from Paul Cave, Port Chaplain
We have been able to continue working with the young people from the Chinese Church Soho taking another two services on all Chinese crewed ships. Both Sheila and I were invited to speak to the youth group at this Church last month. It was thrilling to see the commitment of these young people and their eagerness to share their faith in Christ.
You might have recently seen on T.V. the arrival from China of the huge cranes for the new London Gateway container port, now under construction. I have been able to visit ships at this site again with all Chinese crew.
Another fruitful contact has been with the Filipino Church in Paddington. So far this year we have been able to arrange five meetings with them mainly on Filipino crewed ships. It is a great advantage to have assistance from these different ethnic groups who can minister to their fellow countrymen in their own language with full cultural understanding.
A new innovation for these services when (conducted in English) is the use of Karaoke style D.V.D.’s which can be played on the ships T.V. The guys love to sing along to familiar hymns such as Amazing grace / The Lord’s my shepherd as well as contemporary worship songs.
We are very grateful to the Bible Society, who again have donated Bibles for our ministry. These Bibles are particularly appreciated and valued by the crews of ships when we have conducted services.
I have recently dealt with two serious accidents. One involving a Romanian electrician who fell from a ladder whilst his ship was making its approach up river, the other a Filipino cook who had to be taken off his ship as it was heading out, following an accident involving chemical burns. Both men, after hospital treatment were repatriated. I was able to link them up with contacts that I have near to their homes that were able to follow them up. The Romanian was from Braila, so the Pastor from our twining Baptist Church in the town, was able to visit this man and his family, which was very much appreciated.
Last week-end was the Russian / Greek Orthodox Easter. To my great surprise last Sunday morning, as I was visiting a cruise ship at Tilbury, one of the Greek crew that I know greeted me with the traditional Orthodox Easter greeting by embracing me three times! This is just like the old French Huguenot greeting that we knew when we lived in France, signifying Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Thanking you for your support and prayer.
Paul & Sheila
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