Player’s family active in community
- Jul. 24, 2012
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When Cynthia Garrett and her husband Roger Charles moved to Lawrence almost a year and a half ago, they had one thing on their mind: Kansas Basketball.
Garrett’s only son, Christian Garrett, joined the University of Kansas basketball team in January 2011. While athletics brought Christian Garrett to Lawrence, Cynthia Garrett said she and Charles felt that they were brought to Lawrence to help the University in a different way. For nearly a year, they have opened up their home weekly to host a Bible study for KU students.
“The study really started with Christian asking Roger about the Bible and then going to practice and talking with his teammates about what Roger had shared with him,” Cynthia Garrett said. “One teammate in particular, Jordan [Juenemann] asked if he could start coming to study the Bible with Christian and Roger. So the two of them basically began their own little study in our home.”
Juenemann and Christian began inviting friends and classmates. The group quickly grew from two to nearly 25 each week. Cynthia Garrett says she was thrilled with how the excitement spread about their Bible “home-schooling.”
“There were some weeks where we had almost 60 students in our home, and I remember thinking we were going to have to start a church,” Cynthia Garrett said.
For Samantha Wunderle, a junior from Mankato who regularly attends the Bible study, Charles and Cynthia Garrett have been more than just educators.
“Roger and Cynthia are always there,” Wunderle said. “If I have a question or need to talk, they are always open to helping me in whatever way they can. They are just people that I can always go to in Lawrence, which is great because all of my family is at least three hours away.”
Cynthia has also partnered with Wayne Simien and Rev. Leo Barbee, who both have been reaching out to Christian students on campus for many years.
“We want young people to be bold and to not be embarrassed to be different and to be proud of their faith,” Cynthia Garrett said. She credits Simien and Barbee, along with the good nature of KU students with her success as a mentor.
“There are a lot of good people here in Lawrence,” she said. “I feel like we’re a part of something greater here.”
Edited by Allison Kohn
