Lets dance....

Ok, I know that it has been awhile since I have had the time to post more on my story so here gos...
Leonard had set up on our day off together a trip around the coast of Cape Town touring, picnicking and best of all to be alone and away from the people of the ship. You see wherever we would go somewhere there always was someone from the ship who kept rubbing it in our faces that the ships team frowns upon international relationships, somehow Leonard and I were not afraid of what was to come instead we decided to steal the moment for that was all we had at that point in time. We so had a good day and at the end of it I found myself not wanting to be away from him (I started to fall for this bad boy that soon) The next day there was this tall dark and handsome Indian guy that showed up onboard the ship asking me for a tour of the ship and me being the friendly staff decided to show him around and before you know it he was there everyday looking for me and he wanted me and my closest friends to come for dinner at his families home? I took three friends with me and for some reason he decided to show me his home and tell me about how wealthy he was, that whichever girl marrys him will not have to work a day in her life because he would take care of her, I then realized that he was hinting to me that he was into me? HOLD UP! how did I go from NO guy to two guys? I was ever so shocked that this was happening to me. I found myself being him that night however I thought about Leonard the whole night long...wondering what he was doing or where he could be (unknown to me he was at the entrance of the ship waiting for me) you see he had no clue that someone else was interested in me, that night when we got back he saw this guy and I think that he being a guy knew what this other guys intentions was because the very next day when this guy came to see me Leonard told him that I was gone somewhere while I was in my cabin the whole time...lol, Leonard was trying to take out his competition. I spent some time later on that day with this guy and found out that although I may have all the security that life has to offer with him somehow there was no love and with Leonard there was no security but loads of love ^_^ so, I did the best thing that I could do and steer him in the direction of another friend of mine...lol, I did not want to see him alone, sadly enough it was not what he wanted so he did not come back to the ship until the day that we set sail....bummer!

Getting to know you.

The time has come for me to know who Leonard is and if he is the one that I want to see myself with in days to come? He asked me to spend our day off together and was I in for a surprise, he had arranged for a day of sight seeing...picnic lunch...scrolls along the beach and most of all answering all my questions with truthful answers. I so was enjoying myself that I did not want the night to end, it was so good to see him for who God made him...a caring loving man in need of being loved back, even though he looks like a bad boy on the outside he is a sensitive caring man on the inside. When I was with him all time stood still and I felt like we were the only two people in the universe. As time went by we worked together through the day and would hang out in the afternoon with friends and we so enjoyed eachothers company once the awkward introductions was over with THANK GOD.

I had realized through time spent with him that I was the "Do things by the the Bible" person... boring and no fun to be around and he was the spontaneous, rebel at heart guy and we had the makings for Chicken soup for the soul...lol. He made me laugh when I did not feel like it and let me cry on his shoulders if I needed to, took care of me when I was so sea sick and I started to realize that this tougue talking pentacostal girl is starting to love and be loved.

Miss perfect gets a reality check!



Friends for life



I made friends with so many wonderful people on the Doulos and also in the towns which we would visit but the most special relationships was developed with a group of us that would get together everyday to just hang out and chill, up until this time I never knew what Roman Noddles was and my...oh my...did the crews company love it cause it was a quick fix for a snack...lol. The dinning hall was full of white people food (bland and boring)and how I so craved a good home cooked Curry, the Americans sat in the front and the  British sat in the back while the other countries sat with whomever they knew in the dinning hall and since South Africa had British influences at one time so we sat in the back. We did not get along with the Europeans cause they we very snobbish and acted like the rest of the world was beneath them and as for the Americans let me tell you...they talked so loud even though the person was sitting next to them (we could actually hear their conversation in the back, had no table manners (fork and knife in hand flying all over the place while they spoke) wanting more food than was given to them (on any given day  meals had to be made for 450 people and more cause there were visitors /families outside the ship and tour groups that would join us for lunch or dinner so at the buffet you would always see a one only or two each sign placed at different stations) I did not realize it then but the Americans were used to eating huge belly busting meals...lol and here they were served fairy size meals. I asummed that everyone was God fearing and striving for the mark of pleasing God however there was prejudice on board the Mission ship and a hole lot more fasten your seat belt cause this Bible believing , tongue talking, Pentecostal Indian girl was in for a rude awakening...think all is well when you have 350 born again children of God NOT!     I was raised believing that if you are a child of the living God you don't smoke, drink alcohol or go to clubs ect! and these foreigners did it all and they lived on the ship "What is wrong with this picture?" Are you saved? I was appalled by their behavior. I became so judgemental and self righteous and God was going to teach me a lesson that I would think twice about judging other's again!

So Leonard and I spent time together and I started to like the guy even though he was an American (God forbid RIGHT...lol) one night while sitting with some friends on the dock I saw him so drunk that he was  carried on board the ship by two of his friends who were also drunk themselves and I was so outraged "Hell No" I screamed he is not making a fool of me, talking to a drunk person is just as good as talking to a wall so I fumed threw the night waiting for the morning... I wanted to Mix...Slice and dice him up into pieces and when the chance arrived I totally let him have it and called it a quits! when he was confronted he did not think anything of it? What a Heathen...he needed to check his salvation, fumed I moved forward and tryed to avoid him which was almost impossible seeing that we worked together. If any Man was going to marry me he had to be perfect and now that Leonard's secret is out he was so down at the bottom of the scale,  would rather be a Nun that marry a less perfect man...after all I was Miss perfect...lol
It amazes me as to how one part of the world considers things as appalling and the other as no big deal, thank God that he is forgiving and does not think or act like man or else we would all be doomed to hell.
After a few days of stewing in my righteous anger (given to me by God..what a joke) I asked Leonard the why's and how's and he talked very straight forward and truthful and this Miss righteous Girl got checked by a sinner....oops did I think bad! Man looks on the outward and God looks at the heart so I asked God to reveal Leonard's heart to me and God never lets me down ;)

Judy and the Beast

Working the book exhibition involved greeting and counting the people as they came on board and wouldn't you know it but I was teamed up with this guy who was so rude...obnoctious and certainly most arrogant ( I thought to myself  "who let this clown out of the circus"...lol) Self righteous me was in for a reality check!
He was in his Leather black jacket, drank Beer, loved worldly music, talked to much (cause he was nervous being around me "don't blame him after all I'm Miss perfect and he couldn't touch this ;) I just plain right out could not stand the poor sucker and to think that he was to teach and help me the whole time I was there
"God you sure have a sense of humour". Everyday...all day I would work together with this guy and while sitting down to lunch one day some friends told me that there is someone on the ship who likes me "my imagination went wild...could it be this handsome hunk or that Pastors son , the Evangelist  ect. oh! the suspense was killing me, then she tells me later on that day that it is Leonard ???? IF HE IS THE LAST MAN ON EARTH I WOULD NOT EVEN DARE TO DREAM OF HIM IN THAT MANNER...I screamed it out and told them that he does not stand a chance and to make matters worse I worked closely with Leonard everyday and however he kept his distance ,my friend told him that I was outraged.  As time went on we became friends cause there was no awkwardness between us anymore and I think that the pressure was of him in trying to win me instead his Game Plan changed to allowing me to see that he is a Loving...Caring man who needs to be loved just like anyone else. Smooth operator!

South Africa has the worst ocean currents in the world and the Seas was so rough that the ship would dip into the waters and up again (like a roll-a-coaster from Hell) I was so sick during the voyage that I would lay in my bunk and pray for land- my stomach was so sensitive not being able to move without puking and having the dizziness to go with that yuck! we would have crew members laying out all over the ship sea sick and the only thing that was recommended to eat was toast and apples, food was the last thing on any ones mind! Leonard had a stomach of steel no stormy sea was going to keep him down or in the way of Love so he sent me a message to come up on deck cause all the friends were hanging out and there was no way that I was going to let anyone see zombie walking, I pulled myself together and went up on deck and there he was with a plate full of  peeled and sliced apples dipped in peanut butter ready to serve me so that I could get some strength back from the living dead...lol and the romance begins "Judy and the Beast" I was to weak to fight him so I just eat the apples and thanked him. It took us three days to finally reach land and the moment we were allowed on land I kissed the ground and thanked God for it..lol.

M.V Doulos...the worlds largest floating book exhibition and oldest passenger liner, only 2 years younger than the Titanic with 500 ports of call, 320 people from over 50 countries. GBA good..books..for all.
Every function of the ship was hands on by the crew and if we lived in it then we worked it from book exhibition to engine room, teams were sent out into the visited towns to serve the community in whatever need they may have or we would just minister threw dramas..mimes..preaching..teaching etc.
March 2010 Doulos was bought by the C.E.O of the Biznaz resource centres and is now decommissioned and deemed a Historic ship- sad but glad that we were part of History in the making :)

I had volunteered  to work on board the ship while docked in Durban so I was well aware of what I was getting myself into little did I know that South Africa has the roughest waters in the world due to the two Oceans meeting, once the ship cut loose from the dock sea sickness hit me like something from a horror movie and no amount of pills was going to help me- Fasten your life jacket its going to be bombs away- lol.

The first time I volunteered I worked the laundry room (can you imagine a team of 7 washing..drying..folding and sorting out the clothes of 320 people daily ? I did this for 3 weeks Yikes! Every time I felt like I needed to be in a position less hot than the dryer room I felt for the people working in the engine room, it must have been at temps close to passing out yet they laboured with Love and I pressed on :) we all took turns for being in the ministry team and oh how I waited for those days...lol. I made some friends who are still in my life and together we set out on an adventure, we jointed the ship on its second time around and at this time I would work in the book exhibition.

More to follow :)

Lets start from the begining 1995 # 1

I have been involved in outreach projects in my home town Pheonix (Kwazulu, Natal) from the time I was a teenager, going into the surrounding villages taking care of the orphan kids and providing them care ( giving them baths, food and playing with them) there were times when the smells was so outrageous and the flies so intolerable however in humility I bowed down and served cause of my love for them. I felt a need not to stop just there but to expand my help out to the surrounding provinces and got to travel all over South Africa helping in soup kitchens, providing care for the homeless in the shelters and on the streets of Johannesburg...Cape town and East London. There seemed to be a hunger in me for  helping people who so much appreciated a slice of bread and a cup of soup, some just wanted a smile and they would lighten up like Christmas lights. The more I spent time with the down trodden the more I felt like what Jesus would have felt when he looked at the millions with compassion and I understood then what drew him to the cross...Love for the lost and hope for the future, no matter what those people looked like at the time when I met them I saw what they could be when Jesus was done with them :) I was very hard to see people who just rolled up in a card board box in the freeze of winter the keep warm and see women drink themselves to sleep cause the pain of life was to much (if they could just escape for awhile they and have tasted a taste of haven in their dreams IT WOULD BE WELL WITH THEIR SOULS ) the crys of some just brought you to tears and I asked God to give me the strenghth to go on cause it was to emotional seeing these people in such pain, at times I wish I had all the money in the world to help fix these living conditions for the Orphans and homeless.

After many years of serving in my surrounding villages and towns I was giving the opportunity of a lifetime..working on board the Doulos. I've worked on board as a volunteer before so I knew that I could not let this pass me by, I had no clue as to how the money would come to support this kind of a Missions project however I trusted the Lord that he would meet the need. Told my family what I wanted to do and packed my bags and I was of to travel the country helping people with physical and spiritual needs...Little did I know it then but this trip would change my life forever.