SCFS

Rob Flinders SCFS Port Missionary in Sydney reports

There are many ships that are known as a 'tramp' ship. Tramp ships are those that are chartered (hired), often at very short notice, to carry one-off shipments of cargo from one port to another. As a consequence tramp ships do not have fixed schedules or published ports of call. This in turn means that the crews onboard these ships often do not know which countries or ports their ship will visit beyond the next immediate port.

One of these ships arrived in Sydney recently to discharge a full cargo of LPG that had been loaded in the United Arab Emirates. The voyage to Sydney lasted 17 days. Prior to this the ship had made a 10-day voyage from Singapore to Al Fujairah. On arrival at Al Fujairah the ship remained at anchor for 28 days before going alongside a berth to load her cargo. While at anchor, and during loading of the cargo, none of the crew was allowed to go ashore.

By the time the ship arrived in Sydney the crew had been confined onboard their ship for a total of 63 days. The last time they were allowed to go ashore was in Singapore, 9 weeks earlier. I received a message to the effect that one of the crew onboard wanted me to visit him.

Brian is 33 years old and works in the ship's engine room as an oiler. He commenced his contract in the middle of 2007 and is scheduled to remain onboard until March or April of 2008. Brian is married, and has two young daughters.

Brian told me that onboard his ship there is a spare cabin that is used to store an assorted collection of secondhand books and magazines. One day, while browsing through these books, he found a copy of a small booklet written in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. The booklet was titled, 'Ang Kaloob Ng Diyos' which means 'The Gift of God.'

'Ang Kaloob Ng Diyos' uses some 50 Bible references, explanatory text and illustrations to provide an extended presentation of the gospel. The booklet is visually attractive to seafarers but how a copy came to be in a cabin onboard this ship is unknown.

As we talked together I discovered that Brian is a born again Christian who attends a Baptist Church when he is on vacation back home in the Philippines. I also discovered that Brian is struggling spiritually because of the unusual nature of his work circumstances. Onboard ship he is not able to attend church services, Bible studies or prayer meetings. This, combined with the fact that there seems to be no other Christians onboard, means Brian is deprived of Christian teaching, fellowship and encouragement. Given this, it is little wonder that he was finding it difficult to grow in his relationship with Christ and to be fruitful.

Brian told me that when he found the 'Ang Kaloob Ng Diyos' booklet he took it to his cabin, sat down and read it. It seems he was moved by what he read and that, there and then, he resolved to try and improve his spiritual condition. He said he thought about using the 'Ang Kaloob ng Diyos' booklet as a means of starting a Bible Study for the other Filipinos onboard his ship but was deterred by the fact that he only had the one copy. However, when he saw my name and contact details on the back of the booklet he decided to try and contact me when his ship arrived in Sydney.

Onboard those ships there are many, many seafarers who have little or no contact with port missionaries and little or no opportunity to hear the gospel. Onboard those ships too there may be Christian seafarers like Brian who are in desperate need of Christian fellowship, teaching and encouragement.