For those who had the privilege to be on Front Street Thursday afternoon, they will have had the chance to see the departure of the MV Logos II from Bermuda.

Setting sail to the waves of a few volunteers ashore, the ship passed through Hamilton Harbour and out onto the Atlantic quickly and quietly, however, the ship's 15-day visit to the Island is certainly not to have been without a serious imprint on the hearts and lives of locals.

"It has been a really, really blessed time for many reasons," shared Réka Borsiczky of Hungary, who works in the ships' office. "Even before we came here, God knew we would extend. It's really cool to see how God works. When you look back, you really see how everything falls into place."

The ship arrived in Bermuda on February 20 and was originally scheduled to depart on Monday, March 3, however, do to circumstances at their next port, Freeport, Bahamas, the request to extend their stay in Bermuda was granted, allowing the ship to remain until March 6.

Most visible to most visiting the ship was the work of the ships Book Fair, which offered titles on a wide variety of topics, including educational and children's books, reference works, Christian topics and an excellent selection of Bibles.

During the two week visit, 14, 221 visitors stepped aboard to peruse the collection to purchase nearly 60,000 books.

Nearly one-quarter of the books purchased were Christian books, with a little more than 1.600 Bible sold and more than 46,000 educational books sold.

According to Ebbo Buurma, the ship's director: "I personally had no expectations [when we arrived in Bermuda], but what happened greatly exceeded our wildest expectations."

The MV Logos II was officially decommissioned last Fall, in preparation for its replacement, the much larger, MV Logos Hope.

However, delays in the Logos Hope's refitting and a sitting stock of books prompted the powers that be at Operation Mobilisation and Educational Book Exhibits Ltd., which operate the fleet of ships, that also includes the MV Dulous, to recommission the MV Logos II for one final voyage to the Caribbean.

Within a very short period of time, OM was able to assemble a crew to run the ship.

"Normally, we sail with 220 people," explained Mr. Buurma, "but this time only 61, and most with no experience on OM Ships."

As a result, the crew did not expect to be able to do much more ministry outside of the book fair, however, with the help with 20 local volunteers working in all areas of the ship's needs, including the book fair and the galley, and the cooperation of local congregations, the ship's crew were able to involve themselves ashore in various ministries.

One of those volunteers, Andrew Fox, has also agreed to sail on with the ship to the Caribbean.

"Most of our people are fairly ready to get involved with other ministries," Mr. Buurma shared.

Over the two weeks in Bermuda, the crew visited all of the Island's prison facilities, some on more than one occasion, local youth groups and various individual churches, including St. Andrew's, Wesley Methodist, Cornerstone, the Evangelical Church of Bermuda and many of the Bermuda's Brethren congregation.

A number of schools were able to coordinate visits to the ship, and both Cornerstone and the Brethren Assembly organised special meetings aboard.

Also, seven young men from Impact Mentoring Academy, directed by Trace White, were able to visit the ship on multiple occasions.

"Much more happened than I expected," Mr. Buurma said.

Ms. Borsiczky was particularly excited about the opportunities at West Gate Correctional Facility.

"I personally enjoyed the prison ministry," she shared. "I realise that I am no better than (the prisoners) are, but because I have Jesus in my heart, it prevents those bad things from happening."

Because of the ship's extension in port, the prison ministry team were able to visit Westgate twice.

"If we had sailed on Monday, we probably couldn't have gone back, but because we stayed, I could go back."

Ms. Borsiczky was especially encouraged at the ways the prisoners, especially those who are Believers, would return thanks by ministering to the team in song and other ways, and she thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship they shared right there in the prison.

Réka was also amazed by the spirit of those in Bermuda, particularly those who helped in the volunteer programme, or by giving gifts to the ship's crew.

"It always blows my mind," she tried to explain. "You guys in Bermuda have so much to give and you give it generously. It's something we could learn from.

"I feel really blessed to be here, and not only me, but the whole crew. We've all made friends and we've all learned so much from you guys.

"This is our first visit on our Caribbean tour. I'm personally very pleased at how well it went," Mr. Buurma said. "We are very thankful to the Bermudian people who have received us in a very generous way."

The MV Logos II is expected to arrive in Freeport, Bahamas on March 10.

Future ports include Nassau, Bahamas; Georgetown, Cayman Islands; Montero Bay, Jamaica; and Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.