Memorial Day Update

As our month of planning comes to an end, wanted to share this brief update with you.

Video Update from 05/17/12

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you the amazing night we had last night.  Please watch and enjoy.

April Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,                                                                                                                                           May 1, 2012

Our journey is now complete!  I do not know if sweeter words have ever been spoken!  After surrendering to God’s will for our lives, we set out on 16 months of deputation.  What a life-changing chapter of our life!  God has allowed us to travel through 47 states and share our burden and calling in 118 different churches.  We have seen some of the most beautiful country, attended some of the greatest churches, and met some of the most amazing people.  Without a doubt, God has used deputation to teach us, challenge us, and change our lives in the most incredible way.  I am so thankful for the last 16 months.  However, I am much more excited to begin this new chapter of our life in missions.

April was definitely a high note on which to complete our deputation travels.  Not only were we able to be in some wonderful churches, but I was finally able to do something I have been waiting to do for a very long time.  Two weeks ago, I purchased one-way plane tickets to Lima!  What an adrenaline rush!  After thousands of miles, hours of phone calls, a lot of hard work, and a ton of anticipation, we were finally able to put a date to the work God has called us to.  Thank you to many of you who have been praying about this.  I was able to get an incredible deal on airfare!  We will be traveling with one of our fellow team members up to Canada and will be flying out of Toronto (feel free to insert Canadien jokes here)!  Believe it or not, by doing this, we will be saving $800.  God is so good!  We will be flying out June 19.  Counting down the days is a great feeling!

We have been so incredibly busy this month.  April was a “kick it in gear” month.  We spent a lot of the month preparing all of our legal documents to apply for our Peruvian visas.  What a process!  We had to acquire and authenticate multiple copies of both of our birth certificates, our marriage license, and all of our high school and college diplomas and transcripts.  Getting this done will make May a lot easier and put us well ahead of where we need to be when we arrive in Peru. Between all this craziness, we have been busy packing up our belongings to be shipped and shopping for apartments, and we still traveled!  We were able to be in four churches in Michigan, Ohio, and Arkansas.  Each meeting was a special blessing to us.  I am so thankful for God’s people and for His mercy and provision in all He allowed us to accomplish this month. 

Looking back over our deputation, I am constantly aware of God’s hand in every aspect of our life.  Just to see the way God has protected and provided for us is so humbling.  As I hear of so many families striving to get to their field, I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the people God has put in our path.  I am especially grateful for the new churches that partnered with us in April:  Community Baptist Church in Michigan, Grace Baptist Church in North Carolina, and Gospel Light Baptist Church in Arkansas.  We are at 95% of our support, and I am confident that God will supply the remainder of the support we need before our departure.

Each and every one of you have a part in our ministry.  Whether you support us through your prayers, giving, or both, you make everything we do possible.  Day by day, God reminds me that nothing we do is done by our own strength.  Please know that your prayers are not in vain; but in everything God does through us, from the nine people we saw trust Christ in April to every church that is planted in Peru, you have a part.

May will continue to be a busy month for us as we get our container loaded and spend the entire month doing some intense training and planning for the launch of our ministry in Peru.  We will be posting updates regularly and cannot wait to see what God has in store for us.  God bless you!

Your ambassadors to Peru,

Junior and Jessica Martin

Romans 9:3