Remembering Dan Martin
Dan Martin
Dan Martin volunteered at Canaveral Port Ministry close to 20 years. He was known for evangelizing and baptizing crew.
Funeral:
Saturday, August 15, 2026
11:00 am
Lighthouse Christian Church
1250 N. Banana River Drive
Merritt Island, FL 32952
Mark Wodka reflects on Dan Martin’s impact at Canaveral Port Ministry:
Dan and Marta Martin were volunteers at the ministry long before I arrived. I always loved being around them because of the sheer joy they radiated. Marta made delicious food, and Dan was like an Apostle Paul to me—a true example to follow. I was constantly in awe of how God used him to unpack the gospel message in such a clear, practical way for seafarers.
Dan's favorite verse for sharing the gospel was John 1:12: "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."
His follow-up dialogue usually went something like this:
Dan: "Have you done that?"
Seafarer: "No."
Dan: "Then whose child are you?"
Seafarer: "The devil's?"
Dan: "Would you like to become a child of God?"
That simple exchange regularly led to 40–60 minutes of deep discipleship. I lost track of how many people Dan introduced to me as a new brother or sister in Christ. He even baptized many of them in his daughter's pool in Merritt Island. To this day, I still have crew members who tell me how God used Dan to bring them to faith.
Dan had a unique gift for connecting with people. Approaching seafarers when they are preoccupied with calls home to loved ones can be intimidating, but Dan would walk right up and ask if they were speaking with their family. He’d ask if he could jump on for a second to reassure their family that we were looking out for them. Then he’d gently ask the seafarer if they could chat for a few minutes once they finished their call. More often than not, they would seek him out!
