The work of Rob Flinders and the Seamen’s Christian Friend Society

When Rob Flinders first stepped onto a ship at the age of 17, he never foresaw that God would use his career at sea and then in teaching seafarers to prepare him for mission work. Yet that is exactly what He did!

For the past 25 years, Rob has been a port missionary with the Seamen’s Christian Friend Society (SCFS) in Australia, dedicating his life to sharing the gospel with those who spend theirs on the sea.

First service, then faith

In 1971, Rob and his wife migrated to Australia from England. He left England as a seasoned seafarer with 12 years experience and came to teach professional mariners at Sydney Technical College.

After settling in Hurstville, Rob and his wife decided to attend their local Anglican church. Having grown up being sent to Sunday School, Rob had a sense that church was the ‘right thing to do’.

Although he didn’t yet understand the gospel and know Christ personally, Rob found himself leading at youth group. One evening in March 1974, Philip Jensen was invited to speak as a guest. He preached from Isaiah 53:6, which says - ‘We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on Him (Christ) the iniquity of us all.’

Moved by his exposition of the Bible, Rob approached Jensen with questions. The result? Rob was drawn to Christ.

Growing in godliness

A few years after becoming a Christian, Rob was invited by a good friend to a series of monthly seminars conducted by the Australian Navigators Ministry. Rob went along and was taught important skills like how to have time alone with God each day, and how to read, study and memorise the Word of God.

At the end of the course of training, Lin, one of the leaders, invited Rob to meet with him one-to-one. Rob says, “Those years of meeting together with Lin as my mentor once each week were a great blessing. He taught me how to be a disciple of Christ and how to be a disciple-maker. The teaching was to prove invaluable in my future ministry to seafarers.”

A change in direction

When Rob was 57, he accepted a voluntary redundancy, and shortly after he and his wife Greta were invited to manage the Port Hedland Seafarers Centre, which is part of the Mission to Seafarers organisation. There they provided practical support to seafarers, including selling supplies, running transport services and providing internet and phone services enabling seafarers to connect with their families.

This work eventually frustrated Rob, as tending to the practical needs of seafarers left little time to interact with them about their relationship with Christ and their need to respond to the gospel.

But a chance encounter led Rob to connect with European Christian Mission (ECM) missionary Ian Dennis, who was doing ministry in the Port of Melbourne.

Rob reflects, “I became excited about this and contacted Ian to learn more about his ministry. It was he who made me aware of the ministry of The Seamen’s Christian Friend Society.”

Rob quickly learned all he could about SCFS, a UK-based ministry that focused solely on evangelism and discipleship for seafarers when they come into port.

Establishing seafarers' mission in Australia

In 2000, with their contract at Port Hedland finished, Rob and Greta decided to go to the UK for a vacation and to learn more about SCFS. While there they went to several ports and met some of their port missionaries. Rob got increasingly excited about the work and was able to speak to the Director of SCFS who was eager to utilise him.

Rob shares, “Just before we were due to come home, the Director of SCFS asked us if we would be willing to try to establish SCFS in one or more Australian ports. I had no hesitation in saying ‘Yes’ and we returned home rejoicing!”

In October 2000, Rob began ministry in Port Kembla in Wollongong, establishing the presence of the Seaman’s Christian Friends Society (SCFS) in Australia.

In January 2001, convicted by the great need for port missionaries in Port Botany, Rob and his family moved to Sydney to minister there.

Rob reflects, “God worked providentially in my life. I was a seafarer for 12 years. Then for the next 28 years or so, I taught seafarers. The fact that I've been a teacher is now a great help in my ministry. I identify with the guys because I've been on ships. And I look back and I think, yes this is the ministry that God has prepared for me to do.”

The work of a port missionary

Being a port missionary has two key aspects; proclaiming the gospel to non-Christian seafarers and discipling Christian seafarers. They bring the gospel to unbelieving seafarers through the provision of Bibles and Bible courses. For Christian seafarers, they provide fellowship, resources and encouragement to enable them to reach out to their unconverted crewmates.

As a port missionary, Rob’s day begins with checking ship schedules to see which vessels are arriving at Port Botany. Onboard, he engages seafarers in conversation, offering Bibles and Bible courses in their native languages.

Typically, when ships come into port, they only stay between 24-48 hours before departing again. During that time the seafarers are still required to work and so they have only limited opportunities to go ashore. For this reason, Rob connects with them during lunch and dinner times.

Rob shares, “Let's assume I go to a ship and find that three or four seafarers have finished the Bible study courses I provided on a previous visit. While I'm on the ship I’ll collect those courses, and also interact with other seafarers I perhaps didn't see on the previous voyage. I'll engage them in conversation and see if I can persuade them to also accept a Bible and a Bible course.”

Rob will then take the courses home and mark the quiz at the end. Collecting courses and marking them gives Rob an opportunity to have another conversation with the seafarer about what they understood or not. These are good opportunities to challenge and encourage the seafarer to place his faith in Christ for salvation.

Like all ministry, being a port missionary has ups and downs. However, Rob has seen a lot of fruit from God through his work.

One Filipino seafarer, encouraged by Rob’s ministry and that of another Christian seafarer, began leading Bible studies when at sea. Rob shares, “Every ship he went to, he would invite his crewmates to come to a Bible study. One of the guys that he invited subsequently was encouraged and helped to do that when he went to other ships. And just a couple of days ago he told me he's just finishing his contract and another Christian on his ship is going to take over the Bible study. Those sorts of things are very encouraging.”

The ships Rob visits are like microcosms of the world. Each ship commonly has seafarers from five or more nationalities on board, like Filipino, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Dutch and more.

Yet they all share something in common - their need for Jesus!

Rob says, “Regardless of nationality and culture, seafarers all need to come to believe, to repent and put their faith in Jesus.”

Bringing Jesus to the world

“Ministry to seafarers is world mission on our doorstep,” Rob says. “You don’t have to go overseas to share the gospel with people from other nationalities and cultures. They are arriving every day, right here in our seaports.”

Through the ministry of SCFS, many seafarers have encountered the gospel, some for the first time, and others in ways that have reignited their faith.

Thousands of seafarers come through Australian ports each year, and so many of them still need to hear the good news of the gospel. SCFS are looking for more Port Missionaries to take part in this world mission on the very doorstep of Australia.

World mission on Australia’s doorstep