For Wawa, it wasn’t his neighbour’s words that drew him towards God, rather his actions. “The reality of [how my neighbour lived his life] hit me the most after his death. It got me thinking about the direction of my own life and I wasn’t happy with it. I needed something more.” When Wawa looked at the lives of other believers, like his neighbour, he saw the peace and joy they had. “I wanted that. Giving my life to God was something I knew that I needed to do. It was the best decision ever.”
In Botswana, Wawa worked as an assistant teacher in a primary school and was a football coach for teens. “I knew nothing about sharing God’s love with others, but once I got involved in OM, I continued hearing about the least reached and the great need of God’s love around the world. I had the blessing of being surrounded by other believers, but I now knew that other people don’t have that same privilege.”
“There's a difference between hearing about great needs in the world and actually being in the places where they are. I would say one of the places that opened my eyes was Europe. It's a region that’s not spoken about as having a great need, but being there and interacting with people, you can see just how great the need is. God challenged me to go to another country, specifically Portugal, and that if I’m not able to share His love through words, then to just live it out.”
“I wanted to join Logos Hope because I knew it was a place where God was leading me; to prepare me, teach me and expose me to different things. I saw the ship as a place to be trained and equipped for the future, to be exposed to a different environment, to a different community and to be taken out of my comfort zone.”
When Wawa joined the Ship Ministry, he realised there were many opportunities to grow and develop. “Even if you feel you don't have a particular skill or anything useful for ministry, there is a place for you. My main role is as Short-Term Exposure Programme (STEP) coordinator. Every few months, new crewmembers join the ship for STEP. Part of my job is preparing the programme and walking the journey with them. I try to expose them to [opportunities to serve], to encourage them and to mentor them in a way.”
“But there are countless opportunities to share what you believe, to get involved in different kinds of ministries, to learn, to grow, to be challenged, to be taken out of your comfort zone and develop leadership skills. The list is endless.” Wawa found that he can even use his talents and hobbies in ministry. “I've always enjoyed dancing. I lead a dance group on board called ‘Afrobeat’.“ Afrobeat performs, along with other cultural dance groups, at events for the public.
“OM’s Ship Ministry is an amazing place to see God at work, not only through your own life or through other crewmembers, but through the ministry itself. Through just buying a book on board or having a conversation with a crewmember, people have eventually come to know God. Those are some of the things that stand out for me and amaze me about this ministry.”
“As a bonus, when the sky is clear, there's no better place than a ship to see the stars at night.”
There is a place for YOU in OM’s Ship Ministry. Are YOU ready to take it?
