Ian was appreciative of Sam's concern for him to hear services through CD's, his only problem was that he didn't have a CD player in his cabin. Sam was able to supply Ian with a micro hi-fi system and for the rest of the crew two bicycles, clothing and toiletries.

This act of kindness really spoke to the 2nd Officer who was from the Ukraine, as he couldn't believe that all that they had received was a gift from Christians in Belfast to show them how much God loves them.

Sam Cowan, Belfast

Colin had to put his device inside the porthole to get a better signal, but it worked great.

Colin Jenkins, Cork

Besides his leadership skills, he is also a very humble man and as you can imagine Ecki was really looking forward to meeting him and also to fulfill his request. Ecki brought two big bags full of literature and the book table was after a very short time very crowded. The seafarers wanted books about spiritual growth, marriage, books about sin, bibles and study material, worship music and Christian movies. As they are sitting under the teaching of the captain every week, they were really hungry for more spiritual food. This time was also very encouraging for the captain.

Ecki Breitenmoser, Bremerhaven

During the deputation meetings I made an appeal for some bikes as I had received a few requests for bikes from crews. It was a joy to be able to receive a number of bikes and to give out half of them so far to crews that requested them.

Sam Cowan – Belfast

John Barnard – Grimsby

It was a Romanian seaman who first suggested the idea to me and now ships are phoning me asking me to come! One Filipino immediately tried to call his wife on Skype – it was only 5am. However she was up and they were able to talk (and see each other). In the background we could hear a rooster crowing. This felt strange as it was around 8pm in Cork!

Colin Jenkins – Cork

Life on a ship is governed by time. From the moment a seaman joins his ship, he starts to mark the days on the calendar to the time that he should return home.

Time for keeping watch on deck or in the engine room.
Time for meals and sleep.
Time to sail on the ebb or high tide,
Time to berth in a new port.

We are often told by the seamen, that just knowing we were there on the ship is such an encouragement and means so much for them, even if they do not have much time to speak to us.

The time we spend with seamen, however brief, is never wasted or unappreciated.

On a ship there can be from 5 to 30 different people. Each represents a different family and often 2-6 different nationalities are represented. On a cruise liner this is magnified and can be likened to visiting a whole village made up of different nationalities. My average in Cork each day is to visit 5/6 different ships which can come to any 9 different areas of the port. However sometimes I may spend all day (or evening) visiting one or two ships. It all depends on the needs of the people I meet and how much time they have free. It is important that as many of the ships can be touched in some way by God's love through human hands.

Please pray for my SCFS colleagues in other ports which are much busier than Cork.

On one ship, the men were so excited and really touched not only by the Christmas presents but also by letters, drawings, stories and poems which had been included by some local children.

One Chinese ship was surrounded by barbed wire! I was shocked and wondered if this was some kind of 'prison ship'. No, "it is to prevent pirates from Africa", I was told. There is also an armed guard aboard the ship who has to fire warning shots.

On another Chinese ship, one man who only spoke Chinese took me to his cabin. He was beside himself with joy as he showed me his open Bible and notebook on the table. Also, there was a Chinese booklet I had left the last time the ship was in Cork. Please pray for him – the only English word he could say and kept repeating was "Halleluiah!" He sang Psalm 96 to me in Chinese and cried. I let him phone his wife from my mobile phone.

Finally I boarded an LPG tanker with 16 presents and found 16 Filipino crew. On the notice board it said, "No provisions… food for today, but none for tomorrow… no soap etc. Please Help!" They were quite desperate, and all we could do was bring more presents and groceries as well as a bag of rice from home. They were overcome with gratitude.

‘Valletta is a busy port and commercial shipping is important to this island of Malta.  But we also welcome approximately 300 cruise ships every year.  This means we are visited by thousands of seafarers, often without our realizing they are even here.’

MMM exists to help seafarers in practical ways, and this gives the churches in Malta an opportunity to demonstrate their care and concern.

This new initiative has been helped by the return to Malta, after an absence of 42 years, of the Seamen’s Christian Friend Society (SCFS).  It was the SCFS which built and administered the King George V Seamen’s Memorial from 1921 to 1967.

The SCFS is an international, non-denominational seamen’s mission, and they have been happy to return to Malta to lend their support and expertise to the new ministry of MMM.

Notes to Editors:

1. MMM has already appointed a number of volunteer ship visitors who will be spending time with ships’ crew and helping them in practical ways including the provision of general and spiritual welfare.
2. The SCFS was established in England in 1846 and has a solid reputation internationally in the care of seafarers – see www.scfs.org
3. The King George V Seamen’s Memorial Hospital was destroyed by a bomb in the last war and was rebuilt and reopened in 1948.  When Malta was granted independence and the British Navy left, the hospital was transferred to the Maltese government, and the SCFS finally handed over the hospital in 1967.
4. MMM is grateful for the assistance of Martin Otto, SCFS Director of training from Germany; and Michael Wilson, SCFS International Director form England, for the practical help and advice they are continuing to provide.
5. MMM plans to hold special training for its ship visitors in December.  This will be organized through the International Committee on Seafarers’ Welfare (ICSW) – see www.seafarerswelfare.org.  The training course will be accredited by the Nautical Institute.  The course prepares ship visitors to go about their duties in a safe and considerate manner.