February Newsletter

Thank you for your support in helping us to accomplish many of our goals this year. Check out the Praise & Prayer section for a summary and please take time to give thanks for God’s provision. We are grateful!

Hurrah! You responded enthusiastically and blessed the seafarers abundantly! We thank each person who sewed bags. Your unique expressions of beauty and creativity overwhelmed us! We thank each of the 35 churches (including GEMS, deacons, seniors and youth organizers) as well as the 28 individuals and 9 organizations/businesses for contributing a total of 1,584 parcels.

Many of you worked behind the scenes to promote and coordinate the Christmas Parcel Drive. Thank you for your labour of love! We wish to thank Willem and Vic from Jennings Creek (Lindsay) for making the rounds of Classis Quinte and western Eastern Canada churches to pick up and deliver 647 parcels to Montreal.

Finally, we’re grateful to Sierra Floral/Westbrook Flower for the free delivery of parcels to Montreal. Even though no churches dropped off parcels at Ontario Flower Growers Coop in Mississauga, we’re thankful to Jack Vandermaas for being willing to accept them on our behalf.

We’re thrilled to announce the purchase of a new-for-us van. This 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan had less than 25,000 KM on it and still smelled brand new when we drove it off the lot! We are grateful that God provided this vehicle for us and we thank each one of you who gave and prayed. Now, seafarers are being transported in a vehicle that conveys how important they are to us. With the addition of air conditioning, their rides will be more comfortable in the summer too!

We run monthly events at the Seafarers’ Centre in order to connect with seafarers by sharing an activity together. They allow us to talk, laugh, relax and work cooperatively. Eleni, our fall intern, did a great job of designing and promoting The Challenger Games events, tailored to use the seafarers’ skills to complete the challenges and push them to their creative limits. After one particularly fun evening, all 13 participants also attended chapel together. Other event themes included An Evening of Rest & Relaxation, Minute-to-Win-It, Day of the Seafarer Celebrations and Pumpkin Carving.

We’re thrilled that Lencrier, a local company, has chosen to sponsor all our 2020 events!

Our interns Ellen Gao, Alice Chen, Eleni Lacopo and volunteers Gerard Bondt, Hans and Cathy Vink, Evert DeBoer, Tony and Mary DeKoter, Jane Vander Velden and Janet Barry helped keep us focused on seafarers by ship visiting, running events, staffing the retail counter, helping with the Christmas Parcel Drive, leading chapel services, visiting with seafarers, doing IT work and assisting with many other projects. In 2019, the total hours given by all volunteers and (unpaid) interns was the equivalent of an extra full-time staff person!

Would you like to join our volunteer team? 2020 dates are filling up fast! Contact Patty for details.

We provide free accommodation, training, and a transit pass.

We started 2019 in prayer, determined to hear God’s plans for us and be obedient in carrying them out. Help us give thanks for all He has done in the areas of financial provision, the M2S app, our refreshed logo, new and younger interns/volunteers, 13 different student and church groups. It was more than we could have asked for or imagined…and we had fun doing it! Please pray for...

Martin Mudde (Jan–Feb), Mandy Kaur and Ping Zhao (Feb–Mar), and Erin Burnett (Jun–Aug). Pray for effective training and integration.

Bringing together ship welfare personnel from all over North America, this will also be a time for our staff and Board to learn more together about our industry. Pray for a fruitful and encouraging time together.

We especially thank all of you who receive our monthly prayer guide called LIFEBOAT and pray through it regularly. Sign up to receive LIFEBOAT in your Inbox or follow us on the ECHO prayer app.