1. I used to be in entertainment.
Most of my childhood was spent performing in our ‘69th Street Band’ singing group with my 2 brothers and 3 sisters. Think Jackson five. We performed in casinos like MGM Grand and Harrah’s Resorts.

2. I played college football and turned down a 2-year full ride scholarship to go to seminary instead.
Best decision I ever made. Hey, I was only 5ft 6in, 195lbs. Not exactly NFL material. That aside, most importantly, I felt the calling to serve God, obeyed, and left everything to follow Him.

3. I’m allergic to shellfish.
Found out the hard way 12 years ago and had to be rushed to the hospital. My throat closed up at a dinner party after eating a prawn. Don’t take me out for sushi.

4. I fly a lot.
No joke, about 150,000 to 200,000 miles a year! Can you say ‘upgrade’? I go to about 8-10 different countries a year. I still love to travel even with all the hassle.

5. I lost 70lbs in a year.
Not easy, but worth it! Love the way I feel know. I have so much more energy to run the race.

6. I have a talent for interior design.
Strange, I know but it was my major in college for two years. Makes my wife very happy 

7. I have lived in 4 different countries, not including the U.S.
India, Namibia, Indonesia and Guatemala. I have spent at least 4-6 months in each.

8. I am a total night person.
Do all my thinking, reading and writing at night. Kids sleeping = house quite. I do my best work at night.

9. My greatest dream is to send at least 4 missionaries to every nation on the planet.
We are sending our first 100 from the first intake of our bible school, LionsGate Leadership and Missions Institute. www.lionsgateinfo.org

10. I have traveled somewhere between 58 to 62 nations.
Some nations are not nations anymore, so don’t know if I should count them. Most of that number I have been to 3 or 4 times. Which is my favorite? All of them are. Can’t wait to send our students to experience the world and impact the nations. One of the perks of sending missionaries is I get to go and visit them.

After much thought I’ve decided to answer one of the questions that keeps coming up regarding our conference, ‘The Challenge.’

When Annwen and I first felt led to hold this conference, to be honest, we were not sure what God was trying to do. We simply wanted to be obedient to what God said. It felt very odd to hold a meeting this size and this expensive, without really understanding the full picture.

Upfront, I knew what God had placed on my heart concerning the Cultural Mandate in America. The Cultural Mandate can be summed up very simply: Activating and Releasing Christians to be salt and light, and impact the Seven Pillars of Culture – Arts; Entertainment; Politics; Education; Business; Religion; Media.

But we later understood that God had something greater in mind. What surprised and blessed us the most was to see so many of the SLBC graduates and ECC members whom we had not seen for almost a decade. Many who attended came to thank us for putting something like this together. This is when we understood the greater picture: RELATIONSHIP

What we, and many others, had lost after the disintegration of RLM was our Relationships. A very good friend once asked me a bit of a trick question. “If you had a fire in your house, what would be the first thing you would try to save?” Very quickly I answered, “My important documents, family photos and heirlooms.” This friend just looked at me and told me, “That’s not the first thing you would rescue. You would grab your family first.” Obviously that is what I would do, but I did not say it.

In the Kingdom of God there is nothing more important than relationship. Relationships define the Kingdom. When God chose to structure His organization He could’ve used any terminology He wanted. He could’ve used military terminology, corporate terminology, scientific terminology, but He chose the Terminology of Family. We do not call Him President, Commander or CEO – we call Him Father. What God is really after is FAMILY and COMMUNITY.

Let me be the first to say that SLBC/RLM/ECC was an abusive system of control and manipulation. I want to acknowledge to everyone reading this that I was a part of this system, and in some ways helped to perpetuate it. For this fact I am truly sorry, and I apologize for causing hurt and pain to anyone who was a part of it.

When we first shared about the Challenge 2009 on FaceBook and Twitter, many people assumed that our motives were to ‘start something’ and to build something on the old RLM foundation in Orange County. This has never been our heart’s desire, and it still isn’t. Although we love the territory and the people we do not feel called to it. Some have written to us with great anger and assumed that there was a hidden agenda. I understand their anger because this has been the motive of some who have come and tried to capitalize on the tragedy of RLM.

It is our desire to uphold the best of what we all received during that season. Annwen and I pray you have moved on to greater things in God. We have no desire revisit the past, but to rebuild broken and fragmented relationships. Some of these were divine connections, some casual friends, but I believe all were a blessing to us in some way. It was an honor to be a part of training you and it brings great joy to our hearts to see how God has been using some of you. But it also breaks our hearts that some would not see the value in these old friendships and what God DID do in us.

The Challenge 2K10, at the core, is about Kingdom Relationships and Kingdom Connections. Not everyone at SLBC was called to fulltime ministry. But I believe all of us have a divine connection and purpose. I can’t help but hope that through the Challenge 2K10, God would heal, resurrect and reconnect many of you. If this one thing takes place we will consider this conference a great success.

When you come to the Challenge you will NOT hear words of condemnation for not being in the call of God, or not doing enough. But what I want to be and this conference to be is an encouragement to you in whatever you feel God has for you. I am simply extending my friendship and my faith to you. I believe in all of you so much.

I know we are all scattered across the USA and the world, and understand that attending the conference is not possible for some right now. Just Know, you will be missed!

If none of what I have written about reconnection appeals to you I still want you to know you have friends who will not forget you.

On a final note I would like to ask every student to please forgive me for any pain I may have caused as part of the leadership of RLM. I do not say this because I feel guilty, or because I am stuck in the past, but I say this because my heart is to help bring healing, restoration and reconnection to what I know was a divine plan of God’s Kingdom. I’m not trying to be the center of this thing, just a bridge.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

His for a Harvest

Troy and Annwen Marshall

WOW!  This has been quite a journey.  It has been over a year since my site was up and running and to be honest the ministry has grown.  This really opened my eyes to the fact that we are doing a good job at staying connect through other mediums.  Facebook has been a big help. 

I was once the kind of guy that did not like all this tech stuff, but I must admit I have changed.  Now it is hard for me and Annwen to understand how we got along so well with out it.  We have two websites, a facebook account, a Twitter/Twitpic accounts, a qik video account, not to mention the non-stop Blackberry action. 

 We hope you understand that this is not all fun and games, but a means to an ends. We want to communicate with you, our friends and partners.  Why? because you really do matter to us.  We could not have gone to 10 nations this year to preach the gospel without your help.  It is our reasonable service to do all we can to stay connect.   Which brings me to this Blog.  I’m not a blogger, but I have to say it intriques me very much to have a forum to share our thought and hearts with our partners and friends.  So stay tuned for some real heart felt blogs about ministry, family, missions and everything in between. 

Now, I feel I must warn you.  I’m not much of a writer or speller or typist for that matter.  But I will do my best.  Annwen on the other hand is all of the above, so with a little help from my fantastic wife and hopefully grace from you, the reader, we should soldier through this.

I will give you one last promise, and that is this.  I will keep it interesting.  Oh, and one more promise.  It will not take another year for my next post.

Love God and Love Yourself,

Troy Marshall

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