Martin Watkins

Among many things that a person may regret in his life, one of those will never be taking the time to leave a cozy abode, put on some nice clothes, grab a handful of good gospel tracts and a Bible, and knock on doors, both sharing the gospel and inviting people to church.

Substitutes for door-to-door canvassing are as abundant as the numbers of modern Bible versions in circulation today. People often say "taking the gospel to the streets does not work anymore." Could we be so bold as to say that it is not up to us to determine what does and does not work? It is up to us to obey; and when God spoke about taking the gospel to every creature, certainly taking the message of "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" actively to the people of our area fits this requirement.

Martin Watkins rejoices that there was a church twenty minutes from his house less concerned with analyzing whether or not going "door to door" works but was more concerned with taking the gospel out. Martin grew up in the spiritually depressed city of Gary, Indiana, in a brick house tucked away on a dead-end block of Maryland Street. Martin recalls other churches "running buses" into Gary for special events a few times each year. He is thankful that Fairhaven Baptist Church sends workers 52 weeks a year into his home town, and has done this for over thirty years.

It was through the bus ministry that Martin became a Christian, was baptized, and was discipled in the truths of God's Word. Martin's summers were spent at Camp Fairhaven, a summer-long day camp, where Martin heard two Bible lessons and one practical Bible message every day. Dr. McNeilly (for nine months of the year a Bible college professor par excellence and each summer actively involved in Camp Fairhaven) was a special help to Martin spiritually. Several church families chipped in the funds for Martin to come to Fairhaven Baptist Academy, into which he was enrolled in 1998. In 2003, Martin enrolled in Fairhaven Baptist College.

A key influence in Martin's life was Todd Wright, bus captain for over two decades in Gary. Being raised in a single parent home, Martin profited much from Mr. Wright's influence. Martin started off as a faithful bus rider. Then he was brought faithfully to Sunday evening and midweek services. It was when Martin learned the importance of prayer that his life for God began to really take root. Being surrounded by the strongest of the world's temptations forced Martin into a vital relationship with God.

Some say that venturing into the streets and homes of cities and the countryside with the message of salvation "does not work anymore." Martin (and numerous others at Fairhaven) have good reason to disagree with that.