Meet Melissa Martin, Level 2 Challenge Course Facilitator from T.R.A.C. Tyler, TX

Melissa has been involved in T.R.A.C. for eight years. She served as a camp counselor for one year, then a Level 1 Challenge Course Facilitator. Now she has been a Level 2 Challenge Course Facilitator for the past four years.  

T.R.A.C. has made an everlasting impression on Melissa’s life in so many ways. She sees camp as a mission field where she and her team are the hands and feet of Christ. Each year she prays that she will be able to plant a seed and make an impact in the life of at least one teen, but she always walks away being impacted by the campers herself.  

Melissa shared a couple of favorite camp memories. Several summers ago, a camper who was aging out gave a parting speech on the last day of camp. He shared that he had finally found his people and a place where he belonged. This summer she witnessed one of their camp counselors lead a camper to Christ!  

Melissa and her husband have been married for 15 years. Despite meeting in middle school, they are not high school sweethearts. They have three children: Jack (10), Josiah (8), and Addy (5). Josiah is adopted out of foster care, so she sees firsthand how trauma can affect children in the foster care system. 

Melissa is an assistant principal at an elementary school. She keeps busy ferrying her kids between activities, baking, reading and occasionally watching the newest true crime documentary. Her family lives in the country. She can’t quite commit to chickens and a garden, but they have two miniature donkeys. Her husband says they are just lawn ornaments, but they do a great job at keeping the hogs out of the yard. 

If someone were considering volunteering at camp, Melissa would share a verse their camp director spoke over them this year.  

“No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:15-16 

We are literally walking across enemy lines and into darkness to shine God’s light. It’s not easy, but the deepest valleys have the brightest rainbows. The biggest leap of faith comes in trusting God that He will use us as His vessel to plant a seed that He will grow, even though we may never see the fruits.