ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS at Pier 17 of Honolulu’s harbor, beyond a gate that separates ship workers from residents and tourists, Dr. Craig Nakatsuka ’75 can usually be seen directing volunteers and overseeing a makeshift medical tent. 

The ministry, Seafarer’s International, serves poor fishermen from southeast Asia who, according to an investigative report by the Associated Press in September 2016, operate under dangerous and inadequate conditions for months or years at a time. They aren’t allowed on land because they don’t have visas. Only at the pier can they receive medical care and an opportunity for spiritual encouragement.

Dr. Nakatsuka has been serving with the ministry since spring 2016, when he says the Holy Spirit prompted him to pray for and reconnect with a pastor friend who invited him to join the ministry.

The first in his family to attend Wheaton, Dr. Nakatsuka has worked in internal medicine at Kaiser Permanente Moanalua Medical Center in Honolulu for 34 years. He has also volunteered once a month for 25 years with an addiction rehabilitation ministry. 

“Wheaton College was foundational for me academically, but also in my extracurriculars, in learning how to model the Christian life through serving others,” he says.

Since being exposed to global learning opportunities at Wheaton, Dr. Nakatsuka has wanted to make a greater global impact through his medical work.

“With my job and my four boys, I’ve never made it on short term medical missions trips that many of my peers have done,” Dr. Nakatsuka says. “Now, with the ministry to these fishermen from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia, I have the opportunity to do this work from my backyard."