Rev. Mark Britton. Photo by jlynn studios.

“I meet a lot of people that have lived through pain and suffering, much like my childhood. You can negatively deal with pain and abuse, like addiction. I choose to focus on recovery. I put my trust in God and faith,” said Rev. Mark Britton, who wrote a book,  Fighting for My Life: One Man’s Battle to Find Faith and Hope, about his journey through childhood abuse, losing a brother to suicide, dealing with addictions and depression of other family members.

Mark Britton grew up in foster homes in Minnesota and Iowa. He was in foster homes from Thanksgiving of the year he was in eighth grade to  high school graduation in Iowa. He is a member of the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. He first gave his life to Christ at the age of 14 at a Bible camp.

“Christian friends surrounded my twin brother Larry and I at a Bible camp. Beacuse of their faith, we accepted Christ,” said Rev. Britton, who  currently serves the churches of Kindred UMC and Zion UMC in Walcott, North Dakota.

His childhood days were challenging, filled with hunger, anger, and struggles with physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. Britton’s birth father was an alcoholic and left the family behind. His mother remarried, and found herself in an abusive relationship. That meant Mark and his sibling would be left alone wondering if there would be food, if they would be safe, and who would care for them.

Other people stepped in to fill the gap between foster parents, friends, and the church. Surrounded by support and the love of God, Britton persevered. He graduated from high school, got a college degree, and had a military career.

Faith was a continuing part of his life. He found himself connected in one way or another with various denominations Mennonite, Catholic, Missouri Synod Lutheran, and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

“I did not intend to be a pastor. Especially a Methodist pastor, I was not connected to the Methodist Church,” said Britton.

In 1997 he was deployed to Kuwait. Britton left his family in the care of the community and the local church.

“When I returned, the congregation and pastor didn’t remember me. I was disconnected from a church,” he said. “My foster parents came to visit, and we ended up attending church one Sunday at the United Methodist Church in Lansford, North Dakota. Rev. Marvin and Betty Jo Elridge welcomed us.”

The following week Britton saw Pastor Marvin and Betty Jo in the grocery store, and they greeted Pastor Mark by name.

“I knew we had found our church home,” said Pastor Mark. “One day, Marvin asked me to meet him at the food court in the mall in Minot, North Dakota. There he told me that he had a dream that I should be a pastor. I thought I am not good enough to be a pastor.”

It was a seven-year journey to pastoral ministry. Britton first became a lay speaker, then a licensed local pastor. He entered candidacy to become an elder and attended Asbury Seminary in Kentucky. His course work was online and on-campus, allowing him to serve at Velva UMC in North Dakota.

Britton was ordained an elder in 2013. Before serving at Kindred and Zion UMC, he served the Dakotas Conference at Velva, North Dakota; Hitchcock and Broadland, in South Dakota; Faith UMC in Williston, North Dakota.

He started writing the book about his life and faith a few years back. He felt that writing the book from a faith perspective would be helpful to people who are living through the valleys of life.

“I listen to people who are experiencing trouble in their lives,” said Pastor Mark. “I thought that writing about my life and faith will help others know Christ.”

After a two-year delay, in the fall of 2016, he spent time away from his minsitry, writing for two weeks in a retreat setting, before sending the manuscript to editors, then publishers. The whole process was completed by the spring of 2021.

“After two years of leaving things sit, God gave me a nudge to finish,” Pastor Mark said. “The response to the book has been positive. Writing the book and hearing from those reading the book has enriched my faith and love of God.”

Copies of Fighting for My Life: One Man’s Battle to Find Faith and Hope have been sold all over the United States and other countries. The book can be purchased on Amazon and in major stores where books are sold.