Wrapping each Christmas present is like a holy ritual: A warm knitted beanie is unfolded before inserting a mug and bookmark carefully, like a special treasure to help survive many cold nights on the deck of a ship, protecting against the elements. A scarf or a pair of knitted gloves (some made of crazy coloured wool) is added to each package. The knitting is like a mountain range, displayed on tables in the Seaman's Centre where they pack the parcels. This is the result of thousands of hours of patient handwork - a process of inserting, wrapping, pulling through, throwing out ... repeating. A packet of Mentos, a razor, a notebook, playing cards or a fridge magnet are also added.
Eventually the box flaps are closed individually, hoping that somewhere on the remote seas a heart will beat faster, warmer and lighter when the package is opened. Two thousand and forty six parcels are finally ready after a morning's work. It looks like a majestic monument in the corner of the Seaman's Centre.
From here, our Chaplains will take the parcels to ore carriers, oil ships, gas carriers, container ships and ships transporting cars or other goods. On board the ships the Chaplains will also give the men a Bible in their own languages.
Each package is like a missionary station. It will travel to places where our feet will never walk. The packages will go north to the icy ridges of Alaska, south to the tip of Agulhas, east to the neon lights of Busan, west to the Santos harbour where the sea always smells of salt and stories. The packages will follow the rivers of the world on trade routes to corners of the earth we can only dream about.
Then, somewhere on a stormy night or during a quiet guard shift, a man working at sea will raise a mug, pull a beanie over his ears, or let his eyes rest on the words of John 3:16 hidden inside the mug and be reminded of the Child born - for him too. A Saviour that knows the waves, a Redeemer that knows how far away home may feel.
This Christmas your donation leaves its footprints across the Globe. You are leaving traces of the Child of the Manger. This Christmas is not different. We shall share the message of the Christ Child with men working at sea, because that message is always relevant, on time and unbelievably necessary. Thank you so, so much for helping us do exactly that. May you also experience, this Christmas time, the rich and unconditional, abundant Blessing of the Child in the Manger.
A Blessed Christmas!
Just in time! Only when the world gets short of breath and the flame of hope drops down to a flicker - just in time! Not with fanfare and trumpets, just softly, like light intruding into the cracks of a broken year - just in time! Only when we cannot go on any more, when darkness that we carry with effort within, or that can be seen everywhere outside, when it is ready to incapacitate our hearts and seems to swallow us whole, then we hear the silent whisper: "Today a Saviour has been born to you." Just in time. It is as if God Himself knows how necessary it is. Right now. Just in time.
Just in time for Ravi, who received the news about his father's sudden death, while he, Ravi is captive on a ship sailing the deep blue seas. If only he could say goodbye...
Just in time for Emmanuel, whose ship lies like a carcass in the harbour after the owner left it there for dead. For Emmanuel the days drag on like years.
Just in time for Andrei, on a cold Durban night, when he received the news that his town in the Ukraine had been destroyed.
Just in time for Jun, from Manila, who wears the ring on his finger to remind him of a love that has to survive despite storms and distance.
Just in time for Liang, who unfolds a picture of his little daughter every day and who tallies the number of days before he can go home.
And so, over oceans, across continents, through war and loneliness, the Light came again - just in time.
It is Christmas!
Just when we think the darkness will win, the Bethlehem light breaks through again - for Ravi, for Emmanuel, forAndrei, for Jun, for Liang ? and each of us that wait for that just in time miracle.
At the CSO we see it happen again every year. On the deck of a ship, in a captain's cabin, in the tears of a man working at sea, saying he misses his children, the Light of the Child becomes visible again. It comes in the form of a prayer, a shared cup of coffee, a hand on a shoulder, an ear that listens...
Christmas reminds us that God's timing is always perfect. The Child of the Manger does not come too early or too late. He always comes when we are exhausted, when we no longer know how to cling to hope. And He brings light for every man working at sea, for every soul at sea, for every person that waits. Just in time.
At the CSO we work during this Christmas time to remind each man working at sea, timeously of the Child that was born. Your financial contribution will ensure that we can continue to do so. Please consider, also in your prayers, to help us in this way.
May this Christmas be the same for you - a silent light that arrives just in time.
There is noise - everywhere. In the harbour, on the ship - chains rattle, alarms shout without end and without fail, two-way radios chatter all the time, men shout against the wind. It is noisy.
In the wider circles, the world drones like at a market square. Political rhetoric sounds over the air-waves. Opinions clash like swords and the harvest of empty promises leads to angry shouts from all over. Wars moan and shout in images, reports and explosions. It is noisy.
Lights, screens, messages, knowledge, opinions - constantly, restlessly, without pause. It is a luxury to be heard.
The Romanian seaman that Chris visits, starts his story like a rushing steam engine without pause, simply sharing his story. He does not have a fellow countryman on board. His colleagues are from Pakistan, China and Bangladesh. The ship’s iron walls cannot hear or listen. Every theme under the sun is covered. History - his history, that history, the history, the future and everything in between. After a while the hour clock sounds, but he is still on speed, rushing along. After about ninety minutes the chattering radio puts a stop to his discourse, because he is needed elsewhere. When they say goodbye, he leaves with a Romanian Bible in his hand. Someone made time to listen. He was heard...
On the next ship, this time in the smoking room, a captain sits. He has weary eyes. His contract has expired, but he cannot go home. There is war and it would mean reporting immediately for military duty. He is angry with his government, he is angry with the church, he is angry with the world, he is angry with his ex-wife. He is angry with everyone. Chris simply sits there, listening, but honestly and sincerely. He does not judge, he simply listens.
Next ship...
Next ship...
... always ready to listen and assure that in the midst of all the extreme noise, there is a Whisper that had remained constant through the ages. It is always there, reminding us that God is a living part of each story.
This is what we do at the CSO.
Sometimes the biggest burden is lessened by the smallest gift - a listening ear, a heart that can share the burden.
To be heard, restores our humanity.
Thank you for your contribution and making it possible.
The storm hangs around Port Elizabeth like an uninvited guest. The wind screeches through the taut ropes and tugs at the majestic ships as if they were toys in the hands of a giant. Even in the safety of the harbour, the waves crash against the hull of an ore carrier, distributing blobs of foam that twirl high up against the gigantic steel hull. It is sitting high in the water, because it has not been loaded yet, the enormous vessel creaks ominously in the onslaught of wind and weather.
The storm in the Bay is barely a hint of what is happening on the other side of the world. There they have to deal with Bualoi, a tropical monster that unleashes its anger over the Philippines. Homes are torn apart as if they are made of cardboard, roads turn into rivers of slush and mud. In an area where rain is considered normally, a blessing, each drop of water now represents a tear. The tears run over a village, East Samar, forcing about 433 000 people to flee and escape the rising water levels and mountains that lose their feet in mud slides that demolish entire villages. People lose their lives. Bualoi is not a mere name on a weather map, it is a dark hand that grabs everything of value to erase it from the surface.
On board the ship that Danie is visiting, two of the men carry storms within, storms that cannot be silenced by anyone. Mario and Trevor sit quietly in the dining area, but the silence is loud. Their faces seem calm, but they have tornadoes within. The news washes over them like angry waves. Their village was also demolished by a mud slide. The phone on the table is an ominous messenger. It can bring a message of hope, but it can also bring the worst tiding of all... The fear threatens to overcome them. No gear or rope on board their ship can control their stress or thoughts. They are stuck on a battlefield of thoughts and fears. The waiting is like torture of questions without answers. The past night was just a dark sea of dreams in which they try and try again to return home, but always arrive too late.
Danie cannot change anything about Bualoi and its anger, but he is there. He stays for the afternoon and evening, to wait with the two men. They pray, beg and search for comfort in the Word. In between, when words fail, he is comfortable with the silence between them, satisfied to just sit with them. He stays until the message comes that the families of the two men are safe. They can pray again, read again, but now with new eyes. What if the news had been different? What if they received the dreaded worst news? Then, they would also have prayed and read again. Because the God in whose name Danie came on board, is not only the God of calm seas. It is also the God that commands storms to calm. That is what the CSO does. We are there when storms rage. The emotional and grateful goodbye from Mario en Trevor when Danie finally left to go home, testifies to this.
Please consider helping us to take care of the people working at sea when storms are raging. Your financial contribution can make a material difference across oceans.
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!