Introduction So many wonderful things have happened among the seafarers again. God's Word has been sown abundantly and we pray that the seed has fallen on good soil. We prayed with seafarers and opened the Bible. Several times we were able to meet the demand for suitcases when their own backpacks and suitcases were broken. Many Bibles were gratefully received. We have not forgotten the people on the inland vessels either and we have had some nice conversations.
We are grateful to the Lord God that Het Havenlicht has been active in the ports for 50 years now this coming December. People often ask when we will be back and almost always we are waved goodbye from the ship when we leave again. We would be very happy to come to you for a presentation about the missionary work.
Region IJmuiden - Lord, reveal Yourself to this man! After a dramatic night for Anneke: much pain, almost no sleep, we nevertheless visited a 300-meter-long bulk carrier the next day, which brought 181,000 tons of coal from the mines of Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. The ship had left there on June 20th for IJmuiden, where it arrived on August 28th, after 2 lonely months and 9 days at sea, after crossing three oceans. The captain turned out to be from Myanmar (formerly Burma), a Buddhist, just like the other 85% of his fellow countrymen. His crew consisted of Indian (Hindu) officers and Filipino “lower ranks”. I told the captain about the Word of the God of the universe, of which I offered him a copy in his own language, accompanied by a bottle ship. He wanted both. “Lord, reveal Yourself to this man!” In the messroom I gave Sailor Bibles in English and Tagalog, plus a “JESUS” cross, a poster and Bible text cards. At the car Anneke had already had a visit from a Filipino sailor. He said he was “reborn” and that he attended a JIL (Jesus Is Lord) church at home. Well, that sounds good! Anneke had a pair of beautiful shoes for him, exactly his size. And a doll for his three-year-old daughter in Manila, see photo (orange overall). After he confided to Anneke that it was not actually his daughter, but his girlfriend's, we advised him to get married soon.
We prayed for him there on the quay. Loaded with boxes of clothes, woollen hats, shampoo and tubes of toothpaste, the man gratefully climbed back on board. We are now in contact with the captain via WhatsApp. Hopefully we can help him further with reading his Bible, so that he gets to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. Praise the Lord for His blessing and thank you very much for your prayers. Will you please continue to pray for Anneke for a revelation/solution of the problems?
Kind regards, Jan en Anneke Best.
Rotterdam - Pleasantly surprised by the visit Andrei is a Russian chief engineer. He is very happy with the Russian literature. I read him a well-known text from the Bible. Albert however is from the Philippines. He is very open to the Bible, the word of God. That day I met Sergei, from Russia. He is pleasantly surprised by the visit. There was a nice contact with Joy, the cook, one of the 4 sailors from Indonesia. He is a practicing Christian. Onboard another ship I heard the story of the cook from Odessa on a ship. His family has been through a lot. Then I met a Filipino sailor - Caesar - and could give him the Bible in Tagalog, and later a new testament in Ukrainian and in Russian to two men from these countries. Another time I had a conversation with a couple and sometimes it works out that a ship can be visited again the next day, which I also experience as a good thing God leads our way, to listen and to speak to particular seamen. In total, I was allowed to give, on behalf of the Seamen’s Mission, a "ship in a bottle" on two occasions. In both cases, surprisingly happy faces. That certainly leads to more accessibility and openness, either among the people on the bridge or in "the ship's office". Sometimes I also give my testimony.
Brotherly greetings from "the Rotterdam Harbour area", Wout de Vries.
IJmuiden, Scheveningen, Amsterdam-and sees a Bible there in his own language Sing to the LORD a new song, sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise His name; proclaim His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. (Psalm 96:1-3) Unfortunately, no ship visits could be realised in the summer. But God did use this period to really bind the sailors to my heart again. So it was all the more wonderful to set off in the harbour after this summer with renewed dedication. An Englishman came running up the gangplank sweating after his run. He appreciated my visit very much. The Seamen's mission' always does good work for my crew, he said. He was not a believer himself because "My field of vision is simply too limited to make the right choice"', he said, "But there must be 'something". That was a great moment to testify of that ‘something’.
He also wanted a Bible, because it contains all the information you need to make the right choice. A young sailor from Cape Verde has just heard that his wife is pregnant and his colleague from Indonesia has just become a father, so they have plenty to tell. A listening ear is always good, but they also want me to pray for them. A sailor on deck is Muslim but would like a Bible in his own language because he has a Christian friend who has already told him a lot about the Bible. An older Filipino is very surprised when he looks in my bag and sees a Bible in his own language, Cebuano. That was very special because that language is not very common and I had just picked up this Bible that morning at the printer. Just some experiences from the port: in one afternoon I meet no less than 8 different nationalities, see the link with Psalm 96. Of course, as a Dutch port mission we also regularly use the bicycle. For example on the long quays of the oil terminals, that saves walking. Or we go for a bike ride with a sailor, away from the ship for a while with the wind in your hair, and the best thing is to give a bicycle to a sailor. In IJmuiden there was an urgent need for a two-wheeler on a ship, and thanks to a generous donor from my church we were able to provide this quickly. The Ghanaian boatswain was moved, he said; God will bless you! You have looked after me and now God will certainly look after you. Thank you for all your sympathy and prayers!
Warm regards, Marien Gijsbertsen.
Serving at sea - to resume port missions From Logos Hope come spectacular stories such as 60 ships visited in Tema, two seminars with Maritime School students, and ship visitors in Takoradi, who went with us to visit ships in 2022 and have continued to do so structurally since then. The plans for Sierra Leone are also special, they will share the quay with the Global Mercy, and a local Chaplain has shared plans with Jari to resume port missions. Jari is Dutch and on the Logos Hope he has been leading "ship2ship" outreach for some time, now together with Naftal from Mombasa, from the same church that Christine and I are part of! Jari has now done more in the field of ship2ship than I have in those two years, praise the Lord! And let us also pray for them.
With warm regards, Michiel Kramers.
Amsterdam - it seemed as if he was about to accept the Lord Jesus Beautiful encounters with captains and crew members on board various ships. A cook, the only Filipino among a completely Eastern European crew, was extremely happy with my visit. Had a long emotional conversation with him, and finally we prayed together. A Bolivian was also very happy with the visit. A Dutch First Mate said how happy he was when I showed him the Sailor Bible. He said he was not a Christian but was surprisingly open to God's Word. It seemed as if he was about to accept the Lord Jesus.
"Hey, how are you doing?", a sailor came to me with a big smile. It turned out to be the Filipino ship's doctor and we know each other from a previous visit a year ago. We were able to give several suitcases (on wheels) at the request of sailors. Also cuddly toys, some of which were made by Yvonne for the (grand)children, were happily embraced by ( sailor) dads and grandpa’s. Knitted hats were put on immediately, and all kinds of clothing was tried on and taken . And of course the beautiful wooden crosses and bottle ships that were so lovingly made by Gert Huisman were gratefully and admiringly pressed to the heart! In this way we continue courageously to bring the good news to sailors.
Many thanks for your faithful prayers and other signs of sympathy! Theo and Yvonne van Zuilekom.
Rotterdam - He was so grateful for my visit, the conversation and the prayer Bowed under the burden of sin. I was out in the grain terminal, which is always very dusty and smells like the bird section of a pet shop. Bulk carriers dock here with loads of soybeans and rapeseed to be pressed into oil. I first came to a ship with an all Chinese crew who, due to a lack of sufficient knowledge of English, did not understand what I had come for. So I went on to the second ship on the other side.I thought I was too late for the lunch break and might not meet anyone. But on this ship with a Filipino crew I was received very warmly. In the mess room they were happy with the Bibles and tracts. I was invited by the cook himself to eat with them. During the meal I got into conversation with several sailors.
But more and more of them went to work and eventually only two remained - the cook and an engineer. They turned out to be good friends and the engineer told me that he wanted to help the cook to quit smoking. Ariel, that was the engineer's name, told me about his life and the family he had to leave behind. Then I made the remark: "You seem to be burdened with a heavy burden of guilt and shame." He then told me about his worries and the feeling that he could not be a good husband and father. He had also cheated on his wife. As a Roman Catholic, he felt the guilt and shame but he did not know how to solve it. So I was allowed to tell him the good news of the Gospel. I told him that Jesus had paid for all his sins in full and that He wanted to forgive Ariel and give him new life. I asked if I could pray for him. That was certainly allowed. So I put my arm around his shoulders and prayed for him. Ariel had tears in his eyes. He was so grateful for my visit, the conversation and the prayer. This made it clear to me again how important the work of the "port chaplains" is. People from all over the world who often do not know Jesus meet up with us on ships in the ports. We can proclaim the Gospel to them in complete freedom. What a blessing that is! And through
God's grace and your support we are in the position to do this wonderful work. Felix Henrichs.
Delfzijl and Eemshaven - We have beautiful material to hand out Eemshaven, it is wonderful to visit the ships in this harbour and to meet brothers and sisters, and tell the Gospel there. The contacts are getting better and better. We have beautiful material to hand out such as hats, bottle ships, pens, Bibles, reading material, etc.
This summer my wife and I often went away with the camper and also a trip to Canada Vancouver and had a meeting with Gary Roosma, Chaplain at Ministry to Seafarers. It was nice to share experiences. Every meeting per ship is different, the LORD is always there. One afternoon I had meetings and conversations with Poles, Romanians, Filipinos and a Dutchman. Everywhere I received a warm welcome and beautiful conversations in depth developed. I was allowed to hand out Bibles and hats and other spiritual food. All in all, it is very much appreciated!
Kind regards,
We would like to ask you again to continue to pray for the health of the people of Het Havenlicht and their families, but especially for: Jan Peter Kapteijn, Inez de Baat, Hanny de Vries, Anneke Best to be able to continue to go and persevere in the special work that God has given us to do. Please also pray for opened doors and opened hearts! We believe in a God of miracles!
Thank you very much for all your faithful, valuable prayers and other expressions of wonderful compassion! This is how the Lord works through you so that sailors can hear and accept His Word! We are very grateful to the Lord God for the many opportunities to be a blessing to sailors, among others!
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