The Birth of King’s Garden

By August of 1948, the Martins were needing a larger space for their growing King’s Teens ministry. Purchasing a farm was being considered, that is until a friend told them about Firland, the former tuberculosis sanatorium, on the outskirts of the city. After driving out and walking the property, Mike felt God tell him that this was the place He had set aside for King’s Teens. Bringing to mind verses 26-28 from Jeremiah chapter 32, God told Mike, “behold I give you this city,” and the location of what would eventually be called King’s Garden was realized. A lot of work needed to happen before that vision would become a reality, though.

This episode marks a turning point in the BY FAITH story, as Mike and his team appeal to those in authority to lease the massive sanitorium property for $1 a year and work to transform it from a hospital for the sick to a respite for spiritual healing. All throughout the months it took to put King’s Garden into living and working order, God continued to show up for the Martins and their staff—taking the ordinary and making it miraculous (kind of like He did with some loaves of bread and a few fish) as this group low on supplies, money, and people continually saw each increase in ways only God could do.

Listen to "The Birth of King’s Garden" on Spreaker.