On the first and second of March I attended the annual Spring Classis meetings of the Christian Reformed Churches in B.C. the group of churches which support and fund The Ministry to Seafarers. During these meetings, which are held in the Spring and Fall, I usually give verbal and written reports. Having prepared reports for several years now I worry about becoming repetitive. However, some very busy days before this year's Classis gave me lots of ' material ' to talk about.
It all started with a phone call from an agent of the Hapag-Loydd container line, who informed us that on the MV Vancouver Express, scheduled to dock on Friday, a Philippino seafarer had been killed in a tragic accident. The captain requested that we conduct a memorial service on board ship on Saturday. Interestingly, the agent told us that he remembered me from previous visits to Vancouver. Hopefully,I will be able to comment on how the situation developed in my next log. In any event, I was pleased to hear that the crew members remembered us, especially in time of need.
My second visit was on the MV Gold River, a bulk carrier covered with so much rust that if you could turn that rust into gold you could buy yourself a river! Entering the ship's office I noticed a large number of black leather executive chairs. Quite impressed, I asked the C/O (chief officer) about them. " We have officer meetings here and every Sunday evening at 9 PM we hold a Bible study here as well, " he told me. Now that was wonderful to hear.....another " Church on the Ocean "! When I asked who led the Bible study, he immediately phoned the C/E (chief engineer's) who appeared within minutes. He was happy to see me and asked for new Bible study material. This time I was able to give him the Heidelberg Catechism and Belgic Confession material along with plenty of Christian music CD's. They left today for Japan.
On Tueday, the first day of Classis I first went to visit a new arrived ship at Robert's Bank. Being in a hurry I had decided to quickly introduce myself, invite them to the Mission building and leave. As I was leaving, the ship's steward jumped in front of me and with a voice of desperation begged me to help him. " I can't see through my right eye, I am going blind, I am in pain ", he said. "What happened? " I asked. Apparently, a bucket of chlorine had splashed his face and especially his right eye ". He had gone to a doctor in Victoria who had recommended to send him to an eye specialist however, his employing company had different plans. They wanted him to sign a document signifying that he had terminated the contract; meaning that he would fly back home to The Philippines, paying his own travel and doctor's expenses. I told him that I would contact the ITF ( International Transport Federation ) which I did. They would investigate the situation.
After having sharing these experiences on the floor of Classis I went back to the Roberts Bank Mission. The ITF representative called that afternoon to give me an update saying that he had talked to the company's head office. They had given their approval thereby allowing the injured seafarer to see a doctor in Vancouver who sent him to an eye specialist immediately who, in turn told him that he needed an operation to save his eye! The seafarer would definitely have lost his eye if he had stayed on the ship which left early this morning. He will now be operated on, hoping that they can save his eye. Sometimes a ship visit can turn out totally different than expected...this one was truly a blessed one. I will update you in the next blog regarding the seafarer's condition.
