Love Slave | The Other Side of Mae

“a doulos for Christ” – a phrase oftenly uttered by Nathan Ian Demecillo, a youth pastor of the church I attended in Iligan, the Faith Christian Fellowship. He always encouraged us to be in service to Jesus, building the Kingdom of God among us and in reaching out to the others. But that is no easy job. Carrying Jesus’ cross means laying down everything we have and leaving ourselves behind. Being in the human flesh, we’re literally weak (as I’m guilty of) so as a frequent reminder, Pastor Nathan would tell us “be Christ’s love slave”.

Doulos is a Greek word for servant. For us Christians, it is a word for love slave. Love slave is a very profound word, not commonly used in everyday language. It is ought to be respected, it is hallowed. Love slave means a person that, usually, would do anything for affection from their “master” in Wikipedia but love slave for us means being enslaved for Christ out of love, a total surrender of ourselves for the ministry. It is an offering of our total being as a sacrificial lamb to the Lord God Almighty. And this is the ministerial work of the ship, MV Doulos who seeks to bring knowledge, help, and hope to the people of the world.

MV Doulos Visited Cebu in 2007

MV Doulos was built in 1914, two years younger than the most celebrated ship, the Titanic. She was built as a freighter serving the Atlantic and during the Second World War, she served with the United States Coast Guard bearing the name SS Medina. Afterwards, she was converted into a passenger ship bearing the name SS Roma then into a cruise liner sailing the Mediterranean seas bearing the name MS Franca C. And when she was acquired by the German charity Gute Bϋcher fϋr Alle (Good Books for All), she was converted into a floating bookshop.

By then, MV Doulos had become the world’s largest floating bookshop that carries Christian books and other good quality literature. She sails all around the globe with her hundreds of Christian volunteers from different countries. She doesn’t just bring forth books but also the message of love and salvation to the people. I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not just to visit the historic ship but to experience the life inside it for two whole days!

The ship docked in the port of Cebu last January 27, 2007. Being a book lover, I was so excited to visit her for her huge book sale! On its opening day, I hurriedly went there with my high school classmate, Sandra Loayon. While on the boat, we were amazed with how cheap the books were. And after spending a few minutes inside, we heard that there’s gonna be an International Night on February 16 so we saved the date for it. We tagged along another high school classmate, Loraine Angot.

The International Night was really great! People from all over the world were there in their national costumes. They had a variety show which conveyed the message of God’s love. MV Doulos’ heart is to spread the good news on which Jesus came to this earth for. I was so enthralled by the Doulos life and I was not satisfied with the ship visitation alone. I was so eager to learn more about the ship and her ministry. With this desire in my heart, I prayed for a chance to be given to me.

One Sunday morning as Sandra and I attended church at the House of Worship, the Doulos staff was there. They were inviting volunteers for a two-day work in the ship. I was so glad upon hearing it and I urged Sandra to sign up with me.

On that week, both Sandra and I were called for an interview by Operation Mobilisation (OM) Cebu. I was shocked! We volunteered to work but why are they requiring us an interview? It was like applying for a job but we reported anyway. The interview was all about our inclination to any ministerial work. And days after the interview, we were called for the orientation. We were so happy that we got in despite from our lack of experience in doing ministries compared to the other applicants for they were Bible school students and they handled ministries by themselves already.

Finally, we were scheduled for The Doulos Inside Out Programme! On our first day, February 17, we arrived at 9 AM sharp at the port for our call time was 10 AM. We had to be early because we were working with foreigners who are always time conscious. At exactly 10 o’clock, we were already inside our cabin that served as our headquarters for the briefing with the Indian, Shibu. Then we were grouped according to the workload that we’re going to have that day. I was assigned in the housekeeping department.

Before going to work, each of us was given our complete uniform – from shirt to shoes. Then we went to the storage room and got our cleaning materials. Our team leader was the Australian, Eleanor and my team mates were Rhona, Cookie, and Irish. We were happy with each other’s company while scrubbing the walls of the ship’s corridor. We did that for the whole day and we just stopped during lunch break and tea breaks. Though the day was exhausting, I felt super fulfilled! In my own little way, I had imparted some of my love to Doulos.

On our second day, we were surprised that we were not given any task. Instead, Shibu told us that we’re gonna have the day off just touring inside the ship! We were so glad upon hearing that and got really excited! First stop was the open-cabin. A family would adopt us for a while to get to know them and their Doulos life. They were Glenn and Fiona Leaver with their baby Callum.

Glenn is a Norwegian while Fiona is an Australian. They met in the ship, fell in love in the ship, and got married in the ship eventually. Their whole lives were all about the ship. They sacrificed a lot to be far away from home all for the love of the Doulos ministry. I just couldn’t imagine myself raising a family inside the confinement of a boat so I really admired them.

After the open-cabin was lunch and after lunch was the fellowship. The Doulos staff prepared a reality play for us entitled Mission Possible wherein we were the subjects. They gave us roles as missionaries and our mission was to reach a far-flung country wherein we’re going to bring in the good news. On our way to that country, we had to undergo tests like getting our passport, visa, and ticket. They also gave us a tight budget so we had to be clever on how to travel without running out of money. Our path was so perilous because everybody was so rude – the migration officer, the ticketing officer who tricked us, and the policeman who misled us. We even had our plane crashed!

Upon arrival to the country by a sailboat, the locals intimidated us. We couldn’t understand their language and it was so hard keeping up with them. We had no idea how to give them the message of God’s love. Thankfully, after a while of ignoring us, they considered and accepted us. They also accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. Then the reality play ended teaching us big lessons – lessons on how life could be if you are in the reality of doing the works of Christ.

After the activity, we huddled up in the ship’s function room. The Doulos staff told us their various experiences on how hard it is to be in a mission. Doulos is not just about the cheap books but Doulos is all about love. Every day and every night, the Doulos crew and staff go out to spread God’s word into the world! Sufferings, hunger, humiliations and worst, persecutions were their constant battles but every mission is possible for they have Christ as their companion.

By the end of my Doulos days, I realized that I have plenty of shortcomings. I hadn’t done a real thing for the Kingdom of God. Until now, I always fall short of His glory. But God is forever faithful! He had sent into this world faithful servants as my Doulos friends who never get tired being in service to Him. And with that, I salute them, look up at them, and inspired by them to be A DOULOS FOR CHRIST!