Hein Thu Soe

Saturday morning I went to the M/V Caladium to visit Hein Thu Soe, the seafarer I met last night. I was greeted by the Korean captain who invited me for lunch. When I mentioned what had happened to one of his crew members,the captain indicated that he wasn't aware of anything.

A few moments later Hein entered the officer's mess room and the captain now aware of the situation offered his condolences. During our conversation I assured Hein that we would pray for him and his family tomorrow in church. He appreciated that and left the mess room.

After lunch, as I left the mess room I met Hein waiting  for me.  He asked me if I had especially come to visit him. My answer was yes! He really appreciated that and told me that his father had already passed away  two weeks prior  but, that his family had not wanted to notify him with the terrible news. Last night while skyping with a friend he finally received the bad news. Being the oldest of five sons, Hein is now the main bread winner for his family. I asked him if he is going home soon to visit the family. Since this is his first voyage as a third officer he will not consider that option. He hopes to go home after five months when his contract is up.

It was a reality check for me again as to how privileged we are in this part of the world. After hearing the news of my brother's death I was able to fly to the Netherlands the very next day!

After walking with me to the gang way, Hein suggested that we be photographed together. I gave him our website address so he can read the story and see the pictures. I wish him God's blessing and the comfort we find in Christ Jesus.

In Memoriam Bill Bouwman

On July  7th The Lord promoted  Bill Bouwman to glory!. Bill was a  member on the Seafarers Committee for more then six years. He showed a deep devotion for Christ and his church. He was also a man of great humor and character.

We will mis you Bill!

On the picture you see Bill ( on the right ) with Hank Hamstra, a good friend of his who is  presently the chairperson of the Ministry to Seafarers.

Friday evening at the Roberts Bank Mission

Yesterday was a busy evening again at the Delta Port Mission with seafarers from China, Myan-Mar  (formerly Burma), The Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, Ukraine and Poland..     As the evening progressed I counted at least 14 laptop computers in operation. The system had to be restarted twice and the complaints were numerous because downloading became a very, very slow process.

Things become very interesting when four Chinese seafarers who didn't speak any English were pointing at me and the telephone and started yelling TAXI!! ( I guess taxi has become a universal word ) After a long ordeal of explaining, I did arrange a taxi and they were sent off to Ladner!

I was amazed again last night at how much interest and inquiry there was for the Gospel. Two sailors from Myan-Mar asked me for a " Jesus " DVD and the Chinese were very interested in Gospel material.


Finally, as I closed the door at 10 PM, I was approached by a sailor from Myan-Mar .  ' Goodnight,' I said, when he suddenly grabbed my hand and said, ' I heard tonight that my father has died! ' It was silent for a few seconds.  ' I am sorry to hear that, what happened?' I asked.   Apparently, his father, who was 51 years old had been killed in a car accident.

Since my 52 year old brother died in a car accident six months ago, I was confronted  again with my own  emotions. When I offered  to bring him to his ship docked at Birth # 1, quite some distance away, he declined . After having held onto my hand once more he disappeared in the darkness towards his ship. I was determined to visit him the next morning. ( To find out more, read my next blog )

Our wedding anniversary

On July the 6th we celebrated as a family our 25th wedding anniversary. We thank God for His faithfulness.

The Maiden Voyage of the M/V " Linda Fortune "

The M/V Linda Fortune arrived last week at Roberts Bank. Brand new from a Japanese ship yard! White  ropes and a very strong paint smell are always the first  two things you notice when you board a new ship. The third thing you often notice  on a new ship is that there are no books, no mugs, no DVD's,  no extra clothing etc. for the crew. I made extra effort to find items for these crew members, including a Bible and a few Jesus DVD's. On the following pictures you can see how happy and thankful these men are. They left yesterday with  a load of coal to Japan.

The Lord's Table

 Every ship I visit I will  find two mess ( dining )  rooms. One for the officers and one for the crew. This, I assume,  is a maritime tradition which is very old. You find the same situation in the world's armies and navies. But on one of my recent ship visits  I noticed that there was one mess room with a very long dining table! I asked the steward if this was the officers mess room. His reply was, " no, we have only one mess room  where we all eat together ".Truly amazing, this was the first time in my seven years of ship visiting to see something like this; officers and crew members eating together! I asked the steward if I could join them later for lunch since I did not want to miss the experience. When lunch time arrived a few crew members showed up to eat. I asked them where the rest of the crew was. They answered that the table was never fully occupied anymore since the number of crew members was cut from 24 to 18 due to cutbacks. A little later a few more crew members and a  very sleepy Romanian captain appeared to join for lunch. I used the opportunity to explain how unique this situation was and how I could compare this to The Lord's Table where people from every race, nation, regardless off their status in life, sit together and remember the Lord's death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. That is  when we believe in Him and trust him for our salvation! I did not get much response.

But even at this one table where officers and crew members eat together something was different. The officers were sitting on one end of the table and the crew members at the opposite end. Even at this table there was a seperation between people.  You may guess where the steward seated me? Ofcourse, with the crew members and not with the officers. I made sure that after lunch I moved to the officers end of the table. I had to experience ' both ends!'  How ' radical ' the Good News of Jesus Christ is where Jew, Gentile, slave and free sit together at  His table!   Next week we hope to celebrate The Lord's Supper in our church. Are we, as God's people, still in awe  why Jesus had to die on the cross? Why he commanded us to remember His death and that there is no distinction between people at His table....... "for it is  by grace that we are saved "....no favoratism!   

world cup soccer

I think we all agree that soccer/voetbal/fuzball/football is the most popular sport in the world. You don't need a lot of money to be engaged in a match of soccer. I think that this is one of the reasons why the game is so popular. If you are a soccer fan then the world cup must be a  real pleasure to watch. So far more than six and a half billion people have watched the games and we haven't even seen the semi - finals yet! The best players of the world are demonstrating their incredible skills and talents. I've watched a few games and these men are so well trained  they almost look like race horses. ( I don't know if this is a good analogy! ) On the picture you see our son Mathias who loves the game of soccer and who is an obvious fan of a certain country that at the time of this writing is still in the game! The big question of course is; which country will win the ultimate price......the cup? We will find out soon. After the final match people will go home and soccer fans will soon be looking forward to the next ( Europa Cup 2012? ) world cup soccer in 2014. However, I am reminded of the words of the apostle Peter who says that, " When the Chief Shepherd ( Jesus ) appears, I will receive THE CROWN OF GLORY  that will never fade away. The world cup trophy is pale in comarison with this crown of glory. Thanks be to God!

church on the ocean #3

In one of my former blogs ( church on the ocean ) I told the story of meeting Michael who conducts faithfully every Sunday afternoon a bible study. This was on March 12. Last week he was again in port after a long, three and a half month  tour to Europe and back. We  lunched together and we had a wonderful time of fellowship. He told me how important it is and how  much seafarers appreciate it when chaplains visit their ship which, according to Michael, happens not too often when they visit ports worldwide. Michaell is now facing a dilemma;  He will sign-off in Hong Kong and who will continue leading the bible studies?

 When he was here in March there were ten crew members attending the bible study. This number has since decreased to four due to signing-off and no new crew members have joined  the study.  Before I left the ship we prayed together that God will move the heart of one of the crew members to replace Michael when he leaves the ship. We said goodbye knowing that, " God never leaves us nor forsakes us! " ( Michael is in the middle of the picture )