Making magic happen under the stairs

The Mission to Seafarers Southern Ontario is thrilled to announce the opening of our brand-new station at the cruise ship terminal in the east Port Lands. Yes, folks, there is a cruise ship terminal in Toronto, because cruise ships have been coming to Toronto since before 2003. Back then it might have been only one ship visit a year; now it’s 45. That means there are a lot of seafarers coming to Toronto on a fairly regular basis, and that’s also why our new station, which opened on May 20, is located in the cruise ship terminal.

The seafarers who work on cruise ships are very underserved. They work incredibly hard while on board – passenger service is 24/7, so someone is always on duty. Because their shore leave time is counted in minutes, not hours, any welfare centre has to be located as close to the ship as possible so seafarers don’t have to waste valuable time just getting to the centre. The space available to us, under a four-storey staircase, is in a bright, sunny spot located 25 seconds’ walk from the gangway. The seafarers are thrilled!

Their favourite things: the huge leather-covered sectional sofa, squishy and comfortable (donated from the Furniture Bank); the jar of tiny chocolate bars on top of the shelf unit; hot, freshly made microwave popcorn; and free Wi-Fi. But their favourite is the baskets of knitwear lovingly made by a battalion of amazing people in this diocese who spend all year knitting for them.

The Viking Polaris is an expedition class cruise ship, with a passenger complement of about 378, as opposed to the huge Caribbean cruise ships with 5,000 to 6,000 passengers. This class of ship can sail into the tiny bays and harbours in places like the Arctic, the Antarctic and South America, as well as some of the more inaccessible places on the Great Lakes. On July 5, Polaris, her passengers and crew set sail for Greenland. And the crew was in a flat panic! Most of them were from countries like the Philippines, Malaysia, Ecuador and India, with only a few of the officers being Norwegian and used to the cold.

When the young crew members told me their concerns, I pulled out the baskets from our shelf unit to show them the hats and scarves, and they went nuts. “Is this for us?” they kept asking. When I explained that it was, and also free, gifted to them by people who don’t know them but have been knitting for them all year, their next question was, “How can we meet a knitter?” In most of their cultures, only people who know you and love you would make you something by hand. That someone would devote their time and energy to making something for someone they don’t know is a huge gesture of love for them. They wanted to meet and thank one of the knitters directly.

So on Polaris’s next visit, I asked one of the battalion of knitters if she was able to visit with them. She was thrilled, as were the seafarers. It’s not often you get those full circle moments, where you can see God’s grace like a shining rope, wrapping itself around these young seafarers so far from home, and a woman who has devoted perhaps thousands of hours in more than 30 years to knitting for seafarers.

As the Viking Octantis, sister ship to the Polaris, was preparing to leave on July 13, one of the pursers gave us her thanks and said, “Now we have a home away from home in Toronto!” All that we hoped this centre would be is being realized: a safe, comfortable, quiet place, steps from their vessel. Your gifts of knitting are wrapping themselves around the necks of many seafarers, and your hats are keeping their heads warm in Arctic seas. We have been called the “ministry of small gestures,” and this tiny space under the stairs has confirmed that for me.

If anyone is interested in volunteering at the new station, email me at [email protected]. Check out the cruise ship arrival schedule on the Toronto Port Authority website (under cruise ships). Come and join us under the stairs!