A disabled vicar who is planning to travel from John O'Groats to Land's End in his wheelchair next month has described how he found God in prison and lifted himself out of a life of serious crime to become a church minister.
The Vicar of St John's, Bransholme in Hull, Matthew Martinson, says he has "no idea" where he will sleep during his journey, for which he hopes to raise £25,000 towards his church, adding: "I'll ask God to help me".
Speaking to Christian Today ahead of his trip, Martinson told of his progress from abusive background and life of homelessness, drugs and a prison sentence for armed robbery, to sailing through the selection process to become a vicar.
"I grew up in a very abusive background with my father," he says. "I joined the army to try to escape but there were lots of problems there as well, and eventually I was discharged after repeatedly going AWOL."
Martinson, from Hornsea near Hull, was in a destructive relationship at the time and he and his then-girlfriend called in a vicar to help. "From the moment he walked in I knew there was something different and I wanted it – God's presence – and I sensed that God was telling me that he loved me. And I thought how can you love me with all that I've done, all the hurt? But I got a message back that he did love me."
But despite this glimpse of a life that was to come, within weeks Martinson was back on the streets, around York and Leeds, his relationship ended and he turned to crime.
"And unfortunately that's when I committed the armed robbery," he said. He was arrested weeks later. "The police put me in a police cell and as soon as they'd locked me in that door that presence came back. God conveyed to me right, you need to make a choice – it's either me or the lifestyle that you'd been choosing – and I gave God a chance and as soon as I did I felt God's love come and touch me."
Martinson was sentenced to 11 years and although he only served four, life in prison was a struggle despite his budding faith. He ended up in Wolds prison near Everthorpe in East Riding, and credits an "amazing" chaplain there, Dave Carswell, with "helping me to understand what it meant to be a Christian, how I needed to live, the grounding".
The former criminal says it was "really, really hard to practice faith in prison – people want to try you and test you, but I saw God at work on many occasions."
Then, a couple of days before he was released, he sent himself a card to where he was going to stay – with one of the chaplaincy – saying: 'Don't forget about Jesus as He hasn't forgotten about you.'
"I needed to hear that because of all the temptations, leaving prison was so hard." Martinson nearly went back to drugs – "I had a couple of wobbly experiences" – but his faith saw him through, and he gravitated to a church in Bridlington, Christ Church.
There, he met his wife, Haley – "our eyes met over a crowded pew," he says – and the couple felt that God was calling Martinson to Bible College. Despite having no qualifications and barely being able to read or write, Martinson ended up at the Assembies of God Bible College in Doncaster. "It was amazing," he says. "I had three years of really good Bible teaching. It was really hard. Haley helped me with the reading and writing, and they wouldn't let me quit. Eventually I came out with a degree in theology which was pretty amazing."
The couple then set up a charity called Beyond Bars, distributing Christian material to current prisoners along with prostitutes, alcoholics and drug offenders, and helping people to get into rehab.
Then, Martinson says, "God really started to speak to us again about me going forward to ordination which I thought was impossible. I went back to Christ Church in Bridlington. The procedure normally takes ages but the vicar, Jonathan Cooper, really believed in me and put me through to selection process and I became a minister."
Martinson did his C of E training at St. John's College, Nottingham, before completing another course in Beverley and eventually settling as a vicar in Hull.
Martinson has not walked since he woke up one morning six years ago with no feeling in his legs, after undergoing operations for trapped nerves, prolapsed discs and other spinal and pelvic problems.
This was when Martinson was still training to be a vicar but he refused to let it get in the way of his calling.
Now, he is preparing to travel the length of the country, with no-one but God for company. An electric trike attached to the wheelchair will help during climbs, but the battery will only manage a maximum of 20 miles.
"My wife, Haley, and our son, Seth, think I am mad, but they both understand why I want to do it, and totally and utterly support me, as does my bishop, Alison White," Martinson told the Church Times.
Martinson's progress will be logged on his website, www.end-to-end.co.uk – where he can be sponsored – and on Facebook.
Asked where he will stay during his journey, Martinson, who is hoping to find people to put him up, laughs. "No idea is the short answer to that!"
