Pastor Doug Wood of Safe Harbor Community Chapel grew up at United Methodist Church in Waldoboro. But around eighth grade, he’d began to stray from faith. It took ten years and four events to bring Doug Wood to his calling. They were: meeting Angela; the birth of their child; and not one but two near-fatalities. Doug went west after graduation at Medomak High, out to Washington State where he joined a wildfire crew. At season’s end, he returned and went into commercial fishing -- seining, shrimping, lobstering, and diving for oysters, urchins, and scallops. In fact, he liked diving so much, he enrolled in a commercial diving school in Houston. On graduation, he joined joined a team installing mobile oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana. And there, whether from frustrations or ambitions, he shook his fist at God and said, “If I die today, I will not kneel on your throne.” Two weeks later he almost lost his life, an accident which he now attributes to God. Doug spent six months mending, then flew north to live with his parents in Bremen because his diving career was finished. At home, he picked up his life of fishing, and in the off season, did carpentry, something he does full-time today. Soon after, he met a woman, Angela. They became parents. And then they married.
My wife was pregnant with our fourth child, and I was shrimp-dragging off Pemaquid Point in February when water temperature were in the low thirties, and the wet-exhaust failed. The boat went straight down, and my sternman and I went into the water without survival suits.
Now, I’d been a commercial diver. Water has never been fearful for me, ever. But a drowning man has three breaths. The first time I went down, it kind of drew me in, and all I could think was, “I’m going to make my wife a widow? It can’t be!”
In things like this, time slows down. With the second breath, I barely make it to the surface because I have full Carhart insulated boots, plus all the carbon monoxide I’d taken in which was weakening my muscles.
I went down again. This time I was in the water longer. Needles were all over me, and it was the darkest, most demonic water I’d ever been in, and it was pulling me down.
When I came up for the third time, I could see our life ring, floating about twenty feet away. I believe it was the hand of God that moved me those twenty feet because the next thing I knew, my hand was going through the ring. Russ Nesbet pulled us out.
I had lost my boat, and I’d never gotten insurance for it. It could have been a time of remorse. But that night, our pastor came over with pizza, soda and chips and said, “We’re going to celebrate because we can get a new boat, but we can’t get another father or husband. You are alive. And we are celebrating that!”
Soon after, I said, “Okay, God, if you’re going to get serious with me, I’m going to get serious with you.” I said, “Lord, I want to go to war, a spiritual war. I want to see marriage restored and the unborn child to see the light of day. I give You my life. I give You everything in me, whatever is required to make me into a man that is valuable to you.” And that was the beginning of God getting a hold of me, a simple man, and molding me into preaching man. Me, a fisherman who started a young life of pride and selfish ambition.
But the pride of a man doesn’t always want help. There was a lady in my parents’ parish who offered to hold three shrimp dinners for me. We’re always told it’s better to give than receive. I didn’t want to be a poverty case. It was so embarrassing.
It humbles you to be given. But like it says in Luke, “He who is given much, is expected much.” They raised enough money to raise the boat and put in an engine that Raymond Carter had rebuilt. It was amazing how God provided. It brought me humility. And I was the young man that shook his fist at God, which is pride.
What comes with humility is grace and mercy and forgiveness. You’ll hear people say, “If I went to church, the roof would fall in on me.” The enemy wants to convince us that we must clean ourselves up before we can go to church. But Jesus is the only one who can clean us up. It is the greatest privilege now to come into this space to support and encourage other broken, hurting parents and children to find peace, love and joy which are the fruits of the Spirit.
The last thing Jesus ever said is: “Go make disciples.” I am an evangelist. When the elders at Boothbay Baptist Church discipled me and sent me to start my own church, I knew the name of our church before we even got our first space in Bremen. We’re creeping on twelve years now.
A harbor is a place where you come to be refreshed, to resupply, to refocus before going out into the next storm. Safe Harbor Community Chapel will always be a place where you can find community, fellowship, support and encouragement in a godly environment, no matter what storm you’re coming out of.
This space here used to be the VFW. The American flag always flew on that pole, and it still flies, because for us Christians, we see Christ in the red stripes of the flag, and we look at the stars and think of creation. I like to think we are a star that people can navigate by.
Back in October, the Holy Spirit told me, “I want you to get an Israeli flag and put it up,” and I procrastinated. But a few weeks ago, I was preaching about that, and on Thursday, there was a flag in the mail to me. An older man who has a love for Israel said, “Here it is.”
The reason I have so much interest in Israel is because I believe in “End of Days.” And we are going into difficult days. America was brought into existence in these last days, to preserve the nation of Israel and promote the Gospel, and to fulfill the great commission. Scripture calls for us to pray for the peace of Israel and to be in support of Israel.
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