Christmas 2022 Appeal

Not all seafarers are going home this Christmas.

During nearly 10 years at The Mission to Seafarers, I have travelled regularly in support of our global work. It is always a pleasure and a privilege to witness our teams in action. It is also unfailingly exciting to see our Flying Angel logo in yet another port. However, I am a bit of a home bird really and often, just before I go away, I get that same slight ache in the pit of my stomach that I used to as a child. I remember that feeling. It’s homesickness. Strange perhaps, but true. Perhaps you recognise it?

How much more must it be so for seafarers and for those they leave behind? I have no doubt that many, at home and at sea, will have something of that feeling as we approach yet another Christmas. For some, that throb of absence will be further enhanced by the particularly difficult circumstances being faced at present, not least by Ukrainian crew, Russians too – and indeed those of other nationalities still trapped in Ukrainian ports. For others, ongoing pandemic-related restrictions on shore leave will add further hardship at such a special time of year. Others will be experiencing the acute stresses of being stuck aboard an “abandoned” ship. My list could go on.

One of our chaplains recently visited a seafarer who had been the victim of abandonment and who we had thankfully been able to help. He had been away from home for 28 months. The chaplain noted “overwhelming joy” in the family’s faces and their gratitude “for all the efforts you have taken for Mr. I to be released and reunited with his loved ones”. Then he records the following, “When I asked his little daughter, “Will you allow your dad to go back to the ship?”, she immediately said, “No.” However, after some hesitation, she said, “My dad can go to the ship only when I am at the 8th Standard”. So it was in her mind that her dad should not leave home at least for 6 years!”

Seafarers and their families are often taken for granted. One Captain I met earlier this year described him and his colleagues as the “forgotten army”. Sadly, this is often true, and especially sad after a period of time in which crew have given up so much to maintain the flow of world trade which has sustained us all. It is important, and most particularly so at Christmas, that we remember the very, very real sacrifices made by all who work at sea, and by their families.

The loss of precious time with family is perhaps the most acute and painful challenge they face. Every day, countless conversations that our chaplains, Centre staff and ship-visiting teams have with seafarers reflect this reality – and this ache. It is just one of the reasons that our pastoral interventions, our ability to listen, our readiness to engage at a deep level, and our commitment to sharing in the journey of as many seafarers as possible is so, so important. Our work makes such a difference.

This Christmas, it will make an even more profound impact. Those visits will often be accompanied by Christmas gifts. At this time, when shore leave remains so limited, such visits are very likely to include a delivery of personal shopping (and our statistics record that MtS teams delivered almost US$3m worth of such shopping in 2021, a result of over 19,000 shopping trips). Again, such visits may well facilitate vital Christmas communication with family, through the delivery of SIM cards or the sharing of a MiFi unit. All these are not only vital practical ways of helping those whom we serve but are a very concrete sign to seafarers that they are not forgotten and that they are loved.

These are challenging times for seafarers. They are also challenging times for us all. This has been an extraordinary year when pandemic, climate, war, and economic disruption have played some part in all of our lives. The Christmas message of God’s love for the world and the promise of light in the darkness will come with special resonance this year. It is one that our chaplains and their teams will be sharing with seafarers at every level.

We know that life is not easy for many of us on land, but we do ask you to be as generous as you usually are with your donations, knowing that seafarers are truly grateful for everything we do for them, none of which is possible without your help.

In humility and gratitude, we seek your Christmas generosity in sustaining our vital work.

With my Christmas greetings and profound thanks,

The Revd. Canon Andrew Wright

Secretary General, The Mission to Seafarers