How the Bible helps when at sea – literally

Months from home and far from family, we're giving Bibles to seafarer who dock in the UK. Here's how it's having an impact...  

The view from the Grande Abidjan is breathtaking. It’s a container ship that is in harbour at Tilbury Docks in Essex for three days.

At a breathtaking 13 decks high (that’s 46m or 138ft) it is higher than most of the surrounding buildings on land. Down on the River Thames, tug boats busy about and a small marina of yachts look like toys.

Bible Society's Hazel Southam talks to chaplain Wojeiech Holub

I’ve come on board with Wojeiech Holub, one of the chaplains to the docks. He works for the Apostleship of the Sea, listening to seafarers at the Seafarers Centre, where pastoral care, coffee, table football, WiFi and the Bible are all available.

That’s particularly important currently as the recent bankruptcy of the Hanjin shipping line has left giant container ships marooned and sailors unable to get home. It’s part of Wojceich’s work to help them, but today, he’s helping to distribute Bibles from Bible Society on board a ship that is preparing to head to sea.

‘These people work in a dangerous environment,’ he says, ‘and at sea it’s even more dangerous.

‘Natural theology is somehow built into seafarers’ minds and lives. They are aware that there is a greater force that they cannot withstand.

‘They find some peace, stillness and consolation in reading the Bible.’

Many of the 26 sailors on board the Grande Abidjan are from the Philippines.

Ratings are at sea for nine months at a time, officers for six months. It’s a long time to be away from family and home.

You get homesick and miss your family

‘I asked a seafarer recently what the Bible meant to him,’ says Wojeiech. ‘He said that it makes him calmer and stronger at the same time. That makes me feel fulfilled,’ he adds.

Chaplain Wojeiech discusses the Bible with seafarers

First to receive a Bible onboard the Grande Abidjan is Second Officer Reimiel Angelo Dorado. Aged 32, he’s been working at sea since he was 18. On this trip, he’s been away from home for four-and-a-half months already and has six weeks to go before he can return to the Philippines.

He takes a Bible and kisses it and then tells me about daily life aboard ship. ‘You get homesick and you miss seeing your family,’ he says. ‘I get lonely too.

‘Reading the Bible gives me courage that everything will be OK and that everything will be safe here at work.’

The Bible gives me inspiration and courage

The worst days, he says, were sailing through Storm Jasmine when waves broke over the ship.

‘I miss praying with my family,’ he says. ‘Here we pray alone. But the Bible gives me some inspiration and courage.’

On the bridge, Reimiel shows me the charts that he’ll follow when he takes this enormous ship out of Tilbury the next day. The 26-strong crew is set to sail on to Hamburg, then Antwerp, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Benin, Ghana and back to Tilbury.

Above the bridge is a picture, which Wojeiech gave to the crew. It depicts two ships sailing in high seas, sailors straining to keep their vessels afloat. But behind them is Jesus with his arms around them, holding them and steering the vessels.

Reimiel looks at it and says, ‘John 3:16 tells us how God loves us. It explains his self-sacrifice. It explains everything. When I read it I know that everything will be OK.’