Gord Martin - Kenya trip

It's late afternoon in Nairobi. It's been a little warmer than i expected, 26-27 degrees most days. So far we have:

• Spent quite a bit of time with Ishmael, E.D of Vision Ministries Kenya which had been most helpful. Last night we were at his house for dinner. His wife Molline made a huge meal for us!! A Kings' meal!!

• This morning Chris and I both spoke at Hope Chapel which is located in the KIambiu slum, a dynamic young congregation with lots of energy.

• Tomorrow morning at 8:30 our classes begin. Trainees are coming from all over Kenya. I have been reading their testimonies in preparation for our time together. God has done amazing things in the lives of these people.

• The Ugandan teacher we were expecting to join in teaching with us is not coming after all. That's a disappointment. Chris and I will now be doing all of the teaching.

Please pray that our teaching will be effective and that our relationships will gel - magnificently!! See my Facebook page for some additional photos. The elderly lady below has been a great prayer warrior.

Russ & Meredith Martin

What does "majority world" mean?

Defining Mission Terms

Dear WBC Friends,

Did you know that widely-used mission terms like ‘the 10/40 window’ and ‘unreached people groups’ originated from Lausanne Movement congresses?

Currently, Russ is leading a team responsible for all the marketing, communications and digital strategy leading up to the Lausanne Movement's Fourth Congress on World Evangelization in Seoul in 2024.

Lausanne Movement gatherings have a long history of nurturing the language of missions. In keeping with this tradition, Russ' team has started a new short video series called ‘Difficult Mission Terms’. In this series, key missional terms are defined in an easy-to-understand way.

The first videos of our series have been released, including ‘polycentric’, ‘Majority World’, and ‘orality.’

Your support enables us to bring the leadership energy and creativity to lead teams in being at the forefront of defining and redefining missional language for our times. Thank you for your partnership in bringing the whole gospel, through the whole of language, to the whole world.

Our new address:
30 Sturdee Road
05-01 Kerrisdale
Singapore 207852

Photos below:
A. Meredith being youthful on her 39th birthday.
B. New flat, new reading spots.
C. First day back-to-school.

Charlotte Martin (Power to Change)

Fall retreats are happening in person this year! I'm currently at a Summit retreat north of Kingston ON for 120 students from Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. There are 3 other similar retreats happening in other locations in Ontario and Alberta this weekend.

We've already had 2 great sessions about "What is the gospel?" and "Who is the gospel for?" This afternoon I will be helping with a workshop on global missions. Here are some ways you can join in praying.

Today:

• Pray for workshops this afternoon, that they would help students grow closer to God and be stretched in their faith.

• Pray that during free time students would have fun with their peers and deep friendships would grow.

• Pray for our session tonight as students and staff will be invited to lay down the things that are holding them back from fully following Jesus.

As students return home:

• Pray that students would be excited to apply what they have learned.

• Pray that Satan would not steal what God has been doing in the lives of students this weekend.

Wallenstein, thanks for standing with us in prayer.

Last night's sunset!

Raul & Jessenia Espinoza

Hello dear Wallenstein family,

Thank you so much for the interest shown towards sponsorship in the last couple of weeks. We have had a number of students get sponsors from Wallenstein and the amount of funds that will be coming in from that is approximately equal to one teacher’s monthly salary. Thank you! This is a big help and blessing for the school. We still have 19 students without sponsors, and would still love to connect them with someone. Just send us an email and we can get you the information!

Raul has continued being heavily involved in meetings about school organization. He and the school board and the El Salvadorian women who are here as consultants have been busy writing up job descriptions and defining roles and chains of command- things that had not been formally in place before. We would appreciate continued prayer for wisdom as they formulate these things and prayer that the new protocols can be implemented smoothly.

Recently, we were fortunate to have a visit from Ron and Susan Letkeman from Wallenstein. It was wonderful being able to connect with them and see them interact with their sponsor child. They were also able to see the completed computer lab, something that they and Wallenstein were a part of bringing into being a few years ago. Our students continue to use and love it, especially this year that they are back in the school after the pandemic. Ron and Susan were also able to bring down gifts from sponsors at Wallenstein. After two years of pandemic with hardly any visitors from Canada, it has been so nice to be able to send physical letters and gifts back and forth from Canada.

Again, thank you so much for your continued support and involvement in the different aspects of ministry here in Ecuador. God has used you as a church to bless the school, camp and our church and we are very grateful. It is beautiful to see how God chooses to use a team composed of people from around the world to do His work.

Thankful,

Raul, Jessenia, Tiago and Danilo

Russ & Meredith Martin

Family Update

Bang. Pause. Bang. Pause. Bang. Gwenyth wondered in and out, the many doors slamming behind her, all day long on our first day at her grandparents' house in Haliburton, Ontario, Canada. The cooler air felt amazing on her often itchy skin. Our kids haven't experienced temperatures below 24 degrees C in four years. Being more familiar with trains and escalators than black flies and dirt roads, our first few weeks in Haliburton county brought the rejuvenation only God's beautiful nature and valued family connections can bring - not to mention the joy from an exhilarating tube ride behind a boat. 

Our six weeks in North America was filled with family vacations, VBS and summer camp, after dinner baseball, a Blue Jays game, wiener roasts in the back yard as well as connecting with many cherished friends and ministry partners. We saw God's hand woven into timing of Russ getting COVID-19, falling ill at 'home' and not on a work trip overseas. Also, God graciously allowed us to see Russ' 99.5 year old grandma before she passed away. Celebrating her life is now a rich memory for all five of us. 

Our kids are third culture kids - they carry a Canadian passport but have grown up in countries they don't fully identify with. The third culture is the space of not quite belonging anywhere. Having memorable connections this summer with cousins, adult church members and kids of family friends is a gift that I trust God will use in their lives to provide a sense of grounding.

We are back in Singapore and our upcoming season will include more hosting and connecting deeply in community as the restrictions for doing so have lifted.

• We've moved to a more central to an apartment that can better accommodate having others in our home.

• We will be involved in a church plant launching in September.

• Meredith will serve as part of the women's leadership while continuing to spend time creating artwork and caring for the home.

• Our kids will start some new sports programs and deepen friendships at church and school.

Russ has continued leading his two global teams amongst all the travel. Two weeks ago, just hours after arriving in Singapore (after a 36 hour flight delay) he hosted his core Indigitous team and then colleagues from Lausanne the next week.

WBC Friends, thank you for your continued prayer and support of our family as we lead the next generation of missions from a base in Singapore. I (Meredith) would love to connect with you, so please reply if you have a few minutes to update me on your life.

Our new address:
30 Sturdee Road
05-01 Kerrisdale
Singapore 207852

Photos below:
A. Last visit with GG Frede
B. Tea time at GG Martin's farm house. Gwen stayed outside with the dogs.
C. Beach week with cousins.