Wed 23rd June…………England scrape a win over Slovenia but there is some great news as Ali arrives at the chapel laden with goodies, amplifier, speakers and microphones etc etc. We are Brandesburton link no longer unplugged but definitely plugged in, the sound is awesome. ( see the photos in the gallery) I am slowly getting over my long weekend. exploits in Sweden……………

Thursday 24th June. Back to work. A relativeley easy outbound ship from the Humber International terminal. 

Thursday evening: We complete our homegroup on worship, I don’t think we will ever stop learning about worship and the four of us decide to run a worship homegroup at least once a year, it has been  a really great time together and we have learnt so much. I think we have to lose our British inhibitions, stop worrying about what everybody else will think or is doing and just praise and worship our glorious King, we must get lost in wonder, love and praise and just worship our God and adore our God.

John 4 v23 : Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers must worship in spirit and truth. 

A ship, a launch, a train and a plane plus many cabs. How did I find myself in Sweden without a passport, without money, without mobile phone access and with the clothes I was stood up in…..

………………………..continued.

Monday 21st June. What a difference a day makes. The sun is high the sky is blue, and more importantly the sea is calm. I have had a good nights sleep, I have breakfasted and it is time to find out what is happening. I wander up to the bridge and ask the Captain if there was any news regarding myself.  A big arm gesture and a loud “I know nothing” was his reply………….great….I walk out to the bridge wing and ponder the day before reconfronting the old man with the idea that it might be possible for me to get off when the ship anchors, later on that afternoon.

I spend the rest of the day walking up and down the deck of the ship in brilliant sunshine as we get ever closer to Gothenburg. What a fantastic time for prayer and I manage to prayer walk the whole of Brandesburton before we anchor at 1545.

 1600. The ship is at anchor and I can finally disembark, except it is too rough on the starboard side, dejavu or what, I get the crew to change the ladder over to the port side, but they have to be quick as the ship is swinging and we are about to lose the lee…..

1610. Off the ship at last and driving through the Gothenburg archipelago on a RIB at high speed.

1700. Ashore in a cab and on my way to Gothenburg railway station to catch a train to Stockholm, where I will be met by “someone” who will take me to a hotel.

1740. Pulling out of Gothenburg station, eta Stockholm 2100. I don’t even have any money for a drink. What will happen if there is no one to meet me in Stockholm? The person I am sat next too has a laptop and settles down to watch “A hitchikers guide to the galaxy” ………………..There are similarities in my predicament and the tale I am watching…The time passes quickly and we arrive in Stockholm on time at 2100. Next decision, do I stay with the train or do I start walking and hope I meet somebody?!

2105. This station is massive, Stockholm has a population of 1 500 000, so it will be large. Which way do I go, I keep praying, please Lord arrange someone to meet me, please Lord arrange someone to meet me…. There are all kinds of exits and way outs, Please Lord arrange someone to meet me. I arrive on a big concourse and take the left exit, please Lord arrange someone to meet me, I arrive outside, I am now in the middle of Stockholm, without a passport, without money, without a mobile phone, without the name of the hotel, without a contact number, in my Pilots uniform with my big jacket which holds a lifejacket and 2 flashing lights, and there are lots and lots and lots of cabs.  (If all else fails I will pull the cord on my lifejacket, set my lights a flashing and blow my whistle, that should attract some attention) I head towards the cabs to my left, please Lord arrange someone to meet me.I put my bag down and start waiting. 5 metres away a cab driver is writing my name on a piece of card……Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou Lord!!!!!!!!

2140. In the hotel having a shower on the rush and trying to make the bar for some food.

2320. Back in my room I have eaten and had a couple of beers, tried to get some money from the cash machine and guess what….it aint accepting my card. I try to ring Sue on the room phone and guess what…. the phone aint working!!!!!!

I pick up the Gideons bible and turn to John, In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. ..Nothing else really matters, I am safe, I have a bed for the night and Jesus loves me. I doze off once again praising God and thanking Him for all He has done for me today.

Tusday 22nd June. 0900. I have been dropped outside the British embassy in the middle of a long queue of people after visas. Because I am a British Citizen I get taken through to the consular window very quickly, by quickly I mean after being thoroughly searched and emptying my bag of all its contents……I am stood in front of a young lady, who cannot quite believe my story, instead of a British citizen I feel like someone from outer space who has been dropped from a space ship, you havent got a… or a… or any….and how did you get here then?!!

Everything is made clear after a few telephone conversations and 3 hours later I am stood outside the embassy clutching my £80 emergency passport valid for 1 trip, Stockholm to Prague, Prague to Manchester. Yes, Prague, it really keeps getting better and better doesn’t it? I am once again waiting for another cab to take me back to the Hotel for lunch which has been arranged by the shipping agent.

1300. It won’t surprise you to know that lunch hadn’t been arranged and I am once more stuck awaiting another cab to take me to the airport. Thankfully the agent arrives and gives me some money……. hooray.

1700ish I am sat in a bar in the airport with a plate of fish and chips, a pint of lager and France are 1- nil down to South Africa, It really does not get any better than this……YES, OH YES IT DOES France are 2-nil down. I am afraid I have made a bit of a display of myself as I seem to have been the only one to shout YES, leap from my seat, punch the air and run around the bar with my shirt over my head after that second goal. I sit down sheepishly and I wonder to myself,  who do the Swedish support??

Midnight Tuesday I am home, Thank you Lord for looking after me. I could write about Prague and how the connecting flight was delayed because I got stuck at security with my tin of Gillette deodorant, steel toe cap boots and the mystery object in my pilot coat, but that will have to wait for another time of salty yarn telling. Night night God bless it has been a long day….

Saturday 19th June : Well it started, like a normal Saturday evening, Doctor Who, a pizza, a quick doze and out to work at 2145…………74 hours later and I am just arriving back home!

A ship, a launch, a train and a plane plus many cabs. How did I find myself in Sweden without a passport, without money, without mobile phone access and with the clothes I was stood up in…..

2345 Saturday :  We arrive on board the ship at the Immingham Oil terminal and are  informed by VTS ( vessel traffic services) Humber that there is a 5m + swell outside and it would be prudent if one of us got off at Spurn point and the other pilot disembarked at the Spurn light float.

This was unusual in itself as we both normally take the ships out to the Humber Light Float which is 15 miles out into the North Sea.

0135 Sunday morning : Roy my coleague manages to disembark succesfully at Spurn point.

0210 Sunday morning : 7 miles further on, there is very little chance that I am going to make it off the ship safely. As I walk from the bridge I am praying, please keep me safe Lord, please keep me safe Lord, as I knew what was coming up. The ship and the launch were both pitching wildly in the swell and when I tried to make a lee the ship started to take some big rolls and the pilot ladder was being flung out from the ships side about 3m before crashing back into the hull….. the time had come to wave the pilot launch goodbye and embrace the fact that I was stuck and on my way to Gothenburg. I run  up to the wheelhouse to take back control of the ship thanking God that He had kept me safe but not exactly the outcome I was expecting…………

Our estimated time of arrival in Gothenburg is 0900 Monday morning about 30 hours or so…what to do.. I found my way into the pilots cabin, very basic, a bunk, a chair and a shower, sat down and  thanked God that I was safe…………………… 

0330 ~ 1000 Sunday morning. The bunk is as comfortable as trying to sleep on a snooker table. ( I imagine) The ship is pitching and rolling and I am being flung about from one side of the bunk to the other. God reminds me once again of Psalm 63 : On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadows of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.  I eventually doze off praising and worshipping our loving heavenly Father.

1100 : Sunday morning. After a lovely shower and delving into the depths of my bag for a razor and a clean shirt, I wander into the wheelhouse, grab a coffee and look out at the huge swells and seas which are battering the ship. Every 5 minutes or so the ship takes a nose dive into a swell and the forward part of the ship  becomes engulfed in white spray…………I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing the immense power of the oceans and seas……………………Our eta for Gothenburg is now 1900 tomorrow evening………….really great!!

1130  : I have just found out that there isn’t a ships library on board. This is the first ship I have been on without any works of fiction or magazines for the ships crew!! The ship is lovely and clean and only 18 months old but it has no character whatsoever, there are plenty of lovely cupboards for books and mags etc but they are all empty. The ship does not even possess a bible!! Every ship I have sailed on has always had a ships bible, I am completely taken aback. Later that afternoon God gives me the idea that I am ideally placed to give a bible to every ship I pilot up and down the Humber. I don’t really know why I haven’t thought of it before. I just assumed that every ship had one. I am determined that as a church we will donate a bible to each ship I pilot. 

1400 : Hoorah, hooray, the second officer arrives at my cabin with deodorant, a toothbrush and toothpaste!! And I thought only your best friends could do that? The toothpaste is Chinese and is called “Mastic”. ( at least I think it is toothpaste.) With trepadation I open the lid and squeeze a grey, translucent, slime onto my toothbrush, it actually smells quite…horrible… it smells of, well, grey, translucent, slime. It is what it says on the tube ….mastic….probably better suited to sealing baths, showers and windows….Oh well as the expression goes, beggars can’t be choosers.

1400~ bedtime. No bible, no books, no television, no telephones, no one to talk too, Billy no mates thats me…..hang on a minute I know someone who loves me and who I can talk too wherever and whenever. What a fantastic opportunity to talk to Jesus, I have great times of prayer interspersed with reading the Humber byelaws and pilotage handbook…..God is good and the time passes quite quickly…………

……………………….to be continued. 

17th June, Thursday.                We had another good time of praise and worship at the chapel last night, we are learning new songs but we are also praising our Father, the creator of all things, we cannot help ourselves.

Please come along, we would love to have more folks. It would be great to fill this hall with the sound of praise in the middle of the week……We even got our harmonising right, well the girls did, Mike and myself just sang and even though I say so myself, the overall effect sounded good. Even Jane was pleased!  

Half way through, whilst they were discussing notes and chords and capos and other technicalities, I picked up my bible and read Psalm 63.

   O God you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. 

This pretty much sums up where we are. This is our prayer as a new church, this is my prayer,  to passionately follow Jesus. To earnestly seek Him. We want to get closer to our Lord and Saviour. We want to get closer to our Father and please Him in what we are doing.  Only God can satisfy our deepest longings………. We long to bring the Fathers love into this area, we long that people will know the saving love of Jesus. We long that there will be an “atmosphere” of praise and worship in this area.

There is nothing better than being in His love, nothing compares. To praise our God and Father in song, to worship Him in words for all the great things He has done, is doing and is going to do. It’s just great to praise God all the time, even when you are feeling a bit down, praise your Father in Heaven and He will restore you. What better way to get off to sleep, instead of counting sheep, praise and worship God, thank Jesus for His unending love for each and everyone of us. 

Fill your life with praises, sing to Him, it doesn’t need to be out loud, just praise and worship Him…….Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord….. Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory……Hosanna in the highest!!  

………..I am called back to gather around the guitars and keyboard ready for another “go” and I am reminded of our 4 Ps : People, Praise, Purpose, Passion and thank our Father once again for bringing us together, this group of people, to build His Church here in this area….

Well, we had a great day yesterday.

I was up earlyish, to help with the final preparations for our Bowls club annual “whistle stop” competition. 28 teams of 4 are expected.

The food in the clubhouse is marvellous the ladies have done us proud…sandwiches, pasties, sausage rolls, pork pies, quiches, apple pies, cream cakes, fruit cakes, scones, the tables are creaking with there burden of the finest fare. The first teas are being poured at 9:30, the teams are starting to arrive.   

The first whistle blows at 10am just as I am being picked up by Sue and Alison to go to church. We have not heard from our daughter so I suppose she is having a great time and hopefully on the way home now.

We have a great time at BCC as usual, the worship time is fantastic and we have a team from the prison ministries speak to the church about there work in the local prisons. The meeting finishes with a very powerful DVD about a prison in Columbia which used to be very violent a couple of deaths a day!! But prayer and our heavenly Fathers love has transformed the place into the least violent prison in Columbia. We have a God who truly cares for everyone, no matter what there circumstances, God can and will transform lives…………

The bowls event is going very well indeed, 7 matches are being played at all times, thats 56 people on the green. Every 40 minutes the whistle is blown and the matches stop, and the next 14 teams take up position, and so the day progresses with each team playing 5 matches. With an average of 7 ends every 40 minutes means that 7840 woods will have been bowled by the end of the day!!! A nice little statistic.

There is something quintessentially English about today, it is quite a spectacle to see so many people playing bowls at the same time all dressed in reguation grey and white and enjoying the summer sunshine!??

The team with the most points at the end of the day, about 5:25pm wins the prize money.

The weather is very kind and it only begins to rain at about 5pm but does it rain…. The stalwarts play on in torrential conditions, there is prize money at stake after all!

By about 6-15pm we arrive home, just in time to get ready for our weekly prayer meeting at the chapel. We have a super time praising and worshiping God and praying for the new church. It’s a good time to talk around things that need doing and progressing and to encourage one another. God has really been very good to us and we are another week closer to the 12th September, we just continue to pray for Brandesburton and the surrounding area. We also make another to do list for the week ahead……God speaks to Sue about the prison DVD and how the prison ministries team spent times of fasting and prayer as they sought God about the prison……

We agree to follow this example and we will all try and fast and pray at some point throughout the week….Mikes stomach makes a huge gurgle at this point as he has not had his tea…..