About Us
Our Journey - Charley and Martie Elgin
In the book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren uses the acrostic "SHAPE" to describe how God prepares you for His purpose for you in this life. The following chronology reflects how God has shaped us over the past 30 years for serving on the Gulf Coast, in Haiti and in Texas... walking the path that He has set our feet on ...
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 "And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant"
Our faith journey began when we accepted Christ in 1976, after college, while on our first assignment in the Army. I had served as a radio operator in Vietnam in 1969-1970, and then went to college on the GI Bill. After serving in Desert Storm, 1990-1991, we chose to leave the Army after 17 years, before retirement for the betterment of our children. Since then, we have been extensively involved in ministry and missions in south-central Alabama. We were commissioned by our home church the Fall of 2005 as missionaries to the Gulf coast. Following that, I, Charley, was ordained as a minister of the Gospel in January 2006 by our church, Gateway Baptist Church, which was a further confirmation of our calling. Proverbs 16:9 says "Men make plans, but God orders their steps" had we not left the Army when we did, we would not have experienced God's blessing in serving Him and others.
Alabama Men of Integrity: 1993 – 1996 I led an inter-denominational and multi-racial ministry which focused on winning men to the Lord and encouraging them to walk faithfully in accordance with the Word of God. Martie helped with the administrative tasks.
Promise Keepers: 1996 – 1997 In late 1995, I was asked to join the staff of Promise Keepers and served as manager for Promise Keepers for both Alabama and Mississippi.
Faith Broadcasting: 1996-2001 Martie served as Office Manager at a Christian radio station, a 501(c)3 on Montgomery, AL. This required her to understand financial tracking and reporting as well as volunteer coordination.
Military Missions Network: 2004 – 2005 We helped establish a para-church ministry, a 501(c)3 ministry, for military members and their families. Gateway BC: 2004-2005 Martie served the people of Gateway Baptist Church as an administrative assistant.
Campus Crusade for Christ Military Ministry 2005 We joined with Campus Crusade as associate staff with their military ministry.
Ocean Springs: 2 Sept 2005 – 15 Oct 2005 We went to Ocean Springs as Red Cross Volunteers, along with other members of our church, to establish a Red Cross Shelter at Christus Victor Lutheran Church. Once we were relieved by other Red Cross volunteers, we continued to serve at the church. Martie served as volunteer coordinator and I managed food and supply distribution for Lutheran distribution points along the Gulf Coast and the Food Kitchen at the church.
Bay St. Louis: 15 Oct 2005 – 27 March 2006 In early October, First Baptist Church of Montgomery asked Gateway BC and us to join them in Waveland - Bay St Louis with the relief effort there. We moved to Shoreline Park Baptist Church where Martie continued to coordinate volunteers and work requests. I managed the volunteer camp operations and relief effort.
Waveland: 28 March 2006 - 15 June 2010 Pathfinder Mission In early January 2005, we felt the call to start a new ministry in Waveland. After much counsel and the concurrence of our home church, we began making plans to leave the Shoreline volunteer camp move to Waveland. We established Pathfinder Mission in Waveland in April 2006. In May 2007, Pathfinder Mission received designation as a Mississippi non-profit organization. In August 2007, Pathfinder received status as a 501(c)3
Bridgestone: 15 June 2010 - 30 May 2011 With the construction on the coast at an end, we closed the camp in Waveland and moved to central Alabama to organize for ministry to Haitian orphans and the rebuild homes lost to the earthquake of January 2010. We are partnered with Bridges of Faith a ministry to international orphans who also operates Bridgestone, a 140 acre prayer, retreat and equipping center located 30 miles north of Montgomery, AL.
Haiti: January 12 2011 - 30 July 2015 I made my first trip to Haiti in January 2011 exactly one year after the "tranbleman de te" great earthquake. In April 2011, Pathfinder partnered with Children's Hope of Montgomery, AL to build an orphanage in Jacmel for the 18 children supported by that ministry with the expectation to increase the number of children to 60 by 2012. We expected to be in Jacmel for about one year or as the Lord allowed and directed. We built two orphanages not one. Organized 6 Christian schools, developed a student food program, provided books, water purification for the schools. we partnered with young evangelist in the local seminary to conduct crusades in the mountains, taught English as a second language, Bible Studies to young adults, preached in the churches.
In the Fall of 2014, Children's Hope asked us to move to Jeremie to start a new ministry in Anse du Clerc. This is a very remote area. We partnered with the lead pastor, Pastor Francky Jeune, working with seven village churches. Before returning to the United States, we built a base camp for medical missions and pastor training teams.
2015 to 2017 : We returned to the United States. We are maintained our partnerships with the local churches in both the U.S. and Haiti. We leveraged our network of relationships to meet specific needs in the Anse du Clerc region and Jacmel. We organized to build our first 10 houses and even purchased 10 donkeys to replace the animals lost in Hurricane Matthew in 2016 for families living in Bwanef, a remote mountain village in Western Haiti.
I resigned from my position as an IT engineer working for the U.S. Air Force to move to Texas with my wife to support the relief effort there. We established a presence in Pasadena, Texas October 2017. We expect to be in Texas until the Lord move us on.
2017 to Present: Upon arrival in Texas, we began our rebuild ministry on the Southeast side of the Houston Metroplex. We used volunteers at first, but because of COVID we transitioned to local contractors. Using grants rather than contributions from churches and individuals, we have restored over 60 homes. at the same time we continued to build houses in Haiti and support three schools in Anse du Clerc.
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