Logos Hope, the true hope. I just spent a week in an environment that should be impossible. Let me paint a picture. You are the head of a family of five, three children ages 18, 19, and 20. You tell the first child, you are responsible for kitchen. Buy all the food, cook all the meals, wash the dishes and mop the floor. The second child you instruct that they are responsible for the household. They clean, sweep, do laundry, and mend broken things. The third child is responsible for all things dealing with transportation, if anyone wants to go anywhere, at any time, you take them. And, this assignment lasts two years. You work five days, take one day to help your neighbors, and then you get one day of rest.
HOW LONG WOULD THIS LAST?
On Logos Hope, over twenty years. There are no passengers, only crew. They maintain everything from the engine room, galley, cabins, and all decks. They work five days, have one community day, and one day off a week. Sounds like a slave gallon of ancient Rome.
Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how we spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
It’s not. It is the most amazing experience I have ever witnessed. 350 Christian adolescents from 60 different countries working together to not only keep this floating city running, but serving every community they interact with in incredible, meaningful ways. They accomplish this with extreme harmony. There will always be good days and bad days in anyone’s life, but this crew bands together in every situation to help and support each other.
STORIES
Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill can not be hidden.”
The stories are as amazing as the people themselves. A young lady from Russia had a recurring dream for several year about being on a white boat. One day someone told her about Operation Mobilization, a Christian based non- profit. She went to their website to scroll through the information. There, in full color, was her white boat. She tried to dismiss it, but the connection was too strong. Filling out the application she thought nothing would come of it. She is now 30 years old and has been volunteering on Logos Hope for five years.
Roman’s 12:4-4, “For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, each member belongs to all the others”
A teenage from Moldavia had just graduated from high school with no plans, and no direction. Her plan, get a job, and then exist like everyone else. She heard of Logos. It was something outside of her comfort zone. Her church encouraged her to apply. At 18 years old she is happily part of the crew. She says her life will never be the same. It now has purpose and meaning. She can not go back to being who she was.
I can tell you stories from Kyrgyzstan, Zambia, Argentina, Singapore, Malaysia, United States and many more. They are all the same. Decision to chase the uncertain that dramatically changed lives.
COMMUNITY DAYS
What are community days? Every crew member must sign up for a community day each week. A community day could be a visit to the local prison, it could be handing out fliers that describe the weekly events held on or around Logos. These events are seminars, bible studies, entertainment, painting local schools, ship tours, performing in plays. Any number of things that have been scheduled by advance teams working with the local community.
1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.“
Logos stays in each port about two weeks. It has the largest floating book store in the world, with over 5,000 titles. It has a doctor, a dentist and teachers for the volunteer’s children. At each stop crew members dramatically impact the community receiving them.
If you want an experience that will change you forever, check out Logos Hope on the Operation Mobilization website. Commitments are for three month, six months, one year, and two years. They also schedule one week “vision trips” for groups interested in knowing more.
2 Corinthians 5:20, “ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God we are making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God.”
When hope and depression share the same heart, Christ becomes essential. While I was in Kyrgyzstan, I had a conversation that stayed with me. A woman shared that her mother — a trained psychologist — is battling depression. What makes her situation more complicated is not just the illness itself but also the theology surrounding it. Some in their Christian community believe that a Christian should not experience depression. The reasoning seems straightforward:
Fear buries purpose not by force, but by permission. Giving in to the fear of failure hides your ability to reach your potential. Fear is the loud giant roaring in your mind, while faith is that whisper that pushes you forward. Too many times, we listen to the roaring giant because we can’t hear the whisper. We become less than God meant us to be, a shell of who we could have become.
Happy New Year from the God of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. As we step into the new year, we naturally reflect on the past and make plans for the future. Often, the past has too much influence on shaping what lies ahead. The closer we get to Christ, the more we see our future as being shaped by the sins of our past.
I see Paul as a role model for living. Not just because he’s passionate about sharing the gospel, but in how he lived his everyday life. It’s easy for me to depend on my past as a guide for my future. This way of thinking assumes there’s a fixed trait or unchanging characteristic in who I was that determines who I can become. It’s the old nature-versus-nurture debate. But look at Paul as an example.
When life turns up the heat and hardship defines our existence, do we see it as punishment or an opportunity to grow?
Is today, this week, or this year overwhelming? Do you feel trapped, searching for a way out? We all face storms. Some are caused by our choices, while others are thrust upon us. The winds rage, the rains wash away what we cherish, and darkness presses in. Worst of all, it seems like the storm will never end. That is Satan’s lie. He wants us to believe there’s no way forward.
A Clarity Map is a powerful visual representation of personal success principles that can produce tangible results quickly when combined with focused and consistent action. Paraphrased from 
If today were your last day on earth, how would you live it? Reflect on life’s meaning, priorities, and what truly matters most. Most of us don’t get that kind of warning. But if we did, would we choose differently? I don’t mean to sound morbid—but it’s a powerful question worth asking.
Happy Birthday to me. Yesterday, I turned seventy-five—three-quarters of a century lived. It’s hard to believe. Deep inside me still lives that sixteen-year-old small-town farm boy wondering how we got here. The truth is, it didn’t happen all at once. It was a journey of countless tiny steps—millions, billions, maybe even trillions of small decisions, each shaping the road ahead.