How big is Gigantic?

13 November 2010 Posted by Martin

[Baalbek, Lebanon]
One of the heritages of Lebanon is the ruins of Baalbek. I couldn’t spend 3 month in this country without visiting the place. So Katrina (the tour guide), Simone (the happy girl) and myself (the photographer) went to check the place for yourself.

An indeed, the place is amazing. Thousands of years stand before our eyes as we walk in the midst of these massive ruins. I even felt it is more interesting to visit the site as a ruin than in its original state. First, the Antic and Roman architecture with small and narrow windows must have given a very dark atmosphere. Now, it’s a place full of light (since the roof hasn’t resisted the several earthquakes).

- a part of the temple that is completely intact and the outside view -

Another interesting thing is that it’s possible to observe the delicacy of the sculpture of the ceiling – which would not be possible if they were still up there… because the temple is big, really big.

Just to give you an idea…. Try to find me on the picture

Two Months Later

28 October 2010 Posted by Martin

[News from Monrovia, Liberia]
Two months have passed since the Logos Hope sailed away from Monrovia. This port has a special place in my heart since I spent four months in Liberia to prepare the visit. Our vision was to work with local churches and organisations for the Logos Hope to Encourages Help and Equip for a lasting impact. We really wanted our efforts to last longer than three weeks in port.

Just this week, I received an email from Pastor Samuel, the principal of a school we helped in the Doe community. "Many children have come to our school - Pentecost Assembly School System - to attend because of the books you supplied to the newly established library. This stands as a symbol of your presence in our community.
Our students are very much thankful for the books and promised to take good care of them." A simple testimony, but so encouraging.

Student (above) and Teacher below) working in the new library.

The Strait of Gibraltar

25 September 2010 Posted by Martin

[at Sea, Strait of Gibraltar]

Many things have happened since the Logos Hope left Liberia. The ship has visited two ports in the Canary Islands: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. After a long season in english speaking ports, both visits were opportunities to see how the crew adjust to a culture where they don't speak the language and many enjoyed learning or improving their Spanish.

In Las Palmas, we had the annual renewal of the crew. Among the 64 newcomers, we were excited to welcome Jocelyn, a French guy who brings his joy and vitality to the small French community on board. (center of the picture)

The Logos Hope is now sailing to Malta, and we just passed the Strait of Gibraltar: a magic moment between Africa and Europe. Two whales were even there!

Life on board - Dentist delight

01 September 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]
I haven't given much updates of the Help projects in West Africa, and in particular in Liberia. The 3 weeks in port were very fruitful. Practical help and friendship were built. One of the highlight was a small dental clinic took place in the Redemption Hospital, giving free care to hundreds of patients.

Have a look at this documentary:



You can follow more episode from the Life on board: on the shipshot websit.

A most welcome help

16 July 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]
Last Wednesday, 74 volunteers from Monrovia and the suroundings were gathered for a Logos Hope orientation. One of my colleagues, Norma Hernandez (Mexico), spent the last two months, interviewing candidates who are interested to serve alongside the crew during the Logos Hope visit. Indeed, in every port the ship visit, we invite some local volunteer to help us. This extra help is much welcome, especially in countries where English is not the official language. In this case, the local volunteers help crew members who can’t speak the local language. For 2 or 3 weeks, they are part of the ship’s company. They live a unique ship experience, working in the galley or in the book fair. They also receive some Biblical teaching and join us in the ministry onboard and on shore.

This Liberian batch was quite excited and impatient… but they will have wait 3 more weeks before boarding the Logos Hope.

Once in a Lifetime

02 July 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]
What is this noise in the street? And this crowd across the pavement? Is this another strike of the teachers who haven’t been paid? Or another complain of the AFL, the Liberian forces, for their pensions?
No, this is just the World cup. Like everywhere, Soccer is everything in Liberia. Yet, only few Liberian can afford a TV, the only option left to watch a match is to squeeze oneself in one of the ‘entertainment centres’ (sort of ‘local cinema’) or small bars with a TV Set. The Screen is small and the seats in front are rare, hence most of the time, you will end up watching the match in an angle. But the atmosphere is at least as crazy as in the stadium! Even the street vendors have left their wheel barrows. The noise level is so high that you can’t get a words of the commentary (this is because of the passion of the supporters as well as the loud music of the nearby CD dealer) – anyway the comments of my two neighbours are much funnier that the official ones.
When I see the passion of the people and the pride they have in this unique event happening for the first time in Africa, I even wish the Ghana team to win the cup. This would mean al lot, not only to a country but to a continent as a whole!

The Calling - short movie

29 June 2010 Posted by Martin

[Première]
The Calling has been released last week. This is a short movie made by people on board the Logos Hope while she was in Denmark and Scotland. You won’t see me in it as I was the photographer of the shooting set. Later, I worked with Ruben, the co-director on the DVD which is available in 5 languages!
As for the movie, I let you discover it on the official website: www.the-calling.net

Lydie Sewell, is The Calling

School visit

10 June 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]
The Logos Hope is currently sailing across the Atlantic, in the Direction of Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone. In two month, she will be in Monrovia. Time flies! What will be the focus in these four ports of West Africa: Freetown (Sierra Leone), Tema & Takoradi (Ghana) and Monrovia, Liberia?
The Logos Hope will work alongside local organisations and churches to help bring restoration in this part of the world affected by past civil wars. In Monrovia, the educational system is being built up again, but the needs are still very obvious. Yesterday, I spent the whole day visiting schools to assess what are their needs in terms of Literature, and school material. Textbooks are needed everywhere, but some schools don’t even have enough chairs and benches or a proper black board to teach the children.
The Logos Hope will make book donation and work on some practical project. Small medical teams will also work alongside the hospitals to bring extra hands during the visits. To know more about this West Africa visit and support the project, visit the website: www.gbaships.org

A new name from Gbarnga

29 May 2010 Posted by Martin

[Gbarnga, Liberia]
This week end, I went to Gbarnga [pronounced Banga], the second biggest city, 4 hours of bumpy road away from Monrovia. With my colleagues Norma and Pauline we went there to present the Logos Hope and explore some opportunities to send teams in the interior during the visit.
One of my expectations from that trip up country was to get a tribal name. Most of the Liberian have an English name and a local name attached to their ethnic group. Since Gbarnga is located in the Bong county, mainly populated with Kpele people, we all received names after a meeting with pastors. Norma is now Garmane – “The ruler”, Pauline: Gormah – “Long neck, adventurous” and I am Narmo – “the tall guy”.

These few days were also a unique cultural experience. We tried a famous Liberia dish: Fufu. Personnaly, I would compare fufu is like escargot, in the sense that it has a very funny texture, and the best part in the dish is definitely the –over spicy – sauce. Visually, Fufu looks like a big ball of slimy paste made from cassava. But the experience is neither in the aspect, nor in the taste, not even in the smell. Fufu is unique because of the sensation. The secret of Fufu is that it is not supposed to be chewed, but should be swallowed straight. Glurps… I can still feel it going down my throat.

Gormah, Garmane and Narmo enjoying the Fufu experience

Mamba Point

08 May 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]
My preparation team is based in Mamba point, right in front of the american ambassy. It's an historical district of Monrovia. Indeed, in 2003, at the end of the Crisis, the people of the capital brought the bodies, killed by the civil war, and pilled them up in front of the ambassy to protest against the violence.
Today, it is a peaceful place surrrounded by arts and sculpture shops.
We will stay there until the arrival of the Logos Hope in Monrovia on the 6th August 2010.

Surprises from Liberia

25 April 2010 Posted by Martin

[Monrovia, Liberia]

After a long journey, I am finally in Liberia.

It's hot - very hot. And humid - very humid. Yet, the rainy season has hardly begun. After few surprises, we finally landed in a missionnary family working with Serving In Missions (SIM). We will stay there for our first week:

Ben and his family are fantastic hosts. They gave us a very good introduction to the country.

Here is my team (Pauline, Norma and Lenhert), ready for our first local adventure: shopping

On our way, we saw a petrol station:

But Liberia has more than one surprise in stock... in the supermarket, I found Roquefort (made by my Dad in South of France) et the coraya surimi (which I packet in my first summer job in Normandy)

I leav you with this nice scenery where I can spend time with God. I make the most of it because next week, we will move to downtown and it won't be that peacefull.

Journey of Life

20 April 2010 Posted by Martin

[Hamilton,Bermuda]

A whole section of the visitor deck has recently been renovated. This area, called the Journey of Life, aims at connecting with people and sharing a message of hope. In the previous ports, it has been used in many creative ways: a cultural exhibition about Christmas around the world in Denmark, a Photography and Art exhibition in Europe, and a triptych about Beauty – Brokenness – Blessing in the Caribbean.

The settings we now have will be the permanent display. This wordless story portrays in a very visual way a modern version of the parable of the prodigal son. As the visitors walk through the panorama, they follow the story of rebellion and forgiveness between a son and his Father. I am amazed to see how the artists who build the display managed to make alive this story without using word, so that people from every nations can understand this message of forgiveness.

 The Construction of the Journey of Life

Cultural Adaptation

14 April 2010 Posted by Martin

[Hamilton, Bermuda]
My team will soon depart for Liberia, to prepare the visit of the Logos Hope, in August. With Lenhert, Norma and Pauline, we have decided to take a team picture in African clothes. It was quite fun to look for the colorful clothes in the back stage of the theater. Finally, I got a nice one! But when I arrived upstairs, a friend from South Africa gave me a weird look:

Louria – Why are you wearing that?
Martin – What? Isn’t it a traditional costume?
Louria – Yes, except that it’s for girl!
Martin – How can I tell?? They are all colorful?

That's better!

 

A Normal Day

05 April 2010 Posted by Martin

[Saint Affrique, France]
A Normal Day?? not really, I have moved my blog to a new address: http://martin-boulanger-en.blogspot.com
To celebrate that, I have put online the short movie I made last year for the Logoscars 2009 (a little competition organised on the Logos Hope)

Discover how an Indian, a Chinese, a French and a Mexican live a Normal Day...

PreShip training - Montego Bay

04 February 2010 Posted by Martin

[Montego Bay, Jamaica] Finally! They are here! The new promotion that will follow their pre-ship training in the port of Montego Bay arrived yesterday. This new group marks a significant change for me. After two years aboard, the promotion from Kiel, with whom I joined, has completed its service and most of my friends went back home this week to continue their studies, look for a job or serve with another mission.

I am part of the few survivors who chose to extend for one year. With the promotion Montego Bay and those who were transferred from the Doulos, almost to 140 new crew members have arrived ... it will take me time to learn the names!

video

Help Packs

22 January 2010 Posted by Martin

[Montego Bay, Jamaica]
Bringing Knowledge, Help and Hope, that’s vision of the Logos Hope. You can watch below some of the testimonies of our visit in Guyana, where several teams of the ship were sent ashore with Help Packs, filled with soap, toothpaste, notebook and pencil ... This video will show you in what context the Logos Hope seeks to provide practical help to the communities that we meet.

video

Where is the Christmas tree?

26 December 2009 Posted by Martin

[Caracas Baai, Curaçao]
This is a unique Christmas for me. The first one aboard Logos Hope. For the first time I swam on Christmas day and we had a BBQ for dinner! I have tried to find a Christmas tree to decorate, but it hard to find here. After all, do we celebrate Christmas for the tree? If Christmas is for the folklore and the French Bûche, there would be many reasons to be disappointed.

Yet even if the weather is far from being Christmassy, the joy of the good news that  God reaches out to the world through her son remains a reality that I want to have in my life. And I wish you can have that joy to. This joy is eternal, not my family and friends. This is also why it was special to celebrate Christmas on board, as many of my friends are leaving the Logos Hope next month.

A week ashore

19 December 2009 Posted by Martin

[Georgetown, Guyana]The Logos Hope moves from port to port every two or three weeks. It's a pretty intense pace. But during a visit to Georgetown, I went with a team to work with a local church for a week. It was a real privilege to be away from the ship’s business and live among locals. As all team members are part of the drama club on board, we've taught some dramas to the youth group of church for a Christmas concert where we performed as well. We also visited schools and an orphanage.

Above: one of the school visit

A drama we performed at the Christmas concert, which shares the message of the Gospel.
Despite the heat and the mosquitoes, it was a refreshing experience to live one week in a house ...

In my team (from left to right)
Marsha (Netherlands), Lilian (Chile), Liz (Trinidad and Tobago), Jérémie (France), Brad (South Africa), Alison (Northern Ireland) and me.

Logoscars 2009

23 November 2009 Posted by Martin

[Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia]
We just finished a Sabbath week in St. Lucia. During five days, the Logos Hope was not open to the public, but we had teaching on the theme of the Tabernacle in the morning and time to rest in the afternoon. One of the highlight of the week was the Logoscars: a little short movie contest organized by the crew. For this evening, the engine guys had left their overalls in the cupboard, and everyone was in their best cloth
With a friend, I made a film about cultural diversity - "A Normal Day" - I hope to present it soon! The film has been welcomed very well, and we received five awards! (Best Editing, Best Photography, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Film)

This is a small family photo with the masters of ceremony and another director.

From left to right:
Simon Zemek, Master of Ceremony (USA), Ruben Munoz, Actor (Mexico), Christine Wu, actress and co-screenwriter (Taiwan), Martin Baker, actor and director (France) BK Madu, actor (India), Samy Schubert director of a cartoon about ship’s life which won the Audience choice (Germany) and Janice McShane, Mistress of Ceremonies (Australia)

TV Ad

19 October 2009 Posted by Martin

[Castries, Saint Lucia]
In two weeks, the Logos Hope will visit Barbados. Ruben has just finished a TV advertisement which is broadcast in the island. I share it with you, and I hope that its local flavour will warm up the cold autumn.

video

Life on Board : The Book Fair

26 September 2009 Posted by Martin

[Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago] In the Caribbean, the Logos Hope is know has the book sip. And well, the Book Fair can be a very busy place! Here in Trinidad, we received 5300 visitors one of the public holidays. And you can imagine that after such a busy day, there is no much time to rest... the place has to be cleaned and the shelves restocked for the following day.

Below a presentation video of this department.


video

PST Scarborough

12 September 2009 Posted by Martin

[Scarborough, Tobago]

PST Scarborough - here they come! As each semester the crew changeover is a unique and festive event. And this year they were 96 to join the Pre Ship Training (PST) from Scarborough on the island of Tobago.

Among them, two French ... the community grows a little. All these volunteers are joining the Logos Hope for two years. They will first go through a training to prepare them for the ministry of the ship and safety at sea, then they will join their work department.

As for the IT team, this means a lot of laptop to check!!

First port in the Caribbean

13 August 2009 Posted by Martin

[St Vincent and the Grenadines]
After two weeks in St Vincent it's time to share somes pictures...
It's a really beautifull country, with jungle...

and black sand beaches, due to it's volcano (La Soufrière). The Grenadines have whit sand du to the Corals, but I haven't been there. 

Last weekend, I went on a trip to this volcano with 2 friends, Ruben and Markus.

After one hour and a half, shaken in a crowded bus full of reggae music, we finally arrived in Gergetown. But the weather was pretty bad, so we drop the hike for a walk on the beach... with nices waves!

This is how I enjoy my days off, but the rest of the time (which is 6 days a week) are pretty busy as well. The Logos Hope has experienced har biggest crowds. Compared to Europe, it's amazing! 43506 visitors came on board, and they bought more books than in the 4 ports of Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London together! We have much more educational books than before, and they have a great success. As for me, I had the opportunity to take part of a church service in a prison and to meet with locals who are learning french.  

Premieres on the ocean

21 July 2009 Posted by Martin

[Atlantic Ocean]
During the Atlantic crossing, the work continues, but the atmosphere is more relax, and it's also a time full of discoveries:
Animals

• For the first time, I see dolphins, wales (let's say their water spray), flying fishes and plankton !!!!

Sport

• Playing Basket ball ! (and losing the ball during the game...)

Food

• Drinking desalinated water
• BBQ in the middle of the ocean.

Rest

• Changing time zone every 2 days.
• sleeping under the stars, and being rocked by the waves. (and we see thousands of stars here!)