Russ & Meredith Martin

Life Under Lockdown in Singapore

This week our team is hosting 5 webinars on 5 continents this week. Already 1,084+ people have signed up from Asia, Africa, Europe, North America and Latin America. We need your prayers as it will be a crazy week.

Please pray:
- For stability on the homefront as our kids have 'virtual classroom' this week and we need to guide their learning and keep them occupied.
- For energy as coordinating these webinars will require early mornings, late nights and middle of the night working across timezones, all while working from home.
- For the technology to "just work" as people connect from around the world and join these equipping times.

Our webinars will help people figure out new ways of doing ministry during COVID-19 and answering these questions:
- How do we reach people online?
- How do we disciple people online?
- How do we do church online?

Feel free to sign-up and spread the word.

A little over a week ago, we thought we would be spending our kids' school holiday (this past week) unplugged on a family vacation in Indonesia. Instead, our trip was cancelled because of travel restrictions and we staycationed at home while mobilizing a team around the world to respond to an urgent ministry opportunity.

None of this would be possible without your prayer and financial support. Thank you for continuing to stand with us in leading the next generation of digital missions.

COVID-19 Brings a lot of Opportunities

We hosted a webinar for churches to learn about to setup online streaming

Your parternship is helping us serve the body of Christ in finding new ways to do ministry amongst the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Three weeks ago I mentioned to my colleague that we should pull together a team to serve the churches in Singapore by offering a online seminar (webinar) to help guide those facing cancellations and decreased attendance by livestreaming their services online.

In less than a week, we pulled together a team, spread the word and had over 250 people attend from 130+ churches. We were able to provide practical tips and perspective on what it means to continue to proclaim the gospel during these uncertain times. Participants even joined from as far away as Mongolia and are now training others with the content. We published a guide here.

This week, as the situation worsened in the US and Europe and our teams scrambled to produce a ministry guide of best practices for how to minister at a distance that has been circulated all around the world. It includes some good links to ready-made content to share on the topics of fear and anxiety, whcih are so relevant right now. (You might find it helpful to pass along to your church leadership and pastors or share on social media).

Next week, our team will plan to deliver 4 more webinars, one for each of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America over the next 10 days to help people looking for new ways to minister when it's not possible to meet physically together.

For years, many of our digital teams around the world have wrestled feeling pushed to the sidelines of ministry by those who believed (or acted) as if digital strategies didn't have a place to help in the Great Commission. Suddenly, this past month, demand has been strong and ministry leaders are receptive to new ideas.

As we've begun 2020, we thought we would be attending two key missionary gatherings in Thailand and planning a major Digital Missions Summit in Singapore. Those have been cancelled or put on hold. The Lord has had different plans for how we can best serve his body.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us in leading the next generation of digital missions.

Update from the Martin's

Enjoying continental Southeast Asia’s most southern point.

Your prayers and support for our family are so meaningful. Here's what is happening in our life so far in 2020.

Highlights
- We moved 35km from the east to the west of Singapore. We are now within walking distance of the kids' school and a train station. All around our quality of life has gone up and we are enjoying meeting lots of young familiies in our new condo complex.
- Meredith's parents and Russ' dad and sister visited in January. We enjoyed making special memories and showing everyone around Singapore. 
- Heath and Wyatt have birthdays in March and we are having fun celebrating their milestones.

Lowlights
- The father of Wyatt's best friend at school died suddenly from a stroke this weekend. We had just started getting to know the family and less than a week ago had a meaningful trip to the library together. As far as we know they are not followers of Jesus. Pray for us as we seek to journey with them during this season of grief.
- Two of our closest "friend families", one from Australia and one from America have moved back from their assignments in Singapore. It's hard, especially for our kids, to invest deeply in friendships and then experience the change and loss of these relationships.
- Covid19... all the extra restrictions, precautions and attention required to navigate living near the epicenter of this global outbreak. Early in the outbreak there was a run on groceries and staple items here with wait times exceeding one week for deliveries.

As you pray for us, please ask the Father for His strength to be resilient amongst the various relational changes and losses, expecially as we guide our kids through them. It's a price we are learning to embrace as part of being Christ's ambassadors in this part of the world.

Thank you for continuing to stand with us in leading the next generation of digital missions. We'll update you on our ministry highlights soon.

P.S. Here's a great music video we have been enjoying: Living Hope

Photos below:
Enjoying the waterfall at Changi Jewel
Cooling off at the water park
Celebrating Heath's 4th birthday

YFC Update from Jenn!

God is so good!

As I finished writing up some paperwork at the end of a Tuesday night drop-in, B, a student who has faithfully attended drop-in for the last 5 years, turned to me and said this:

“Jenn, I have no idea what I would do without this place. This is the place I’ve grown the most. You, Mel and Ainsley have impacted me so much. I want my kids to come here. I won’t force them, obviously, but I want them to have a plce they can go to and people they can talk to when I’m not around. I don’t know what I would do without you guys.”

Wow. A couple of weeks later as she finished organizing the snack bar, B turned to me and said, “Jenn… I love you!” This girl has experienced more pain than I can even imagine. As I type this, I’m beyond humbled to know we are people B can trust and turn to. What a blessing and absolute gift it is to walk alongside students and have them know they are loved and cared for. This is a small glimpse into what God is going in Listowel.

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On top of our regular program time, here’s what we’ve been up to the last couple of months!

• We took 40 staff, volunteers and youth to the Today’s Teen conference (shown above!)

• Eastern Regional Retreat in Cobourg with YFC staff was encouraging, challenging and refreshing; it was great to connect with other YFC staff

• Coaching the senior girls volleyball team; it is a gift to have a voice in these girls’ lives

• We took a group of students downtown Toronto for TOOLS, a program to learn about homelessness, meet people who live on the streets, and volunteer at a shelter (shown above!)

• We’re averaging 35 youth a night at drop-in!

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Some lovely staff from Southwestern Ontario Youth For Christ!

Prayer:

• In July we’re going camping with a group of girls from the drop-in centre! We long for this to be a time to come away from distractions, cell reception and social media. We want these girls to experience the very presence of God. Pray for us as we plan the details of the trip and that this would be a transformative time for the girls.

• Addictions, mental health decline and navigating relationships continue to be regular conversations at the drop-in centre. These kids need the hope that is only found in Christ!

• Pray for the Long family as they mourn the loss of a daughter, sister, niece, and friend.

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Thank you for your support, encouragement and prayer as you journey alongside me in what God is doing at Youth For Christ. It’s an honour to serve in His kingdom.

Update from Mercy Ships

Hello Wallenstein Bible Chapel

Over the last month I have been busy repairing and maintaining the various off ship buildings and equipment. At the hope center there is now approximately one hundred and twenty people living there with patients and caregivers, so things will start to break down. The Hope center is now a busy place with dozens of children running around the courtyard in full leg casts and walkers as well as young adults playing sports in casts and bandages as part of their physical therapy it is an amazing place to be working. I thank God for this amazing opportunity to serve him!

I have been able to spend more time with the patients at the hope center as work slows down and allows me to be able to interact with the caregivers and children who are recovering from their Orthopedic surgeries and maxillofacial surgeries. I have been blessed with many positive interactions the crew and day crew alike. I am constantly amazed at the healing and hope God is bringing to the people of Senegal. 

Eye surgeries are well underway. We have done over two hundred cataract procedures as well as other various procedures. The field service is over half way done now - we are on the home stretch! with hundreds of people having received free life changing surgeries! there is still approximately three more months of surgeries left here in Dakar, Senegal. Please continue to pray for the people of Senegal and the volunteers aboard the ship! I have attached some pictures to give you all a glimpse of what mercy ships does here. Some of these pictures are from previous field services as there are limited before and after pictures of the patients here as they are still recovering from their surgeries.  

I thank you all for your prayers and support. It is very much appreciated! We have found out that the next country we will be going to is Liberia. They are recovering from civil war and the Ebola crisis and are one of the poorest countries in the world. The advance team has reported that there is only 2 dentists for the entire country and their healthcare system is very underdeveloped. Please pray for Mercy Ships as we start to prepare to go there in August. We are also looking for volunteers to fill the vacant positions. I have been asked to come back for the next field service as the maintenance coordinator which would mean more responsibilities and another ten months to a year away from home so please pray for wisdom and guidance so I can understand God's will for my Life.  

In His service,

Luke Martin