• BC Christian News • JULY ISSUE 2000 • VOL. 20 #7 • Formerly "Christian Info News" •

Retiree has ministry to sailors
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By Norm Olsen

FOR MANY, retirement will be a time to kick back, relax and catch up on all the leisure activities foregone while working nine-to-five and raising kids; time to travel to warmer climes, indulge in more fly-fishing, golfing or lawn bowling. However, some people find their time of retirement just as busy as when they were working. Tom Walker belongs in this group.

Walker, who retired from the Delta School Board many years ago, is consumed by a ministry that has him visiting some 500 ships a year, bringing the message of the gospel to sailors from many nations. His ministry to sailors began in 1978 when his wife Clara commented that sailors walking past their home might need to hear the gospel. A new ministry started and would, in 1983, be officially registered as the Fraser River Sailors Ministry.

Walker has always had an interest in missions and evangelizing. This calling was nutured by his father, who had young Tom accompany him to hand out tracts at Royal Columbian Hospital and door-to-door in New Westminster when Tom was 12. That calling was fine-tuned at the Vancouver Bible Institute in the late '40's, and then honed pastoring churches in Enderby, B.C. and Saskatchewan in the '50s.

Fraser River Sailors Ministry takes a practical approach. In addition to visiting the ships and handing out Christian literature, Walker offers sailors Bibles and other books in their own languages, as well as the Jesus video. He visits ships docked at Surrey Fraser Docks, Annacis Auto Terminals, Fraser Wharves, Roberts Bank and Deltaport.

Many of the sailors are from the Phillipines. Sailors from Korea, China, Japan, Myanmar, India and Europe also visit regularly. This contact has given Walker the ability to exchange a few words in their respective languages, and break the ice on his first visit.

The ministry is supported by churches in the area, and by a few faithful individuals. Operating costs have been kept low as Walker receives no salary for his work. Campus Crusade, Gideons, Evangelical Tract Distributors and donations from local churches supply the resources the ministry needs to reach out to the men on the docks in Surrey and Delta.

Christmas is a busy time for Walker. During the holiday season, he appeals to churches for gift boxes to be filled with sundry items to give as gifts to the sailors. Writing pads, socks, candy, toiletries and other small gifts are gratefully appreciated by sailors who are far from their homes at Christmas.

The ministry conducts Christmas services, complete with carols, stories and a salvation message, on the ships. Last Christmas, Walker performed 48 services for sailors docked on the Fraser. At a January 9 service for Ukranian sailors, a dozen sailors stood to accept Christ. The men had been treated to a program in their language, which included the story of a ship's atheistic captain who accepted Christ on his deathbed. Some translating by the first officer and the captain helped to get the message across.

Walker's idea of retirement is more like the apostle Paul's than the contemporary idea -- usually played out in TV ads, of retirees lying on tropical beaches with colorful drinks in their hands. Paul kept evangelizing until his martyrdom and, from his dungeon in Rome, he wrote his second letter to Timothy, charging him to continue preaching the word and to endure hardship. In his ministry to sailors, Walker likewise influences and motivates believers to carry on the Lord's work regardless of age or circumstance.

Call (604) 543-9784 or write #1 - 11965 - 84A Avenue, Delta, B.C., V4C 2T3.