GOODNews | Celebrating 60 Years

Christian ministry...is it a spiritual and materialist service to our community, an organized liturgical act, or is it simply being present to those who may or may not be in need?

As a young Christian layman discerning clerical ordination, these questions have been on my mind quite a lot. I’ve always wanted to serve and help people, but I never quite knew how or where I could go to accomplish this desire of mine. Fortunately, through the Montreal Mission Internship I was able to get in touch with the Ministry to Seafarers (M2S), a Christian chaplaincy organization working in the port of Montreal, ministering to the spiritual and material needs of one of the most invisible groups of people in the world; seafarers.

Throughout my two months with M2S, I got to work alongside two wonderful chaplains, David and Michelle who taught me so much in terms of chaplaincy as a practical job and the work it entails, but also as a vocation, and the spiritual nature of the work being performed. Initially I was totally out of my comfort zone, with moments of silence dominating some days and extreme busyness occupying others, not knowing what to do or where to go, especially on huge ships with so many levels and different rooms! Having to speak with people who I didn’t necessarily share a common language or culture with was also difficult, yet I learned so much about the seafarers and where they come from, and what their customs, norms and home countries were like by simply observing them and asking questions here and there.

I came to M2S with so many questions about life, work and the spiritual nature of the world we inhabit. I left with so many answers, yet even more questions than before. I greatly appreciated my time with M2S and will doubtlessly continue volunteering when I can in the future, because the mission of these chaplains truly calls to me.