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A 1914 disaster on the icy Labrador Sea points up many lessons about our spiritual survival as Believers

      Every spring tens of thousands of square miles of ice cover the frigid Labrador Sea.

      This ice field, known as the “Front,” is made up of floating ice pans that vary in size and thickness. The pans can be several feet thick and can hold a few dozen men.

      Each year the Front flows southward with the current toward the island of Newfoundland.

      Beginning in the latter years of the 17^th century, men hunted on this ice. They were mostly Newfoundland fishermen struggling to make money to feed their families. It was rough and dangerous, but a berth on a ship bound for the Front was much sought after.

      To adventurous young men it was always an exciting trip. To the older men the trip was more serious. They had a sober respect for the ice, knowing full well its dangers.

      A shift in the wind could loosen the ice pack and separate the men from their ship. Ice pans could sink under a man’s weight. Some of the old wooden steamships could be crushed by the shifting ice. In 1914 not all ships were equipped with a wireless (the early radio equipment).

      Without one, a ship could not communicate with other ships in emergencies.

      That year, one of the worst disasters in Newfoundland’s history occurred on the ice. The men involved left an incredible story of endurance and heroism. We as Believers can draw many lessons from their experience.

Stuck on the ice

Seventy-two years ago, on March 30, 1914, the Newfoundland, one of three wooden steamships on an expedition in the area, became stuck in the ice.

The captain of the Newfoundland ordered 134 of his men over the side of his ship. Their orders were to hike about six miles over the rolling, jagged ice field to reach another steamship, the Stephano.

Walking through the ice field was an unenviable task. It took five hours to make it to the Stephano. When the exhausted men arrived there at noon, they expected to stay for the rest of the day and night, especially since the weather was getting bad and a storm was brewing.

But the captain of the Stephano made a fateful mistake. His mind was absorbed with finishing the hunt as soon as possible and being the first to return his ship to port. The captain seemed oblivious to the welfare of the Newfoundland men. He wanted them to return to their own ship. He gave them a quick, skimpy meal and put them back on the ice.

It was a decision he would live to regret. After only 40 minutes of rest before being put back on the ice, the men were still exhausted. To make matters worse, the sky grew dull and gray, and the freezing air blew more and more snow over the ice. A storm was definitely coming, so the men quickly decided to head back to their own ship.

Many of the men were upset with the captain’s decision, but they obeyed. They wished they had stayed back on board the Stephano, but it was too late. Soon the drifting snow covered their trail, and they became lost.

The older and more experienced men quickly realized the danger they were in. They knew that if they had to spend a night on the ice, their lives would be at stake.

Cecil Mouland, who was at the Front for the first time, suddenly remembered his grandfather’s advice: “My son, if you get caught out on the ice, always keep your jaw moving. It’ll keep ye from getting frostbitten.” Cecil had a girlfriend at home waiting for him. He intended to marry her, and had no intention of returning to her with a frostbitten face. He was glad he had brought with him some hard bread.

At first it rained on the men, and then the wind began to howl, pushing the wind chill factor to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature it hurts even to breathe. Most of the men were ill clad, wearing only cotton clothing, without their waterproof oilskins. Their soaking clothes froze to their flesh. Hypothermia, a term the men probably had never even heard, was the deadly condition they faced. When a person is exposed to excessive cold for a long time, he becomes numb, movement is difficult and irresistible drowsiness overtakes him. He staggers. His eyesight fails; he falls and may become unconscious.

Keep the blood flowing!

“We’ve got to keep warm! Keep the blood flowing in your veins!” shouted Jesse Collins, a veteran at the Front. He knew from his many years of experience that if they stopped moving, stopped the blood from flowing, they would freeze to death.

He emerged as a leader, pushing, shouting, and motivating the weaker and younger men to keep moving. He got them to sing, dance lively jigs, and march around the ice pans—anything to keep them moving. In a physical way he fulfilled the Apostle Paul’s admonition: “But we, the strong ones, ought to bear the weaknesses of those not strong, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1). Many men had ice over their eyes, freezing them shut. Jesse sucked the ice off many of the men’s eyes, causing his lips to freeze badly. But he kept moving and motivating others to do the same.

Cecil Mouland refused to die. At home in Doting Cove was his sweetheart Jessie. She was a teacher at a small school, and he was determined to return to marry her, no matter what.

Cecil’s cousin, Ralph Mouland, was also on the ice with the Newfoundland’s crew. Ralph was drained of all strength, and he lay down to die. He couldn’t take it anymore.

Cecil, dreading the thought of the pain Ralph’s death would cause his aunt and uncle, refused to let him quit.

“Here, boy, have some of this,” coaxed Cecil, trying to get Ralph to eat some hard bread.

But Ralph had no energy to eat it, so Cecil put the chunk of hard bread in his own mouth to soften it up and gave it back to Ralph. Then Ralph slowly and painfully struggled up from the ice, and began to move again.

For some it was all too easy to let numbness creep up their limbs, arms, legs, and into their brains. Some kneeled down to pray, and were found frozen to death in that position.

Many men gave in to drowsiness. Wanting to rest for just a few minutes, they sat hunched together to keep warm. But most of these men collapsed into unconsciousness and died within minutes.

Others kept moving. One man was at the Front with his two sons. During the night he put his arms around them, and they tightly embraced each other.

The next day they were found frozen to death in that position. They stood like solid pieces of sculpture with snow drifting around them. They had stopped moving.

Spiritual Hypothermia

What does the word survival mean to a Believer? To these men on the ice, it meant saving their physical lives. To a Believer, survival means qualifying for the gift of eternal life, rather than incurring the penalty of eternal death.

Spiritual survival means overcoming temptations, personal problems and Satan’s persecution in a cold, cold world. To survive and be rescued at the return of YAHSHUA MESSIAH is akin to surviving hypothermia on the ice. But Believers have to fight spiritual hypothermia every day of their lives. To stop moving means eternal death.

After two days and two nights on the ice, the men were spotted by one of the ships plowing through the ice. Their ordeal was finally over.

Seventy-nine of the 134 men had frozen to death. Fifty-five had kept moving and survived. It seemed a miracle that any survived. What was so special about those who did? What kept them alive?

The men who survived the Newfoundland disaster did so only because they displayed a blend of strength and perseverance. This blend is called stamina. Those who died were unable to exercise this quality.

Believers need the same spiritual stamina to qualify for the Kingdom of YAHWEH.

Surviving Spiritually

Most of the men who died on the ice were ordinary men with ordinary stamina. They had little chance of surviving.

Most of the people in YAHWEH’s Congregation are ordinary people with ordinary stamina. Of themselves, they have little chance of surviving spiritual hypothermia and enduring until YAHSHUA returns. Elohim chose the “weak” ones of the world so that He might put to shame the strong things (1st Corinthians 1:26-28).

But Believers have an incredibly powerful advantage that unconverted people don’t have. Believers have YAHWEH’s promise that He will rescue us from every trial. The men of the Newfoundland did not know if their ship would come to their aid. Believers know that YAHWEH always will (Psalms 37:23-24). YAHWEH knows our spiritual weaknesses, and He has promised to rescue us when our trials are more than we can take: “YAHWEH is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But with the trial, He will also make the way out, so that you may be able to bear it” (1st Corinthians 10:13).

Once, during the second day on the ice, the men of the Newfoundland could see a ship coming toward them, several miles away. Joy and relief warmed their blood, as the ship made its way closer. But the ship, not seeing them, turned away and soon disappeared. Some men almost immediately fell to the ground and gave up, resigning themselves to death on the ice.

To qualify for YAHWEH’s Kingdom, Believers must go through many trials (Acts 14:22). Unfortunately, some Believers lose faith and give up fighting the problems that confront them. They are like the seed that fell on stony ground: “But he has no root in him but is temporal. And when trouble or persecution comes, he is quickly offended because of the word” (Matthew 13:21).

Even with YAHWEH’s promise, some Believers lie down on the ice and condemn themselves to spiritual death. They refuse to keep moving. Making it to the marriage supper of Yahshua Messiah doesn’t excite them anymore.

Cecil Mouland was kept alive by his determination to marry his sweetheart Jessie. True Believers, too, are determined to endure and be married at the greatest marriage ever: “Because the marriage of the Lamb came, and His wife prepared herself…‘Blessed are the ones having been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” (Revelation 19:7-9).

Cecil Mouland returned to Doting Cove and married Jessie. He, Jesse Collins and 53 other men lived to tell the tale, but only because they refused to give up.

YAHWEH’s people must likewise refuse to give up. We must avoid spiritual hypothermia. We must keep moving!

(NOTE From Elder Don) This is such an amazing true life story example for us today. As we are only just beginning to go into what Scripture calls the worst time the world will ever know, we must, as the people of Yahweh, build stamina and perseverance every day of our life.

THIS DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN! We must condition ourselves every day of our lives, having discipline in our lives to be praying, studying, fasting, and showing self-control in all avenues of our lives.

The Apostle Paul compared our lives as believers to a person running in a race, and to be a professional runner, you must practice every day, and condition yourself to be able to perform for the entire race.

Time is short! We must KEEP MOVING in the work of Yahweh and building Elohim Character and stamina in our lives.