• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Glad to be here!

my story

I was born in Cudahy, Wisconsin to my parents, Mark Charles Howard and Vivian Lee Howard. My family, including my brother, Chuck Howard, moved from Wisconsin to California in 1966. We have lived in various cities throughout Southern California; mostly in Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana. My sister, Linda Lee Howard, was born in Anaheim, California.

My childhood is full of many good memories. My dad and I were very close. He worked at an auto body shop in Garden Grove, and eventually started his own shop in Huntington Beach; however, his true passion in life was flying, so he became a flight instructor. I recall going flying when I was about eight years old. It was a beautiful day; partly cloudy skies, and I asked my dad if we could go flying. It was a school day, and he said, "Lets do it." So we went flying, and it was such a thrill to be up there in the airplane with my dad. He even let me fly it.

My mom was a great homemaker. I can remember her cooking some really tasty meals and keeping the house clean and in order.

My parents were divorced when I was eleven years old due to my dad's drinking problem and mental problems. He spent a lot of time in mental hospitals and jail. That same year, my mom encouraged me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior at a Baptist Church in Anaheim, California. They showed a film on the rapture and the great tribulation. My mom had to support my brother and sister and me, so she went to school and became a medical assistant, and worked for various doctors in Fountain Valley and Newport Beach, California.

I remember having a playful childhood, with several friends. I liked to play "catch", ride bicycles, hike, collect coins, swim in the summer, at the beach and in the pool.

I started running cross-country at Costa Mesa High School, my Alma Mater, in the fall of 1978. Also, I ran the mile and the two-mile in track in the spring of 1979 and through all four years of high school. I made several new friends on the cross-country team, and developed a close relationship with Coach Joe Fisher. We had our summer running camp at his property in Idaho. The memories of those good times will always live on. We had the most successful cross-country season in the fall of 1980. We won all of our invitational races from Dana Hills to Mt. San Antonio. We were Boys Varsity Sea View league champions, and the best team in Orange County for boys varsity cross-country. My personal record in the 3-mile in high school was 14 minutes and 50 seconds.

From 1979, my Sophomore year of high school, off and on until 1987, I worked as an usher, concessions clerk, cashier, assistant manager, projectionist and manager trainee at the United Artist Cinemas on Sunflower & Plaza Drive in Santa Ana, California, along with several teammates from the cross-country team. We saw a lot of free movies and ate lots of popcorn. I graduated from Costa Mesa High School in 1982.

My dad died on November 29, 1982, while I was away at college at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, running for Coach Joe Fisher. The pain and grief of losing my dad was unbearable, so I did some soul searching. I wanted to know what happens when you die. I met a fellow student on my dorm room floor, and he introduced me to a Christian club on campus. The club members bought me a Bible, and they helped guide me through the Scriptures and prayer to rededicate my life to Jesus Christ. Soon after that I fell away from God and lost my running scholarship at Fort Hays State for drinking too many beers, smoking marijuana and getting out of control. Coach Fisher kicked me off the track team. I headed back to California at the end of my freshman year in the spring of 1983 and continued to party with my friends. I was close to hitting bottom and I didnt even realize it. This is what the Bible has to say about living a sinful life: Galatians 6:7,8: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit will reap eternal life."

I also attempted to run cross-country at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California in the fall of 1983. I didn't finish the season due to my drinking problem Since then, I have completed a variety of courses there from computers to United States history.

In March of 1984 I was partying with some friends in the parking lot of the United Artist's Cinemas where I worked. At the end of the evening I was driving home drunk, and a friend of mine named Brett Southard was a passenger in the car. We were driving down Sunflower Avenue, and I lost control of the car and crashed into a brick wall. I lived but my friend Brett died. Although Brett and I were backslidden Christians at the time, I still believe he is in heaven. I believe this because he had previously accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. I was sentenced to eight months in jail, and was facing three years in state prison. Since I had no criminal record, the judge gave me a lighter sentence. Our God is a forgiving and merciful God. I asked the Lord to forgive me for causing the death of Brett. I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." After this accident in April 1984, I rededicated my life to Jesus Christ at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California. I attended there from 1984 to 2000.

In August 14, 1993, I was married to the most beautiful, loving, faithful, godly woman in the world, Kirsten Howard. We met at the College and Career Bible Study at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, California in 1991. We had a great honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest. We visited Seattle, Washington, and also Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler Canada, and the Oregon coast.


I started my own window cleaning business in 1987, named Aloha Window Cleaning, and I also coached cross-country and track at Costa Mesa High School in Costa Mesa, California from 1987 through 1996.

In 1996 I was running with the high school kids up in Big Bear, California and injured my groin. In 1998 I was seeking physical therapy treatments for my injury. In July of that year the therapist decided to take a more aggressive approach, and performed some stretching techniques which caused me to become disabled, and I had to quit my successful window cleaning business. I still managed to be able to coach the Jr. High track team. Since then I have had chronic pain on a daily basis. Also, I have suffered with sinus problems since September of 2000. I went through laser sinus surgery in July of 2002. Through this pain and suffering the Lord has given me compassion for lost souls. He wants me to warn people that they need to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior before they die to be assured to enter heaven and avoid hell.

I started coaching the Jr. High Track at Costa Mesa High School in 1995. In the spring of 2002 I decided to take a leave of absence from coaching to focus on ministry (photo archived here of me coaching). All my years of coaching were so rewarding in many ways. I have found that the lessons I learned from running and coaching are ones which apply to everyday challenges in life. I wanted to give back to the kids some of the many positive things I received from that.


In January 2002, the Lord put it on my heart to start an Internet ministry. We also developed a Gospel tract to hand out.

My wife Kirsten and me recently moved to Mobile, Alabama from Costa Mesa, California.

God bless you!

Mark Howard
 

Feathers in Hair

World's Tallest Hobbit
Hello, Mark, and welcome to the forums! (I'm new here, myself, and am enjoying what a lovely, kind spirit the site has!) It's great to have you here!
 

Scott1

Well-Known Member
Mark,

Welcome to the Forums.

THANK YOU! What a wonderful introduction. Thank you so much for sharing such a personal testimony.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your ministry.

My prayers to you and your family.

Peace in Christ,
Scott
 
Top