The Doulos

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm so glad that we returned to Thailand in time to visit the Doulos ship that has been docked in Bangkok for almost a month. You can look up more about the ship at mvdoulos.org and all they do but we have a special interest in this particular ship. Years ago when the triplets were small, a little girl of 8 yrs-Jana Dahn would come to my house every Saturday morning as a mother's helper. What a blessing she was to me-helping feed and care for our little guys, cleaning, doing lots of laundry...as the years passed she began to take on more responsibility even eventually babysitting the whole clan by herself. Jana has now grown up and lives in Ohio with her husband, Matt and their two children and one-on-the-way. Ironically last week she was lamenting the fact that she needs to begin some homeschooling with Addie her 3 yr. old and I just marvel at how the Lord has prepared her for this task many years ago. She helped me begin introducing letters and such when our triplets were 3 and 4 years old many years ago. Jana is such a natural, wonderful mother and I admire her and all she is doing with her children.

Now how does all that fit with the Doulos? Jana served two years on the Doulos after graduating from High School and met Matt on-board that very ship. We have supported that ministry some over the years and it was just the coolest thing to get to visit the ship in person and experience a little of what Jana's life must have been like on the deck of the Doulos. Ehtan commented that with his claustrophobia he wouldn't be able to handle the close quarters! She served many hours in the laundry room-a most humbling, arduous task that was critical for the crew of 300 as they travelled all over the world with their extensive book shop. The Laundry room also proved training ground for the other jobs she later had while serving on the Doulos.

Dustin and Nathan participated in the Inside/Out program all day Saturday for High School youth. There was a time of worship for the 35 youth from the surrounding area involved. Dustin said no one was there to play the piano or guitar so they volunteered to lead the worship time! How great that God is giving them opportunities to serve Him using the gifts He has given them.

The Doulos team spent time teaching them and equipping them to witness to the Thai people and then they had to go out on the boat and practice with an interpretor-way outside their comfort zone for sure! While we were on-board there was a constant stream of Thai people coming to peruse the book store. The book store had a wide range of material at such reasonable prices. I was happy to purchase a Thai/English Bible where the verses are side by side, that should come in handy here.

I had contacted Jana before we left for the Doulos and she asked me to contact the Govender family-Seelan, Carlien and baby Tessa from South Africa that are currently on staff with the Doulos who she had served with years ago. I prepared a bag with cookies, CD's and other small gifts and surprised them on-board. Carlien was very emotional and thankful for such a small gesture-maybe she was most touched by the hug from Jana via me! Seelan was very busy preparing for the Royal Thai Princess' visit on Monday. In fact the boys had to spend time painting the outside of the boat yesterday while they were guests in preparation for the big event. All hands were on deck spiffing up the 95 year old ship and the surrounding area too. Many of the shanty's and shacks close by had been painted as well. The visit all stemmed from a letter that Seelan had written to the Royal family, he should be very proud indeed! such great exposure for the ministry ship.

The Doulos does so much more than just the floating book store, every region they visit they send teams out into the surrounding communities to work alongside other ministries already in progress or to do community projects, like building homes...check out their website for more information. What a great day we had aboard the Doulos!