Robert & Susan Martin - Kingston Prison Ministry

Dear friends,
 
One of the songs we are introducing to the men who join us for chapel services is “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me”. Those who have understood and believed the gospel can sing the truth of these words with thankful hearts.

“No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven
The future sure, the price it has been paid
For Jesus bled and suffered for my pardon
And he was raised to overthrow the grave

 To this I hold, my sin has been defeated
Jesus now and ever is my plea
Oh the chains are released
I can sing, “I am free”
Yet not I but through Christ in me”

As men come to trust the Saviour they can know fruitful Christian living during their time in prison. Some have many years of incarceration ahead of them while others only months. 

Our goal is to help them see the importance of making the most of the present time, and not to wait until they are out of jail before they seek to live for the Lord and serve Him. Their worship now can be meaningful to God and they can gain deeper understanding through personal daily Bible study. Their witness can be effective as they let their faithful actions do most of the talking, allowing meaningful conversations to be guided by the Holy Spirit - knowing wisdom and discernment for the right timing.

Pray for… RM, is a believer, but desperately wants to control his environment resulting in undue conflict with staff and other inmates. Recently the stress of this has required hospitialization to stabilize him. 
K and C have been a great support to each other both spiritually and emotionally. However, recently their relationship has become strained. Pray that Satan would not have success in separating them as Christian brothers.

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Its been a different end of summer and September for us. Susan’s mom, Verna Millson, went home to heaven Aug 22nd.  She was still quite independent, living by herself and driving her own vehicle. It was a sudden and unexpected event for sure. We are thankful for His supply of grace and strength as we grieve, remembering the promises of our future hope and reality.  She was a wonderful mother to us and we are thankful for her faithful example in our lives.

As we sing the last verse to the above song we can’t help but think of Mom. 

"With every breath I long to follow Jesus
For he has said that He will bring me home
And day by day I know He will renew me
Until I stand with joy before His throne.

To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
All the glory evermore to Him
When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat
Yet not I but through Christ in me."

Thank you for praying for us.
Blessings,
Robert and Susan

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

Trevor & Hannah Martin - Power to Change (local)

Discipleship Through Evangelism

A UW student named Jordan has spent his last few semesters on campus leading out in our discussion based outreach called DEEP DIVE. He has grown tremendously in his faith as he engaged in meaningful conversation with non-Christians. Naturally, he wanted to continue doing this, so he was hesitant when asked to take on the greater evangelism coordinator role. Jordan prayed about it, and took a step of faith taking on the bigger role this semester.

In doing so, he's been able to raise up other leaders who have also grown in their faith through DEEP DIVE like Christina. Christina was inspired and excited when she saw how normal and easy conversations can be. And at our booth telling the campus about DEEP DIVE, Joseph grew in boldness as he approached and chatted with students. Praise God for students willing to lead others to help students take their next step towards Jesus!  Pray for students on campus to be open to Jesus as Saviour and Lord of their lives. 

Sunday August 20, 2023

Every year churches across Canada take a Sunday to focus on lifting students up to God in prayer. Over 2 million students are shaping their futures in colleges and universities across the country every year. Will you pray with us that they will meet God in this critical crossroad of their lives?  If you want to help your church pray for students on this day or another Sunday in August, let us know and we can send you resources to help make it easier.

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Family Fun

Clockwise from top left: 
1) A recent family picture.  It's hard to get Avery to smile for pictures
2) Going strawberry picking early on Canada Day
3) A future DJ or construction worker
4) A quick grown-ups picture on vacation

Prayer and Praise

1) Pray for wisdom in how to love the students at the University of Waterloo after the stabbing on campus in June. 
2) Pray for the thousands of students who are preparing to step on a university or college campus for the first time this September. 
3) Praise God that he has opened up a part-time daycare spot for Avery starting in September. 

Gord Martin

Greetings to you all at Wallenstein!

Very much for the gift of $250 that you forwarded to VMC for our support! 

Just this morning I was part of a prayer group on Zoom, we've been praying for Indy who has now been separated from his family in Winnipeg for three and a half years. He was stuck in Burma/Myanmar for about 3 years and now is in India.

He entered India illegally to avoid the very dangerous border crossing, it's now complicated for him to leave India since he "never entered". Nine of us have been praying for him every Friday morning for three years. We are praying that he will be able leave, within a week or so.

Last weekend I was with a group of Nigerians for their annual retreat. It was a very exciting time for them since two of the top leaders of their denomination in Nigeria came to be with them.

One of the leaders said several times over, that in the first 14 years of missionaries coming to Nigeria, starting 130 years ago, there were more missionary graves than converts. But today in Nigeria alone that denomination has 8,000 churches and 10 million members! (this large group of churches is just one "branch" that grew out of SIM, the organization Phil Bauman is serving)

They are so grateful to Canadians because it was from Toronto that those missionaries first went. It's something for us to be greatly encouraged about!

Again for your kindness,

Gord Martin

Phil & Andrea Bauman - SIM

Dear friends, 
We have some very big news to share with you: 
Earlier today it was announced that

Phil will be the next
SIM International Director

The following is the message that was sent to all of SIM earlier today (June 20).

Dear SIM
It gives me great pleasure to send you this email at the conclusion of the voting process for a new International Director.
 
The nomination of Phillip Bauman as the new International Director (ID) of SIM by the Board of Governors has been overwhelmingly affirmed by the Global Assembly and members of the mission. The Board of Governors will give a final ratification of this appointment in the next few weeks. Subject to this ratification, Phil will assume the role of ID of SIM on 1 March 2024.
 
We give thanks to God for His faithfulness and guidance through this whole process. 
Now as a Mission may we be praying

• for Phil in his humble willingness to take on this role; 

• for Joshua and Joanna as they have many meetings and travel in the next few months

• for Phil and Andrea as they have a time of sabbatical and preparation towards the end of the year.

 
With my warm greetings to you all.
 
Gillian Phillips
Chair, SIM Board of Governors

A brief Q&A in light of this news...

Will you need to move to take on this role?
We do not plan to move. SIM's International leadership and services personnel live in a variety of places around the world. The Board agreed there was no need for us to relocate as that would be additional upheaval to an already significant transition.

How are you feeling about being asked to take on this role?
SIM has a very robust search process so we have been prayerfully considering this for many months. The role is daunting and intimidating and Phil feels very inadequate but God has given us a very real sense of peace. We are trusting God to equip us for the journey ahead. 

What will Andrea do?
Andrea anticipates completely handing over her Middle East Personnel Coordinator role to a very capable colleague who has already taken on much of that role. Andrea anticipates continuing to work with Helen in supporting SIM's Personnel Coordinators as well as travelling with Phil.

How do your kids feel?
Our kids have been part of this journey and are very supportive.

Will you still need financial support?
Yes. SIM members raise financial support, regardless of their position. We anticipate increased support costs once Phil starts this role in March 2024. (SIM does cover our basic travel costs.) Your prayers for provision are appreciated.

Will you need to do a lot of travel?
Yes. SIM has a ministry presence in more than 70 countries around the world and so there is a need for the International Director to do significant travel. Given the amount of travel, the Board of Governors is asking that we travel as a couple where it is reasonable to do so.

For prayer...

Praise God

• For the International Director Search Committee that oversaw a very robust, confidential process that was immersed in prayer.

• For the strong affirmation of the nomination by the Bord of Governors as well as the global membership of SIM.

• For the support and encouragement of colleagues and close friends through the search and affirmation process.

• For a clear sense of peace knowing many challenges lie ahead.

• For Joshua and Joanna's leadership while Joshua has been ID for the last 10 years.

Pray

• That God would continue to guide us and grant us his peace as we prepare for this transition.

• That Phil can work effectively with Joshua and colleagues in the coming weeks and months to hand over responsibilities of his current role in preparation for sabbatical.

• For Andrea and her colleague as they hand over the responsibilities for the Middle East Personnel Coordinator role. 

Thank you for your prayers and interest.

About SIM...

• Comprised of 48 member entities in 10 global regions

• Overseeing ministry in 70+ countries.

• With ~4000 workers from 60+ nations

Charlotte Martin - Power to Change

On the road to Ottawa

I returned Tuesday night from my time in Ottawa to visit our Praxis mission trip. Here's how God answered our prayers.

For opportunities to serve and care:

• I got to chauffeur students and staff to different ministry activities as well as their mid-point retreat.

• I especially enjoyed helping one of the trip directors with transportation and childcare needs.

For good connections and conversations:

• I enjoyed a house dinner with the girls house one night.

• I got to have one on one conversations with all the staff during the retreat.

• I had great conversations while hiking and driving with the team.

For opportunities to experience ministry activities: 

• I joined the team for - 1) a prayer walk in a park that sees a lot of addiction activity and homelessness, 2) running a service for low income seniors, 3) learning about creation care and doing a hike in the Gatineau Hills.

For safety:

• I drove over 1000 km without incident.

Wallenstein, thanks so much for your partnership that enabled me to visit this mission trip. I came home encouraged by how God is at work in the lives of the student participations broadening their understanding of what it means to live on mission and be involved in his kingdom work.