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| To board, a person must give picture ID which is quickly scanned into their system. I guess this is a form of security to protect both themselves and the visitor in case of emergency. |
On the mobile Christian
bookstore are pastors, evangelists, occasionally doctors and dentists who
volunteer their time to aide certain countries’ citizens, and of course youth
workers. No one is paid a salary; all are volunteers and are responsible for raising their own expenses or are sponsored by churches or individuals.
My friend, who has already
made three visits to the Logos Hope to view their Christian books for herself
and friends, took me. I didn’t anticipate buying anything as I’m backpacking
around but I couldn’t resist buying three books and two videos for my family.
Going to a Christian bookstore at home costs money, but the goal of the
traveling Christian bookstore is to make books and Christian material available
at a very reasonable price, and the videos were more than reasonable, not to
mention hard to find. Ah well, backpacking the extra weight around will eventually pay off when I can give those video gems to my family.
To also generate some additional
money for ship expenses and evangelism, a tour for about W7,000 can be had. Usually there are
set times for tours, but if there were a few people wanting one, it could be privately
arranged.
Logos Hope is founded on years
of experience as a tool for evangelism by OM Ships International, with OM
meaning Operation Mobilization. The ship ministry aspect of OM International began in 1970 as part of a more extensive global Christian training and outreach movement. Since
then, the OM ships have visited over 450 different ports in more than 150 countries
and territories and welcomed over 43 million visitors on board.
"The goal is to bring
knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world by supplying vital
literature resources, encouraging cross-cultural understanding, training young
people for more effective life and service, providing needed relief, and
sharing a message of hope in God wherever there is opportunity."
The ship visits each port for
several weeks and opens the gangways to hundreds and sometimes thousands
of visitors each day. On average, over one million visitors have been welcomed
on board every year! The floating book fair offers over 5,000 titles, providing
many visitors their first-ever opportunity to purchase quality educational and
Christian literature.
An international crew and
staff of volunteers live and work on the ship. Teams from the ship go into
surrounding areas to supply aid and community care, and in each port, the ship’s
crew joins local churches to bring hope and show love to people whatever their circumstance,
culture or background.
In many countries like in the Caribbean, the traveling mission ship aka Christian bookstore is a much-awaited event. When the ship comes to port, lines and lines of people show up and patiently await their chance to enter the bookstore and browse the treasures available. Unfortunately, Korea is no longer a poor country with very limited resources, and with the overabundance of shopping opportunities and years of evangelism in a now luke-warm Christian country, people just aren't beating down the doors to the Logos Hope. In fact, the night I visited the ship there was a handful in front of me and it had been pretty much that way for my friend's three other visits. It must be very disappointing to get the subtle message "not really wanted" that the poor attendance in a city of millions conveys.
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| a line-up of people in a third-world country patiently waiting their turn to enter the exciting traveling Christian bookstore |
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Upcoming ports - Logos Hope |
Following is a list of the current and upcoming ports for the Logos Hope.
Please note: All ports and dates are subject to change. Ports and dates in orange italics are not confirmed yet.
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