Missionary Letters

Robert & Susan Martin - Kingston Prison Ministry

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

1 John 4:9 

How wonderful that we can know God's presence through his Son, the One who did not despise us, weak and weary in our sin, but drew near to us because He first loved us.

Dear friends,

Since July of this year, access into the six federal Institutions has slowly been “normalizing”.  We thank God for these opportunities to again have direct interaction with inmates.  At present we are able to:

  • Conduct monthly chapel services in three institutions

  • I have resumed my weekly one on one visits in four institutions

  • Alpha is once again in full swing at one

  • This week we began escorting inmates to our Sunday services on the street

 
In August I met L. with the goal of assisting his reintegration into the community by accompanying him for Escorted Temporary Absences outside the institution. In the few weeks I knew him he shared with me his faith in Jesus Christ and we had meaningful conversations.  Sadly, L. passed away Nov, 28th at the age of 75, having served 51 years in prison. His faith displayed to me the truth of Colossians 1:27, “Christ in us, the hope of glory”. And isn't this a truth each of us as God's children can treasure?
 
Please pray with us that we will be able to resume facilitating the Alpha course again in the Assessment Unit. It is here the men are new to the prison system and where we have found they are more open to discussion and spiritual interest.  These first introductory conversations are often the beginning of a relationship as we follow them to their next institution where they will serve the majority of their sentence.
 
Thank you for your prayers and partnership as we strive to fulfill the calling the Lord has placed on this ministry. It is our desire to be alert to every opportunity to reach these men with the light of God’s truth and the hope of heaven.
 
We pray that Christmas will allow you times of extra worship and devotion to our Saviour as you celebrate His birth. 

Blessings,
Robert and Susan


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

Gord Martin - Vision Ministries

Greetings to our brothers and sisters at Wallenstein,

Thank you for the gifet of $250 received by our vmc office this month.

I am very grateful for developments in Ottawa. The weekend before last, Heather and I went there to spend some time with our son Chad and his family. While I was there I also spoke at 3 churches and visited a group of pastors on Saturday morning. Two of the churches I spoke at were Chin churches (a tribal group) from Burma/Myanmar. It's so hard for them to live freely here and know that their family and relatives back home are still in a state of war. It's a war that's been going on for 75 years. 

I also had the opportunity of speaking to our new Persian Church there. It's small, and all of the members are from Muslim background. They are meeting at a free Methodist Church. Prior to them agreeing to provide the space for the Persian group I met with the board of the Methodist Church by Zoom. It turns out that two of the board members had a connection with Lakeshore Bible Chapel. One attended Lakeshore as a student and another had a brother who attended Lakeshore as a student!

Last Saturday I met with six immigrant church planters/pastors in KW. We spoke about the challenges faced by immigrant Church Planters and also more explicitly about our diverse cultures. We had a great time together!

Yesterday I spoke to an Eritrean church in Toronto. 

These newcomers to Canada have a vibrant faith and are a joy to work with.

Gord Martin

265 Parkmount Dr

Waterloo, ON
519-501-5933

Raul & Jessenia Espinoza - Hope of Bastion School videos

Hope of Bastion School - Sponsorship Zoom Gathering on Saturday, November 26, 2022

Link to the Zoom recording: https://youtu.be/z4DDieinUBg

Individual Videos on YouTube are linked below:

Independence of Guayaquil Festival at HOB: https://youtu.be/xxEa0ERskx0

A day in the life of S---: https://youtu.be/OGmOI9Rqnbg

Junior High Student letter in English: https://youtu.be/zGpRFZFyjAc

The Greatest is Love and Intzy Wintzy Spider: https://youtu.be/6zrSPoVCcT0

Thank You from the School: https://youtu.be/f3_hK4EuSnM

Raul & Jessenia Espinoza (Ecuador)

Dear Wallenstein family,

Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our family here in Ecuador.

Raul continues to be occupied with his role in the school board and we find it takes up the majority of his time. We feel that it is a challenging role for him, but are encouraged by the progress we have seen at the school and have felt God’s leading in it all.

Jessenia has been working at preparing an information Zoom presentation for sponsors at the school and has been learning basic video editing skills to be able to show sponsors a bit of what life is like in Bastion. She would appreciate prayers as technology is not her strength, even though she has been enjoying the creative side of it.

We are thankful that our boys have adjusted very well to being back here in Ecuador. Tiago has come to love church and always gets excited on Sundays when he gets to go to Sunday school. We are thankful to have a church community that we can both serve in and be blessed by.

A major prayer request for us these days is that once again there has been a surge of violence and crime in the city. There have been several violent outbreaks in the prisons which has also spread to other parts of the city and there have been a number of bombs set off and policemen assassinated. School had to be canceled one day and since then many parents are still uncertain about sending their children to class.  We have also been staying around home as much as possible. Our hearts break for this city and for its people who are living in growing fear of the power of the drug cartels.  Please pray with us for wisdom for the authorities and safety for us and our community in these uncertain times.

Under his wings,

Raul, Jessenia, Tiago and Danilo

Charlotte Martin (Power to Change)

Can you speak at our campus?

Throughout the month of November many P2C campus groups have a global missions emphasis called "GOvember." They promote P2C mission trips, highlight God's heart for the world and encourage students to consider how they can be involved in God's global work. As part of this emphasis, I have been asked to speak at the weekly gatherings of three campus groups. Here's where I'll be.

  • Nov 10th - Wilfrid Laurier University

  • Nov 11th - University of Guelph

  • Nov 25th - University of Waterloo

Pray that God would use me to inspire students to care about what God is doing around the world.

Also, this week (Nov 7-11) I may be visiting a few other campuses (potentially University of Windsor, Western University, Fanshawe College, Brock University) with a teammate from BC to speak one on one with students about global missions opportunities. These visits have been a logistical challenge to set up. Pray for my teammate Evelyn as she tries to make them happen before she leaves Ontario on Nov 12th.

Why do we send students on mission trips?
Mission trips are formational and transformative experiences in the lives of students. Students learn so much about themselves and God as they engage in missions. Below is a recap of our 2022 mission trips.

DESERT RAIN: The focus of this trip was on building relationships with local students through planned activities, running English classes and interacting with students on campus. By the end of the trip, each participant had developed at least 2-3 friends. Justin, one of our staff participants shared how he and a teammate first met a local student on a campus prayer walk. As they continued to meet with the local student they were able to share the gospel, pray with him and even leave him with a Bible in his own language. Thanks to technology, they have continued to keep in touch with him.

NATIONS NEXT DOOR: Participants were invited to Guelph, to experience international (IR) student ministry in Canada. They used lots of creative ways to build relationships with IR students: a bubble tea social, a Giant Dutch Blitz game, an outreach where a former IR student, now a businessman, spoke on balancing faith and career. They ended with a visit to a local farm for a hayride, hotdog roast and of course s’mores. These friendships led to spiritual engagement. Cathy and Betsy used the Perspectives tool to engage Japanese students in spiritual discussions. Andre, met a Brazilian believer for weekly Bible study. IR students joined participants in attending church. We trust these friendships will lead to changed lives!

PRAXIS EDMONTON: PRAXIS created space for participants to grow as missional leaders as they learned to integrate spiritual formation with missional practice. One participant summarized her experience this way: “One of the biggest things I've learned on PRAXIS is the importance of being. I always thought mission trips were about doing, but we can also show God's love in a powerful way by simply being with others and listening with a caring heart.” What a beautiful reminder!

VIETNAM: our team partnered with the local ministry to invite students to picnics, English conversation groups and soccer. Through doing ministry together, our team was able to see students, both Canadian and Vietnamese, gain a desire to share the gospel with friends. Four students came to faith while the team was in country. After the Canadians left a few more Vietnamese students accepted Christ as the local staff and students continued to interact with interested students.

Wallenstein, thank you for helping to mobilize students with your prayers and financial support during “GOvemeber.” Your partnership means so much.