A Trek of Faith

When Maureen Martin’s oldest son, Beau, was selected as an Australian Youth Ambassador to Indonesia in 2002, her family was naturally thrilled.  Part way through the orientation for this once in a lifetime opportunity, the trip was postponed due to the aftermath of the Bali bombing.

During the postponement, Beau was tragically killed in a shark attack on Australia’s Gold Coast, leaving her family utterly shattered. Trying to adjust to life without him was extremely difficult, but before the family had recovered from the shock and grief of his passing, tragedy struck again.  Maureen’s husband was involved in a horse riding accident that left him brain injured.

Following these two traumatic events, the family sustained a relentless bombardment of deeply personal and painful losses in quick succession, leaving the family reeling.

Feeling depleted and despairing, so trapped in a life that turned out vastly different to how she imagined it to be, Maureen slowly fought her way out of the cycle of grief and depression As a mature aged student, she entered into tertiary Social Science studies, graduating with a major in Counselling.

The qualification not only helped her heal, but opened doors to work with parents in distress, to facilitate groups in the men and women’s prisons and to run support groups for young Aboriginal women.

Her love of the outdoors had her regularly lacing on her hiking boots to go trekking which became surprisingly vital to the road to recovery. In A Trek of Faith, Maureen shares how the bedrock of her faith enabled her to face the challenges and will encourage you that no matter what life throws at you, there can be a surprising future up ahead. 

About the author
Born and raised in Sydney, Australia Maureen Martin didn’t take long to realise she preferred wide-open spaces to city life. She set off travelling at 18 to breathe some fresh life air and while travelling around New Zealand, met her future husband, Neil. Together they enjoyed many adventurous experiences and then applied themselves wholeheartedly to raising their four children in both urban and remote rural environments.

A great believer in the importance of family and parenting, this has been reflected in both her personal life and in her career as a counsellor. Working with families who were experiencing parenting and relationship difficulties was her particular area of interest. With her children now adults living around various parts of the country, she welcomes the next generation (two so far) into the family fold.

Maureen lives in Ipswich, Queensland, the birthplace of her husband, where they continue to restore the 100 year old character-filled Queensland home that has accommodated four generations of the Martin family. With her adventurous spirit still alive and well, Maureen loves nothing more than to lace on her hiking boots and going exploring. A long time intercessor, she has maintained a strong prayer partnership with a fellow intercessor for over twenty years and loves a good spiritual adventure as well a natural. Follow her on Facebook.