Mark and Jen Brenner

Mark is the Chief Financial Officer and teaches Christian Ethics classes for the School of Discipleship. He is currently pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Religion from Liberty University. Jen volunteers in our landscaping department. Mark and Jen are both graduates of the School of Discipleship.

Brenner Family Update

February 2026

Stephen has been in the USAF for the last four years. He has been stationed in Texas, Louisiana, South Korea, England, Guam, and now in Minot, North Dakota. Over that time, he has been working on EGRESS systems for B-52 bombers, and F-16 fighter jets. His team services and replaces ejection seats and the explosive charges related to blowing off aircraft canopies, in the event of an emergency where a pilot must eject from the plane. He has been promoted regularly and is now the rank of Staff Sergeant. He has learned to thrive in the work that he is doing and is now tasked with teaching the newbies. His time with the Air Force is coming to an end. He will be done with his contract in June and coming home to PA at least for a while.

• Pray for Stephen to finish out his contract with the Air Force well.
• Pray for his reintegration into civilian life as he explores employment opportunities and discovers the life God has for him outside the armed services.
• Pray that he will find a good church and godly iron sharpening iron friends.

Rachel spent from September of 2023 till August of 2024 on a yearlong mission trip called the World Race. She then returned home and spent the better part of a year on trying to get healthy. She has battled CIRS, chronic inflammatory response syndrome for the last couple years. This is caused by an allergic type auto immune response to mold exposure and possibly COVID. A doctor that is focusing on the root causes of her health problems is currently treating her. She underwent genetic testing and had a custom supplement plan developed. It is providing her much relief. Rachel also became very involved in a local church in Corry, where she works with the young ladies in the youth group in a discipleship context. At the moment, Rachel is back on the mission field with the World Race until mid May, doing mission work in Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Morocco.

• Pray for Rachel to be completely healed from the mold toxicity exposure. The chronic fatigue, neck pain, and neurological symptoms from CIRS are a heavy weight to bear.
• Pray for her encouragement and direction as she shares the Gospel on the foreign mission field.
• Pray that God will bless her with iron sharpening iron friendships and a continued vision for spiritual growth and serving God with her whole heart.
• Pray for her spiritual protection in these spiritually dark countries.
• Pray that her discipleship of young ladies in Corry will be fruitful.

Michael graduated with a BS in Biology from Edinboro University. Then he worked a variety of jobs, including medical laboratory work, and building construction while preparing for physician’s assistant grad school. In May of 2024 he began a 2-year physician’s assistant program at Cedarville University. Michael completed the year of didactic study and is now only a couple months away from finishing the year of “rotations”, the second phase of his physicians assistant training. He will graduate in May of 2026 and will be looking for work as a PA.

• Pray that Michael will have great memory recall and focus as he has a heavy classroom workload for the next couple months. He has exams almost every week from now until graduation in May of 2026.
• Pray that Michael will deep and meaningful spiritual interaction with his classmates as they work and study together. Most if not all of his class are Christians and they hold Bible study together.
• Pray for Michael to have wisdom from above as he ministers in his class, and with those in his church fellowship.

Jen is doing very well. She is our household prayer warrior. She organizes our advisor meetings along with another staff member, Carleigh Matz. Jen meets with and helps disciples our students. We currently have two young ladies in our advisor group, Alison Doty, and Autumn Young. Jen also heads up our Mexico Mission trip day camps, and ladies ministry. She does a great job of keeping our home running smoothly and we appreciate her hard work and effort.

• Pray for Jen that she will have a sound mind and clarity to process the daily things that come into her life.
• Pray for her ministry with our advisees and with the day camps during the Mexico Missions trip.
• Pray that she will find peace and joy in doing the things that she loves and is good at, i.e. crafts, writing, teaching, gardening, art, etc. (She often feels guilty and an internal pressure to forgo normal good things, related to mental struggles that she has had for many years.) I am always telling her to, “Do Fun Things!”.
• Pray for her as she helps her mom, who is in her mid 80s. Jen’s father Ed, died last year after a protracted time battling Alzheimer’s.

My job title is now Director of Construction / Special Projects, and I am more often than not working on some type of special project. Sometimes those projects are related to timber management, and often they are related to operations or other aspects of the ministry. Problem solving related to electrical, HVAC, and engineering type situations are right in my wheelhouse. I am currently managing the construction of the Stanley house remodel, making plans for a new Marshall house, and pulling plans together for a large bunkhouse and meeting room project that we hope to begin in the next year. I sometimes hire and supervise construction crews, order materials, work with the architects / engineers, meet with inspectors, and work through code issues to keep the projects rolling. I try to keep the wireless internet working and help anywhere else I am needed. I also organize the Mexico Missions trip with Mark Carpenter, and assist him with projects regularly and as needed. Mark C and I have been making extra trips to Mexico to assist church plants through drilling water wells, the latest trip was to a Tarahumara village, in December 2025. I have also become more involved in our local church, being a regular part of the rotation of speakers, and serving in the church in a variety of other ways.

I still try to stay in shape through the hobby of long distance cycling, and have plans for a coast-to-coast trip from New York City to Los Angeles sometime in the next couple years. Jen’s electric bike is working well and we will be able to do some biking together in 2026. I am also coaching volleyball in Corry with a great group of people that are dedicated to the development of the kids in our Corry area. Lastly, I finished my private pilot’s license in May of 2025 and have logged over 160 flight hours! I am working on getting my hot air balloon pilot’s license this spring and hope to launch the hot air balloon from some of the MMR camps as an added activity and point of interest.

• Pray for the great group of people attending the Mexico Mission Trip this April. We have 46 people going on the trip and it will be quite an adventure. Pray that God will prepare the hearts of everyone involved to be able to learn and grow, as He wants us to.
• We are still looking for churches and individuals to support the drilling of several more wells, about $7000.
• Prayer for Pastor Alex and his wife Irene, from the church plant in Babicora, Mexico, that they will be able to get a visa to come to the US to visit their support base and that for their financial support. We have been actively raising support on their behalf to accomplish the church planting and outreach to unreached people groups.
• Pray for wisdom as we come up with the house plans for the new Marshall house that we hope to start this spring, and for the large bunkhouse project that could start later this year.
• Pray for me to have an impact in the lives of those young ladies that I am coaching in volleyball, and for it to draw the local people to Christ and to the ministry of MMR.
• Pray for me as I finish my balloon pilot’s license and build hours of flying in the plane. I am looking forward to see how God will use some of these new skills in the coming years.

Love,
Mark, Jen, Michael, Rachel, and Stephen