Russ & Meredith Martin

Oral Bible Story App Reaches Remote Area

“He’s from a really remote area. When he’s sending us audio messages you can hear crickets in the background because he’s messaging at night time.” One of the teams we are supporting recently relayed a story to us regarding an app designed to help a hard to reach Muslim minority group understand oral Bible stories in southeast Asia.

The representative from the missionary team continued, “This guy sent me a screenshot and said, ‘I’ve listened to 6 of the 36 stories already.’ It’s some guy in the middle of nowhere and you couldn’t really go there if you wanted to.” This team has received multiple messages from users who are interested in conversing about the Bible stories they heard on the app.

This particular group of people is hard to reach, has special language challenges, is displaced by war and politically sensitive. While physically it’s hard to be on the ground ministering to these people, a special app containing oral Bible stories in their language, designed for low-bandwidth contexts, has been distributed amongst some living in refugee camps and in turn is spreading to others, desperate for hope and knowing what God is really like.

For security reasons, we can’t be more specific, but we praise God for how his Word is going forth to new people and places through digital strategies. Many are hearing the good news of Jesus for the first time. Your faithful support enables projects like this. Thank you for your friendship and your partnership in leading the next generation of global missions.

Photos below:
A. First family trip off the island in 3+ years
B. A special weekend together
C. Kids heading to school downtown

Trevor & Hannah Martin - Power to Change

Summer Mentorship

P2C is doing a summer mentorship program (Career-based) to help students and new grads to integrate their faith in their career. Would you or anyone you know be interested in connecting 3-4 times this summer with a student in a similar career? The application deadline is June 6. Click the button below for more info and/or to apply. Feel free to respond with any questions as well.

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Prayer Items

1. Praise God that this spring marks 3 years that Trevor has been out of the hospital and has been mentally healthy since then!

2. Please pray for Hannah's teeth. She had to get a root canal a couple months ago, but she still has pain after the recovery. Hannah has been to many appointments related to this and there has been a growing financial cost. Please pray for a suitable solution/resolution to this.

3. Please pray for our daughter Amelia's faith. She has been interested in various spiritual activities and has been asking good questions. Please pray for us as parents to led her well spiritually and that God will bring her to saving faith, in his timing!

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Kid Corner

Thank you for your support in helping students to discover Jesus!

Robert & Susan Martin - Kingston Prison Ministry

"But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all your works."
Psalm 73:28

Dear Friends,

We trust you are keeping well and that as temperatures rise we can anticipate enjoying more of the outdoors. We are so thankful for God's unending supply of grace and mercy that keeps our outlook full of faith and strong regardless of circumstances. Yes, there are tests, trials and struggles that can become heavy at times, but “the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort” is right there to assist and sustain as we look to Him by faith.

It has been almost four months since Susan’s dad went home to be with the Lord. We graciously experienced the care of our loving Heavenly Father as he guided, directed and supplied for each of us. The promise of our “blessed hope” is poignantly precious once again.

We are also beginning to finally feel settled in our new home and grateful for the close proximity we have to our family in Kingston. Susan’s mom is also settling nicely into her new apartment which is a six minute walk up the street from us.

The federal institutions are still not allowing volunteers access. Chaplains are just now returning with full time hours. Inmates are limited in their movement and have not had opportunity to participate in their programs needed for release. Visits from family members are just beginning this week. Needless to say, there has been added frustration and tension with so many of the restrictions still holding.

Letters and phone calls remain as our only means of staying connected with guys. Through family members on the street we have been able to begin communicating with some new contacts on the inside. Phone calls have barriers as not all guys are allowed to have our office number on their calling list and at only certain times are they allowed access to a phone. Many of our phone conversations are instantly terminated after 20 minutes.

We have been allowed to have a weekly Bible study and fellowship time with men from a halfway house that is within walking distance to our church. There are other adults attending which make it more of a “community feel” rather than just for inmates.
Susan and I have also had the opportunity to contribute to a weekly chapel service aired on a local radio station that allows most of the Kingston area Institutions to receive the signal.

Pray with us that volunteers would soon be allowed to return to the institutions but also pray that “words may be given to us in opening our mouths boldly to proclaim the gospel” to whomever we meet. Our world, not just inmates, is so desperate for truth and light and peace and we know this can only come through a relationship with Jesus Christ. May we be faithful in sharing this good news each day.

Blessings and Love,

Robert and Susan

Our mailing address is:
Prison Minstry, Kingston
PO Box 20051
Kingston, ON K7P 2T6

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Trevor & Hannah Martin

Join us this Sunday, April 24 at either 8:00PM Eastern or 8:00PM Pacific for a special online live broadcast. Our theme is “Carrying Hope” and there will be stories of God bringing hope on campuses across Canada. Celebrate with us and be encouraged as we see how students and staff are carrying the hope of Jesus and sharing it with others.

Online Evangelism

Toward the end of last year, I (Trevor) was reflecting one evening on how I’m not engaged in direct evangelism like I was when I was ministering on campus for a number of years. I began thinking about how maybe I should pursue sharing my faith through online means.The very next morning, the first thing I saw when I started my work day was a post sharing a need for online mentors. So, I expressed my interest in this opportunity and am now in the final steps of becoming on online mentor. I will continue in my role as National Campus Strategies Administrator, but plan to devote a few hours towards this opportunity each week, and see how it goes from there! More details and updates to come!

Family Snapshots

Thank you for your support in helping students to discover Jesus!

Charlotte Martin: "There is a season for everything"

One Chapter Closing, 

Wallenstein, last week I was reminded of the well known verses from Ecclesiastes -"For everything there is a season. . . A time to plant and a time to harvest. . . . A time to grieve and a time to dance" (Ecclesiastes 3:1,2,4).

Recently we shared with the P2C staff that after much waiting, praying and discerning the decision was made by sending partners and local East Asia (EA) leadership to close the current chapter of our EA partnership.

Our EA staff originally left EA for a mid-year conference in January 2020. The emerging COVID situation at the time never allowed them to return and subsequent border closures/restrictions have prevented them from getting back to EA for two years.

The closing of this chapter is bittersweet as we mourn the end of a rich 20+ year partnership. Over the years we sent many mission trips, STINT teams, and long term staff to EA. I myself have been on three mission trips and one care trip to EA (the pictures above are from each of my trips - 2005, 2009, 2010, 2018).

Along with the mourning we also celebrate, because we see signposts that God has been preparing the way for this transition as the EA ministry has been experiencing a deepening indigenization.

Another Beginning,

Although the chapter of our EA partnership is closing for now, our Desert Rain (DR) partnership seems to be starting a new chapter.

This past month in DR, a group of 20 students from 7 different cities gathered for a training retreat. The goals for the retreat were community, spiritual formation and training. Some of the highlights were:

• Students who were isolated meeting other believers, even discovering others who are in the same city as them!

• Seeing nationals organizing the retreat and casting vision for reaching their world with the gospel.

• Students practicing sharing their testimonies and sharing the gospel with one another. One student exclaimed: "Now I know how to share my faith!"

In a place where sometimes we'd go years without seeing much fruit, it seems like a new season of harvesting when we can bring believers together for community, encouragement and training and then send them out eager to share their faith.

MISSION TRIP UPDATES:

• Currently we have 2 international (Desert Rain and Vietnam) and 2 national (Edmonton and Guelph) mission trips planned for the month of May.

• Pray for the approximately 33 students and 22 staff as they raise funds and prepare to go.