Building fruitful community around the family table

Every Thursday night, Logos Hope’s dining room transforms as tables are joined, tablecloths and centrepieces are put out and people excitedly gather to eat with their ‘ship families’.

Here, crew are strengthened and encouraged as they come to the table to be a blessing to their fellow crewmembers and be blessed by them. 

Having ship families amidst 350 crewmembers is a way to create more closely knit relationships and support systems, giving everyone a sense of belonging. Often, married couples who join as volunteers become ship family ‘parents’ and other crewmembers make up the rest of the ‘family’.

“I love having ship parents, because it's one of the closest things you have to home. They journey with you, they listen to you, they understand you, they care for you and so much more. My ship parents have put me before themselves on multiple occasions and that has been a huge blessing. I know they are always there for me,” said crewmember Tina (UK). 

Encouraging each other
Ship families get special opportunities on board such as hosting a Sunday Service, having family prayer times and going on outings together. Currently, there are 19 ship families on Logos Hope, each one a unique and colourful representation of the diversity on board.

Nicole and Stefan Baumann (Switzerland), who joined Logos Hope in February 2023, are ship parents and have 18 crewmembers in their family. They were eager to invest from the beginning. 

Throughout the week, she and Stefan are intentional in conversation with their ship family, always making sure to check in on their family members. Stefan says, “We try to watch out for our ‘kids’ and follow up with them – that’s the idea of the ship families in general, to have this smaller community where we can have an eye on each other and help and encourage each other.”

Building a strong community
Because of this sense of community, family dinner night is a favourite across the ship. Tina (UK), one of Stefan and Nicole’s ship family, shares, “When it comes to ship family dinner night, I must admit it's one of the highlights of my week. I always look forward to it because I know I will have a good time without fail. We join as one, share about our last week, how our day is currently going... We share lots of laughter, hugs and even prayer requests.”

As crewmembers continue to serve port communities, the family dinner table is a place in which to take refuge, to laugh together and share burdens. Family dinners provide an outlet for closeness — particularly special, considering that most have had to leave their own families to come on board. 

Crewmember Myah (USA) shares, “It can seem scary to commit to such a new environment, but God provides people to take care of you and make you feel at home. You can take a leap of faith knowing that He is watching over you.” 

Stefan and Nicole emphasise, “The more [these crewmembers] journey on board, the more we see them grow in faith and in their responsibilities and we can clearly see how God is working [in them].” 

You can invite more people to His table!
Your gift this Christmas will impact the faith journey of crewmembers like Myah as they embrace new opportunities to reach out into the communities OM’s ships visit.

To donate today, click here.

Thank you for your support!