There’s no particular reason why the little doings of a medium-sized island off the northwest coast of Europe should preoccupy others in the wider world.
Some of you may, however, have noticed that in England, we’ve been having a spot of bother! “What’s new?” perhaps you ask. “The UK seems to have been deliberately getting itself into a mess for several years now.” Well maybe, and the issue in the last couple of weeks (at least as I write this) has been immigration, and the increasingly vocal concerns about it, especially in England.
Whether the UK rates of immigration are or are not sustainable, and whether politicians and media figures have been deliberately exploiting people’s fears around this … well, these are all points of debate, but what I have been wondering about is the seemingly innate ability of groups of humans to feel threatened by people who are different, by people who are not “us”.
I don’t think England is unique in this. Similar patterns of behaviour occur all round the world, and when it has come to it in England recently, the anti-immigration demonstrations in England have been completely overwhelmed by much larger counter-demonstrations by those who find their behaviour objectionable. Truth be told, I would have gladly joined one such counter-demonstration myself, but I didn’t know where and when – evidence my daughter says of my continuing illiteracy with social media!
In some ways, these sorts of fears and behaviours directed at “outsiders” are a bit odd, really. After all, people move and have always done so. Most people come from somewhere! My heritage is French and South African, with a light zesty sprinkling of Scottish and Jewish to fill things out. For my wife Tracey, it’s French, German and Irish. Several of the more unpleasant politicians here actually have quite diverse recent heritage.
I guess I have been thinking about these sorts of things because I have begun to move around the global network of The Mission to Seafarers. In quite a few ports and countries, even towards seafarers whose stay in a particular country is inevitably very brief, there seems to be a lack of warmth and welcome, a preference for keeping seafarers tucked away onboard, or within ports if they really must get off their ships and, if possible, away from everywhere else. Thank goodness for The Mission to Seafarers, for our staff and volunteers whose tireless work offers something very different to the world’s seafarers. Thank goodness for those who support our work with their prayers, their gifts and with spreading word of what we do. Thank goodness indeed for you!
Even from just a few conversations with seafarers, it is crystal clear how confusing and hurtful they find it when, despite the international conventions relating to seafarer welfare, a port or country is unwelcoming and restrictive. It is also equally clear how significant to them is the welcome offered in place after place by the Mission. In a regular report from one of our port Centres I recently came across a photo of one seafarer for whom the relationship with us was so crucial that he had actually tattooed the Flying Angel on his upper arm!
It is a matter of some interest to me that so many of the organisations that offer this kind of welcome to seafarers and seek to support them are organisations that have been inspired by faith – in our own case the Christian faith. I wonder if this might be because there is something that the major faiths of the world tend to share, which is a tendency to see people first and foremost as human beings, and only secondarily as members of a particular national or ethnic group. For the Christian faith this flows out of the conviction that all people are made in the image of God and are worthy of honour, respect and welcome simply because of that.
These days, this kind of vision that sees people, just people, first and foremost, and nations and ethnicities second, is by no means unique to those of a specific faith, let alone of the Christian faith. In the case of The Mission to Seafarers, it creates an environment in which people of different backgrounds and personal convictions are able to share in our mission, and an even greater diversity of seafarers is served by us.
For Christians, God is the God of all people, not some select little group, and in our service as The Mission to Seafarers, we are given to all. We are, I suppose, a counter-demonstration to those who would divide and discriminate in our world – so perhaps I didn’t miss the really important rally after all!
My journey as the new Secretary General is continuing, and I look forward to seeing and learning about more of the Mission and its people as I go.
Peter
