The ship has become a familiar silhouette against the Platberg in the Cape. The HECTOR N visits the Mother City yet again. If you get the rare opportunity to visit a ship again and again, a very special bond develops: trust, a link and a spiritual friendship that spans oceans. That was how it was for André when he visited the HECTOR N again this week.
Very quickly the grapevine works across radio links and other means of communication. The re-encounter is warm and friendly, as it is when an old friend visits. The giant ship carries a world in itself. It is a floating mosaic of culture and character.
The Philippine men bring with them a spirit of brotherhood. The laughter fills the passages and their loyalty toward each other is like anchors on the stormy seas. The Russians carry with them a silent determination - eyes that have seen much, few words, but carrying a heavy load. The Rumanians on the other hand bear determination and silent power, reminding one of the mountains in their home country - the Carpathian peaks enveloped in mist, standing silently fast against storms for centuries. Then there are a few young men from Ethiopia, from the high plateaus of East Africa, bearing their faith as old as the mountain churches of Lalibela. They are quiet and humble, with eyes full of light, like people that know the spirit is mightier than any ocean. Together they form a family, brought together, not by accident, but by the deep blue ocean.
Rollie is the chef and as on any ship, the most important man on board. Upon seeing André again, he quickly dries his hands on an oven cloth and greets him with warmth displaying more than mere gratitude. This is where he started a new way...
A few visits ago he received a Bible in Cebuano from André. Now he is in a hurry to give feedback again about the ways in which this gift keeps surprising him. At first it was only a reading routine. Now it is an anchor. It is no longer a duty, but a deep desire to live a life in God. Prayer is more than a daily ritual now. This is where he seeks and find peace and quiet.
From within the ship’s kitchen with its steel walls and seeing the endless horizon, Rollie discovered, step by step, that faith is not fixed to a certain spot, but that it lives everywhere, even here despite machines, noise and isolation.
For him Cape Town is more than a mere harbour. It is a place for rediscovery - a spiritual anchor point. André’s visits represent more than mere friendship, they are also quiet reminders that God is here too, He is also at sea, He is present. The fact that André revisits the ship again and again, gives him a sense of care - something that every seafaring man needs.
In such moments we realise - our presence, even a brief visit, has a lasting effect. As the CSO we are more than visitors - we are spiritual beacons. When a ship anchors and a familiar face waits at the quay, the crew knows: Here is someone that cares. This is someone that listens. This is someone that prays. Thank you so, so much for making this possible with your donation!
Then the hull was made of oak, the masts, oars and interior carved from pine or cedar. This was before the intrusion of steel. Now ships are hi-tech iron and steel hulks. Then men working at sea could spend some days ashore, now they have a few hurried, super-fast hours ashore. Then the letter home took months to arrive, now the WhatsApp messages flitter across the globe in seconds. Then Evangelists arrived at the quay on their bicycles, now they arrive by car and carry digital devices in their pockets to allow a seafaring man to watch his daughter’s ballet performance on the other side of the world. Then ships groaned under the heavy black smoke from the chimney, now they glide silently through the waters run by giant engines that diagnose their problems digitally should something go wrong.
It is frightening to see how fast things change. The pace can be compared to a river rapid that swallows you before you can catch your breath. The slow unfolding of events, like morning dew on a leaf, has changed into a flash, a shard, a shake of time without time to think, to be quiet or make sense of it. The world turns faster, screens flash brighter and our souls stumble under the load of incessant innovation. It is so for modern seafaring men too.
It requires constant adjustment, continuous rushing, unstoppable continuation. Our hearts beg for peace, but we find mostly only noise. Our thoughts flap like the wings of birds without a nest, faith is diminished, while we remain in full sight of merciless information bombardment. Silently it makes us ill, tired and uprooted, secretly longing for something that does not change constantly. We long for Someone that will stay.
Yet, within all the change, one thing remains irrefutably strong: the Word of Jesus Christ.
Danie, in the Bay, walked the steps to the deck with the same message as the Evangelist carried with him in 1944 as he climbed the rickety rope ladder to the deck. Chris, in talking to the Philippine man working on the ship, carries with him exactly the same message of mercy, just as relevant as when the CSO brought the message more than eighty years ago. André in Cape Town talks about the same love as the love that mattered then. Loffie explains hope to a weary man, based on the One that was then, that is now and will be forever.
Then there was a calling for each seafaring man, soldier or traveller that is far from home, to know that God is near. Now that the world has changed dramatically and the context seems to be worlds apart from what it was, the essence remains: Christ is enough.
The CSO has survived the years because of mercy, but also because of the open hands and hearts of our donors. Please consider contributing to our work financially. It helps us to remind the people working at sea each and every day, despite the chaos surrounding us, of the one constant: The Cross that was planted for each of them and us on Golgotha.
EFT
Christelike Seemansorganisasie
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“Pirates”: Who could blame us if our first thoughts about the subject included children’s stories and fables? Images of plastic eye patches, a skull drawn in black ink with running lines, an untidy everlasting tattoo of a skull and cross bones on the forearm of a friendly villain saying, “Arrrr”... the mere word conjures up images of Peter Pan and Captain Hook, his farcical opponent. It represents Robert Louis Stephenson’s Treasure Island, almost a hundred and fifty years old.
The man that Danie meets on board the ship in Port Elizabeth admits that his calm appearance is but a hair width away from the traumatic nightmare he has survived. It is the first time since then that he had to sail along the same route down the coast of Africa. He thought he would be ready, that his feelings were protected enough to handle it, but the fear and anxiety took hold in the same way as the pirates did then.
It was only a few months ago that his ship was attacked, not by storybook villains in a fairy tale, but by brutal, armed and frightful men with every intention of killing anyone that stepped out of line. Twelve of his co-workers - his friends, his people, his comrades - were abducted. The silence following the attack was worse than gunfire. When it is raining bullets around you, with bullets hitting walls, sparking as they dance across the deck, only adrenaline keeps you going. It is the silence after this that breaks you. It is loaded with insecurity, it is unbearable and suddenly there are twelve voices gone from the ship... Now, with a new crew, he had to sail the same route again, back into the darkness.
In Coega Danie receives the emergency call. The seaman’s body language tells clearly that something is very wrong - his eyes are clouded, his shoulders heavy. They talk softly, carefully at first, knowing that the trauma he survived left him wounded. His fear covers all. It sits like a nettle, clutching his chest like a burning coal. After all, his former colleagues were only released a short while ago...
But why talk to Danie? How could he share his fears with his new crew? Just imagine if they said he could no longer work, what if they thought he was a coward? Just imagine this, just imagine that... he conjured up a thousand ghosts. With Danie, there is just enough distance, just enough familiarity. The work that we do is known among seafarers and they know they can trust us with anything they say, it remains private and between them. After a long talk, the seafarer has new courage. It is not because he has been healed suddenly, but because he could share his burden. He sees life continuing, not because the route is safe now, only because he knows that God is always at his side.
That is what the CSO does. We are, because of the Mercy of God, the safe haven for seafarers standing at an abyss that drives them to the edge of dejection. We offer a shelter in the storm. We remind them that they are not alone and not forgotten. Please consider us for a financial donation to continue this essential work. We do need your financial support.
PS. EFT Christelike Seemansorganisasie. ABSA. Current. 1520-230-226.
There is something enigmatic in the moment when a Bible changes hands. The stage is often a rusty old ship, a very small office on an oil tanker, or the wind damaged deck of a coal cargo carrier. This does not exactly shout sacred...
The act takes place without any pomp or ceremony, without a podium, microphone, cameras rolling or an ecstatic crown clapping rhythmically. It is a quiet and simple gesture between two people - one giving and one receiving.
The book changing hands is just as inconspicuous, black ink on normal pages with a simple cover. It is not leather bound with gold leaf printing or fine relief printing. It is just a small, hand-size book that will fit easily in the pocket of a uniform or overall. It looks like any other book - quiet, simple, almost not noticeable in the noise of the world.
Perhaps it is exactly why this silent gesture and simplicity, the absence of pretence, that signifies that something deep and eternal is happening. The act is simple, but the content immeasurable...
It is the story of our creation and our salvation, of a King that sent His Son... It is the prayers of David, the sorrow of Jeremiah, the praise of Paul... It is the breath of the Almighty, put into human words.
In the simple act, heaven and earth meet for a moment. The simplicity of the event contrasts with the immeasurable weight it carries. Truth. Light. Life. It is a gesture that seems to cost very little, but it carries the full fathom of mercy, freedom and peace - of God Himself.
Over the past days such simple events happened again and again: Chris gives a Bible to a Polish captain in a ship's office in Durban. Nico, on the other hand, gives a Bible to a man on the WEN JONG KOU, a ship from China. André is on board the CL Biliu Hè in Saldanha, where willing hands of a second officer receives his own Bible for the first time in his life.
That is why we continue, ship after ship, day after day. Because in those simple moments things far above our understanding happen.
God is great!
Thank you for empowering us with your donation and prayers to continue this simple act each and every day. It is worth more than you could ever imagine.
EFT. Christelike Seemansorganisasie. ABSA. Current. 1520-230-226.
It is an old, decrepit ore carrier... full of rust, disrepair, damage. All indicating that the end of its life is knocking and threatening. Once on deck, your conclusion is simple, but damning. This carrier will soon be reduced to scrap. For now the owner clings, stubbornly, to borrowed time. It is clear that they will tap the last bit of life from sailing this ship. In Coega they have to load another cargo and reach another destination from here. In the heart of the ship, in the hold, the men are working and living. They have to keep the rickety ship on course and above water.
A very young server works in the dining area. Upon Danie’s question, he explains that he has been working at sea for three years. Beneath the face of youth one can detect a little something reflecting the condition of the ship - decline, ruin and decay. These seem to have stolen something from the young man.
It is the unpacked CSO Bibles that eventually sways the discussion in the direction of the young man’s heart. He struggles with concern and feeling powerless, but these are now so embedded that you can see the effects in the way he walks, as well as the way he handles those around him. He has been away from home for eight months, with only thirty days left before his booked flight ticket will take him home again. What awaits him there includes horrible realities that incapacitate his soul. Sitting in front of Danie in the dining area these make him look worn out, wrecked and defeated.
“How will I survive these thirty days?” he asks urgently. “Please give me a word of encouragement”. It is an unashamed cry for help. The young eyes plead for words from someone or somewhere to carry him until he arrives home. It costs listening, care and empathy to help him calm down. He also did not only get a single word but received ‘The Word’. In the Tagalog Bible they search for God’s words of encouragement and they do so together. He reads and hears that God is with him and his family. He finally finds a way to place his concerns at God’s feet.
Danie got a few more opportunities to visit him before the ship left the harbour for the next destination. He did not only take his new Tagalog Bible with him for encouragement, he could also treasure the time that he spent with Danie. This simple treasure of such value will help carry him until he goes home. Every person that is worn out, wrecked and defeated deserves to be seen and to get the absolute reassurance - again and again - that there is always hope in Jesus Christ...
Please consider in prayer and deed to support us financially. It will help us remind every seafaring man visiting our harbours of this eternal treasure.
EFT Christelike Seemansorganisasie. ABSA. Current 1520-230-226