Ebenezer who?!

One of my favourite hymns has the line: “Here I raise my Ebenezer…” I dare say I’m not the only one who’s sung it and struggled to get thoughts of A Christmas Carol (for me, the Muppets version of course) out of my head, whilst thinking, “Who knows what that means? Oh, the song’s over.”

Ebenezer is a Hebrew word which means, “Stone of Help”. Here’s where it’s from:

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far has the Lord helped us”.

(1 Samuel 7:12)

Samuel chose the appropriate word to name his monument, which celebrated his experience of the Lord God’s help up to that point. It was a tumultuous time in the history of God’s people. But Samuel was enjoying the goodness and faithfulness of God and so “raised his Ebenezer”.

Here’s that song again:

“Here I raise my Ebenezer,

Hither by thy help I’ve come.

And I hope, by thy good pleasure,

Safely to arrive at home.”

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, by Robert Robinson, 1757. Here’s a version that I enjoy.

Well, here - in Dakar, Senegal - I raise my Ebenezer! I’m only stepping over the start-line of this initial 3-year term in the Gambia (where I travel on to tonight), but I’m very conscious of God’s good shepherding care as I look back on all the preparations and leaving the UK, and as I’ve travelled on the boat: “hither by thy help I’ve come”.

And that “hope” for the future in the song isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the certain hope that comes from knowing God’s sovereign control and fatherly kindness.  So I look to him and trust him for what’s ahead.

Voyage Stage 1

Greetings from Antwerp!  We're docked here for a couple of days of loading, at the 2nd biggest port in Europe (after Rotterdam).  It was remarkable, sailing past endless cranes and containers and cars and ships on our way down the long channel from the sea, through the port and into a huge lock, which made canal locks in England seem like little bath tubs.  Towering cranes lift and shift lorry-length containers with such ease that they look like matchboxes.

After boarding ship in Tilbury, I found out we were due to leave at about 2 a.m. that night.  So I settled in and headed to bed, not quite sure what disruption would awake me at what point!  Sure enough,  huge engines rumbled into gear at about 2 o'clock, and my nervous sleep and curiosity meant I couldn't resist looking at what was going on as we pulled out of port. And so we trundled down the Thames and out into the North Sea, across towards Belgian waters.

The sailing since has been calm, largely sunny and peaceful - ideal for enjoying the peace and quiet I'd hoped for, praying, and digging into books and Bible study.

I trust the pictures give a feel for what it's looked like so far...  All being well, I'll check in again in Dakar!

Setting sail

Grande Nigeria: spot the dummy!

“Welcome aboard!” - the Captain of Grimaldi’s vessel Grande Nigeria introduced himself to me with a smile and handshake. A fairly short Italian man with a classic moustache, he nevertheless commands the respect of everyone else on board this huge cargo ship. (I just hope his name is Mario.) The boat is 200 metres long (656 feet) and a website said it has a gross tonnage of 57,000 tonnes. I just can’t quite comprehend that. It’s big. Some of my fellow-passengers (who embarked in Hamburg) said it was pretty hair-raising coming into port - precious more than 20 centimetres on both sides!

Having loaded up with lots of British cars and containers here, we’re meant to depart at 2 a.m. towards Antwerp, the final European stop before Dakar in Senegal, where I disembark in about 10 days’ time. So I thought I’d use a final bit of UK 3G signal to share the experience before we sail off!

So far things have been quite pleasant:

• The cabin is comfortable with plenty of space. 
• The first meal was decent and the coffee wasn’t too bad either! Thanks, Italians. 
• Friendly fellow-passengers (Germans and Brits) to eat and chat with.  They're all going the whole hog and taking this ship all the way to South America!
• A basic gym to do a bit of exercise. 
• Pretty spectacular views from the deck. 

The forecast seems fairly calm for the next few days, which will be nice for getting used to life on board. Everyone who knows anything about the seas has made some wry comment about the Bay of Biscay though… We’ll see how that is!

For those who don’t know, why on earth am I travelling like this?! It’s more expensive than flying, and takes about 48 times as long. A few reasons: 

My desk set up with writing paper, books, drawing pad, Bible...

1. Emotional: to have time to process the rollercoaster of leaving and saying goodbye to family, church and friends, before the busyness of arriving somewhere new. 
2. Transitional: to have time to stop and think about arriving in the Gambia, and begin to get my head round various related issues, now that all of packing up and leaving is done! 
3. Spiritual: it’s so rare to get both quality and quantity time to pray, meditate on God’s word, and think about things. With a fairly big change in lifestyle, ministry, responsibilities, culture, all just round the corner, it felt like some time to do those things would be valuable. 

So, here goes… “Buona notte!” (= good night!, I think)