We serve a God who so many times surprises us as he unfolds His plans and purposes and none more so for an SCFS presence in Alaska. This time last year we learned that our St Lucia Port Chaplain, John Honore, was travelling to Ketchikan Alaska at the request of a friend. The port can often have 2 or 3 cruise ship visits per day and during his summer stay John visited many, accompanied by a few local church members. One of the volunteers, Dawn Hill, became passionate that the ministry to visiting ships should continue and got in touch with our Executive Director to be recruited as a SCFS volunteer. Dawn also connected him to Clover Pass Community Church where the volunteers attended and from there strong links were forged and discussions ensued which resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding and the church becoming an affiliate of SCFS. The exiting news is that six volunteer ship visitors have since been recruited through SCFS HQ and online induction training provided during May, facilitated by two very experienced ship visitors. John returned to Ketchikan at the start of this May to cruise ship visit over the summer and is mentoring the SCFS volunteers accompanying him. Please pray for SCFS Ketchikan, the blessed relationship we have with the church and volunteers, for Pastor Jake and Abby who are helping to coordinate things locally, and for the ongoing establishment of the ministry.
John shares about the first ship visits in Ketchikan...
My first visit to Ketchikan this summer was on board the Coral Princess, and I was joined by Abby. We entered the crew mess room and set our Bibles and other materials out on a table. Before long, crew members began coming over, one by one, looking for Bibles, tracts, and bookmarks.
There was a real hunger for God’s Word. All of the English and Filipino Bible were taken, along with all the bookmarks and other materials. Please pray that God will speak to each crew member as they read His Word.
Once inside, we placed the materials on the table, and they were quickly taken. Thirteen English Bibles, several Spanish Bibles, along with bookmarks and other literature were all distributed. We continue to pray that God will reveal His Son, Jesus Christ, to the crew members as they read the Bible and the materials they received.
The final ship we visited in May was the Emerald Princess. It was a joy to be welcomed on board by the new HR manager, who is from Kenya. He introduced himself, and we even took a photo together. I also met a lady from my home island of St Lucia, and we had a good conversation.
