Missionaries

  In early 1999, Mark & Bertha Garber, received the call of God on their lives to begin ministering in Northern Australia. Then in July 1999 they first moved to Darwin Australia with their family and began ministering to the Aboriginees people. They ministered there for nine months and had to leave the country for visa requirements. They returned to the USA and after 1 1/2 years, Mark was ordained to the ministry and the church in Heron, MT sent them back to Darwin as missionaries. After 9 months while Australia was processing permanent residency Visas for them, the Lord directed Mark and his family to move to East Timor 400 miles to the northwest of Australia.

  They ministered the Gospel there for almost a year. Then Mark's Dad, who had Lou Gerig's disease, needed care and the Lord instructed them to return to the USA. Mark's dad passed away in November 2003 and after that Mark began to make trips back to East Timor usually twice a year. 

   For thirteen years, from 2003 to 2016, the home church, Living Hope Christian Church, in Heron, MT along with the Mark Garber family faithfully interceded and prayed for the nation of East Timor without seeing much results. But Mark continued to travel to Timor and minister with a native interpreter. In 2016 there was a breakthrough in the spiritual realm where the principalities and strongholds in Timor were broken down in a major way! A dramatic result of God moving on behalf of the prayers of His people according to His Word. The Timorese people began to respond to the Gospel and get born again in greater numbers.

   Brother Lucas, a native believer, was evangelizing and ministering to a group of believers. Mark had met him different times over the years when visiting Timor. In 2017 the Lord both directed and confirmed that it was time to ordain Brother Lucas as pastor and establish the group of believers as a church in Timor. In the last five years the Lord has added many new believers to the church and Pastor Lucas has been faithfully ministering and evangelizing. Hallelujah! We give all the praise to our Lord and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ! 

Call to Australia 

Wednesday, March 29, 2017     

   God called me at a very young age,  I was born and raised In a Christian home, attended church regularly. At age 11 I was truly born again, and committed my life to Christ. Early on he began to place on me a burden for lost souls. Sometime afterward I heard a sermon taken from Isaiah 6 where  after seeing the glory of God, In verse 8 Isaiah heard the call of God saying '' Whom Shall I send, and who will go for us''… It was at that time I felt the Call of God for overseas Missions. 

   It was then and in the years to follow I became more interested in the work in Australia and beyond, and from My early teens on God began to make it clear to me that this is the  mission I am to be involved with. And so It seemed that in the years to follow, all of Gods working  and dealing in my life was to point me in that direction. So much so that when I became  interested in a relationship with Liz (who eventually became my wife) The first conversation I had with her father and then also with her, included me sharing my intentions to  someday be a Missionary somewhere in Australia or the islands, to which she agreed and also  shared her desire to do the same. 

   In the summer of 2014 I had the privilege of traveling with Mark Garber to East Timor where I met Brother Zac and spent a few days there with him… from there we went to Darwin  Australia and spent a few days there as well. That trip did something for me I cannot explain, in that, it established further in me the call of God, and His burden for this work.  I know and am fully persuaded that God Has called us to the work of this Mission.

 Testimony by : Conrad Wengerd

    The story of God calling me to the work in Australia lies in several distinct points in my life.    

  Sometime around my eleventh year, I had a dream about working in Australia with Mark Garber and his family. I was young and sincere, and at the time it left a huge impression on me. I truely believed this was God's call on my life.  

  As I grew into my teenage years, I rebelled against my parents and against God. Thoughts of Australia faded from memory until I was sixteen. As God drew my heart and I finally began surrendering all to Him, thoughts of Australia returned. Was this really God's plan for me? Was that dream really a sign or was it just a dream? I had to know for sure so I began seeking God for an answer. Through much prayer and seeking, God brought a settled peace, that yes, this was His plan for me. And again like a seed that gets planted in the ground, so the seed of God's direction was planted in my heart until the time when God was ready for me to more actively begin working with Mark in the Australia mission.  

  Many times we don't understand God's timing. We often have to take one step before we can see clearly what the following step is. Through the years this Calling continued to resurface. As I got married and had children, it was never forgotten. Many times I wondered how it could be possible. Yet with God all things are possible and I am excited to see how His plan unfolds for us in His work in Australia.

  Testimony by : Jason Mast