Marty and Michelle have been married since May 1990 and have one child, Makayla, who was born in 1997. Makayla is married and has 2 sons.  Marty worked full-time as a diesel mechanic and Michelle as a Nurse Practitioner.  We have been members at Victory Baptist Church in Paris Texas since 2006.

Michelle was saved when she was 7 ½ years old at First Baptist Church in Boswell, Oklahoma during a revival. Marty struggled with his salvation for many years until he finally confirmed it 12/31/09.

So why 5 talents?
Marty is a diesel mechanic but also can do just about anything. He is a license plumber, a welder, can do construction and wood working, electrical work on home or auto, and teaches our youth. I probably left out some skills. He’s really handy to have around and I’m blessed to have him for my husband.  I (Michelle) am crafty and a good wood worker too and also has 25+ years of medical knowledge.
We feel so blessed by God with several abilities and we were talking with our pastor about our heart for missions and he mentioned the parable of the talents. In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus is telling a parable of a man that leaves goods in the care of his servants, and to one he gave five talent, one he gave two, and to another one talent. And it said to every man according to his ability. We feel God has blessed us and feel we should use our talents to multiply His kingdom.  We feel we can serve the Lord by using the knowledge He has given us, whether it be teaching, medical, mechanical, construction, plumbing, electrical, youth camps or sports or really anything else He wants us to do or try; we just want Him to get the glory.

Our Service:

Marty has served on our church Administrative Board for seven years (was elected a Trustee on the church finance council), and served as the church treasurer for three years. Around 2010 we started helping out in our youth group and a couple of years later, he started teaching some Sunday School. In 2015 he became the youth pastor for our church.  We have served as a counselor at youth camps. Marty has been on many work trips to our youth camp and on 7 mission trips to Mexico.  Most recently on a work trip to Mexico Feb 2018 and we both went on mission trip to Mexico Spring Break 2018.

We have both completed 5 courses from Arlington Baptist University thru their RLI (Real Life Institute) distance education program and received our certificates of completion May 12, 2018.

We have been approved thru the World Baptist Fellowship Mission Agency (http://www.wbfma.net/) during the Hilltop Conference April 25, 2018 thru their Short Term Evangelism Program (STEP).  STEP is a program that will sanction believers as Short Term Missionary Helpers allowing them to raise support, get proper orientation, and be united on the field with a host missionary.

More From Marty:

We have given money to missions for years. I let my wife and daughter go on a mission trip to the Philippines in 2013 but I stayed home because I felt that sending my money was enough. My family being out of my touch and my control for two weeks, was when God really started working on me and showing me that I was never in control to start with. I had to fully trust in Him to protect and return my family. When they returned, they couldn’t stop talking about what they had seen and felt, this was some more of God working in me. I still made excuses for not going on mission trips. I would say that I felt that God wanted to use my skill as a laborer and I would go on a work trip if we ever had one. In March of 2015, we had a men’s work trip to Mexico, I had no excuse so I decided to go. It was a long drive and a lot of exhausting work but I was able to see that they needed people just as much as they needed money. We made one trip into the city and I was able to enter into a Catholic Church and see how the people there were misled and my heart was broken for them.

In 2016 I went on another men’s work trip, a mission trip and then small group of us put together a trip to go and minister to the Missionaries, and this was when God really got a hold of me. On that trip, one of the couples that went with us surrendered to the mission field. A few weeks after we got home I could not shake the feeling that God had something bigger for me to do but I didn’t know what it was. I talked with our pastor and then decided to start taking RLI (Real Life Institute) bible classes from ABU (Arlington Baptist University). This helped but the feeling was still there. In November of 2016, I found out that my wife had breast cancer, but this feeling stayed with me. I kept quiet to my wife about what I was feeling because I felt selfish with what she was going through but on Memorial Day weekend, 2017, during church service, my wife leaned over to me and said that we need to be missionaries, this was the confirmation of what I already knew. In July of 2017, my wife and I flew to Mexico and spent a week with our missionary friends, Mike and Christie Starling and was reconfirmed by God that that was where He wanted us to be. Through surgeries and treatments and still leading our youth group, we have been busy trying to prepare for what God is calling us to do.  It was February 2018, on a work mission trip to Mexico, that I got to preach for the first time and after that experience I knew I was called to preach.

I pray at the beginning of every year for God to pull me closer to Him. Over the last several years He has done this, although it has been very painful. God has shown me that no matter what is going on, He is always in control. My wife and I have talked several times about going into the mission field after we retire, or later on, but after finding out that she had cancer, we realized that we don’t have to wait until later or anything else. God has broken our hearts for the mission field and for missionaries. God has also been preparing us our whole lives to do this.

I have been a mechanic most of my life, along with being a plumber, a welder, a carpenter and sometimes an electrician. My wife is also a carpenter and she has been in the medical field for several years, right now she is a nurse practitioner. We both have experience teaching Gods word.

On a small mission trip in August of 2016, we went to Mexico to try and be a blessing to the Starling family. While we were there, we used our skills to do some repairs and upgrades on their home. Seeing the change in their spirits was more that we had expected. I know that we are meant to share the Gospel with those around the world and the help those who are already there sharing. I don’t believe we are called to wait when we know that He is telling us to go.

About Our Vision

Our vision is to be based out of the small village of Huachichil in the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila, Mexico. We believe that we are called to us all of our talents for the Lord. Our main objective is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the villages and throughout the country of Mexico by utilizing our talents.
While we are still developing our language skills, we are also developing relationships in the village along with relationships with other churches in different areas.
We pray for opportunities to be the hands and feet of Christ, by using all of the talents that we were blessed with. We want to not only preach the love of Christ to those that God puts in our path, but to prove it with our lives.
1 John 3:18 KJV. “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

We agree with the Statement of Faith from the World Baptist Fellowship as listed below from their website:

STATEMENT OF FAITH

Section 1. Of the Scriptures

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men supernaturally inspired; that it has truth without any admixture of error for its matter; and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the age, the only complete and final revelation of the will of God to man; the true center of Christian union and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried.

1. By “The Holy Bible” we mean that collection of sixty-six books, from Genesis to Revelation, which as originally written does not only contain and convey the Word of God but IS the very Word of God.2. By “inspiration” we mean that the books of the Bible were written by holy men of old as they were moved by the Holy Spirit in such a definite way that their writings were supernaturally and verbally inspired and free from error, as no other writings have ever been or ever will be inspired.

II Tim. 3:16-17; II Pet. 1:19-21; Acts 1:16; Acts 28:25; Psa. 119:160; Psa. 119:105; Psa. 119:130; Luke 24:25-27; John 17:17; Luke 24:44-45; Psa. 119:89; Prov. 30:5-6; Rom. 3:4; I Pet. 1:2-3; Rev. 22:19; John 12:48; Isa. 8:20; Eph. 6:17; Rom. 15:4; Luke 16:31; Psa. 19:7-11; John 5:45-47; John 5:39.

Section 2. Of the True God

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, the maker and supreme ruler of heaven and earth, inexpressibly glorious in holiness and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

Ex. 20:2-3; Gen. 17:1; I Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:6; John 4:24; Psa. 147:5; Psa. 83:18; Psa. 90:2; Jer. 10:10; Ex. 15:11; Rev. 4:11; I Tim. 1:17; Rom. 11:33; Mark 12:30; Matt. 28:19; John 15:26; I Cor. 12:4-6; I John 5:7; John 10:30; John 17:5; Acts 5:3-4; I Cor. 2:10-11; Phil. 2:5-6; Eph. 2:18; II Cor. 13:14.

Section 3. Of the Holy Spirit

We believe that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, equal with God the Father and God the Son and of the same nature; that He was active in the creation; that in His relation to the unbelieving world He restrains the evil one until God’s purpose is fulfilled; that He convicts of sin, of judgment, and of righteousness; that He bears witness to the Truth of the Gospel in preaching and testimony; that He is the agent in the New Birth; that He seals, endues, guides, teaches, witnesses, sanctifies, and helps the believer.

John 14:16-17; Matt. 28:19; Heb. 9:14; John 14:26; Luke 1:35; Gen. 1:1-3; II Thes. 2:7; John 16:8-11; John 15:26; Acts 5:30-32; John 3:5-6; Eph. 1:13-14; Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 11:16; Luke 24:49; John 16:13; John 14:26; Rom. 8:14; Rom. 8:16; II Thes. 2:13; I Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:26-27

Section 4. Of the Devil or Satan

We believe that Satan was once holy, and enjoyed heavenly honors; but through pride and ambition to be as the Almighty, fell and drew after him a host of angels-, that he is now the malignant prince of the power of the air, and the unholy god of this world. We hold him to be man’s great tempter, the enemy of God and His Christ, the accuser of the saints, the author of all false religions, the chief power back of the present apostasy, the lord of the anti-Christ, and the author of all the powers of darkness-destined however to final defeat at the hands of God’s Son and to the judgment of an eternal justice in hell, a place prepared for him and his angels.

Isa. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:14-17; Rev. 12:9; Jude 6; II Pet. 2:4; Eph. 2:2; John 14:30; I Thes. 3:5; Matt. 4:1-3; I Pet. 5:8; Zech. 1:3; I John 3:8; Matt. 13:25, 37-39; Luke 22:3-4; Rev. 12:10; II Cor. 11:13-15; Mark 13:21-22; I John 4:3; II John 7; I John 2:22; Rev. 13:13-14; II Thes. 2:8-11; Rev. 19:11, 16-20; Rev. 12:7-9; Rev. 20:1-3; Rev. 20:10; Matt. 25:4 1.

Section 5. Of the Creation

We believe in the Genesis account of creation, and that it is to be accepted literally, and not allegorically or figuratively; that man was created directly in God’s own image and after His own likeness; that man’s creation was not a matter of evolution or evolutionary changes of species, or development through interminable periods of time from lower to higher forms; that all animal and vegetable life was made directly, and God’s established law was that they should bring forth only “after their kind.”

Gen. 1:1; Ex. 20:11; Acts 4:24; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 11:3; John 1:3; Rev. 10:6; Rom. 1:20; Acts 17:23-26; Jer. 10:12; Neh. 9:6; Gen. 1:26-27; Gen. 2:21-23; Gen. 1:11; Gen. 1:24.

Section 6. Of the Fall of Man

We believe that man was created in innocence under the law of his Maker, but by voluntary transgression fell from his sinless and happy state, in consequence of which all mankind are now sinners, not by constraint, but of choice and therefore under just condemnation without defense or excuse.

Gen. 3:1-6, 24; Rom. 5:12; Rom. 5:19; Rom. 3:10-19; Eph. 2:1, 3; Rom. 1:18; Ezek. 18:19-20; Rom. 1:32; Rom. 1:20; Rom. 1:23; Gal. 3:22.

Section 7. Of the Virgin Birth

We believe that Jesus Christ was begotten of the Holy Ghost in a miraculous manner; born of Mary, a virgin, as no other man was ever or can ever be born of woman; and that He is the Son of God, and God the Son.

Gen. 3:15; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:35; Mark 1:1; John 1:14; Psa. 27; Gal. 4:4; 1 John 5:20; I Cor. 15:47.

Section 8. Of the Atonement for Sin

We believe that the salvation of sinners is wholly of grace through the mediatorial offices of the Son of God who, by the appointment of the Father, freely took upon Him our nature, yet without sin, honored the divine law by His personal obedience; and by His death made a full and vicarious atonement for our sins; that His atonement consisted not in setting us an example by His death as a martyr, but was the voluntary substitution of Himself in the sinner’s place, the Just dying for the unjust, Christ, the Lord, bearing our sins in His own body on the tree; that, having risen from the dead, He is now enthroned in heaven and uniting in His wonderful person the tenderest sympathies with divine perfection. He is every way qualified to be a suitable and compassionate and all-sufficient Saviour.

Eph. 2:8; Acts 15:11; Rom. 3:24; John 3:16; Matt. 18:11; Phil. 2:7; Heb. 2:14; Isa. 53:4-7; Rom. 3:25; I John 4:10; I Cor. 15:3; II Cor. 5:21, John 10:8; Phil. 2:8; Gal. 1:4; I Pet. 2:24; I Pet. 3:18; Isa. 53:11; Heb. 12:2; I Cor. 15:20; Isa. 53:12; Heb. 9:12-15; Heb. 7:25; I John 2:2.

Section 9. Of Grace in the New Creation

We believe that in order to be saved, sinners must be born again; that the new birth is a new creation in Christ Jesus; that it is instantaneous and not a process; that in the new birth the dead in trespasses and in sins is made a partaker of the divine nature and receives eternal life, the free gift of God; that the new creation is brought about in a manner above our comprehension, not by culture, not by character, nor by the will of man, but wholly and solely by the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with divine truth, so as to secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel; that its proper evidence appears in the holy fruits of repentance and faith and newness of life.

John 3:3; II Cor. 5:17; Luke 5:27; I John 5:1; John 3:6-7; Acts 2:41; Acts 16:30-33; II Pet. 1:4; Rom. 6:23; Eph. 2:1; II Cor. 5:19; Col. 2:13; John 3:8; John 1:12-13; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9.

Section 10. Of the Freeness of Salvation

We believe in God’s electing grace that the blessings of salvation are made free to all by the gospel; that it is the immediate duty of all to accept them by a cordial, penitent, and obedient faith; and that nothing prevents the salvation of the greatest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and voluntary rejection of the gospel; which rejection involves him in an aggravated condemnation.

I Thes. 1:4; Col. 3:12, I Pet. 1:2; Titus 1:1; Rom. 8:29-30; Matt. 11:28; Isa. 55:1; Rev. 22:17; Rom. 10:13; John 6:37; Isa. 55:6; Acts 2:38; Isa. 55:7; John 3:15-16; 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Cor. 15:10; Eph. 2:4-5; John 5:40; John 3:18; John 3:36.

Section 11. Of Justification

We believe that the great gospel blessing which Christ secures to such as believe in Him is Justification; that Justification includes the pardon of sin, and the gift of eternal life on principles of righteousness; that it is bestowed not on consideration of any works of righteousness which we have done, but solely through faith in the Redeemer’s blood, His righteousness is imputed unto us.

Acts 13:39; Isa. 53:11; Zech. 13:1; Rom. 8:1; Rom. 5:9; Rom. 5:11; Titus 3:5-7; Hab. 2:4, Gal. 3:11; Rom. 4:18; Heb. 10:38.

Section 12. Of Repentance and Faith

We believe that Repentance and Faith are solemn obligations, and also inseparable graces, wrought in our souls by the quickening Spirit of God; thereby, being deeply convicted of our guilt, danger, helplessness, and of the way of salvation by Christ, we turn to God with unfeigned contrition, confession, and supplication for mercy; at the same time heartily receiving the Lord Jesus Christ and openly confessing Him as our only and all-sufficient Saviour.

Acts 20:21; Mark 1:15; Acts 2:37-38; Luke 18:13; Rom. 10:13; Psa. 51:1-4; Psa. 51:7; Isa. 55:6-7; Luke 12:8; Rom. 10:9-11.

Section 13. Of the Church

We believe that a church of Christ is a congregation of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the ordinances of Christ; governed by His laws; and exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word; that its officers of ordination are pastors or elders and deacons whose qualifications, claims, and duties are clearly defined in the scriptures; we believe that the true mission of the church is found in the Great Commission; First, to make individual disciples; Second, to build up the church; Third, to teach and instruct as He has commanded. We do not believe in the reversal of this order; we hold that the local church has the absolute right of self government, free from the interference of any hierarchy of individuals or organizations; and that the one and only superintendent is Christ through the Holy Spirit; that it is scriptural for true churches to cooperate with each other in contending for the faith and for the furtherance of the gospel; that every church is the sole and only judge of the measure and methods of its cooperation; on all matters of membership, of policy, of government, of discipline, of benevolence, the will of the local church is final.

Acts 2:41; Acts 2:42; I Cor. 11:2; Eph. 1:22-23; Eph. 4:11; I Cor. 12:4, 8-11; Acts 14:23; Acts 6:5-6; Acts 15:23; Acts 20:17-28; I Tim. 3:1-7; I Tim. 3:8-13; Matt. 28:19-20; Col. 1:18; Eph. 5:22-23; I Pet. 5:14; Acts 15:22; Jude 3-4; II Cor. 8:23-24; I Cor. 16:1; Mal. 3:10; Lev. 27:32; I Cor. 16:2; I Cor. 6:1-3; I Cor. 5:11-13.

Section 14. Of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper

We believe that Christian baptism is the immersion in water of a believer in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost with the authority of the local church to show forth in a solemn and beautiful emblem our faith in the crucified, buried, and risen Saviour with its effect in our death to sin and resurrection to a new life; that it is prerequisite to the privileges of a church relation and to the Lord’s Supper in which the members of the church, by the sacred use of bread and wine, are to commemorate together the dying love of Christ, preceded always by solemn self-examination.

Acts 8:36-39; Matt. 3:6; John 3:23; Rom. 6:4-5; Matt. 3:16; Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12; Acts 2:41-42; Matt. 28:19-20; I Cor. 11:23-28.

Section 15. Of the Perseverance of the Saints

We believe that such only are real believers as endure unto the end, that their persevering attachment to Christ is the grand mark which distinguishes them from superficial professors, that a special Providence watches over their welfare, and that they are kept by the power of God through faith unto eternal salvation.

John 8:31-32; Col. 1:21; I John 2:19; Matt. 13:19-21; Rom. 8:23; Matt. 6:30; Psa. 121:3; Heb. 1:14; I Pet. 1:5; Phil. 1:6; John 10:28; John 10:29; John 16:8; Rom. 8:35-39.

Section 16. Of the Righteous and the Wicked

We believe that there is a radical and essential difference between the righteous and the wicked, that such only as through faith are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and sanctified by the Spirit of our God, are truly righteous in His esteem; while all such as continue in impenitence and unbelief are in His sight wicked, and under the curse and this distinction holds among men both in and after death, in the everlasting felicity of the saved and the everlasting conscious suffering of the lost.

Mal. 3:18; Gen. 18:23; Rom. 6:17-18; Prov. 11:31; I Pet. 4:18; Rom. 1:17; I Cor. 15:22; Acts 10:34-35; I John 2:29; I John 3:7; Rom. 6:16; I John 5:19; Gal. 3: 10; Rom. 7:6; Rom. 6:23; Prov. 14:32; Luke 16:25; Matt. 25:34-41; John 8:21; Luke 9:26; John 12:25; Matt. 7:13-14.

Section 17. Of Civil Government

We believe that civil government is of divine appointment, for the interest and good order of human society; that magistrates are to be prayed for, conscientiously honored, and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord of the conscience and the coming Prince of the kings of the earth.

Rom. 13:7; II Sam. 23:3; Ex. 18:21-22; Acts 23:5; Matt. 22:21; Titus 3:1; I Pet. 2:13-14; I Pet. 2:17; Acts 5:29; Acts 4:19-20; Dan. 3:17-18; Matt. 10:28; Matt. 23:10; Rev. 10:6; Phil. 2:10-11; Psa. 72:11.

Section 18. Of the Resurrection and Return of Christ and Related Events

We believe in and accept the sacred Scriptures upon these subjects at their face and full value. Of the Resurrection, we believe that Christ rose bodily “the third day according to the Scriptures;” that He ascended “to the right hand of the throne of God;” that He alone is our “merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God;” “that this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” – bodily, personally and visibly; that the “dead in Christ shall rise first;” that the living saints “shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of’ an eye, at the last trump;” “That the Lord shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David;” and that “Christ shall reign a thousand years in righteousness until He hath put all enemies under His feet.”

Matt. 28:6-7; Luke 24:39; John 20:27; I Cor. 15:4; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:2, 4-6; Acts 1:9; Acts 1:11; Luke 24:51; Mark 16:19; Rev. 3:21; Heb. 8:1; Heb. 12:2; Heb. 8:6; I Tim. 2:5; I John 2:1; Heb. 2:17; Heb. 5:9-10; John 14:3; I Thes. 4:16; Matt. 24:27; Matt. 25:13, Jas. 5:8; Matt. 24:42; Heb. 9:28; I Thes. 4:16; I Cor. 15:42-44; I Cor. 15:52; I Cor. 15:51-52; I Thes. 4:17; Phil. 3:20-21; Luke 1:32; Isa. 9:6-7; I Cor. 15:25; Isa. 32:1; Isa. 11:4-5; Psa. 72:8; Rev. 20:1-4; Rev. 20:6.

Section 19. Of Missions

The command to give the gospel to the world is clear and unmistakable and this Commission was given to the churches. Matt. 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. “Mark 16:15: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”John 20:21: “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.”Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”Rom. 10:13-15: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not -believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. ”

Section 20. Of the Grace of Giving

Scriptural giving is one of the fundamentals of the Faith.II Cor. 8:7: “Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.”We are commanded to bring our gifts into the storehouse (common treasury of the church) upon the first day of the week.

I Cor. 16:2: “Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

Under grace we give, and do not pay, the tithe – “Abraham GAVE a tenth part of all” – “Abraham GAVE the tenth of the spoils” – Hebrews 7:2-4 – and this was four hundred years before the law, and is confirmed in the New Testament; Jesus said concerning the tithe, “These ye ought to have done” – Matt. 23:23.We are commanded to bring the tithe into the common treasury of the church.Lev. 27:30: “The tithe is the Lord’s.”Mal. 3:10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

In the New Testament the storehouse was the common treasury of the church.

Acts 4:34, 35, 37: “And brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the apostles’ feet . . . Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”