I believe that the reading from Acts today describes the true
nature of what the Mission to seafarers does. In the reading St. Paul
and other people on a Roman vessel find that there ship is in distress.
Eventually they all must abandon ship and through the power of the
Holy Spirit all survive. However they are in a foreign land, called Malta,
which they know nothing about. However according the Saint Paul
"The natives showed us UNUSUAL kindness." I would argue that the
people of Malta in this story could have been the first Mission to
Seafarers, powered by the Holy Spirit. Around the globe this is
precisely what we do. I remember this past march visiting a ship in
particular. I was sitting in the crews mess room waiting for some of the