M/V Epic

    Last week I had a wonderful visit on board the MV Epic. I walked into a ship's office full of young Greek officers. We immediately clicked! As we laughed and talked we discussed all kinds of things, especially the current situation in Greece which is a major worry for every Greek seafarer I meet.. They invited me for lunch the next day..........Twelve o'clock sharp!
And so there I was for lunch......twelve o'clock sharp! They were waiting for me. The Philippino cook had prepared spaghetti .....I don't want to exaggerate but this was one of the best spaghetti meals I've ever eaten. After the meal they invited me to come to the officer's ' smoking room ' to drink some coffee and relax for a few moments. One of the younger officers asked if I was a priest and if I use holy water. I told him that I was a Protestant (a word they recognized) and that the only water we use is for baptizing believers. I asked them if they go to church faithfully every Sunday morning when they are at home.  "The older people in Greece do but not so much the younger generation " was the answer. " I want to sleep in and if I go I  don't understand what the priest is talking about anyways " was one of the answers. The discussion turned to sin vs good works. Here I stated my opinion that only Jesus Christ can forgive us our sins. The older Chief Engineer brought up the fact that everything in this life is  ordained and so our discussion turned to the sovereignty of God....of all things.

I've never had a discussion like this before on board a ship with 6 or 7 crew members, especially not with European ones.The discussion ended  because the men had to go back to work again. The next day the ship left with a load of coal for Turkey, a voyage of 50-53 days.....What a wonderful visit!

REAL MEN LOVE JESUS

     There was only one very slow dial - up computer in the Mission at Roberts Bank when I began my work as a chaplain at the end of 2003. How things have changed during the last 8 years! There are now 5  high speed PC's for general use however, most sailors prefer using their own laptops. It continues to amaze me how communication has changed during these last years.

     All laptops look basically the same however one day some one walked into the Mission with a laptop complete with sticker which read; " Real Men Love Jesus "  Now that doesn't happen every day so I wanted to take the opportunity  to ask him some questions like;  " Obviously, you are a Christian?  You are very courageous doing this."  " Are you getting a lot of comments or ridicule for doing this on board the ship?" The answers to my questions were mostly in the affirmative.

     Then he asked me if I had New  Testament Greek and Hebrew Bibles for him. " Why ", I asked? " When I go back to The Philippines I study Hebrew and Greek with my pastor friend,"  he said. My  next question was, you guessed it, " Are you planning to attend seminary and become a pastor? To this he answered, " No, I just want to get a better knowledge of God's Word! " ------- A great testimony of someone ' who loves Jesus! '
Now get this; at the Mission we have New Testament Hebrew bibles for Jewish seafarers  but just the week before the sailor 'who loves Jesus ' showed up some one had dropped-off some boxes with books. One of the books was a New Testament Greek Bible, the one that's being used by seminary students.............Would we call that pure coincidence or God's providence?

M/V K. FAITH - .

Last Friday evening was another busy night at the Deltaport  Mission.  Most of the seafarers were from The Philippines as well as some from Korea, Romania and Poland. Winnie came to visit as did Ken and Dorothy Vandervelde. I am always happy and much more relaxed when Ken is there since he knows so much about computers. When there are more then 20 computers in use, with many sailors skyping with their families,  it is not uncommon that the system will crash!

The first crew member of the M/V Faith that walked in greeted me with, " Hello Ernest, how are you doing? " It caught me by surprise; a seafarer calling me by my first name?  Apparently, his ship had been at Roberts Bank last July and the seafarer remembered me and my name.  Besides warming my heart, it confirmed for me that the work we do does make a difference in the lives of sailors. On the same ship, there was also a Koean officer whom I recognized and who was really impressed with the new building.

The ( Korean ) captain of the M/V K. Faith also came for a visit. He mentioned that he had been here in December 2009 and remembered the fact that my brother in Holland had been killed in a car accident on that day. I was shocked and surprised at the same time. Shocked because I was reminded again of that tragic day and surprised to hear it from a ' total stranger ' who had not forgotten me and what happened on that day! It made my day.

MY NAME IS.................

Recently I met two seafarers with the same name as mine!.......Ernst........Since my name is not very common I looked up the meaning of my name in the dictionary;  "It is often supposed that this means the same as the word
' earnest ' meaning serious ( or even humorless ) - this is a misconception. Ernest is a Germanic name. In modern German it is Ernst derived from the old High German word eornost  which means 'battle to the death' or
' serious business'! " The name is rare nowadays. Maybe the best known one is Ernest  Hemingway, the famous author.

On the pictures you see me with an Ernesto seafarer from The Philippines and with a German Ernst who's last name of all names is de Vries!!

YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH

On the picture you see the cook on the right and the steward on the left.  The cook and the steward  are the two crew members I usually always meet. This cook, however, had a problem, a major problem! When I met him he came to me in a rather panicky situation. When seafarers act that way, most of the time I know why: problems at home, problems on the ship with other crew members, conflict with the captain....all kinds of problems. I asked him what the problem was!  He said; " We are sailing to Japan tonight, the provisions were delivered to the ship today but some mistake was made............I have no salt....please help me! " ( Do you know what my first thought was?..............I have a text for my next sermon! ) I went back to Ladner purchased a few kilos of salt and brought it to the ship.....to the great delight and relief of the cook. You see, a good cook cannot make tasty food without salt...not even the best cook in the world! To keep the crew happy the cook needed salt.But can you imagine a cook asking for salt while in a few hours he would literally sail through a sea of salt!
As 21st Century citizens we are constantly warned by doctors that our salt intake is too high. We are addicted to salt. Just about every food item we buy in the store is loaded with salt ( and sugar ) Too much salt is dangerous....it can kill you.
Salt is cheap and there is plenty of it, however, it has not always been that way. Salt has always been very valuable in human society. If you read the history of salt you will find that nations and peoples have clashed in wars about salt. During a period of ancient Greek history history it was called ' theon ', which means divine.
Roman soldiers were paid their wages not in gold or silver coins but in salt! Did you know that the words  "salary " and " sale " derive from the word salt? In the middle ages salt was known as " the white gold ". I can go on and on with examples about salt but this we know ....salt always stood for that which was of high value and importance...Salt is amazing; It preserves, it purifies, it flavors and...... it stings!
Jesus in His sermon on the mount calls His disciples " The salt of the earth " he ordains them to be a blessing to the earth! To be the salt of the earth.....You are of great value...You are valuable...just like salt is. Jesus assures them they are to be used by God, and used on the widest possible scale...You are the salt of the earth" ...not just of Galilea or Israel...no the whole earth!
The next thing is imporant for all of us who confess to be followers of Christ;  Notice that when Jesus says this...he doesn't say, " be salt " or  " you must be salt " or " it would be nice nice if you were salt "...it's your choice to be salt...No he plainly says; " You are the salt of the Earth " You cannot separate the two! You cannot say; " I am a follower of Jesus Christ but I refuse to be salt." Someone says it this way; " You are either  a follower of Jesus Christ or you are not a follower and......if you are a follower of Jesus, then salt is what you are, whether you asked for it or not " .................Radical isn't it?......It even becomes more radical when you continue reading the text......" But.... if...... salt loses it's saltiness? But that's for another time.

pirate!

Happy New Year to all of you readers! It's been a long time since my last blog..  We are doing well! Christmas at Sea was another great  success and very much appreciated by the seafarers.  More recently,, The Seafarer's Mission was blessed to open it's newly renovated and expanded facility at the Delta Port opened on Jan 24th by bishop Rev. Michael Ingham.

On a different note, I'd like to share a few stories of modern-day piracy! It's often  in the news and has everything to do with ships, seafarers and the work that I do among these men and woman who make their living at sea. There is no piracy in this part of the world but not too long ago I met a seafarer who, according to his story, had experienced a pirate attack a few years ago off the coast of Somalia.  In his case, he and the other members of the crew were kept captive for three weeks until a bag of money was dropped from a helicopter.  Not until the captain had counted the money ( $5,000,000 US ) and the pirates were sure it was the right amount, were the seamen let go making for a happy ending to the story.

In another instance, Seog Hae - gyun, a South Korean master was not as fortunate as he tried to protect his ship and crew during a vicious pirate attack on the Indian Ocean, an attack which has left him with serious and long-lasting injuries. When his ship, the MV Samho Jewelry was boarded by pirates in  January 2011, the crew took cover in the designated citadel, but the pirates broke in, holding them hostage on the bridge. For two days, Captain Seog steered the ship on a zig-zag course, so that the pirates would not realize that the vessel was actually sailing away from, instead of towards Somali waters. He also contaminated the fuel so the engines would not work normally and pretended the steering gear was malfunctioning in order to slow the eshio's speed from 14 knots to six, to keep her out of Somali waters for as long as possible, so that the South Korean Navy had a chance to attempt a rescue.
Eventually, the pirates became suspicious of some of Captain Seog's actions and brutally beat him up, causing serious fractures to his legs and shoulders. Nevertheless he still managed to communicate with his country's navy in South Korea while ostensibly speaking in English to his shipping company via satellite phone.
When the Korean Navy stormed the vessel, captain Seag warned the boarding team via VHF that three pirates were on the bridge. The pirates then shot him four times, including twice in the abdomen, in revenge. All 21 crew members were eventually freed, with eight of the pirate gang being killed and five captured.
Captain Seog was transferred via a hospital in Oman to one in South Korea, where he underwent major surgery. It was nearly a month before he recovered full consciousness!.......What an incredibly brave man.
Last year he received the IMO ( International Maritime Organization  ) Award for exceptional bravery.

To give you more information regarding piracy around the world; The International Maritime Bureau reported that during the first nine months of 2011 there were 352 reported attacks during which eight seafarers were killed, 41 were injured and 625 hotages were taken worldwide.

Table Talk

Sitting around the table with seafarers you can expect to have conversations, lots of them.  Also, there are many comments even laments to which one has to listen.........always.lots of listening!  Take for example the story of an older cook from the Philippines, who has been at sea since 1980.  He lamented that when he retires soon, his three children will not be home any more. All three have graduated from university. Two of them are working in Saudi Arabia and the third is also planning to leave the country. Here he is, having worked for more then 30 years aboard ship, hardly ever home, unable to see his children grow up, yet sacrificing many years to  pay for their  education and now they will be gone...................I could only listen..

On another occasion,, the chief officer of a container ship told me that they are days behind schedule due to 5 days of heavy fog in China.  Fog and pollution, that is.  Normally, he said, if that would happen you would increase your speed to maximum!  But those days are over.  Fuel is so expensive now that arriving on time is not an option anymore. How times have changed in such a short time!

Storm story

One of the things I appreciate about seafarers is that they seldom brag about their experiences at sea knowing that many times they experience severe storms, endless days of sailing in heavy fog and of course the danger of piracy in certain parts of the world. I remember as a child the heroic stories I read about sailors who battled huge storms. Or the stories of the heroes who rescued sailors from a certain death while shipwrecked on the beaches along the treacherous North Sea.
If I want to hear stories about storms they have experienced, I usually have to ask them. This happened today when I had lunch with a Philippino bosun.  He told me that prior to coming to Vancouver they were caught in a major typhoon  off the coast of China. Actually, they were in port when every ship there received news that they had to leave the port immediately. And so they did!  About thirty km. from land they were caught in a wicked storm. All they could do was point the ship into the wind at full speed. Even at full speed they were only able to move forward at appr. 3 knots! ( 3 miles per hour ). Because of the storm, both the pilot and  gangway ladders had been completely destroyed but, according to the bosun, by far the worst part of the ordeal was that it had lasted for two long days and nights! I did not have chance to ask him if they had feared for their lives. His lunch break was over and it was time to go back to work.

Ship visiting

I begin this blog with a quote from the former chaplain of the Mission to Seafarers Rev. Joe Parker who wrote the following in his book, " On the Waterfront ". " The backbone of our  work I have always claimed  is ship visiting. Neglect to visit seafarers on board ship and in time they will neglect to visit you. There is no substitute for personal contact." After almost eight years of ship visiting I certainly agree with Rev. Parker; Ship visiting; meeting sailors where they are, is the ' backbone ' of my work and I thoroughly enjoy it.
That being said. times have definitely changed.  Last week I lunched with a Danish captain and Chief Engineer on board a Maersk container ship. In my mind. the Danish people are some of the friendliest, laid back and polite people on this earth! A lot nicer, friendlier and easy going than the Dutch! I asked the captain if he sometimes gets tired of meeting so many different people in the various ports around the world, " people like me ",  I said. He looked at me and said, " Well, first of all I seldom see a chaplain on board anymore and never one who joins us for lunch! "