How Mark and Nancy Hanson are driving transformation through End-to-End
Mark Hanson stood in a classroom in Kenya, facing 30 young students in matching uniforms.
“How many of you have Bibles?” he asked.
Only three children raised their hands.
“How many of you would like Bibles?”
Every hand went up.
Years later, Mark still remembers this as a turning point in his understanding of the vast need for God’s Word around the world and how he could help. Together with his wife, Nancy, Mark is a faithful supporter of our End-to-End program and a passionate advocate of how God’s Word transforms lives— including his own.
A Vehicle for Change
Growing up in a Christian family, Mark always knew who Jesus was. He went to church. He had good values. And he worked hard to help build his father’s auto parts business. When his father sold the business after a cancer diagnosis, Mark began working for Sea Foam Sales Company, which he eventually purchased. The next 15 years were a whirlwind of product demonstrations at warehouses and auto parts stores as he focused on expanding the business.
“I was on the road a lot,” Mark remembers. “I’d be gone for two weeks straight, come back, straighten out everything at the office, and then hit the road for another two weeks.”
The company grew quickly, and Mark began to realize that Sea Foam’s success could make a difference for others.
“We started giving half our profits away,” he says. “Transformation became a theme of what we supported, because people change when Jesus gets into their life. And Sea Foam became the vehicle for that change.”
Each year, Mark would invest in Christ-centered ministries, including prison outreaches and rehabilitation programs. The better the business did, the more he had to give away.
Then, in 2004, a difficult divorce upended Mark’s life.
“It was brutal,” he remembers. “When you’re in the middle of darkness, you can’t see the other side. It was just nothing but despair.”
As he began the long process of healing, Mark surrounded himself with support. He joined a Bible study group and searched for comfort and strength in God’s Word. The same good news he’d shared with others became a solid foundation for his faith, even when everything else seemed to be falling apart.
“I often relate to the book of Job because Job goes through really good times, and then he goes through his really hard patch,” Mark says. In his own hard patch, Mark saw his relationship with Jesus grow more real than ever before.
“What I can tell you is that when you go through dark times, there is another side to the story,” he says. “Today, I am in a place where I’m far better off than I ever would’ve been. Some place along the way, I found a closer relationship with Jesus.”
“A Full-Circle Transformation”
Around this time, Mark received a call from Jim Sheldrew, a philanthropic advisor at American Bible Society. He asked Mark if he’d like to come to Peru and see what God was doing among the Quechuan people. What Mark witnessed was the earliest stages of End-to-End—a ministry partnership that combines visual, audio, and written Scripture to disciple unreached people, plant churches, and change communities through the power of the gospel.
“The Quechuans had the Bible in Spanish, but until it came in their heart language, they didn’t understand it,” Mark says. “When Jesus came in their language, it transformed them.”
Eager to see more, Mark traveled to Rwanda, where people were using the Bible to build bridges of reconciliation after the devastating genocide a decade prior. He remembers sitting among a crowd watching gospel films about the life of Christ.
“It was the first time they’d seen a film in their own language,” he says. “They were happy as Jesus went through his life—he’s doing miracles, he’s amazing! But then he ends up on the cross. People were in tears. How could the Savior of the world end up on the cross?”
By the end of the film, people were eager to hear more about this Jesus who laid down his life for his enemies.
“We’d say, ‘If you want to learn more about Jesus, come back tomorrow,’” Mark says. “And every week they came back to listen to the Bible. And those listening groups began to grow.”
Finally, on a trip to Kenya, Mark saw the last piece of the puzzle: a personal Bible. Most of the students he met couldn’t afford a Bible. End-to-End offered a journey that every person could take to receive God’s Word—no matter where they lived, how much money they had, or what language they spoke. He saw people move from curious onlookers to passionate followers of Jesus Christ, ready to carry the good news to their communities.
“End-to-End is a full-circle transformation, from first encounter with Jesus to having your own Bible to life changes that impact your community,” Mark says. “It’s powerful!”
Mark became one of End-to-End’s earliest supporters. When he met his wife Nancy 15 years ago, he found someone who shares his heart for changing lives through the gospel. Together, they helped convene ministries they loved for the greater purpose of reaching more people through End-to-End.
As the gospel spread through the program, Mark saw the difference it made in communities. Common issues like alcoholism decreased dramatically. Families became more unified. Enemies reconciled. Churches were planted.
“As people changed, things in their villages began to change, too,” Mark says. “Spiritual transformation really does impact a person’s life here on earth. It doesn’t solve all their problems. It didn’t solve all of my problems! But it certainly helped change my point of view.”
“An Amazing Journey”
The Bible shaped the way Mark ran his business. It helped him through the most difficult years of his life. Today, he and Nancy are continuing to share this most precious gift through End-to-End, which has expanded to serve people in 71 nations!
“We’ve developed an understanding that we give second chances at Sea Foam,” Mark says. “We give second chances to engines and equipment so that we can give second chances to people.”
Looking back, Mark sees how God used his own story of transformation and his role as a business owner to build the Kingdom.
“I sell Sea Foam for a living. That’s all I do,” Mark says. “But through that, we can provide funds to get the gospel out.”
Like you, Mark and Nancy find their greatest joy in knowing that the transformation they see will last for eternity.
“I’ve been able to see literally thousands and thousands of people transformed through finding Jesus. It has been an amazing journey,” Mark says. “But to know that not only do you find Jesus in your lifetime and your life today gets better—but the bonus of eternal life? That’s a pretty amazing end of your story.”
Watch Mark tell his story:
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