Seth Martin!

Seth Martin (Seth Mountain, 이산) is a peace activist, poet, teacher, and musician originally from the Pacific Northwest, and a long-term friend of Camas Friends. Since 2015 he has lived and worked in Korea with his partner, Lee Nan Young, but he still lovingly considers Camas Friends his "home church".

In Korea, Seth has been actively involved in several short and long-term struggles for peace and justice, especially the anti-base/airport movement on Jeju Island, and more recently the redevelopment resistance of the Noryangjin Traditional Fish Market merchants in Seoul, who have been violently forced from their original location by a corrupt network of government and business interests bent on "developing" the area. He attempts to use his writing and public performances as his most regular forms of solidarity, along with serving as an international presence and witness to what is happening as much as possible.

Seth also teaches English to young students of various skills and backgrounds, from kindergarten through high school aged, usually in groups or academic programs with a focus on the environment and social justice.

During Corona, Seth has tried to stay connected with others mostly through collaborative music and the written word, in light of face to face limitations and the near-inability to tour or perform live at protests. He has recently guest edited a volume of the Rock! Paper! Scissors! online journal created by members of the Jesus Radicals community, featuring many international voices regarding decolonization and faith; he has written and published several reflections or interviews related to the pandemic, music, and social justice, independently and for Geez Magazine and Korea Quarterly; he has kept up an ongoing, informal series of live topical folk song performances recorded and shared online to comfort and challenge folks during the pandemic; and in December he completed a new collaborative album, "Through Dark Valleys."

Seth and Nan Young live in Seoul with their two cat children, Kong King and Nancy. They are looking forward to a chance, sooner rather than later, to visit friends and family in the PNW, and to gather with loved ones once again at Camas Friends, together in non-virtual space.