"A ship is safe in harbour but that's not what ships are for." - William Shedd
In a remarkably vivid account Jiamin Choo reveals her most intimate and candid moments from 25 handwritten journals penned over six years to share the life of a young person who, fresh out of school, obeyed God's call to choose the path less trodden and serve in full-time missions.
Sister Jiamin Choo-Fong, thank you so much for this inspiring book. I am so blessed to read and witness your journey throughout this book on Doulos Ship. I really see how marvelous God was and is doing in your life. Your Line-Up team part was my favorite. I don’t know why when I read it, I somehow viewed you as the Captain of Special forces 😁. Very adventurous. And thank you once again. 🙏🏼🙏🏼 I read this book with teary eyes on most of the pages. ❤️
The call of God is like the call of the sea; no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him. – Oswald Chambers.
“I’ve always set very high standards for you because I want you to be strong in your faith. After knowing your desire to serve God in the mission field, I’ve become stricter with you so that you will be prepared to endure the hardships that are to come.” – Sister Jiamin’s Mom. When I read this part, tears were welling up my eyes and I was in office. I had to pretend I got something in my eyes.
The best gift you can ever give to others is the Gospel. Love God first, and not be distracted by ministry or even the needs of the lost.
“Signed the commitment form to join Doulos. Signed my life over to God.” – Jiamin Choo’s powerful phrase.
A story about a carrot, an egg, and a coffee bean. When put in boiling water, under intense heat and pressure, the hard carrot became soft and weak, the fragile egg hardened inside, but the coffee bean changed the water into coffee that gave off a pleasing aroma. In times of difficulty, let us not crumble like the carrot, nor harden like the egg, but, like the coffee bean, bring changes to adverse situations and glorify You, God.
Let my eyes turn upon Jesus. For when I look at Him – His greatness, His perfect goodness, His loving-kindness – my worries, concerns and even the pain start to fade away.
Don’t write your dream off if the only obstacle is money. God is much bigger than money.
There’s only one life to live, and I can only choose one road at a time. Lord, I want to honour You with every talent You have entrusted in my care. May I be a good and faithful servant who finds favor in Your eyes.
“There’s no royal road to becoming a worker for God. The only way is to let God in His mighty providence lift the life by a great tide…and in one way or another get the life out to sea in reckless abandon to God.” – Oswald Chambers
Understanding the importance of names – weight of a name, reputation of a name, cost of a name. Some names represented decision-making power in huge companies. Other names were links to solving problems, opening doors and expanding networks.
But there is one Name I already know. He is the Number One Contact I’ll ever need to depend on. I can call on Him anytime and He will answer me. Even angels do His bidding. For His Name is honored and feared above every other name on earth. His name is Jesus, Son of God, Savior of the World.
Life is a gift. Celebrate it!
Your number 1 responsibility is to love your team. You need to serve your team and do the dirty work. If they get into trouble, you take the blame. If they do something right, they take the credit. (Ouch!)
It’s tiring just thinking of ways to maintain harmony and not offend anyone. With so many competing voices, which voice do I listen to? Lord, let Your voice be the loudest one.
To stay close to God, and be like a tree planted by streams of water, which bears fruit in season, and whose leaves do not wither (Psalm 1).
The Heart of Worship – worshipping God with the right motive and regardless of feelings.
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye” – the little prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
God is not so concerned about the destination, but about the journey through which you become more like Christ.
Jiamin’s heart for the ship really shone through in this book and I was deeply inspired by her stories. It really help me understand what may be to come as I am thinking of going onto the ship myself.
wow so much respect for Jiamin & so much thanks to Jerome for the book!
read it through the toughest night of my life and was so appropriate for my situation. apart from that, Jiamin is so honest and she lays all things bare in permanent writing - which is something I personally avoid but need to do. also with the OM Ships program it sounds so so incredibly cool and a crazy thing to do!