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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ001134A
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00:26 The island of South Georgia located near the bottom of the 00:29 world in freezing Antarctic waters is one of the most 00:32 inhospitable and remote places on planet earth. 00:36 (ice falling, wind blowing) 01:01 No humans live here permanently. Conditions are just too harsh. 01:06 But yet South Georgia is teaming with life. It's home to 30 01:11 billion breeding birds, millions of seals and five separate 01:16 species of penguins including the largest colony of king 01:20 penguins on this planet. South Georgia's rugged coastline, 01:25 formidable snow-covered mountain peaks and blue glacier ice were 01:29 the scene of one of the greatest survival and rescue stories of 01:34 all time. And although it happened a hundred years ago 01:38 it still carries a message of hope that's relevant in our 01:42 modern age. 01:44 ♪ ♪ 02:14 Glaciers cover nearly 60 percent of the island. It's located 02:18 roughly 1400 km. from the Falkland Islands and more than 02:23 2000 km. from South America, a distant geographical fly speck 02:30 at the bottom of the globe. Captain James Cook made the 02:37 first landing here on January 17 1775. He named it Isle of 02:42 Georgia after King George III and claimed it for his majesty. 02:47 There are no permanent human residents here today but South 02:51 Georgia and the surrounding islands are home to some of the 02:56 most amazing concentrations of wildlife anywhere in the world. 03:01 The wildlife is varied and abundant. More than five million 03:06 fur seals call South Georgia home. But the island's real 03:11 treasure lies in its birdlife. More than five million pairs of 03:15 macaroni penguin nest on the island. But the macaroni 03:20 penguins aren't without neighbors. South Georgia Island 03:25 is home to the world's largest King Penguin rookery consisting 03:30 of around half a million birds. King penguins are extremely 03:35 faithful birds in the penguin world having only one mate and 03:40 staying faithful to that partner Breeding is not an easy affair 03:46 either with couples only producing a single egg every two 03:50 or three years. When chicks arrive they're extremely well 03:54 cared for, often being deposited in massive penguin care groups 03:58 called crèches. There's not much singing but boy are 04:04 they're loud. But they're not alone on South Georgia Island. 04:09 In fact over 30 million breeding birds of different varieties can 04:16 be found here including not far away in the tall grass the 04:21 magnificent wandering albatross. It might look ungainly on land 04:26 but this magnificent creature has the largest wing span of any 04:30 living bird, as much as three and a half meters. Not 04:35 surprisingly these birds are more at home in the air and take 04:40 off requires more than your average runner. The wondering 04:44 albatross is capable of staying aloft for hours at a time 04:48 without flapping its wings. These incredible birds can live 04:53 for over 50 years and in the days when sail ships traversed 04:57 the great southern ocean they were known to circle the mast 05:02 for days at a time, a symbol of good luck for the sailors below. 05:07 South Georgia was one of the first gateways to Antarctica. It 05:12 became the center of the huge southern ocean whaling industry. 05:17 Several important Antarctic explorers called at the whaling 05:21 stations on their way to the bottom of the world. The most 05:25 notable of these was the great polar explorer Ernest Shackleton 05:31 In fact, Shackleton's name is inextricably linked with South 05:36 Georgia and his story which ends here remains one of the greatest 05:40 feats of courage and endurance ever told. When Ernest was 10 05:45 years old his family moved to London and settled here in 05:50 Aberdeen House, now St. David's in Sydna. His father was a 05:56 doctor and wanted Ernest to follow him, but young Ernest was 06:00 more interested in adventure and exploration. He went to school 06:05 here at Dulwich College in London where his visions of far 06:10 off lands grew and took shape. He was desperate to go to sea, 06:14 and so despite his father's urgings to go to medical school 06:18 he joined the merchant navy when he was 16. Leaving his classroom 06:26 behind, Ernest went on to achieve the rank of first mate 06:30 by the age of 18 and at the age of 24 he was a certified master 06:36 mariner which meant that he could command a British ship 06:40 anywhere on the seven seas. Ernest had a particular 06:44 fascination with the great southern continent of Antarctica 06:49 the coldest, driest and empties pace on earth. It was the last 06:54 frontier for explorers and for Shackleton this harsh region at 06:59 the bottom of the world became an obsession. Shackleton tried 07:04 to reach the south pole three times. In 1901 he joined the 07:10 noted British naval officer and explorer Robert Falcon Scott on 07:15 a difficult trek to the south pole. They got closer to the 07:18 south pole than anyone previously. Their polar party 07:24 reached to within 660 km of the pole but Shackleton fell 07:28 seriously ill and had to return home. And then in 1907 he led 07:35 his own British Antarctic expedition in a nimrod. He got 07:40 closer to the south pole than anyone else in history. He 07:44 reached to within 160 km of the pole before brutal conditions 07:50 forced him to turn back. Shackleton received a hero's 07:54 welcome when he returned home and was knighted for his 07:59 achievement becoming Sir Ernest Shackleton. But in 1911 08:04 Shackleton's dream of becoming the first person to set foot on 08:09 the south pole was shattered when the Norwegian explorer 08:13 Roald Amundsen reached the earth's most southerly point. 08:17 That left one last great Antarctic challenge: 08:33 From the Weddell Sea to the Ross Sea is a distance of almost 08:38 3000 km across some of the most forbidding terrain on planet 08:44 earth. No one had ever done it before and there's a good reason 08:49 Antarctica isn't just cold. The entire continent is covered by 08:55 ice. In some places it's over four km thick. Temperatures can 09:01 fall to almost minus 90 degrees Celsius. Winds reach up to 300 09:07 km/hr and since no one lives here, there's no human help to 09:13 be had if things go wrong. But nothing would deter Shackleton. 09:20 and Dulwich College contains a relic of his greatest Antarctic 09:23 trial. He planned a new adventure that he grandly 09:28 titled the Imperial Transantarctic Expedition. 09:32 He saw his expedition as the last great polar journey of the 09:37 heroic age of exploration. It would be his third attempt to 09:43 reach the south pole and he would need tough companions to 09:46 achieve his goal. Urban myth has it he posted an unusual 09:50 recruitment notice in the London papers: 10:12 Whether the ad existed or not it fired the British public's 10:17 imagination. Shackleton received more than 5000 applications to 10:22 join the expedition. He ultimately selected a crew of 10:26 27. The skipper was a New Zealander, Frank Worsley and the 10:30 official photographer an Australian Frank Hurley who 10:35 go to any length to document the journey. In early August 1914 as 10:44 World War I engulfed Europe Shackleton and his crew set out 10:49 for Antarctica aboard the ship Endurance, named after his 10:54 family motto, By endurance we conquer. Just over three months 10:59 after leaving England the Endurance arrived here in 11:03 Grytviken, South Georgia the gateway to Antarctica. It was 11:07 the first of Shackleton's three visits to the island. Originally 11:12 Shackleton planned to stock up with final supplies and depart 11:17 after a few days on the island. However, due to the unusually 11:21 heavy concentration of pack ice at sea that year, the Endurance 11:26 ended up spending a month here before finally departing for the 11:30 Weddell Sea on the 5th of December 1914. But the ice flows 11:36 grew thicker the further south Shackleton pushed until finally 11:41 on the 19th of January the Endurance became frozen fast in 11:46 the pack ice around Antarctica. For 10 long months the ship and 11:52 its crew drifted trapped within the ice. Ultimately Shackleton 11:57 was forced to abandon ship and set up camp on the floating ice. 12:02 The crew salvaged as many of their supplies as possible along 12:07 with the ship's three life boats and slowly but surely the moving 12:12 ice exerted more and more pressure on the ship's hull 12:15 until finally the Endurance was crushed. The rig eventually 12:22 slipped beneath the surface on the 21st of November 1915. For 12:28 Shackleton and the crew it was their darkest moment. The ship 12:34 that had been their home and their hope was gone. Now they 12:39 were trapped on the ice. Without a ship all hope of reaching 12:44 Vassel Bay and crossing Antarctica was gone. The 12:48 expedition was over. With his dream now dashed Shackleton set 12:55 a new goal, to save every crew member and get them safely home. 13:01 For almost five months Shackleton and his crew were 13:05 stranded on a large flat ice flow with meager food, clothing 13:10 and shelter. Their hope that it would drift closer to land but 13:16 then disaster struck. Their ice flow broke in half and began to 13:20 disintegrate. Shackleton ordered his crewmen into the life boats 13:25 to head to the nearest land. The men had been trapped on the ice 13:30 for 15 months, but now as they launched the three small life 13:34 boats into the open water their real battle was just beginning. 13:39 There was no escape from the sleet and rain that froze on the 13:44 men and supplies making everyone cold and miserable. Their 13:50 clothes became icy armor and their hands froze to the oars. 13:55 The wind and currents made progress very slow. After seven 14:00 harrowing days on the open sea the exhausted men landed their 14:04 three life boats at this uninhabited rocky outcrop called 14:10 Elephant Island, 500 km from where the Endurance was crashed 14:14 and sank. This was the first time they stood on solid ground 14:21 for 497 days. Elephant Island might suit the elephant seals 14:26 for which it was named but it was an inhospitable place for 14:31 human beings and far from any shipping lanes. No one back home 14:36 had any idea where they were so there was no hope of being 14:40 rescued. Winter was also approaching fast and their 14:45 supplies were running low. They were cut off from the world by 14:50 the freezing stormy Antarctic ocean. Unless help arrived they 14:56 were doomed. Someone had to cross the world's most dangerous 15:01 ocean and get help. Shackleton selected five men to accompany 15:05 him. In this tiny 7 m. lifeboat the James Caird. They would risk 15:12 an open boat journey across 1300 km of the roughest seas in 15:18 the world to get help from the whaling station back on the 15:23 frozen island of South Georgia. Shackleton promised his men that 15:27 he would return. He promised to come back and rescue them. Then 15:32 he set out with his crew. As Ernest sailed away he looked 15:36 back at the 22 men he left behind: 15:59 It seemed an impossible task in a small boat through the world's 16:04 worst seas. For days they were huddled under a makeshift canvas 16:08 covering crouching together keeping the bow turned into the 16:13 fierce waves praying the wind wouldn't tear their small 16:17 makeshift sail away. One of the greatest dangers they faced was 16:23 the sea spray because it froze on just about every surface 16:26 threatening to sink their boat underneath an ever increasing 16:31 weight of ice. Several times they risked their lives hacking 16:35 it off to prevent the boat from capsizing and in the midst of 16:40 this immense ocean they also had the real fear that they water 16:48 would run out before they made land. But just as they were 16:56 about to give up hope they spotted the cliffs of South 17:01 Georgia. Gale force winds made it difficult for them to land 17:05 safely. Eventually they managed to get into a cove in King 17:10 Haakon Bay on the south of the island. In years to come their 17:15 voyage in the James Caird would become a legend and be judged as 17:20 one of the greatest open boat journeys every accomplished, but 17:25 they weren't safe yet. Their boat was too damaged to go 17:31 further and they were on the uninhabited side of the island. 17:34 To get to the whaling station for help someone would have to 17:39 cross rugged unmapped mountains and glaciers by foot. Shackleton 17:44 chose two men, Frank Worsley and Tom Crean to accompany him on 17:48 the dangerous climb. They didn't have a tent and couldn't rest 17:52 for long because they could easily freeze to death if they 17:57 fell asleep in the snow. They had to negotiate deep crevasses 18:02 razor back mountains and precipices. They marched 18:06 continuously for 36 hours covering some 50 km over 18:10 treacherous glaciers in order to reach the whaling station at 18:14 Stromness their only hope after 17 months cut off from the 18:19 outside world. When they finally saw Stromness station they were 18:23 wet, exhausted, bedraggled. But Shackleton expressed his 18:27 feelings of relief and thankfulness even though they'd 18:32 lost everything to impossible conditions: 19:00 Initially Shackleton's arrival here at the whaling station 19:05 caused some concern. No one recognized these scarecrows. 19:10 They were filthy, their faces were gray with blubber smoke 19:14 their hair was matted with salt, their beards were a tangled mess 19:19 their appearance was frighteningly bedraggled. 19:23 The first people who saw them fled. An old Norwegian whaler 19:28 led him and his men to the manager's home. The manager 19:32 wanted to know who they were. My name is Shackleton, he said. 19:38 The man was so shocked at their appearance that he turned away 19:43 and wept. That night they slept in comfort, safe from the 19:48 blizzard that had begun soon after they arrived. If the storm 19:53 had hit while they were still crossing South Georgia they 19:56 would certainly have frozen to death. Once again they had 20:00 experienced a miraculous escape but to his dying day Shackleton 20:06 was sure that it was only through Divine providence that 20:10 they had made it to Stromness. He was certain that God had been 20:15 with them all the way: 20:35 Shackleton knew that we need never walk alone. We don't have 20:40 to face life's hardships with no one to help. Shackleton emerged 20:45 from South Georgia knowing that God draws near to those who draw 20:50 near to him. Shackleton made three attempts to reach the men 20:55 on Elephant Island but the ice blocked his path for four long 20:59 months. However, he refused to give up. He'd made a promise to 21:04 his men that he would return. He was determined to save them all 21:09 no matter what. Finally one day the fog lifted, the wind stopped 21:16 and there was an opening in the ice. Quickly Shackleton took his 21:20 chance and ran his ship through this channel. He wondered what 21:25 he'd find back on Elephant Island. One hundred and thirty 21:30 days after he left Ernest Shackleton kept his promise and 21:34 returned to Elephant Island to rescue his men. Anxiously he 21:39 counted the figures on the beach, then he turned and said: 21:48 Not a single life had been lost. They were all there waiting for 21:51 him and he was amazed to find that they were packed and ready 21:55 to leave. He quickly got his men on board and came back out of 22:01 the bay just before the ice closed together again. The 22:05 rescue was completed in half an hour. All 22 men were safely 22:12 evacuated. Shackleton's story remains one of the 22:16 greatest feats 22:17 of courage, endurance and leadership ever told. It's 22:21 called the greatest rescue story of all time. Those 22 men hung 22:27 on those words, I will return, I'll come back and get you. 22:32 That's what gave them hope. They believed Shackleton would keep 22:36 his promise and return. They trusted him. And it reminds me 22:42 of another rescue story, one that would have been familiar to 22:45 Shackleton, one that vitally affects you and me. When Jesus 22:51 Christ was preparing to leave this world he called his closest 22:55 friends and made them a promise: 23:18 That promise that Jesus made, I will come back, is the one thing 23:24 that keeps millions of people going day after day. The return 23:29 of Jesus has given hope to people of all ages for centuries 23:34 After Shackleton had rescued his men and when all the excitement 23:39 was over, he asked one of the men who had stayed on the island 23:55 The man said, Sir, you said you would come back for us so we 24:00 never gave up hope. We believed you would come back for us, 24:04 Whenever the sea was partly free of ice we rolled up our sleeping 24:09 bags and packed our things, saying, Maybe Shackleton will 24:13 come today. We were always ready for your coming. There's a 24:20 lesson there for us today. We should always be ready to go 24:24 with Jesus at any time, any day, any hour. Can there be anything 24:31 more important than being ready to meet Jesus? Jesus promised, 24:38 I will come back and he will. The most important question to 24:43 be settled is are you ready for Jesus to come? Why not draw 24:49 close to him now as we pray? 24:52 Dear Father, we want to thank you for Jesus who died to save 24:58 this world and has promised to come back again for all who 25:02 trust in him. We thank you for his sacrifice on our behalf and 25:06 we place our faith in him as Savior and Lord. And we place 25:10 our hope in him as the ultimate rescuer coming back again to 25:16 take us to be with you. Amen. 25:20 Ernest Shackleton's rescue of the men on Elephant Island has 25:25 inspired and encouraged people all over the world. It's been 25:28 called the greatest rescue of all time. Shackleton promised 25:33 his men that he would return. He promised to come back and rescue 25:37 them. This amazing story reminds us that Jesus has promised that 25:43 he will come back and rescue us. If you'd like to know more about 25:48 the second coming of Jesus and how to prepare for the greatest 25:52 event in history then I'd like to recommend a free gift we have 25:56 for all our viewers today. It's the inspiring booklet Signs of 26:02 His Return. This book is our gift to you and is absolutely 26:07 free. There are no costs or obligations whatsoever. 26:11 So please make sure you take this opportunity to receive the 26:15 free gift we have for you today. Here's the information you need: 26:21 Phone or text us at 0436333555 or visit our website www.tij.tv 26:32 to request today's free offer and we'll send it to you totally 26:37 free of charge and with no obligation. So don't delay. Call 26:41 or text 0436333555 in Australia or 0204222042 in New 26:53 Zealand or visit our website www.tij.tv to request today's 27:01 offer. Write to us at: 27:21 Don't delay. Call or text us now Be sure to join us again next 27:28 week when we will share another of life's journeys together and 27:32 experience another new and thought provoking perspective 27:35 on the peace, insight, understanding and hope that only 27:40 the Bible can give us. The Incredible Journey truly is 27:45 television that changes lives. Until next week remember the 27:50 ultimate destination of life's journey. Now I saw a new heaven 27:54 and a new earth. And God will wipe away ever tear from their 27:58 eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. 28:02 There shall be no more pain for the former things have 28:06 passed away. 28:08 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2020-10-14