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 in 1978 at Davis Intermediate School in Costa Mesa, California. I began as a sprinter; however my coach told me I looked more like a distance runner, so he timed me in the 1320 yard run. I remember my time was 3:52. My coach set a goal of running the 1320 by the end of the season in 3:32. With a great coach and a God given talent, the goal was met, and I became the district champion for the Newport-Mesa Middle Schools finals. I was so excited, because I had never done so well in anything like this in my lifetime. Also that year, in 8th grade, the real shocker was that I made Honor Roll.

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.

We have traveled throughout the United States from New York to Florida (photo archived here of Kirsten and I atop the World Trade Center towers in New York). I weep for the victims and the families and friends of individuals lost in the terrorist attacks on the East Coast on September 11, 2001. Our country will never be the same. I pray this will be a wake up call for our country and the world to turn to God. I have visited 33 of the states in the United States. My favorite states are Hawaii, Colorado, and several eastern states, including Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware. We really enjoyed seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. In Washington, D.C. we visited the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Smithsonian, and the U.S. Capitol Building. We visited Virginia and saw the Arlington National Cemetery and visited President John F. Kennedy's grave. We also visited Mazatlan, Mexico and had a wonderful tropical vacation, with an oceanfront hotel room. I traveled to the Philippines in 1999 with my brother Chuck, to visit the children Kirsten and I sponsor through World Vision. Also, we spent a lot of time in Idyllwild, California. Our friend Stephen Gould had several spiritual advances during the week between Christmas and New Years. Kirsten and I have always looked forward to getting away from the hustle and bustle of Orange County; going up to the mountains and drawing closer to the Lord through praying, reading God's Word and just enjoying the beauty of God's creation up in the mountains. We have also gone there during the summer months; staying in the cabin and doing some camping also. We love to spend time at Disneyland since we have Annual Passports (photo archived here of Kirsten and I at Disneyland).

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.

Kirsten and I started attending Greenville Country Church in Santa Ana, California in March of 2000 and continued until April 2002. Greenville Country Church was founded in 1876 and is currently the oldest Protestant church in Orange County, California. I met a man there named Charles Covey. He has become like a father to me. Charles and I compiled a booklet on the history of the church. The title of the booklet is "Greenville Country Church - Celebrating 125 Years of Serving The Lord Jesus Christ 1876-2001". We donated one to the Costa Mesa Historical Society, the History Room at the Santa Ana Library, the Orange County Historical Society, Mesa Verde Public Library, Costa Mesa, California, the Costa Mesa Public Library on Park Street. Praise Jesus! The booklet has Scriptures about salvation, and how to make it to Heaven. We also made a mini-museum in the old Greenville church, celebrating the 125th anniversary, with old photos and the history of the church. E.C. Knott was a pastor at the church in 1889. He was the father of Walter Knott, who founded Knotts Berry Farm in Buena Park, California.

Orange County, California historian, Stephen Gould, is an author of many books on Orange County history. We donated ten booklets to his ministry, Campus Outreach, on the campus of Cal State Fullerton, California. So far, he has sold two copies of the booklet to the California State Library in Sacramento, one copy to the University of California at Berkeley and UC Riverside, and The First American Title Company in Santa Ana, California.

We currently fellowship at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa, California. Our pastor is Chuck Smith. If you would like to hear our church radio station, log on to KWVE.com

My mom, Vivian Baker, and step-dad Harry are living in Hemet, California where they fellowship and perform ministry work at the Calvary Chapel Hemet in their retirement years. My brother Chuck Howard lives in Costa Mesa, California and runs a successful advertising agency. My sister Linda Garcia and her husband Mark live in Foothill Ranch, California. Linda is a nurse, and Mark is a police officer. They have three children. My nephew Garrett and I have spent a lot of time together. His favorite place to go is Disneyland. He has a younger sister Ashley, and a younger brother, Ryan. My wife and I used to watch the kids at least once or twice a month. It was a great bonding experience.

I started a hospital ministry in 1999. Praise Jesus, 28 souls have made decisions to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. To God be the glory! In January 2002, the Lord put it on my heart to start an Internet ministry. We also developed a Gospel tract to hand out to those who are lost and need salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus loves you! "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) How to be saved: Romans 10:9,10: "That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."