By now, all of you who are reading this are probably aware of the attacks coming against The Marin Foundation by a few radical and politically charged national media outlets. When everything hit last month I was taken off guard, hurt, and stood at a loss in how to maneuver against such a collectively strong opposition. I had a friend recently tell me a story that the day the attacks became public he walked into his office and saw that his coworkers were standing around and personally insulting my character and me. Not knowing that this man knew me, they continued on until he vocally stood up for me and then walked out of the room. At that moment I realized all over the country stories similar to this one were probably happening just as it had here in Chicago. Hearing that story made the attacks even more personal, because people I call friends are now dealing with the choice to put themselves out there for the sake of the work we do. The pain from this understanding of what others are doing for The Marin Foundation bolted straight to my core, and my soul ached for what this world falsely speaks against us. In the midst of living within a month long disillusioned haze, I finally came to the difficult, yet fantastically simple realization that I am not physically, emotionally or spiritually bound by this world and the hateful things anyone says against The Marin Foundation, or me personally. As cliché as this might sound, I now feel I am completely free by the faith I have in my Lord Jesus because no weapon formed against me shall prosper! I want to take time to delve further into what this experience has meant to me.

As Paul wrote a letter to the Christians of the Roman church, he reminded them of what true, undying faith looks like. “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of [the Lord’s] nations, just as it had been said to him, so shall your offspring be. Without weakening his faith, [Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised (Romans 4:18-21)”. The passage begins with the words, against all hope, a theme not uncommon throughout the Bible. I believe that the Bible, amongst other things, is one long collection of stories surrounding the topics of redemption and overcoming. From Abraham beginning his work for the Lord at the age of one hundred, to Joseph being raised to power in the most advanced civilization on the earth at that time, to an unknown shepherd with a sling and a stone defeating an entire warring nation; The Marin Foundation is rejuvenated and given hope once again that the full knowledge and power to overcome these attacks is through an unwavering and limitless faith. In a song entitled Voice of Truth, the band Casting Crowns sing: “The Giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me…the Giant keeps on telling me time and time again, boy, you’ll never win, you’ll never win!” Just the same I have been told recently during a phone conversation (from a prominent gay leader from the largest GLBT organization in the country) he was sorry that these attacks will probably end The Marin Foundation because we are too small and do not have the infrastructure to survive. He continued saying to me that someone had to take the fall and it was not going to be them; but not to worry because they will always receive two more pieces of positive national media to every one like mine and it just looks like The Marin Foundation is done! Done? My beliefs tell me The Marin Foundation is just getting started! Believe with me! The organization saying these things to me has an annual budget close to $70 million dollars a year, as compared to The Marin Foundation at about $30,000!

For all intents and purposes, these larger organizations are trying to stop our bridge building work within the broader GLBT community by trying to shut us down through their plentiful financial resources. These giants are personally telling me “time and time again, boy, you’ll never win, you’ll never win”. But in the end, the conclusion to the song Voice of Truth says; “But the voice of Truth, tells me a different story. The voice of Truth says do not be afraid. The voice of Truth says this is for My glory; out of all the voices calling out to me, I will choose to listen and believe the voice of Truth.” The giant has drawn the line in the sand and threatened us. It is now time for all of us to listen to the voice of Truth standing up for The Marin Foundation telling us to not be afraid because this is for His glory. We cannot do our work without you, our allies, donors and prayer warriors. Goliath made his move, and now it is time for us to make ours. I have never before asked for direct funding, but I ask today, stand with us and help us not so much fight the giant, but rather fight for the vision the Lord Jesus has given us. As a good friend of mine Nancy Jacques said to me recently, “It’s only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that gets you through.” Let’s believe together and show the power the Lord has to move us forward once again.

Thank you and God Bless,

Andrew Marin