Case in point: Philip Vandercook and Global Maritime Ministries. Today, Wednesday, at our pastors meeting, Philip put out a call for volunteers to help man the port ministry center from 6 to 10 pm each night. “We don’t have enough workers to keep it open,” he said, “and we’re having crews get off their ships and walk over to our place and finding it locked.”

Definitely not what you want to happen after constructing a million dollar center one block from the Mississippi River so you can minister to the thousands of port workers and crew members who arrive in our city every day of the year.

Freddie Arnold ran by the ministry center the other evening for something. A couple of crew members from a ship that had just arrived were standing outside the building, wanting it unlocked so they could go inside. Unfortunately, he was on a mission and did not have time to let them in and to stay with them.

Inside the front door, the center presents a huge living area, a large television, a library, videos, computers, bathrooms, and a kitchen. With volunteers on duty, we can welcome these strangers to our shores, most of them foreigners who spend 6 months a year or more on the open seas and rarely get a chance to come ashore or to e-mail their families. Volunteers serve as hosts in the building with all the opportunity to do “foreign missions” they could ever ask for. New Testaments and “Jesus” videos in many, many languages are plentiful for our guests to take home with them.

Several of the cruise lines have welcomed our chaplains, Philip said, and we’re able to come and go as we wish when they are in port. He mentioned one line with a large number of believers among its crew. They hold a Bible study on board from something like midnight to 1 am, after their duties have ended. When they dock in New Orleans, forty or more will descend on our port ministry on Tchoupitoulas Street all at the same time.

Thanksgiving week, Philip is getting up a ministry cruise on one of the liners. The cost for team members will be no more than $100 per day, for a 7 day trip. Once we get underway, our people will be able to counsel with crew members, hold Bible studies, and anything else our hearts desire. Philip said, “Hey, we’re on the open sea–they can’t put us off.” Truth is, they don’t want to. They welcome the ministry of Global Maritime. It’s a quality outfit in every way. All this ministry does is give, and asks nothing in return.

Global Maritime’s website is currently in transition: www.portministry.com. Some limited information is available there. If you want to contact them via e-mail, send it to me (joe@joemckeever.com) and I’ll forward it.

“We need two vans to run back and forth to pick up crews from the ships,” Philip said. Problem is, they’re expensive.

No money is available in the Global Maritime budget for transportation. The board is still trying to pay off the remaining $400,000 on the building, while work continues intermittently on finishing the second floor so they will be able to host church volunteer teams in their center.

A half hour later, Philip interrupts our pastors meeting to say he had just gotten off the phone. Someone had just called to say they’re donating a van to the center.

This ministry to port workers and ships’ crews reminds me of the way a thriving church operates: “it’s always something.” At any given time in the life of a busy, productive church, someone is struggling to find a way to solve a problem, fund a project, or jump-start a program. They’re always starving for more volunteers, the budget is way up from last year and the income is insufficient for this year, the opportunities threaten to engulf them, and every day brings new obstacles, fresh victories, and plenty of excitement. The pastors frequently have a hard time telling whether they are close to overdosing on joy or having a heart attack from stress.

Vision will do that for a person.

Meanwhile, down the road or across town is a nice quiet church where no one has had a stress attack in ages. Every day is pretty much like the one before. They’re meeting the budget and have maintained a healthy bank balance for years. Everyone is satisfied and they like their preacher, although they wonder why their numbers aren’t increasing or why the young people are drifting away from their church. Their programs exist for themselves, and their outside ministry is limited to sending a monthly check. The members long for the good old days and wonder where the commitment is among today’s Christians. An impartial observer would say this congregation is dying on the vine.

Lack of vision will do that for a church.

One of the greatest fallacies that has ever afflicted the Christian church in America is that a healthy church is a quiet one that never has problems. The opposite is true.

My grandson is growing like a weed. He’ll be 14 next month and wears a size 11 shoe, the same as his grandpa. His parents can hardly keep him in clothes, he outgrows them so fast. His twin sisters are 11 and shooting up, too. They’re all going to be tall like their dad.

Healthy children cost a lot for clothes and food, for schooling and medicines, for team uniforms and social events. They are loud and noisy and demanding. They need oversight, constant instruction, discipline, hugs, prayers, and lots of money. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.

The couples who live on both sides of Neil and Julie are retired and have empty nests. As a result, they maintain quiet homes and predictable lifestyles. They can retire early each evening and get up only when they wish to the next morning. They seem to know what their expenses will be and keep a firm control on the bank account.

But there are no children to liven up the place.

Cindy was a young mother of four growing, demanding children in my last church. Once she shared with the congregation a proverb which gave her comfort. “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much revenue comes from the strength of the ox.” (Proverbs 14:4)

Cindy said, “What that says to me is there are some things more important than having a clean house.”

I ‘amen’ that and add that there are some things more important than having a quiet church.

The church that wants to reach people for Christ and make a lasting difference in its community should make up its mind that it will fight a never-ending battle for more money, additional workers, and better ideas. The leadership will deal with differences of opinions and sometimes have serious squabbles. The congregation will never reach the point where they can look back and feel that they have reached a stopping place. As a result, they will frequently feel overwhelmed and wish they had time to come up for air.

These churches are God’s heroes and role models for the rest of us. They are the ones making a difference in our world. We applaud them, and pray that their leaders will understand the unique nature of their plight: “it’s always something.”

Be faithful, churches-with-problems. God is using you.