“We couldn’t say goodbye…”
The Bibby Stockholm Stories from Weymouth Baptist Church
By Dave Rees,
Weymouth Baptist Church
Back in August 2023, when the first group of asylum seekers arrived to board the Bibby Stockholm Barge at Portland Port, Weymouth, we (the Weymouth Baptist Church, WBC) could never have imagined how God would use this event for His greater purpose.
South Dorset is a monoculture, with only 3% of the population originating from ethnic minority backgrounds. Understandably, when the news about the Bibby Stockholm accommodation plan broke, there was some scepticism in the local community about the influx of sanctuary seekers and the Bibby Stockholm barge, and the impact that four hundred sanctuary seekers from vastly different ethnic groups would have on local services.
It was not until 22 October 2023 that the epic Bibby Stockholm journey began at WBC. We often prayed for the persecuted church elsewhere in the world, but when four sanctuary seekers walked through the door of WBC, we realised that the persecuted church was now with us in our building. This marked the beginning of a memorable season of blessings for us. As a recent retiree who had been seeking the Lord for what to do next, I jumped in and took the lead in coordinating the group of sanctuary seekers attending WBC, while other church members took on strategic roles based on their skill sets.
The sanctuary seeking participants in our community soon increased and grew to over 40 each Sunday in the following months. The church adapted and, through networking with other Welcome Churches and Baptist Churches, we were able to audio stream the church service in real-time onto the sanctuary seekers' mobile phones. Song sheets in Persian were prepared and used at Sunday church services.
While we churches were pooling resources together to support the Iranians, God also worked a miracle and connected us with Mr Malcolm, a local Persian-speaking Christian, who had previously worked in Iran for 10 years and, upon his return to the UK, worked with an Iranian church in London for 30 years with his wife. For God to prepare a Christian couple amongst us who knew the culture and spoke the language was truly remarkable in South Dorset. Mr Malcolm held Persian-speaking lessons weekly, and around 25 attended these meetings.
Mr Malcolm says:
“One interesting fact that soon emerged was that most Iranians being sent to the barge were Christians, and many of them had already been baptised while they were living elsewhere, as none of the asylum seekers being sent to the barge were new arrivals in the UK. Some came as Christian believers from Iran, and some became Christians since their arrival in the UK.
For this reason, we met during the week so that the Iranians could attend local church services on Sundays. It soon became clear what would be the main emphasis of my ministry. Based on my experience of working with Iranians for over thirty years in London and elsewhere, we realised the importance of Iranians hearing the Christian message in their language. Very few of them knew any English and had struggled to understand the Gospel through translation because the translation was not accurate. There are also some concepts in the Christian faith which were difficult to understand, even in one's native language, let alone to understand them in a second language when so little of that language was understood. Furthermore, these concepts were completely new for those coming from a Muslim background. Some came to the UK as Christians, but, apart from one exception, they seemed to have a sketchy understanding of the Christian faith.”
But God already knew what His Iranian children would need. Apart from Mr. Malcolm and the Persian language support, He also brought us Christian resources through different networks and communities. Our friends at Kidlington Baptist Church had shared with us their Persian Baptismal class materials, which we were also able to translate into Arabic for a Syrian sanctuary seeker.
Different organisations also stepped in to help: we gratefully received 50 Farsi Bibles and 100 New Testaments from Elam Ministries, and 30 Bibles from Good News for Everyone. Faith leaders of Weymouth and Portland also worked together with the Dorset Council and other charitable organisations to support the sanctuary seekers on the barge. We visited the sanctuary seekers on the Barge, and upon hearing their views, secured a separate Christian worship space on the Barge where the Portland Port chaplain conducted services every week.
Knowing that God has given each of us unique gifts, we wanted to encourage those seeking asylum to recognise and use theirs too. So we asked the sanctuary seekers the types of jobs they undertook in their native countries. Upon realising that we had several chefs among our new friends, we enlisted their help. Our chefs, with the help of sister Derakhte, provided meals for 250 people at WBC and held two BBQs at my house for 60 people. We also hosted a Nowruz event in March 2024, catering for 100 people. Chefs from Syria and Africa too shared their gift of cooking and prepared a variety of dishes from different continents for our celebrations.
One of our sanctuary seeking friends, Mahmud Hajirahimi, turned out to be a gifted painter. You can find one of his paintings here, as well as his explanation about what this lovely painting meant.
Rising of Jesus Christ at Easter
“The name of the painting is Rising of Jesus Christ on Easter Day,
In this painting you can see Weymouth Baptist Church that is an important part of sharing Christianity in the community, water is very important for human life and that is symbol of baptism and it is very important for believers to be baptised. In the future Jesus will come back and he will say about he's rising and everybody who believes will come to Jesus, that includes people who have died and other people, the people who believe in Jesus will see light of Jesus.”
Mahmud Hajirahimi
Throughout this season of encounter and welcome, we baptised 16 sanctuary seekers at WBC, each with vivid and compelling testimonies of how they gave their lives to Jesus. This chapter came to a close when the Home Office decided against renewing Bibby Stockholm’s contract as an asylum seeker accommodation. After the final group of 8 sanctuary seekers were relocated from the Barge in November 2024, the Barge finally was towed away from Portland Port.
Now, looking at the Portland Port emptied of the Barge, this season felt a bit surreal. But it did not mean that we were losing our new friends. At WBC, we maintained contact with 60 individuals from the Bibby Stockholm barge since 22 October 2023.
We had success linking up sanctuary seekers to churches across the UK through the Welcome Churches network. As our friends had been relocated at very short notice - often without being informed of their final destinations - we stayed connected with them on WhatsApp and signposted the guys to new Welcome Network churches in the areas where they would be heading to.
The following are several accounts from sanctuary seekers about their journey, whilst they were part of the Weymouth Baptist Church family.
Ashkan says:
“Our arrival at Weymouth Baptist Church felt like stepping out of a cold, locked prison, into the arms of a loving family. …our hearts were heavy, wounded, and tired. But the moment we walked into Weymouth Baptist Church, it was as if the warmth of a thousand suns embraced us. The people did not just welcome us, they received us, as if we had come home after a long, painful journey.”
Noah says:
“Through my time there, I grew in faith. I served others, and the pastor of the church gave me a new name: Noah, meaning peace, rest, and friendship. Just like the prophet Noah brought peace in his generation, I believe God gave me that name because He used me to bring peace on the barge. I carry that name with honour and tell people wherever I go:
‘My name is Noah.’”
Mokadar says:
“(The church) was a place where we prayed for one another. My most treasured memory is when I prayed in my native language, and everyone, with pure hearts and unified voices, responded with a resounding ‘Amen.’ That moment was sacred and unforgettable for me.”
Mekoya says:
“I am still amazed at how well church members got to know and care for us. The support system the church put in place for people like us, living on the Bibby Stockholm Barge, was thoughtful and personal. With help from Mr Dave and others, we were supported every step of the way, from spiritual encouragement and prayer support to meaningful workshops that helped us understand the asylum process and begin to integrate into British society. That welcome did not leave me feeling just accepted; it left me with a feeling of belonging.”
The Barge in question has long since been towed away. No trace of it is left, as if it never happened. But it left a lasting blessing in the Weymouth community - and now the UK-wide community, as our friends travelled and shared the blessing of their presence with churches across the UK. We did not say “goodbye” to them - we simply couldn’t say goodbye to them. But rather, we sent them to you, churches all over the UK, with prayers and blessings.
This season at WBC taught us a lot about welcoming strangers. We developed an intercultural church valuing diverse expressions of faith and offering a positive intercultural vision to the whole community. We recognised and identified specific sanctuary seekers, giving them appropriate leadership responsibility. We encouraged others to help during church services, serving refreshments, and handing out communion elements within the congregation.
The highlight for me was at the end of the service, the group came to the front of the church, with 30 of us praying together in a big, round circle. For some, it would have been the first time praying in public. God heard and had answered each of those prayers. Praise God.