Hamburg

While preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, two young people visited various agencies of the Catholic Church. In September 2006, they spent a day with AOS pastoral worker Sebastian Fiebig in the port of Hamburg, Germany. Here they describe the experience.

As part of the preparation course for our confirmation, we spent an exciting day in the Catholic Seamen's Mission, Stella Maris. We are Dag (15) and Richard (14) from Hamburg-Wandsbek.

On September 14th, we met with Mr. Fiebig. First he took us to the Stella Maris centre and told us about the port and the work of AOS. After lunch we went to the port in the Stella Maris minibus. There we visited the first vessel, a big iron ore cargo ship. However most of the seafarers were asleep as they had arrived very early in the morning in the port of Hamburg.

We left them some newspapers, prayer cards and a bible. Next we visited the Duckdalben club, part of the German Seamen's Mission, which is located inside the port area. We went to the chapel where there is an area for every major faith. We also saw the club room, the gallery and the winter garden.

Before we drove back to the Stella Maris Centre, we visited another ship, which carried fertilizers. Some seafarers were awake on this ship, so we could talk with them for a while. At approximately 5:00pm, we arrived back in our parish.

We believe the seamen's mission to be an important institution for seafarers of every nation and religion. It gives them the means to contact their families and offers cheap accommodation as well as the opportunity for counselling and spiritual guidance.

We were surprised by the wide variety of recreational activities offered such as table tennis, internet, television, pool and card games. In addition, we were amazed at how positively the seafarers accept the service of the seamen's mission. It really is a significant institution in the port. Working there for a day has been impressive, informative and exciting.

Special thanks to Sebastian Fiebig who planned this day for us, made it wonderful and had an open ear for all our questions.

click here to read this article in German on the AOS Germany website