The top image of this collage is a “throw-back” from 2003, a time when, as a nation, we were focused on life-changing world events. Soon I would travel to a Middle Eastern country where everyone would be united by a single mission. Many years have passed since then, and my personal focus has taken on a more eternal perspective. For 16+ years, Chuck & Robin have been focused on a …
Special Guatemala Update- Behind The Scenes
A testimony:The day before Guatemala was locked down, Robin and I were in the north near the Peten-region in a city called Coban. We were surveying the airstrip there, walking and praying over the location as a possible SGSP Aviation mission base. The U.S. embassy notifies expats via text message that country wide closures were imminent. We hurriedly made the 8-hour drive and arrived back to our home base before …
What a Pain!
An overextended reach while working in the hangar went almost unnoticed except for a slight tingle in my lower back. I shrugged it off and kept working. The next morning the tingle had become a white-hot pain so piercing that I canceled my days activities in favor of an ice pack and heating pad. Lying flat on my back or sitting bolt upright were the only positions that offered any …
Fuel For the Fire
While on a medical/evangelistic outreach in a rural area in the western highlands of Guatemala Robin and I were hosted for 5 days by a local family. Their home was modest with basic appointments like a wood burning cook stove and running water, in that you had to run outside to bring the water in by bucket. Sheets hung over cords became our haven-of-rest for the next week. The outreach …
The Positive Power of Planes
Central American road systems are strikingly limited when compared to the intricate systems that crisscross any-city USA. Stopping the flow of traffic between cities is often used to voice political or civil discontent with government policies. When this occurs, movement between cities and municipalities is impossible. Worse yet, you could find yourself trapped in a miles long line of vehicles unable to move for hours. On the 15th of …
Mission-Minded Networking
While organizing images on my computer, I came across this throw-back photo of the Martinez family during our first missionary posting in Oklahoma. We took this photo just before departing on a “deputation trip” in preparation for our upcoming missionary posting in Central America. We planned to depart Tulsa, fly across Texas and New Mexico to southeast Arizona. This trip took us to our home church in the city of …
Critical to Safe Flight!
During the return leg of a missionary transport flight, a failure light (L VAC) illuminated on the warning panel of the aircraft I was flying. It indicated that the left vacuum pump (VP) had failed. Briefly explained, the vacuum system keeps gyro instruments spinning to provide accurate attitude readings during flight. Because they are critical to safe flight, two are designed into this aircraft, a primary and backup. As an …
Starting The Day
Nearing the two-decade mark as missionaries, Chuck & Robin have learned to never expect the routine, and above all, seek God’s wisdom daily by reading and meditating on His Word. In missionary life, there are very few days that could be called “routine.” Stacks of paperwork demand attention daily, as does a to-do list that never seems to get any shorter. The plan formulated yesterday may well be obsolete before …
Dedicated to Charlie Martinez, my father (January 1, 1935 – February 28, 2022)
A telephone call from a ministry associate put a series of events into motion on March 8, 2022. A pastor from a small town about an hour from our ministry base in Quetzaltenango had sustained a serious eye injury. Medics at a local clinic determined he would need a hospital and surgery. The capital, Guatemala City, is some 6 hours away. The best option was for a medical transport flight. …
A Peaceful Christmas
In 2002, shortly after the attacks of 9/11, I was in Iraq tasked to train a group of soldiers, many still teenagers, in the use of a new weapon system. As a former Marine, field life in a combat zone was strangely comfortable. When I was on active duty, it was customary, even expected, to enthusiastically bark orders or have orders barked at you. As a civilian contractor, it was …