Alice says she’d been interested in serving abroad for much of her life, but when she first heard of OM Ships, she didn’t think living on a ship was for her.
“I thought, ‘I don’t think so,’” said Alice, who was in graduate school at Wheaton College in Illinois at the time. “But then I met Dave, and he had been with OM Ships for five years at that point.”
So much to her surprise, Alice — who grew up attending Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, and was actively involved in Lakeview Baptist Church, Auburn, while in college — married into the ship life.
In 1992 — six months after their wedding — she and her new husband boarded Doulos, a floating city of 350 people from 45 nations. The ship was the second ship Operation Mobilization had purchased and put on mission. The first, Logos, had set sail in 1971.
World record
Doulos was purchased by OM in 1977.
By the time the couple boarded it in 1992, Doulos “was in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest ocean-going passenger vessel,” she said.
Doulos was built in 1914, two years after the Titanic made her voyage. And Doulos had a very sacred purpose, Alice said. As they traveled around the world, they would spend two to four weeks at a time moored in a port and spend that time investing in that place.
They distributed aid supplies, supported communities after natural disasters and helped the marginalized in society. They helped people learn how to deal with trauma and aided others in dealing with trauma. They did dramas and music as a way to share the gospel with the community.
They would also invite people aboard the ship for youth conferences, marriage conferences and other events.
And Doulos had something else to offer on board — a bookstore filled with more than 5,000 titles of educational and Christian books and materials that the community could shop in.
“A lot of these places did not have access to Christian literature,” Alice said, noting that the internet wasn’t widely available at that time either. “We could have 10,000 visitors aboard in a day just for the book shop.”
Since OM Ships started 50 years ago, it has served more than 150 countries and distributed hundreds of tons of books and aid supplies. Doulos alone welcomed more than 22 million people on board at more than 600 stops in 108 countries.
The original ship, Logos, stopped sailing in 1988. Logos II started sailing that year and stopped in 2008. After its 32-year run, Doulos stopped sailing in 2010. Logos Hope, a converted ferry, started serving in 2009 and still represents OM Ships today.
George Verwer, who founded OM, said people thought he had “lost his marbles” when he first floated the idea of a ship-based ministry. Now, 50 years later, he’s celebrating what God has done.
“We rejoice over all God has done through our four vessels,” Verwer said. “At least 100 million people worldwide have come into contact with the gospel in some way. We know thousands have professed faith, but only heaven will tell the full story.”
Alice — who along with her husband now works for OM’s U.S. headquarters in Tyrone, Georgia — served on Doulos in two stints totaling six years. The first was when she and her husband were newlyweds. The second was in the early 2000s with four children.
She said she has so many stories and individuals in her mind and heart from her years on the ship. But one in particular stands out — a woman she got to meet in Senegal. They crossed paths in an unexpected way when Alice was out exploring in the community, and she was able to share the gospel with her and invite her back to the ship for a meal.
“Then she had the opportunity to meet people from around the world and hear them talk about Jesus too, not just me talking about Him,” Alice said. “She stood up at the end of our meal and said, ‘Never have I ever felt whatever it is that you all seem to have. I didn’t know that He could be like that.’”
For a video about OM Ships’ 50th anniversary, www.om.org/ships/50years. To read more about Doulos, visit om.org/ships/doulos.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Alice and Dave’s last name omitted for security reasons.
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