Tom Dunn's Last Voyage From Greenock to Glory!
I'm going to represent the Vine Trust at the funeral of Tom Dunn a retired naval architect who was strategic in making the dream of the Trust's medical work in Peru a reality. Some people make an impression on you not by what they say but by the things they do. Tom for me was one of those people.
It was way back in 2001 that I first heard the name of Tom Dunn being mentioned by my colleague Willie MacPherson. Willie had first met Tom when he was the Chief Naval Architect for BAE Systems on the Clyde. Tom caught the vision of the Vine Trust and has helped to make the vision of taking a ship to the Amazon to change the lives of the poor a reality.
For the past ten years he has been our principal advisor in reconstructing the ships we have at present on the Amazon. I have always been amazed at Tom's willingness to help with this work until I learned that all his life he had harboured a desire to serve God in some way in Amazonia. Here was a man who designed ships to be used in war zones now turning his skills to design and redesign Amazon Hope 1 and Amazon Hope 2 in order to take health care to over 100,000 people in the remote Amazon. I truly think Tom believed that God had given him this unique opportunity to use his naval skills in this way.
I remember having a conversation with Tom when we were sailing Amazon hope 2 around the UK in 2005/6. "Tom" I said, "What size of ships do you normally work on?" He stopped for a moment looked at me in the eye, then turning and pointing to a huge war ship berthed in Leith said quite unassumingly " What about that one"
I want to go tomorrow to pay tribute to a man who connected with the work of the trust and through that connection has been able to change the lives of many people in Amazonia for the better, but more than that he has had a profound effect on many people who live in his home town of Greenock through the work of the Bernard Court Mission of which he was proud to be Superintendent, a job which his father and grandfather had before him.
Sadly as we'll say farewell to a great friend of the Trust , we know he is starting out on another life changing voyage. As his ship sails over the celestial horizon, and we say "there she goes", passing from time into eternity and our voices are silenced, others on the shoreline will be singing hymns of triumph and other voices will be heard saying " See here she comes" death for the christian is not the end it is the gateway that leads to a new perspective on the meaning and purpose of living.
Posted By: The Practice of Prayer Pentecost and Power |& On: 11 Jun 2011 At: 1:13pm
[...] we were conscious that this would have been the occasion when we would have been leaning heavy on Tom Dunn to tell us what to do. However we are grateful to Robert Thomson who worked with Tom for his help [...]