Who is My Neighbour? - Women on the Waves, Sea Sunday 9th July 2022

 

   Source Wikipedia

Luke 10:25-37

‘But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour”?

 The parable of the Good Samaritan is one that many of us are familiar with. It reminds us that we should always be willing to help people who are in trouble. And it raises an important question. 

Who is my neighbour?

At first glance this is a simple question. Generally, our neighbour is the person who lives near us, or the people we meet from day to day, but these days our neighbours also include people who are brought near to us in other ways.

The digital age with non stop TV, 24-hour news, the internet and social media have opened us up to the world. Suddenly people in other countries and far places have become our neighbours. We now find ourselves involved in things that are happening elsewhere in the world. It might be really entertaining things like sporting events but it might also be really tragic things like wars and natural disasters.

Jesus uses the parable of the Good Samaritan to teach us about love and compassion, both our love for God and our love for others.

 

So, who is your neighbour?

 

Today is Sea Sunday. It is a day on which churches all over the worl remember seafarers, and by that we mean sailors, all those women and men who work on the sea, sailing across the oceans on ships, carrying the food and household goods that we need.

 Seafaring is a hidden world particularly if you are working on cargo ships. It is generally invisible to mainstream society, especially to those of us who do not live in coastal areas, but the people who work on these ships are our neighbours and it is important that we remember them.

 We have a specific day to remember seafarers because the work they do is generally lonely and dangerous. The people who do these jobs obviously make a living, but it is hard work and without them our economies would come to a standstill.

 

Life at sea is often lonely, difficult and dangerous with long anti-social hours and the risk of shipwreck, or piracy, or other accidents. Seafarers find themselves far away from home, often sailing to countries where they don’t speak the language. This can make them feel isolated and vulnerable.

 

It surprises me that in the 21st century that there are still so many ships that don’t have access to the internet. This means seafarers can find it difficult to maintain contact with their families.

 When they arrive at our centres around the world they can use the free wi- fi and other recreation facilities at the centre, such as TV, DVDs and table tennis.

 

 At Mission to Seafarers, we respond to the needs of seafarers by visiting seafarers on their ships, welcoming them to our centres where they can have a break. Our centres across the world provide safe places away from the ships where seafarers can relax and rest, and buy refreshments and toiletries etc. We also provide transport to and from the ports to the nearest town or shops.

 

We respond to situations of injustice especially where seafarers are abandoned in ports or where they haven’t been paid or are being bullied etc We act on their behalf by campaigning for justice within the shipping industry.

The pandemic caused all kinds of difficulties for seafarers. Many of them were stuck on their ships even when they came to the end of their contracts. They were unable to return home because of the various lock downs across the world. For some seafarers it was the reverse, and they were stuck at home, unable to join their ships and were left with no work and no income. These problems have eased as the world focuses on living with Covid but some difficulties remain.

 

 Normally when seafarers visit ports, they are allowed to take a break and come off their ships. Some of them will go sightseeing or visit a seafarer centre.  The right to take shore leave is actually protected by international law, but many seafarers are still prevented from coming off their ships for a break because shipping companies and agents are still worried about Covid. Sometimes seafarers themselves will not take sure leave. No one wants to be sailing at sea while ill with Covid.

 

We have responded to this by taking mobile wi-fi to the seafarers on board their ships, so that seafarers can access the internet for a few hours and speak to their families.

 Our work has become even more vital because of the war in Ukraine. We are visiting seafarers on their ships, taking free phone cards for seafarers, especially those who are from the Ukraine and we are providing other means of support for Ukrainian seafarers.

 My role at the Mission to Seafarers is to manage our work across the UK and Europe. I have a team of clergy, staff and volunteers who visit seafarers and run our centres, and our staff and volunteers are always looking for ways to improve the support we provide.

 

A couple of years ago one of my clergy staff members told me that he had encountered a woman working on board a cargo ship and that they had spoken and prayed together. She told him about the difficulties of working on board a ship and being a woman. My member of staff was all fired up and told me he wanted to start a private group for women seafarers.

 Sometimes my job means that I have to point out difficulties, so I told him that he couldn’t start a closed group for women because he isn’t a woman, but we didn’t back away from the idea because he had raised an important issue. How can we better serve women seafarers?

 

   source ISWAN

 

We set up a small research project, to look at the issues and although it took us some time, a few weeks ago we published a report which summarised our findings. The purpose of our report is to explore some of the challenges women face when they train and work in the shipping industry.

It is a discussion document and we are going to use this report to challenge ourselves to do more. The good Samaritan did not just leave the injured traveller at the inn knowing that he did a good job, he came back to make sure that all was well and that the injured traveller was recovering.

https://www.missiontoseafarers.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Mission-to-Seafarers-Women-Seafarers-Report-2022.pdf 

Our report summarises a number of key issues. The vast majority of people working on our oceans are men. Less than 2% are women. As well as the challenges that all seafarers face such as loneliness and isolation, women face discrimination, harassment, and the challenges of balancing a career and home life. They also face practical problems like having safety kit that fits them and access to sanitary products on board.

 

We realised that women cannot always access some of the communal areas on board a ship because on some ships the men display pornography in the communal places and women don’t feel comfortable. As part of this research I had the privilege of speaking to women who work at sea and they shared both the joy and challenges of their work. They are courageous and highly talented women who are determined to work on our oceans.

 These women are our neighbours and we are now using our energy and our creativity to find specific ways of supporting them and showing them that God cares. This project is very timely because we then heard the story of Midshipman X.

 

Midshipman X is a young cadet (a trainee seafarer) who was pressurised into drinking and then raped when she passed out. She was training on board a Maersk ship which is actually one of the major shipping companies.  She blogged about it anonymously using the name 'Midshipman X' and it has caused a storm in the shipping industry. Midshipman X is coming to the end of her training and despite this trauma she is confronting the US maritime industry and taking them and Maersk to court. This young woman has waived her anonymity. She is called Hope Hicks.

At the Mission to Seafarers, we are also doing our part as good Samaritans. We are challenging ourselves to ask what we can do to support both women seafarers and the men who work on our oceans. 

What can we do to improve industry standards? 

How can we bandage up the wounds of those who have been hurt in this industry? 

This is our role as Good Samaritans who recognise their neighbors.

Today on Sea Sunday we call the whole church to recognise seafarers as their neighbours and to find ways of responding. To pray, to support our work and to give where possible. 

May each of us have the vision and wisdom to recognise our neighbours, and this Sea Sunday may we each find ways of responding to the needs of others. 

Amen