PORTLAND, Ore.—The changing tides of history have generated a new ministry in Oregon’s Port of Portland, where some United Methodists reach out to crews confined to their ships by increased security requirements after Sept. 11, 2001.

The ecumenical Seafarers’ Mission once provided rides to shopping centers, places of worship and places where the sailors could telephone or e-mail their families. But the individual visas now needed to leave the ships are prohibitive for many sailors.

“They work hard,” says retired United Methodist minister Joe Walker, who is a mission volunteer. “They are away from their families. They are basically lonely and they just need to know that somebody cares.”

(The Seafarers’ Mission and the Rev. Joe Walker are featured in “Supporting Seafarers,” a UMTV video report, the week of Oct. 22. It is available at the UMTV Web site www.umtv.org.)

Most seafarers are from developing countries. Their wages are much lower than those of U.S. but higher than what they can make in their home country. Some spend up to nine months at a time working onboard a ship, away from their families.

Captain Rufino Rejano Jr. is carrying 32,000 tons of cargo, and 20 Filipino men who don’t have paperwork to step onto U.S. soil.

Filipino seaman Aristeo Canlas has been away from home almost three months. “I have no U.S. visa,” he says. “I can’t get out. I can’t even make a phone call.”

Walker and other mission members bring small gifts, and something more valuable than gold – access to a cell phone. Local churches also provide some of the bags of gifts, including devotional literature, Bibles, magazines and toothbrushes.

Walker doesn’t want him or his fellow seamen to be forgotten. He regularly solicits United Methodist volunteers in the Portland area to go aboard ships through a local denominational publication.

“Life has gotten a lot tougher,” he wrote recently. “Security requirements make obtaining individual visas prohibitive for the vast majority of the crews who are mostly from Third World countries.”

The United Methodist Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference accepts financial donations to support the ministry. Contributions through area local churches should be marked “Portland Seafarers Mission—Conference Advance.”

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