Project Compassion is led by a small group of physicians, pastors, and longtime volunteers who have spent decades bringing medical care and Christ's love to communities in need — and who plan every mission trip we send.
The Board guides Project Compassion's mission trips, finances, and long-term vision. Several members have served since our earliest years in the field.
Roxana's partnership with Project Compassion began in 2007 when she took her first missionary trip to Uganda. She has since served in Uganda, Mozambique, Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Ecuador, and Mexico — believing we share the responsibility to care for both the physical and spiritual needs of the world's most impoverished communities.
Her passion for helping others carries into her profession: Roxana is a law enforcement commander with over 24 years of service in San Diego County, and an advocate for the locally indigent through San Diego's homeless coalitions. She serves on Project Compassion's board and as a team leader on our medical mission trips overseas. “Working with Project Compassion has enriched my life spiritually and emotionally,” she says.
A co-founder of Project Compassion, Pastor Bob has been in full-time ministry since 1968. He is the founding pastor of Trinity Church San Diego in Poway, California, where he served as senior pastor from 1988 to 2015 and continues on staff today. Under his leadership the church built an international outreach footprint, and he has personally ministered on five continents training national pastors and leading evangelistic outreaches.
In 1976 he founded Capital Bible College, serving as its president for nine years, and in 1979 founded Jesus West Coast, an annual missions festival that drew thousands and helped recruit many into missions work. He is the author of five books and continues writing, producing, and developing film and TV projects. He and his wife, Claudia, have been married since 1969 and have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
Al Martinez, MD took his first mission trip with Project Compassion in 2000 and joined the Board of Directors in 2001. He earned his medical degree in 1982 and completed his residency in Pediatrics in 1985, and has been in private pediatric practice ever since in Escondido and Poway, CA — caring for patients from infancy to the elderly on every mission trip he takes.
“I found my first trip with PC to be a life-changing experience and I love every trip I take. I feel that the care I can give to the people on these trips is my way of thanking the Lord for all that he gives to me. I encourage others, both medical professionals and lay persons, to take the first step into medical mission work — I know they will come back a different person.”
Our advisory board brings clinical and pastoral expertise to how we train volunteers, plan outreaches, and tell the story of every trip.
Natalie is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who has been involved with Project Compassion since 2000. She received her Master of Science in Nursing in 1987 and is board certified in both Pediatrics and Family Health, spending 20 years with Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group in San Diego after 10 years at Children's Hospital San Diego.
“After my first trip to Mexico in 2000 with Project Compassion, my heart was on fire for missions and I've wanted to return with this group as much as I could. Traveling with Project Compassion is a wonderful way to serve the poor, experience the work of the Holy Spirit, and bring the hope of Jesus Christ.”
Claudia has been on staff at Trinity Church since 1988, where she directed the Worship Department and served as the church's Missions Director for 27 years. She is now one of the church's pastors and sings and plays keyboard on the worship team, and has led ministries ranging from Women's Ministries to home groups to greeters over the years.
She is also an award-winning photographer whose travel photography spans 151 countries as of 2025. Claudia has been involved with Project Compassion since its beginning, taking many trips as a helping hand. She and her husband, Pastor Bob, have been married since 1969 and have three married children and eight grandchildren.
The same leaders you met above also plan the logistics, medical staffing, and itinerary of every Project Compassion mission trip.
Whether you're a medical professional or ready to help behind the scenes, there's a place for you on our next mission trip.