As a church, we pray that we can become a Wellspring of Hope to a world of marginalized people: the widow, the orphan, the alien. As we seek to understand God's compassion for these people, we are spurred into action. May we be a people aware of the needs of those close to us and those around the world. We pray that God will use us in mightways to pur out his justices like a mighty water to the oppressed.

 

Dr. Larry Martin - Nov 3-4

Rev. Martin received his B.S. from Fresno State University, an M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Masters of Divinity from American Baptist Seminary of the West. Reverend Martin is an ordained American Baptist minister.

Prior to working with IJM, Rev. Martin served 16 years on the staff of Young Life in Northern California and Colorado, eight years as a Baptist pastor and four years as a denominational executive with the American Baptist Churches of the West.

Rev. Martin joined IJM in October of 2001. As Senior Vice President of Education, he is responsible for developing relationships and tools for communication in order to further IJM’s goal to deepen the church’s level of understanding, passion and commitment to seeking justice for those who suffer abuse and oppression in our world. Rev. Martin travels throughout America and abroad as IJM’s chief speaker in churches, colleges and universities. He has also traveled to South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America to see firsthand the work of IJM.

He currently resides in Springfield, Virginia with his wife Nan. Their two grown children, Beth and Adam, reside in Atlanta and Denver respectively.

Dr. Steve Merry - Nov 10-11

Steve Merry is a family physician with a passion for service to the poor and disadvantaged. After Steve trained in Family Medicine, he spent a year working in Ivory Coast at a mission hospital before returning to the US for further training in missions at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, earned a Masters Degree in International Health from Harvard University, and later received his diploma in Tropical Medicine from the University of London, UK. His experience in Africa includes a semester teaching at a medical school in Uganda and 2-1⁄2 years of clinical work at missions hospitals in Togo and Ivory Coast. In 2001, after 8 years of practice in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and service as medical director, Steve left US medical practice to study French in Quebec prior to moving to Ivory Coast with plans to start a Family Medicine residency program for French speaking African physicians. 3 1⁄2 weeks after arriving, the country entered civil war. Steve, his first wife, and his 5 children, including two 2-year-olds and an infant, spent a harrowing night huddled in an interior bathroom of their home while mortar shells, gunfire, and heavy artillery pounded the government troop installations around the mission hospital and their home. Six days later they were evacuated by French commandos and taken to Ghana, where a quick job search led them to another mission hospital in Togo where they worked for the next year. After returning home to the States to prepare for their return to Ivory Coast, Steve’s first wife, Kayleen, became ill with leukemia. The family moved to Rochester for her cancer care in the fall of 2004 and began attending ARC. A few months later, Steve was hired to practice Family Medicine at Mayo Clinic. A year and a half after arriving here, Kayleen died.

A year ago last month, Steve married Svea Kvernen a corporate jet pilot who had lost her first husband, Jon, also a Family Physician with plans to serve in Africa, to cancer. Their blended family of 7 children range in age from 3 to 14.

Click the banner below to see Autumn Ridge's new
BOLD INITIATIVE...