LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / October 18, 2000

RESERVE – The Rev. Chris Garrett has always wanted to be a foreignmissionary. Now, however, the Baptist minister finds the world coming to hisdoor at the Global Maritime Ministries center in Reserve.

Garrett, originally from north Alabama, came to LaPlace two years ago and relocated to Reserve little more than a year ago to take up this mission work.

Lonely foreign sailors from 96 countries have come in to his safe haven, there to enjoy conversation, entertainment and services, including shopping trips, telephone and computer access.

“The main thing we give away is Bibles,” he said. He related how a Bibledonated from the New Orleans center ended up in Africa, where it passed into the hands of a local man. There, the man became a Christian, and later apastor of his own church.

He wrote the New Orleans ministry to request a new Bible, as his had become rather tattered with use.

Seamen also enjoy shopping trips, especially to large stores such as Wal- Mart. “Wal-Mart’s their big thing,” he said. However, shopping also includes avariety of things.

Recently, a group of Chinese seamen bought 53 dozen eggs to replenish the ship’s store. “Talk about driving slow!” Garrett added.The main thrust of the mission, though, is to share the Gospel, and he brings every tool at his command to carry that out, including his interest in stage magic.

Last week he used a “change bag” to apparently transform a $100 to a $1 bill. The astonished sailor yelled, “You crazy!” as he chased him around theroom to demand his $100 bill back.

The center also includes donated books, magazines, clothing and a game room with a pool table, television and ping-pong. “Don’t play the Chinese inping-pong!” Garrett said. “They’ll tear you up!”Despite his work, Garrett only knows a handful of foreign language words, but expects his two daughters, Erika, 8, and Madison, 5, will quickly learn an amazing foreign-language vocabulary, as they are quite popular with sailors lonely for their own children back home.

However, there’s a grim side to his work. Garrett related how during lastyear’s earthquake in Turkey, a group of Turkish sailors arrived and spoke on the phone late into the night to learn the fate of their loved ones. They alsobought a supply of tents, which they took back to Turkey with them. Sixmonths later he received a letter from one, who mentioned his family was still living in a tent.

Global Maritime Ministries began in 1963 as New Orleans Baptist Seamen’s Service. The name changed in January 1999.Garrett, his wife, Anna, and their daughters live alongside the center, located next to First Baptist Church of Reserve. He still hopes to work overseas,with a preference to Peru.

However, he added, “I believe this is where we’re gonna be for a long time.”To contact Garrett, call 536-6060, or see the website at www.PortMinistry.com

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