Troutman man taking ministry to Uganda despite kidney disease

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Troutman man taking ministry to Uganda despite kidney disease
By Bethany Fuller
Published: October 08, 2010

His dependence on dialysis isn’t stopping Neil Martin from keeping his promise to visit Uganda.
Martin and his friends, Raymond Smith, with Beyond the Wall Ministry, and Daniel Crawley, pastor of Faith Baptist Church, are scheduled to travel to Uganda for more than 10 days to set up home groups, visit a prison and orphanage and distribute Bibles.
Martin, a Troutman resident, has been traveling to Africa since 2007. He started his ministry, Brother In Christ, on the Internet to help people make connections with one another and to help them build hope.
He later expanded his ministry by visiting Ghana in 2007. The ministry now has 400 members in nearly 50 countries.
Martin has made three trips to Africa since he was diagnosed with a kidney disease in 2006. In July, he started dialysis treatments and was placed on the waiting list for a transplant.
Despite his medical condition, he is determined to keep the promise he made to the workers in Uganda to come for a visit. This will be the last trip he will be able to make until he gets a transplant, but he wants to do God’s work, Martin said.
“When I first told my kidney doctor I’m going dialysis or no dialysis, he looked at me like he was surprised,” Martin said.
They found a way for Martin to make the trip while continuing his treatments.
He will take the equipment to perform peritoneal dialysis, a process in which fluids are pumped into the abdomen to remove waste from the blood every day. According to a Liberty Dialysis press release, the process allows dialysis patients to receive treatments at home or at other locations.
Independent Nephrology Services Statesville, an affiliate of Liberty Dialysis, is sponsoring the cost of Martin’s medical supplies and coordinating shipping.
“My doctor said I’m still strong enough to go all the way without any problem,” Martin said.
Crawley said he met Martin after he came back from one of his trips of Ghana.
Martin started attending Faith Baptist Church on Sunday mornings. One Sunday, while Crawley was preparing for church, he said Martin sent him a message on Yahoo Instant Messenger asking if he wanted to go to Uganda with him.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Crawley said. “As a pastor, you try to get people to see the need. A lot of these guys look to Neil as kind of a father. There is a close bond.”
Smith’s ministry, Beyond the Walls, will have a Gold Scramble Fundraiser at River Oaks Golf Club on Broken Arrow Drive on Saturday at 9 a.m. to raise funds for the trip.
“All the money we raise — 100 percent — goes to the ministry,” Smith said.
It is Smith’s second mission trip with Martin.
The duo has lots of stories about their trip to Ghana. Smith said they taught people how to be disciples to others.
Smith said they hope to bring some of the adult leaders from the countries they serve to the United States one day.
“It’s an exciting thing,” Martin said. “It’s a never-ending education over there.”

http://www2.statesville.com/news/2010/oct/08/troutman-man-taking-ministry-uganda-despite-kidney-ar-443491/