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Bill and Cindy Martin

Missionaries to Latvia

What is Our Ministry?

We are the team of Bill and Cindy Martin. Our ministry is training the next generation of church leadership and helping churches fulfill the Great Commission. We have done this primarily in the country of Latvia. Latvia was considered part of the Soviet Union until 1989, and at that point there had been very little theological or practical training for 50 years under communism. We knew there was a need for training and so we moved to Latvia to help with that need in 1997. At that time we worked with one Bible school in Latvia as their primary teachers, and as visiting teachers for a seminary in Estonia. Bill was later Director of the Bible school for 3 years before turning the school back over to a national director in 2008. We now work with 3 established schools and seminaries in Latvia where we teach, train and mentor students to do the work of ministry themselves.

Who Are Bill & Cindy Martin?

Bill is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and served a senior pastor for a church in Illinois for 9 years before our move to Latvia. He has taught nearly every subject imaginable in Old Testament, New Testament, Apologetics, Church History, and Practical Ministry for our schools. Cindy is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute and is the Christian Education teacher for both basic and specialist courses in that subject. We try to be creative in our approaches, involving students as much as possible in projects and assignments. In the past we have also been involved in getting Christian literature translated into both Russian and Latvian languages as there are very few Christian books, and even fewer text books, in either language.

How Can We Help You?

One of our burdens has been for lay church workers in the USA. Pastors generally receive theological training, but they, their staff, and their church helpers often do not have practical training in ministry. Sometimes just recruiting and keeping staff is difficult, right? It doesn’t need to be! We will provide help and training for any church that wants it! We have conducted training seminars for several churches and they have always found it valuable. Some topics churches have found especially helpful are Leadership, Organizing your Church to Meet Needs, How to Evaluate your Church Ministries, How to Study the Bible, How to teach the Bible (lesson preparation), Creative Teaching Methods and others. Another ministry we offer is Church Evaluation. We work with you to find your church’s strengths and weaknesses as a Body, and then come up with a plan to use that knowledge to fulfill the Great Commission in your location. There is no special charge for this service – we offer it as a ministry to you because we know it is necessary to evaluate in order to grow. There are organizations that charge a great deal of money for that service, but we do not – we only want to serve you through “Evaluating and Training”. How can we help you?

How Can You Help?

We have seen a lot of changes to Latvia during our years there, but one thing still remains – the need for trained pastors and lay workers to do the work of the ministry. We have personally helped train many hundreds of believers. They have gone on to be pastors, denominational leaders, youth workers, Sunday School teachers, missionaries, directors of ministries, and lay leadership within their own churches. Nothing makes us happier than to see a former student and hear how God is using them in ministry! We’re as excited to train men and women today as we ever were. It’s because of people who give to this ministry that we can continue to meet the needs of the Church in Latvia and beyond.