need to carry it through and get pictures to add some life to it. What is the saying ... "a picture says a thousand words".

Praises:
During the day I am working with one of my best friends Sabine! We are also rooming together. It has been good to spend time together.

Teenstreet went GREAT! I met many new friends and caught up with many old ones. The time spent there was definitely worthwhile!The picture above is of me and a friend (Denise Healey) MCing one of our Fear Factor game shows. Go to www.LogosHope.org and check out the pictures and story I wrote about Teenstreet!

July 17 - 23rd

2005-07-16T05:57:00.000-07:00

Please pray for.......
Preparations that I am making for Teenstreet. That I can bring all the details together and communicate it with the right people.

Promotion and recruiting ideas! As you can see on the left, is my face with a tattoo!! No worries, it is a temporay tattoo saying www.LogosHope.org It is a fun way to get our website out and seen. I have several other ideas I am workinig on, I need wisdom and creativity to know how to go forward!

For my walk with Jesus. That I would keep my eyes on Him! That I would keep Him the center and not let the worries and concerns of everyday life pull me away, but draw me closer!

Check out the website written above. It is a huge praise that Logos Hope is the yard and working is going on. You can also see another project that I have started working on, the Logos Hope web page and check out the front page story I wrote!

Transition

2005-07-16T02:52:00.000-07:00

3 weeks ago I stepped off the plane in Germany, after being back in Iowa for almost two months.
Now that I am back it feels so long ago that I was home. Work has taken off and I have thrown myself into planning for a huge youth event called Teenstreet. (about to 4000 teenagers) I have enjoyed getting ready for it! We will be playing Fear Factor and having this crazy haid booth going on - I will give you more on that later! :)

During the time that I was home I was challenged by several of my Pastors at my church to start blogging. Their thoughts were that it might help me with keeping people updated with what is going on....And I decided that I might as well give it a go! I also have been asked to give more frequent prayer requests by several different people. My hope and goal by beginning to blog is that I can give weekly prayer updates; as well as more regular updates or short stories of what is happening. I am very happy to hear any feedback - this is all very new to me!