Balancing three diverse roles in life
I met his daughter before I ever met him. The little girl in the Central Baptist Church daycare with the bright eyes, big smile and outgoing personality led me to believe that this was a very special family. My thought was confirmed when I met the rest of the Martin family shortly after!
Deputy Leroy Martin became Sheriff Leroy Martin the first of this year and he's still growing into the role. But he's had good mentors: men like Wayne Tompkins, Calvin Knighton, Denny Foster and Mike Loe held the position before him and treated the force like family. But though the call to pastoral ministry came early, he didn't respond until one night in his patrol car while reading through the Gospel of John, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ came to life for him. He found his place in ministry and has served Life Builders Restoration Church as pastor for the past 11 years.
His wife Voyles filled a vacancy as Columbia County Tax Assessor and still works in the office today. His three children, Leroy, III (Trey), Alexis and Lemuel (Mel), assist in ministry at the church as well as being students. It's a remarkable family that we are blessed to have here in L.A.
When I first began to toss around the idea of starting a podcast, Leroy Martin was one of the first names that came to mind as someone I would like to interview. I wondered how he would react and if he would make time for me. I called his office and left a voicemail, which he returned pretty quickly. He agreed to meet me and even came in on a holiday to do so. He brought a "photographer" with him and I was glad to get to visit with Voyles while he attended to an unexpected emergency call that had come in.
In today's podcast, Sheriff Martin talks about his growing up days, call to law enforcement and eventual call to ministry. He talks about balancing the many roles he has, the importance of transparency in his office, his view on the proposed "entertainment district" for Magnolia, human trafficking (yes, the two are linked!), and a growing crime in our county that you might never have thought about. If you'd like to know more about human trafficking in South Arkansas, the Magnolia Rotary Club is sponsoring an awareness event at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 at Southern Arkansas University.
Join us for today's podcast by clicking the play button below and welcome to another edition of "Life in L.A."!
No comments:
Post a Comment