History of the ship MV Doulos
When built for the White Star Line in 1912 the Titanic was the marvel of her age. At nearly 883 feet in length, Titanic was longer than the tallest structures on Earth at the time. Over 1800 people left England on the “unsinkable ship”, but only 675 arrived. After hitting the iceberg on April 14, 1912 it took the Titanic just two hours and forty minutes to sink. While the Titanic was sinking in the North Atlantic another ship was being built. The SS Medina was not nearly as large or grand as the Titanic. It made no claim to being unsinkable. For years it carried onions between New York and Texas. During World War II it was converted to a troop ship and carried soldiers across the ocean. It was bombed and torpedoed but the ship refused to sink. On one crossing it was the only vessel in it’s convoy to reach it’s destination. After the war it was sold as scrap but rescued and converted into an Italian cruise liner called the Roma. Years later it again was sold for scrap but rescued again to become the MV Doulos. For many years it held the record as the oldest active passenger ship in the world. Since 1978 she had welcomed over 20 million visitors in 450 ports in 90 nations. Many lives have been changed and countless have come to Christ through it. A few months ago she was finally decommissioned, more than 95 years after being built.
God is in the business of taking little ordinary things and using them for His glory. While it may be the great “Titanics” which make the headlines – it is the faithful Doulos that are making the difference. The same is true of people. God often chooses the smallest and weakest to demonstrate His power. God wants to use you not only be a history watcher but a history maker. So what can you do?
From a sermon by Stephen Sheane, Feeding 5000, 4/30/2010