The Wednesday afternoon Royal Ambassadors session at Johenning Baptist Center
in Washington, D.C., begins with the basics.
“Give me a verse,” says Wes Garrett, director of
the center.
“Joshua 1:9 – Do not be terrified, because your God
will be with you wherever you go,” one of the boys answers.
The Wednesday afternoon Royal Ambassadors session at Johenning Baptist Center
in Washington, D.C., begins with the basics.
“Give me a verse,” says Wes Garrett, director of
the center.
“Joshua 1:9 – Do not be terrified, because your God
will be with you wherever you go,” one of the boys answers.
“Psalm 27:1 – The Lord is the light of my salvation.
Whom shall I fear?” another responds.
If there is a common thread to those choices, it is not entirely
coincidental. Fear is a significant issue in the Washington Highlands neighborhood
of Southeast District of Columbia, where illegal drugs are the dominant industry.
However, Garrett insists that the more influence he can have
through Royal Ambassadors and other ministries, the more likely young people
and others are to discover Christ as the ultimate solution to the problems they
face.
“In a word, it would be relationships,” says Garrett,
who has revitalized the ministries of the Johenning center and brought a renewed
focus on evangelistic ministry during the last four years of work. “In
our effort to get them to know Christ, we just get to know them – and they
must get to know us.”
Garrett understands the impact a Southern Baptist ministry
center can have on an individual because he has experienced those benefits firsthand.
While growing up in Newport News, Va., a Baptist Friendship
House provided not only emergency food and clothing on occasion but also a broad
range of programs that shaped him spiritually.
After a stint as a chaplains assistant in the military,
Garrett found himself back at Friendship House – serving in a variety of
roles until he was named director in 1989. He became a Southern Baptist North
American missionary in 1993 and was asked to take on the leadership of Johenning
in 1997.
Since his arrival, Garrett has provided the impetus for a broad
range of ministries focused on transforming lives with the gospel. Center ministries
include a job placement program, a Bible study for senior adults and an affiliated
day care center. But much of the effort is focused on ongoing ministry to the
children, children who face daily crises and family instability much greater
than Garrett could ever have imagined.
“I guess my first love is working with children that need
help,” he says. “I just enjoy being around these children, seeing
them nurtured and seeing them changed.”
One of the children in the Royal Ambassador class has 21 brothers
and sisters by the same father, and he lives with one of his cousins. Another
recently was caught with crack cocaine at school. A third visits his father
every weekend – in jail.
That is why Garrett finds himself at the center well into the
evening on most days, dealing with the group that has become a second family
for many of the children. There is the Royal Ambassador group, a computer club,
and even a “hobby club.” Boys and girls clubs offer a
broad range of activities mixed with Christian education.
“Our desire is that we have a lot of activities going
on for the kids, so they can pick and choose what they come to,” Garrett
says. “Its really a nurturing station, to teach people how to be
Christians. And the children learn.
“They learn through Bible lessons,
and they learn
through the love that we show them,” Garrett notes.
The center also offers a sports program, featuring football,
baseball, T-ball and basketball teams. “We have a requirement that youve
got to be in Bible studies or the other ministries if you want to be a part
of the team,” Garrett notes.
In the summer, Garrett also takes active center participants
to camp, where the 24-hour Christian environment often results in many professions
of faith.
Richard, the 12-year-old boy with 21 half-siblings, first got
involved with the center through summer camp in 1998. Last spring, he accepted
Christ and was baptized. In an essay he wrote for a contest sponsored by Garrett,
he told how much the center had meant in his life.
“I did not know what I know now about God. Brother Wes
taught me a lot about God and that he loves me and gave his son to die so that
we might have everlasting life in heaven,” the young boy wrote in his paper.
“That, to me, just blew me away,” Garrett admits.
“Thats the stuff that brings tears to your eyes.”
Garrett tells of talking with another boy, who asked him if
they allowed fighting in the center. When told they did not, the boy said, “Good,
and thats why I want to come in.”
Those are the comments that keep Garrett motivated, ready to find yet another
way of touching a life with the gospel, he says. “That gives me my energy
and strength, seeing them nurtured like that.”