For more than 20 years it has been my goal to help people lose weight AND to glorify the Lord in the process. I believe that food has become idolized in our culture and society. This idolization and worship of food over the Lord our God has had devastating consequences on our bodies, minds, and spirits. I aim to change that. Food is sustenance and it can and should be enjoyed. There is a way to combine foods and to eat in a balanced manner that allows our bodies, that is to say the tabernacles of God, to be healthy and vibrant. Companies have exploited our culture by producing massive amounts of refined carbs and unhealthy fats to elevate massive profits for themselves and for their shareholders.
Refined carbohydrate along with bad fats are cheaply made products that allow for huge profit margins. Robust sales mean robust profits for business and robust sales tax for our government. The combination of refined carbs and bad fats in our food supply has caused obesity to be the leading cause of death in the United States of America.
Our people are perishing due to a lack of knowledge and the idolization of food! Even the idolization of food isn’t entirely our people’s fault. Billions of dollars are spent on advertising these poisonous products. These poisonous foods are on our minds continually. We believe that by God’s grace we can change the eating culture of America by providing everyone that turns back to the Living God an opportunity to learn lifestyle and eating principles that have already changed tens of thousands of lives across the South Eastern United States and beyond.
This ministry started in my heart as God spoke to me on the side of the road about my idolization and worship of food. My idolization of food had led me down a path where I was bodily sick and spiritually dying. I went on to lose more than 100 pounds and was soon able to discontinue the use of 4 prescription medications. God began putting me in front of others that needed the same lifestyle approach that I had used to become healthy. In the name of the Lord, many lives were changed and are still being changed.
My first 5 to almost 10 years teaching the way I ate and talking about Jesus to hundreds of people went from an extremely rewarding experience to a very painful one. There were missteps, poor partnerships, bad decisions and many more typical growing pains of a new "business". But the biggest downfall I believe, came from the demand from my partners and corporations that I was teaching in, as well as the line-up of potential investors to remove Jesus from my teaching.
Being caught up in a contract I could not see my way out of, I agreed. It was the worst decision of my life. Albeit a very short-lived decision. Everything that I had built collapsed overnight and I realized if God is not in it, it will not flourish. I was able to find a way out of my contract, I had to let go 90% of my staff and couldn't promise I could pay the ones that volunteered to stay with me. My bank accounts were seized and I was forced into bankruptcy. A time that feels like a gut punch every time I relive it. I thought I was supposed to give up and the calling I felt was all in my mind.
The year 2013 was the beginning of a new life for me. I was married to my soul mate and with nothing to our names, God moved me to lay my trophies and idols down and place the focus on Him above the lifestyle tool as it should be. It is my firm belief that in order to really change that we need to come to the knowledge of WHO we are in order to change any behavior, including eating behaviors.
On July 8, 2013, God moved me to share this ministry and it’s future with the thousands of people that the program has successfully helped via "Shibboleth" (A great story about that for another day!). Great things can only be accomplished by and through God calling many people to this ministry, and by and through those sharing their own hearts and gifts liberally with and to this ministry. We are now brought to thousands, and hopefully one day millions, of hurting people that have lost hope that they can lose weight and keep it off. We are brought to these adults and children by God’s providence and our Partners who have shared their financial resources with this ministry. Without our Partners acting on their faith in the Lord, Shibboleth could not exist. If you are reading this and have had success with the program, the people you see on this tribute page have had a hand in presenting you the opportunity to change your life! Please take just a moment and pray for the Partners on this wall who have selflessly given of themselves. They have not asked for anything in return. I do ask you for your love and secret prayers towards these remarkable Christ-like Partners.
To our Partners, on behalf of this ministry and the people it serves, thank you for your grace and love. Most of all, we bow our heads and thank the God, Counselor, and Everlasting Father of all for always providing for those who turn to Him in their time of need.Bless the name of the Lord at all times!
Faithfully,
Travis J. Martin, Program Founder