actually a flight instructor at SDSU for a year. When I was 20 years old, I was on the faculty at South Dakota State University. It was pretty weird.” The head instructor at SDSU told Mark he’d need a four-year degree if he wanted to move up the chain quickly and fly for one of the major airlines. Since he was already there and had an interest in business education, he decided to take some classes at SDSU. “During the next two years in Brookings, God changed my heart about what’s important in life. I was involved in intervarsity Christian fellowship and also some Bible studies. I saw people’s lives get changed and I couldn’t shake that.” He chose to receive training from Tentmakers, a national youth ministry program. The mission of Tentmakers is to equip and empower disciples to live out their calling while transforming culture through Christ, one relationship at a time. “I had just started dating Sharla when I went off to Minneapolis and got trained in youth ministry. I hooked up with Central United Methodist Church in Milbank, S.D. Although the Tentmakers commitment was only for two years, I ended up being there four years. During that time we got married,” he said. Sharla added, “We lived on love.” In the late 1990s, Mark and Sharla started visiting with his parents, Dennis and Florence Miller, about returning to the farm. “Being married and knowing you’re having kids, the farm family life was important to me. I always try to pray about major life decisions, to seek God’s path. There seemed to be certain things that were lining up for me to come back here,” Mark said. The couple moved to Freeman in 1999 and began farming. (Like a competent pilot doing his pre-flight safety review, Mark had now checked off all three of his childhood career choices – pilot, pastor and farmer.) Mark and Sharla lived in Freeman for almost 10 years before purchasing Dennis and Florence’s house on the farm in 2009. “I like the change and variety on a farm. I like learning about growing crops and the intricacies of it. Then you get to see the fruit of your decisions at harvest. I even enjoy the bookkeeping side of it during wintertime,” Mark said. “But it all really goes back to being with family. It was so important for us to be able to do devotions every night with our kids until they were old enough to do it on their own. Reading books, going through the Bible, working in nature, being so close and present with family members … farming is a great family life.”
The Millers on a family ski trip.
180 N Main Ave. Parker, SD 57053 Bus: 605-297-4747 368 N Main St. Freeman, SD 57029 Bus: 605-925-7353 mark@markkasten.com
205 10th St, Rock Valley
712-476-5419
209 S Main St, Inwood
712-753-2200
July 2021 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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