Martial Arts Ministries was originally founded as a way to promote short term mission trips to Christian martial artists. While God has radically expanded our vision, promoting short term mission trips still remains one of Martial Arts Ministries primary focuses.

Read the letter below to see what caused the founder of Martial Arts Ministries to become involved with short term mission trips.

Dear Reader,

First, let me start off by telling you a little about me. I used to be the guy in church that would get upset whenever a missionary would come and speak. I sat with my arms crossed, scowling, wondering why in the world they were here telling us we needed to support missions when there was so much that needed to done in our own backyard.

In late 2006, God got a hold of my heart and told me it was time to see for myself why missions were so important. I reluctantly sat through a meeting on a trip going to Ecuador. After praying, I decided I would go, if for no other reason then to say I did my part. Once I said yes, God radically changed my heart and way of thinking. I began to pray for the people of Ecuador, as well as for my own attitude and outlook towards the trip. It wasn't long before I was looking forward to going to Ecuador to see how God was going to use someone so ill equipped.

One question on the application asked about special gifts or talents we would like to use while in the field. I hesitated at first, but went ahead and put that I run a Christian martial arts school. I knew how God was using me in my area to reach people, but was clueless as to how He could use me to reach others in a country that was not my own. It wasn't long before the trip coordinators were telling me what a great opportunity I had to use martial arts to draw a crowd and then share the gospel with the people of Ecuador. 

To tell you the truth, I was petrified. I had a hard enough time sharing my faith with friends here, let alone sharing with a large group of strangers in a foreign country. It wasn't long before I gave that fear over to God and started looking forward to what God was going to do in my life as a result of this trip. 

To make a long story short, it has now been over three years since we returned from our first trip to Ecuador. The experiences that I had while there were life changing,  so much so that God placed it on my heart to encourage others to step out in faith and take part in a short term mission trip.

The goal is to mobilize 100 Christian martial artists that are willing to spend one week of their summer in June 2010 serving the people of Ecuador.  This seems like an impossible task, but then I remember, God is the God of the impossible. After all, he took someone who was so set against missions and gave him new insight into the meaning  of John3:16,  God so loved the WORLD...

Gary Kruger