Laura and I founded Heaven’s Dawn Ministries in 1999 as a word picture to express our vision to see Utah’s people and land transformed by revelation from the heart of Emmanual. We deeply believe that life is meant to be lived from our heart, led by growing, experiential intimacy with each member of the Triune Godhead (or the Eternals as I call them) – The Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Their relationship of union and oneness includes each of us, and primary to our personal hearts is our desire to help others grow in their ability to connect and communicate with God for themselves, as well as understand His heart and ways for them. We believe that doing so brings increasing clarity over God’s extraordinary desire for intimate relationship every day, and one’s personal role within God’s Kingdom on earth. Mark’s gifts and key expressions, as the primary minister, are primarily prophetic in nature (hearing and expressing God’s current heart), with a consistent emphasis on receiving from God, understanding the role of our hearts, encouragement, blessing and redemptive intercession. He is a seasoned speaker, especially enjoying the opportunities to equip others to explore a deepened relationship with Jesus.

About Us

Laura and Mark were married in 1990 and have four children (2 daughters and 2 sons). They currently reside in Sandy, Utah (USA), and call home The Fellowship (www.tf-sandy.org) church community, also located in Sandy.

Our Values & Beliefs

As a ministry, we see our walk with God and its continuing maturation process like building a house. Just as a house has “foundation stones” upon which the rest of the house is built, so does our history and current walk with God. However, as the house is built, there are other significant “truths or values” that also become prominent in giving definition and context for the ensuing structure itself.

With this in mind, our lives and ministry, like others, continues to be in a state of maturation. As such, although our foundational beliefs about God and our relationship with Him and others are strong, we also experience on-going enlargements and redefinition at times, in what we view as prominent values for our role within God’s Kingdom. These values and beliefs do not alter the foundation, but merely build upon it, creating a capacity within us to experience more of God Himself. This is our heart at its core, to become everything the Father has planned for us, and to help others achieve the same in their own walks.

The “What We Value” section below represents our current, prominent values. We hope it provides some insights into our own hearts.

What We Value

Our walk with God over time has radically affected our hearts in terms of the values or guiding truths we hold as significant and important not only for our lives, but for all that we pursue.  Each of them intensely resonates within us and manifests not as static, lifeless principles, but rather life-filled attributes that emanate from what we believe is God’s Heart for our lives.  The effect of these values upon our perceptions, vision and actions is significant and substantial.  As such, we feel it is important to provide this insight about our hearts and motivations as we walk out this ministry journey.

The ensuing value statements represents an effort to identify and briefly explain some of the key core values we hold.  From time to time, we expect that others will be added, depending upon the season of walk we are experiencing.  Our goal is to simply open our hearts for others to see, fulfilling one aspect of the Apostle Paul’s admonition…“Open your hearts to one another, as Jesus opened His heart for you.” (Romans 15:7, J.B.Phillips Trans.)

WE VALUE…

…God’s desire to talk and reveal His heart of love to every person each day and in many ways.  Beyond the provision of God’s Heart as expressed through the Bible, we also hold as very important the growing maturation of each person’s ability to personally dialog with God on a daily basis.  A relationship with God opens the opportunity for two-way speaking and sharing between God and ourselves.  This has always been God’s intention from the beginning.  As such, this is preeminent for our personal lives, as well as guides our desires to help others grow in this ability.

…Every person’s heart as a treasure regardless of the “label” they may wear concerning who they think they are.  Labels that identify individuals with social groups, cultural ideas or like experience (i.e. I am a — Atheist…Socialist…athlete…runaway…orphan…gangster…cowboy… geek…etc) are rampant throughout our world today.  Unfortunately, any ministry can easily get sidetracked trying to minister to the label people wear making them a “project”, rather than to the heart they possess as a valuable person of great worth whom God has created.  We have come to recognize that there are only two kinds of hearts dwelling in people upon the earth…those that know and experience God, and those that don’t.  Both are treasures, with one not discovered as yet.  We desire to ignore the labels, and touch their hearts with the all-powerful love of God.

…Honest and real relationships not afraid to explore, dig, question and be transformed over time.  We increasingly are seeing the absolute reality of the Trinity’s relationship with each other in the Godhead.  And even more amazing, is the reality that this same depth of relationship is offered to each of us not only with God, but with one another.  We passionately want to experience this personally.  However, we also want to share and encourage others with the same.

…Freedom as a fully purchased life-style, desired and secured by Jesus, for every area of our personal and corporate lives and relationships.  Jesus said, “Whom the Son has set free, is free indeed.”  This freedom that Jesus offers is meant to radically transform our hearts such that our responses to the situations and people around us contrast those considered “normal” in the eyes of the world.  Godly freedom involves both a being free FROM any bondage that hinders and/or destroys the life God offers, as well as a being made free TO love, serve, bless, encourage, etc. Without Jesus, the world and its inhabitants lie trapped in bondage to the various prisons either they or others construct.  Jesus seeks to lead everyone, even those still blinded to His presence within them. He also invites us to become like Him and be His “prison breakers” for the world, helping to create a new atmosphere of living where people are free to love God and others because they “want” to, rather than because they “need or are supposed ” to.  We want to live in this freedom and stir it up in others.

…The absolute worth and significance of both men and women in building God’s Kingdom.  Regardless of function or expression of ministry, men AND women have been fashioned by God to bring diversity, giftedness, richness, creativity and wisdom to each and every part of God’s Kingdom, including leadership and equipping.  Both were created by God with immense worth, both are part of Christ’s body fully redeemed into relationship by His death and resurrection, and both are given access to God’s heart and His Throne by the grace supplied by Jesus Himself.

…The equipping and empowerment of others through the offering of our lives.  Resonating deep within our hearts is the consuming desire to share what we have apprehended from God for the promotion of others in their own walks.  And while we certainly enjoy the actual ministry aspect, we hold more significant the impartation to others so that they are equipped to walk out their destiny and affect their world.

…The maturation of the Body of Christ as success in ministry for God’s Kingdom.  We take to heart that Jesus Himself is coming back for a mature people, who are deeply in love with Him and who possess His own heart of character, virtue and vision.  The maturity of one’s character or nature into that of God’s nature reigns supreme over any form of personal giftedness. While we certainly need both to fulfill our destinies in God, giftedness has nothing to do with us.  It is just that – a gift given to us from God.  However, character or the fruit of God’s Spirit within us must be grown up.  God supplies the deposit, and we exercise the choice to operate with it.  We desire to give our lives to seeing this mature fruitfulness arise in all around us.

…Hearts that are alive and dynamic (i.e. being) over the fulfillment of tasks that are “religious” in nature (i.e. doing).  We certainly were created to work and achieve.  In fact all of us are called to work for His Kingdom in some form or fashion.  However, this truth only has life when flowing from a heart that holds personal worship and relationship with God as preeminent.  Hearts flowing with the river of life from communion with God will always accomplish much for God.  True relationship leads to a laying of one’s life down for the other.  Being that leads to doing grows the kingdom and transforms the world.

…A vision of living our experiences with the growing expectation that abundant, supernatural life is always available regardless of circumstance.  Amid all the negativity, evil and distress of our present world, it becomes easy to hold life as less than glorious.  Yet, the promise of Jesus was for life abundant – a super-normal, super-natural experience where all circumstances bow to the power of Jesus’ life flowing in and through us.  Cultivating vision for this kind of life within our heart leads us to both create and see life everywhere — even in the darkest of places or people. Whatever vision we carry in our hearts leads us to act in the same manner.  We choose to be a blessing of life to our world and to cultivate its reality in those around us.

…The pursuit and journey with God throughout our lives.  A relationship with God has much to do with the journey and discovery along the road together as it does about arriving at some “state” with Him.  Every time we think we have reached some understanding with Him, we find Him ahead of us beckoning us to come further, to journey and explore more.  We are growing in our realization that He is as concerned (if not more) about how we journey with Him, as He is about what we attain.  Simply put…He just enjoys our company and discovering life together.