Maritime ministries bring support and the Gospel to thousands of seafarers yearly

Why did Jesus turn to fishermen for his first disciples?

"The danger and hardship of their work gives seafarers and fishermen a great dependence upon God," says Pastor Andrew Krey, Executive Secretary of the Lutheran Association for Maritime Ministry, "and as they travel from port to port, they carry the Gospel."

Pastor Krey also is Director of Chaplaincy for the Seafarers & International House in New York City and leads the Maritime Ministry of Southern New England. These two ELCA maritime ministries serve ports in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. His 12 chaplains and dozens of volunteers call on more than 600 vessels a year.

Seafarers lead hard, lonely lives, hence even a brief port call is welcome. They eagerly await visits from chaplains and maritime ministry volunteers.

"If we don't show up, there are complaints!" says Krey.

The 126-year-old mission organizes its ministry around the acronym SEA: Serve, Envangelize and Empower, and Advocate.

Through service, maritime ministry chaplains and volunteers help meet the "far away from home" needs of seafarers: arranging haircuts or rides to the dentist; buying shaving cream, toothpaste, or birthday cards for loved ones; or providing phone calls home. The nondenominational chaplains offer prayers or present gifts from a local church, or drive someone to a mosque or synagogue. Housing in the mission's guest apartments is offered to seafarers who have flown in to catch a ship that is delayed or are discharged from a hospital and need a place to rest before flying home.

Maritime ministry evangelizes by providing Christian worship service, Bible study, and prayer for people who are cut off from spiritual support. Many seafarers from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are hearing the Gospel for the first time. "We are not trying to make Lutheran seafarers, but we want them to have a fair shake at the Gospel," says Dr. Roald Kverndal, forer Maritime Ministry Consultant to the Lutheran World Federation.

Seafarers first, best missionaries
Once seafarers hear the Gospel, "they can't keep it to themselves," says Kverndal. "Seafarers were the first missionaries, they are the best missionaries, and one day they may very well be the last," he says. "Seafarers take the Gospel home to countries that are off limits. A missionary can't get into a Muslim country, but a seafarer can!
Krey and his chaplains often arrange for articulate seafarers to evangelize a nearby congregation. "A lukewarm church can be recharged and revitalized by a seafarer's testimony to the role God plays in his life," Krey says.

After one Chinese seafarer told how the 800 members of his weekly home Bible study group could only meet at 5:45 a.m., and that he works hard to keep up with lessons at sea, a congregation was inspired to start its first Bible study in 15 years.

Advocacy is important in an industry dominated by overworked, underpaid workers from developing countries. "Non-western seafarers are being exploited right and left," says Dr. Kverndal. Some may never have more than six hours off at a time for nine months. During storms at sea, they may not sleep at all. Maritime ministry staff advocate for their needs by asking the ship's master to stay at anchor offshore for a day or two so the crew can sleep. If abuses come to their attention, they notify patrolmen of the seafaring union, International Transport Workers Federation, or help seafarers contact a lawyer from the Center for Seafarers' Rights.

A revolving door
The maritime "congregation" changes daily as vessels arrive and depart. While some cruise ships, banana and gypsum boats call regularly, most are tramp ships whose itineraries are uncertain. A worldwide network of 1900 maritime ministries keeps close tabs on the ships and their crews.

"We constantly receive faxes and phone calls from chaplains telling us who needs a prayer for a relative undergoing surgery, who needs to talk about a child's problems, and who is arguing with the ship's master," Krey explains. "Seafarers are impressed when we show up during a difficult time. We never let on that the chaplain in Singapore tipped us off!"

Krey's staff also alerts other chaplains to pastoral care needs or to seafarers desiring more Bible Study or baptism preparation. Tight coordination is necessary because some ships stay in port as little as four hours, and few remain longer than 36. A chaplain may only have twenty minutes to visit.

Shipboard volunteer "ministering seafarers" are critical to making maritime ministry work. When land-based chaplains board a ship with congregational volunteers, these trained crew members help visitors be more effective on their pastoral calls on the vessel. Ministering seafarers inform the ship visitors who among the crew would benefit from a pastoral call or visit.

Local congregations supply visitors and also "adopt" individual ships, docks, or small, isolated ports, inviting crews to worship or assisting them in on-shore errands. "Crews in these isolated docks need help," says Krey. "They don't have access to the services for seafarers found in big ports. And it's a great way to be a foreign missionary without ever leaving the United States!"
For more information, contact the Maritime Ministry of Southern New England, Box 4049, Amity Station, New Haven, CT 06525; 203/759-5882; chaplainkrey@prodigy.net.

Through baptism, new believers express faith
For most cradle Lutherans, birth and baptism are practically synonymous. But for adults encountering the Gospel for the first time, baptism is truly being "born again."

When one of his parishioners is baptized, Pastor Khader El-Yateem at Salam Arabic Church in New York City knows that he or she has finally embraced the notion of God’s grace, total acceptance and unconditional love of imperfect humans.

"It is hardest for non-Christian Arabs to understand that someone died for them," said El-Yateem. "So when I perform a baptism, it is an awesome event in this individual’s life. They’ve made a 180 degree turn from everything they’ve ever been taught. They are rejecting their background in order to embrace their new faith."

Baptism is equally significant for Southeast Asians, notes Pastor Tom LoVan, who ministers to unchurched Southeast Asians in Sioux City, Iowa, and Dakota City, Nebraska "Imagine telling people that their beliefs will not save or change their life; that only through the power and healing of Jesus can they be saved," he says . "It takes big guts to take this step."

LoVan’s combination of Buddhist and Christian proverbs has convinced many to take the step. Not long ago, he was approached by an 87-year-old man who wanted his entire family- including 11 adult children- to be baptized. All told, 105 people took Jesus as their Savior in 1999 and 60 more followed on Pentecost Sunday, 2000. "The Holy Spirit has done this!" says LoVan.

Hospital baptism is church’s first
Not all baptisms take place in church. His hospital baptism made Cameron Herbert Lee the first baptized member of Jubilee! Lutheran Church in Country Club Hills, Illinois, which became an official mission congregation last September.

When Cameron’s mother Felicia "Lisa" McGlothen was hospitalized with a sickle cell crisis late in her pregnancy, Pastor Michael Russell visited her often. Just after Cameron’s birth, Pastor Russell was on hand to join Lisa, her mother, and an attending nurse in a prayer of thanksgiving for a successful delivery after a difficult and life-threatening labor.

Two days later Cameron was diagnosed with an obstruction in his stomach that would not allow him to retain any nourishment. Immediate high-risk surgery was recommended.

Lisa asked Pastor Russell to baptize Cameron first. Russell, Lisa, and Cameron’s father, Anthony Lee, met in the hospital chapel for a brief rite of baptism. "We sang ‘Shall We Gather at the River,’" Russell recounts. "Cameron only sniffled and sucked as the water splashed on his forehead."
Two months later, a healthy Cameron reaffirmed his baptism and watched with his family as five-year-old brother Marcus Anthony Lee was baptized.

"It seems fitting that a new mission church focusing on ministry to youth and families should gain some of its first members in this very special way," says Russell. "I give God thanks daily for such a wonderful start!"

Over 200 attend total immersion baptism in Maryland
Once, Rhona McVicker didn’t even know the Lord’s Prayer. Now she is an active, involved member of Harvest Wind Lutheran Church in Mt. Airy, Maryland.

Once she made the decision to attend church with her husband, Dave, Rhona began to see how being part of a faith community centers you. The next decision was whether Rhona would be baptized. When she came to the conclusion that baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus was the only way to fully accept her new faith, Rhona, Dave, and Pastor Craig Moorman mapped out the road she would travel.

Moorman put Rhona through what he calls "Christianity 101." Dave and Rhona first went on a retreat so Rhona could get introduced to the Holy Trinity, what it means to be Christian and how living as a follower of Jesus can change you. After the retreat, Rhona went through ALPHA, a world-renowned program that has led many into deeper relationships with Christ.

Rhona’s baptism was a total immersion in the creek running through their property. Over 200 attended the ceremony, which was actually an all-day event.

"It was a big, festive day," said Moorman. "We had worship, an amazing spread of food and fireworks."

"The total immersion made my baptism so real," said McVicker. "Going under the water one person and coming out of the water a completely new, totally changed person; the world looked and felt different."

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