Russ & Meredith Martin

Bringing the gospel to the deaf in Nigeria

Here's the most recent finished product by the Nigerian team producing the Four Spiritual Laws in sign language.

WBC Friends, your partnership is enabling the gospel to go to new people and places. Here's a recent example that shows the long-term work we do of championing great commission innovation so that more people can know and follow Jesus.

Back in 2018, a member of our Indigitous Nigeria community began to engage a group of deaf individuals seeking to serve them. The deaf community expressed that they needed help creating digital tools to better share the gospel.

During our hackathon in 2019 the Indigitous community used simple camera phones to make a video version of the traditional Four Spiritual Laws tract, which is still effectively used in many contexts.

Finally in 2022, the local community raised resources to make a studio quality video. It was truly a community effort to produce the video, integrating folks with many talents to make the final product. The team is now working to distribute this gospel resource across Nigeria, West Africa and amongst the global deaf community.

We smile at the four-year journey to "pioneer a missional gap." We praise God for the fruit that is born as new people can experience the gospel in their heart language. This is truly at the heart of our work in leading the Indigitous network globally. Without your partnership, we couldn't do it.

Thank you,

Photos from summer in North America below:
A. Nature-loving Gwen catches a fish with 'the fun uncle'.
B. Russ and Meredith short getaway to Ottawa
C. Dressing like Great-Granddad for his 90th birthday.

P.S. We'll write with a more detailed family update in a few days.

Raul & Jessenia Espinoza

Dear Wallenstein family,

Thank you for your prayers for travel mercies in going back to Ecuador!

August 10th we traveled back to Ecuador safely and without incident, and have been adjusting to the heat and the different rhythm of life in Latin America. Raul is now able to have in-person meetings in his role as president of the school board, and feels he is settling into his position.

Ana, Liss and Patty (3 El Salvadorian women) have now moved here to Guayaquil and are also getting settled in and Raul has been meeting with them often to plan how they can support the ministry at the school. Ana and Lis have had years of experience running a Christian school for the deaf in El Salvador and we are excited to have access to their wisdom and expertise as we make some changes to the school’s organizational structure. Patty has studied psychology and is passionate about working with at-risk children and their families. We are so happy God saw fit to make it all possible for them to join us for a while. Please pray for their adjustment to Ecuador and for God to continue to supply the necessary support for them to continue with us.

We would like to ask for prayer as well for a crisis in security that Ecuador (and specifically Guayaquil) is facing. It appears the drug cartels from Mexico have connected with the gangs here in the city and have been amping up the violence as they struggle for territory. People are scared, as crime has started to extend to the general population. Please pray for the authorities to have wisdom how to handle this situation and that our community would stay safe.

We really value your prayers in all of this.

Blessings,

Raul and Jessenia

Trevor & Hannah Martin - Power to Change

Scholarship Update 

A few months ago, we told you about a scholarship program that our ministry has been building the last couple of years. This year we are excited to announce that we had 372 applicants and 42 scholarship recipients who were awarded a total of $32,000. The whole point of this scholarship is to help students think through how they can grow in their faith and get connected into Christian community as they enter into post-secondary eduacation. Praise God for how this scholarship program is growing! More details and the list of recipients can be found here.

Quotes from Students 

Towards the end of the school year, we sent out a survey to students involved in P2C across Canada. We wanted to share with you a few of the quotes we received about how God is working in their lives. Thank YOU so much for being a part of impacting these students in their faith and lives.

"God has been working in me as I heal from loss and abuse. I am coming to know his grace and the freedom we have in him."

"I was suicidal but I was able to start therapy and learn about myself. I have better coping mechanisms and I have even been able to tell my parents about what I was going through."

"I have grown deeper in my faith and I am emboldened to share my faith with other students and the world"

Remembering Grandma Frede

On Friday, July 22, my (Trevor's) grandma passed away peacefully at Hospice Waterloo Region. Grandma was 99 years old! She had been in reasonably good health, but declined significantly in recent months. Grandma will surely be missed! We will miss her glowing smile and sense of humour. If I ever did something for her she would say "thanks a million". She loved to play the game of Parchessi and it was a joy to play with her. She had great faith in God and was a tremendous supporter of missions. Here is her obituary and some fond memories can be seen below.

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Kid Corner

Trevor and his sister Lynette at Grandma's 90th Birthday

Grandma's 98th Birthday

Playing Parchessi with Grandma. She would always say "I play to win!"

Even in her 70's and 80's grandma would step up to the plate at our Annual Frede Baseball Game and she could still hit the ball!

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

Robert & Susan Martin - Kingston Prison Ministry

Dear praying friends and family,

We are excited to share with you the news we received a couple of days ago.  Federal institutions will be re-opening to part time chaplains as well as volunteers like ourselves. Family visits for inmates will begin again and “normal” routine will resume.  

We are thrilled and thanking the Lord for this open door. It has been a long time coming.  

Please pray for continued positive relationships with the chaplains and staff as we reestablish the opportunities available to us. We also want to adapt and be flexible for any new ways we can assist chaplains as we serve.  

We so look forward to sharing “in person” the good news of the gospel and the reliability of an unchanging sovereign God and his kingdom.

Please continue to pray!

With thankful hearts,

Robert and Susan 
 

1 Corinthians  2:1-5

"And I, brethren, when I came to you…I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified… that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 

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

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Gord Martin

Greetings to our brothers and sisters at Wallenstein,

Thank you for the gift of $250 sent to us this month. You have been so faithful over so many years, a double thank you!!

Thank you too for your prayer support for Indy who has now escaped from Burma to India. When i last spoke to him he was in the hospital undergoing medical treatment. His health continues to be a big concern. Our prayer is that he will find a way to get the travel documents required so that he will be able to return to his family in Winnipeg.

Heather and I were in Ottawa on the weekend. We stayed with our son Chad and his family. Had a great time with them! I also was visiting churches and church leaders while I was there. On Saturday morning I met with the leadership group from a Karen group, a tribal group from Burma. Almost none of the adults spoke adequate English, so our whole meeting took place by interpretation. I then met with a group of 10 or 12 pastors and church leaders for an Ottawa network meeting. We had a truly excellent time discussing the issue of race, as it relates to churches and church leaders. At the end of our meeting the host of the pastor who hosted us invited the group to continue to meet together for a monthly prayer time. It was an excellent next step!

On Sunday I spoke in the morning to an African group, mostly east Africans. They put on a tremendous Father's Day program! I then spoke at the Persian church which was having their third service. After that I met with the Eritrean church in a park which has been supporting the Persian church with administrative financial support.

It was a full weekend but truly excellent time,

Gord Martin

Vision Ministries Canada