First of all my lifestyle at home is great, but not what I expected it to be. If there is something you cannot escape or run from, it is your circumstances. But hey, who said it was going to be easy to face situations in your immediate family or to have look life in center of its eyes.
 
My relationship with my biological mother is marvelous. My mother is a wonderful single parent who works for her children everyday making sure there is food on the table and meeting their needs. We use to have a very shallow surface relationship to put in words. But now I have a concerned and sensible communication level with my mother. The relationship is not so transparent enough but I am comfortable talking to her about situations I face personally. She also has a boyfriend who she has known for about ten years. He is great in what he does for us. I respect and honor him for whom he is, but disagree with him when he feels it is totally his right to do what eh feel with my Mom. Our relationship is very vague meaning that I sometimes don’t feel the need to talk to him. But I am portraying the love of Christ to him.

I have four siblings and they are my good friends at home. Currently I am doing fine with all of them. My brother had a rough time and my relationship with him is not great.
He disrespects me, takes my personal belongings without asking. The relationship has gone down the drain but eventually it picked up again and I feel this love towards him. My sisters are people who do share their feelings. They are a piece of gold to me. Our relationships are great; I interact well with them and try to be a role model to them. I can share more to them about my life. My youngest brother and I have good respect for each other. I can walk an extra mile with him because our interactions are good.

I have great Christian friends who stand beside me with everything I face. Personally, they encourage me and know about my household. They randomly visit me at home and enjoy my family. We all have a great understanding of where we are in our lives spiritually, socially, physically, mentally and emotionally.

My feelings towards authority are vital. The Bible says, “Honor your father and mother” in Exodus 20:12. As men and women of God, we should submit under Godly authority, because God has placed people above us. We are commanded to be submissive under pastoral leadership and family disciplines; the two connect together. If my pastor challenges me not to lustfully look at a woman, but I don’t obey and rebel against him I undermine my character and integrity. Because I experienced this and submitted to my pastor’s authority on this issue and I change my thoughts towards the opposite sex.
Devotions are something I always got from my grandparents. Family worship wasn’t even a thought in my home. My mother was raised in a Christian home, got spiritually fed but we never worshipped as a family.

Service is important to me because Christ is the ultimate foundation and true example of service. It has a positive influence on my life generally. It plays a vital part in my life because there was no other man like Jesus who served humanity and died. He did not only lived a blameless life, but of service. I care about others and that is why I want to serve them.

I am a self disciplined, prayerful, purpose driven, and respectful person. I stand upon God’s word every day of my life. I am devoted to prayer, God’s purpose, and the outstanding plans God has for me. I have earned respect from my parents and so I want to respect others, and the way God created them. I strongly believe the way I conduct myself will say much about my character and integrity. As someone quoted, “Why be a second rate version of somebody else when you can be a first rate version of yourself.”
I am a dancer and I love to do it. I am a former Christian dance choreographer in sequence styling. I have great respect for those Christian dancers, rappers and bands that gives their lives to God by using their talents. I don’t think dancing in general is either right or wrong because I dance too. First of all it is what people enjoy doing. Some people find comfort in dancing and others don’t. People have found satisfaction in it, and it is a hobby to a lot of people. God has blessed people with gifts and talents. Second of all there are many forms of dancing like interpretive dancing, sacred dancing and more. But God didn’t say I should dance half naked in a music video or on a stage. Dancing has become an idol to some people and if you call yourself a Christian you should respect your body.

I used to smoke when I was 12 years old, and chose not to do it anymore. Alcohol was no huge factor for me, I try experimenting but lost my interest in that. I never got to that point of using drugs, but I had friends that misused it.  Living a life that was pure by respecting my body was the life that wanted to live. It belongs to God because He made it in His image. Also, I don’t think the use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs would physically benefit me.

I am interested in making use of the television, videos and the internet. I like getting updated news about the environment, country and world, staying connected with people, and conveying important messages. I don’t get easily distracted by technology but it is important to me every day.  My overall attitude towards television is that some programs are not good for me to watch. In the same way with videos there are some that are appropriate and some that are not. The internet is a great resource to get information from. Ultimately, I have to draw boundaries and if the internet is going fill the space of other responsibilities then I have to be more self-disciplined.
Good manners, integrity of heart and with a respectful spirit are how I present myself to others with a smile. I hate to see myself sometimes when I don’t behave properly or in a more respectful way. God wants me to present myself as kind and loving to others, and that is what I strive to do every day.

From the time I was little I started going to church with my grandparents. I started developing my spiritual interest by being involved in a church band at the age of twelve. I was excited about playing bass guitar but I knew where I stood with God would not make me a Christian. I believed in God and soon after that I got involved in the youth group. In the youth group and church I got to meet different friends from all over, adults, church board members and the pastoral team. I was involved in youth group, small group meetings, was a vocalist in a choir, and played bass in church and band. But it all became a religion for me. I had to sacrifice relationships, responsibilities that kept me occupied, and another chapter of my life was turned over. And then the challenges began for me.

Now I needed to step out of my comfort zone, by finding a new church where I could fellowship, meet friends, get involved and be under Godly leadership. I am Trevor Rendall Marthinus. I used to compare myself to others, but God challenged me to celebrate my uniqueness in Him. I got involved in a new church after attending for four years. I became a God fearing Christian on June 24, 2001 and was baptized. I knew that I was a Christian because I believed that God could cleanse me from my sin. He took my sin upon Him so that I might have life and in abundance in accordance with John 3:16.  The word of God is my mirror of life and means a lot to me. I live by the word of God every day. Prayer and Bible reading are a huge part of my life. They are a great connection with God. I just need to thank God for daily blessings.

Since then, it has been years and here I am, finding myself volunteering for the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) working with children and developing my experience in working with them. There was so much that I dreamt of, that was just waiting to be unveiled. God had placed a passion inside of me, to work with children. Nothing is more satisfying then seeing children respond to the Gospel. I had to make a decision out of 2 choices: either I would follow God and His plan, or study for four years to be a Registered Nurse, but I aligned myself to God’s purpose for my life. I love serving others in my church and talking to fellow believers about God’s work and everyday situations of life. Being there for my Christian friends and walking this Christian walk with them is what I love to do.

As a little boy in Sunday school I never used to have any responsibilities, but as I grew up and became older I started to appear to have more stability and responsibility. By the time I was 12 years old I was playing bass guitar in my Pentecostal church band, and had the chance to be in control of the attendance list. In my last year of high school I got involved in a Christian club at my school. I participated most of the time but not all the time. While being in the club I visited a small group and that led me to start attending youth group. About two years after I took on a leadership role because I felt it was my time to step out.  Leadership teams were to organize youth events for every other Friday. Leading a group of young people was the most powerful thing I have ever done. 
Being in the field of Christian ministry, trips can be a focus point. I have been involved with advertising, promoting, meetings and more. As a participant most of the time everything was just taken care of and organized for me, and I did not have to do anything except show up. Once I took on a leadership role, I was responsible for formulating a specified food list, consolidating food gear and climbing equipment, and leading persons going on the trip. I took care of all outstanding responsibilities as well as follow-ups. About once a year we would take a trip to a well known park called Paarl Mountain for the day.  I went on the trip as a participant and later on as a leader. We took our youth and kids from different communities who could not afford it by themselves.

I started serving in a Prison called Polls Moor Correctional Services in Cape Town, South Africa in 2004, when I was 19 years old. I worked with juvenile boys 17-25 years of age. I taught them basic life skills, how to manage conflict in their lives, self-esteem, and about the huge HIV-AIDS epidemic. Voluntarily I gave my service for these inmates that had lost their integrity and responsibility for themselves. These boys found it hard to get used to life, and found it troublesome to know who they were.

This led me to be one of the leaders in my youth group of about 20 teenagers, which I had never led but had participated in. After my screening period, I finally could show my talents and spiritual gifts by being myself. I was put in charge of the evening’s program every second Friday. Trying to being an example was a tremendous experience. Some of the youth were struggling and faced many situations in life, like divorced parents, drug habits and teenage pregnancy.

God just gave me more responsibility, and then right after being involved in the youth group as a leader I came to the United States to work as a summer camp counselor for three months. I love it how God used me to be a role model to those kids at camp. I took on an internship the following year at the same camp as an outdoor education facilitator. I also did other activities like assisting in housekeeping, helping in the kitchen and hosting guest groups.

God has taught me so much about ministry and I hope to continue learning about Him by continuing to be involved in ministry and serving others.

I would like to start by saying that my long term goal or, in short, my vision, is like a stone that I am throwing in the water. The impact of the stone, when hitting the water, causes ripples that travel all over the water. That’s the kind of influence I want to have on this world and humanity.

I want to be a person of integrity, and influence others by spreading the aroma of God every time I connect with people, in accordance with 2 Corinthians 2:15. I am to achieve my full potential in the study of Youth Ministry and BA in Bible and Elementary Education, because I know God has called me to work with youth. To me it is about my interests, but it is more about the interests of others. I have reached the point of living my life everyday as if it is my last day. I will strive to instill good in others and live life to the fullest, to absorb what is useful and reject what is useless on my journey of four years of studies in the ministry field.

I will never stop dreaming, “because my dreams are illustrations from the book of soul, which is written about me” (Marsha Norman, Oprah magazine). In achieving my vision, it is not always performance, but with genuineness “my doings will flow from my being,” as a well known professor once said. I want to apply these principles to my life, and live it daily. My vision and my life are centered on the correct principles, and therefore the right foundation, Jesus Christ.

There are a lot of great schools out there, but in this endeavor I made a decision to apply to Moody Bible Institute. I believe that applying to Moody Bible Institute is worth spending all that time filling out the application and writing essays, giving honest information about myself and who I am. Definitely, Moody Bible Institute would help me achieve my dreams, vision and ambitions in life. I hope to learn theologically, biblically, and find respect and favor in my student peers and professors.

I can serve God effectively without a degree or qualifications. But I believe by studying at Moody Bible Institute I will benefit in huge amounts. My major, professors, other students and lifelong relationships will help me reach my long term goals and prepare me to better influence youth for the Kingdom of God.

To contact Trevor Marthinus, email him at trevormarthinus@b2b911.org