Determined to Go: The Call of the Independent Missionary

Mitch Martinez and his wife, Deborah, have been missionaries overseas since 1992. Before that, they planted and pastored the Spanish-speaking church, Fuente De Vida, in Columbia, South Carolina. Mitch has been serving as a minister since 1985. As a missionary, he and his wife have been instrumental in planting 6 churches in the Dominican Republic (DR). They have trained pastors and Christian workers in various Bible Institutes throughout the DR, and have been involved in the construction of over forty churches and schools in this country. Currently they are providing an education for over a thousand children through the 17 Haitian schools they oversee with TeachFeedLove.Org, their non-profit. In addition to this, they are the founders and directors of La Vega Christian School/Colegio Cristiano de La Vega, a Dominican private Christian school with 350 students.

Mitch and Deborah each hold a Bachelor of Arts in Missions and Bible from Southeastern University of the Assemblies of God in Lakeland, Florida. Additionally, they studied linguistics for two semesters at the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Dallas, Texas. This also included graduate courses in cross-cultural studies accredited through the University of Texas at Arlington. Mitch received his Master of Arts in Biblical Studies at Columbia International University (CIU), Columbia, South Carolina. And Deborah received her Master of Arts in Education also at CIU. Later, Mitch continued with Doctoral studies in Missions at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary on the campus of Evangel University, Springfield, Missouri. In addition, he has an AAS in print and broadcast journalism from Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, New Jersey.

Currently, they both continue to serve full-time as missionaries in La Vega , Dominican Republic.