By Carmon Keith
It’s a new week in Portage, Indiana, and Marshal Bundren expects to have a typical day, which means it will be unplanned and “taken as it comes.” At least one thing is constant: he’ll be intentional about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in all his encounters. Today he’ll board a cargo ship that’s just arrived at the Port of Indiana. He prays God will grant him favor with the captain of the ship, and that seafarers aboard will hear and embrace the gospel message. Before Marshal greets the ship’s crew, he stops by the International Seafarer’s Center to pick up some Bibles and packets of hygiene items a missions group assembled and sent to him to distribute. The shampoo, conditioner, razors and other necessities will be well received by the crewmembers. Loaded with these gifts and a heart filled with the purpose to which God called him, Marshal is welcomed aboard the ship and starts to introduce himself. Today a new volunteer from the community is joining him, learning firsthand how equally challenging and rewarding such a ministry visit can be. Marshal knows what that first experience is like. A little more than 30 years ago, fresh out of the military after serving as a military policeman in Nuremberg, Germany, Marshal was longing to again be among people of other cultures. In a service at his church—Ross Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana—guest speaker Casimir Vincent shared about the ministry to seafarers. “We’re greeting people from all over the world,“ he said. “I need volunteers to come and be a friend to these people who are friendless. Just talk to them and play games with them and serve refreshments and such.” Marshal was eager to do so. “I’d been very ‘international’ in my military career, I missed and wanted that interaction again,” says Marshal. “I volunteered with Casimir and it was a fabulous fit. God took me around the world to bring me back to my own hometown.” That volunteer work turned into a seven-year stint as interim director of the International Seafarer’s Center and, in 1984, he became director. In this role, Marshal is a North American missionary, supported by the North American Mission Board, the Indiana Baptist State Convention and the Northwest Indiana Baptist Association. The ships that pull into Burns Harbor bring crews representing 30 nations, so Marshal’s a hometown missionary with a global perspective and experience. Though not a “sea,” Lake Michigan is a major thoroughfare for cargo ships bringing goods from the world over. The Port of Indiana is on the south shore of Lake Michigan, just 30 land miles and 18 nautical miles from Chicago. Ships from all over the world travel the Saint Lawrence Seaway and cross the five Great Lakes—some 2,500 miles—to reach Burns Harbor. Many of the ships in port are carrying or taking away cargo related to the steel industry, which drives the economy of the area. All the ships’ crew members have needs, including the need to hear the gospel and to know Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. Getting that message to them comes naturally to Marshal. “I board ships every morning like a doctor making rounds,” says Marshal. “It’s like I’m switching towns from one ship to the next, never knowing exactly what to expect. I let the captain and crew know of my availability and the resources we have for them—including the use of the Seafarer’s Center—a place to relax, have fun and fellowship, and make phone calls home. “We’ll pick them up from the harbor and take them there—or other places they need to go—free of charge. Most are eager to accept, and that leads to opportunities to share Christ and disciple those who are growing in their faith. Marshal knows how important it is that he not only share the gospel, but that he also nurture in Christian seafarers the desire to constantly grow in their faith. Marshal himself grew up in a home that nurtured a heart for God and grew a heart for missions. In his hometown of Gary, Indiana, Marshal’s young life revolved around the church. He accepted Christ in 1960 and was active in the mission organizations of Sunbeam Band, Royal Ambassadors—and even Girls in Action (GA). “My mom was a GA leader,” recalls Marshal. “So I knew what they were studying and doing.” Those mission education organizations became a source for both information and inspiration, and ultimately a catalyst that helped Marshal accept God’s call to be a missionary in his hometown. Even today, his parents, Lafayette and Oma Bundren, are strong supporters and volunteers of the seafarer’s ministry. The many cherished volunteers who help Marshal love the interaction with the crewmembers. Though they may not know the languages of the men and women seafarers, their hearts are leading them to respond to God’s call to go into “all the world,” and they have learned they can do that close to home. Their desire to witness to seafarers takes them places besides the harbor. It may mean driving crew from the harbor to the local department store in the ministry’s 15-passenger van, or taking them to a ball game at Wrigley Field. Often, it means spending the afternoon surrounded by the sounds of the world at the nearby International Seafarer’s Center. There crew members representing many nationalities and cultures mingle—playing games, phoning relatives, checking the Internet for the latest news from home, receiving and reading Bibles and just getting away from the ship for a time. The boredom and sameness of the ship is replaced with several hours of fun, food, fellowship and a time of hearing about God’s love and plan for their lives. Seafarers are given Bibles in their heart languages, the JESUS film and discipleship materials. Marshal is grateful for Southern Baptists’ generous gifts to the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions because those funds help provide these well-received materials. He also is grateful that he’s part of a larger network of seafarer ministers and missionaries. For three months during the winter, Lake Michigan is covered with ice, and the ships don’t have access to the port. Marshal doesn’t waste that time “off.” He usually ships off to Texas, to assist with the seafarer’s ministry at the Port of Houston. It’s a larger operation, and Marshal is both teacher and learner in this setting. “There is no typical day in my work,” he says. “There is no ‘routine.’ Many people see missionaries as those who go to faraway lands. I am called to witness and evangelize people who come to my hometown from faraway lands. I didn’t have to go far away from home to do missions.”
Carmon Keith is director of Promotions at the North American Mission Board.