OUR FOUNDERS

Gary and Gail Marten married in 1985 in a small town in Central Illinois and currently live in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. After some rocky experiences in ministry, followed by restoration, God allowed this upstanding couple to step down from full-time ministry and return to Oklahoma. 

After two decades in full-time ministry in Illinois, they each settled into successful careers in Tulsa. Throughout the years, however, Gary and Gail have always viewed their family as their first ministry.  They have three adult daughters and two fabulous sons-in-law, all of whom are serving Jesus.  And being grandparents just might be their favorite season of all.  As they approach retirement age, both feel called to invest their retirement years into the kingdom.  Their purpose is to encourage those in ministry of small churches and organizations as they guide others toward a RESET of the JOY in their ministry calling.  

GARY AND GAIL MARTEN

  • Gary was born and raised in a small town in Central Illinois where he learned the importance of community and hard work. He has worked in the automotive industry in the local dealership level. Gary has worked his way up through the ranks to fixed operations director. In 1985 he met and married his wonderful wife Gail. Gary and Gail founded Marten Ministries and ministered in song and Word across Illinois. They established a marriage seminar and parenting seminar to strengthen marriages and families. Professionally, Gary has seen growth in his occupation to where he hired and then poured in to staff, starting with 4 employees in the service and parts department to a current total of 26 staff members under his leadership. To accommodate growth, Gary had to build tiers of leadership and disseminate the mission and purpose through the leaders/department heads. Since 2017, he has been under the tutelage of Next Level Executive Coaching by Steve Laswell which coupled with the promises of the Word of God has brought much success in people development and business structure. Gary has been in local church leadership since his teen years serving on worship committees, finance committees, building committees, church board, and school board. He was the senior pastor of a pair of 2 small and wonderful churches in Northern Illinois, and he has served as Associate Pastor, Worship Pastor, and Small Group Pastor for a Word church in Central Illinois. He truly enjoys hearing others' purpose and how God has called and ordained them to carry out the vision God has for them. Gary and Gail find joy in seeing pastors, ministers, churches and missionaries fulfill their call in the Great Commission and want to hold up the arms of the faithful.

  • Gail grew up on a farm in Central Illinois and has carried that drive and work ethic throughout her professional life, as well as her life as a wife and mother. She earned two Bachelor's degrees and a Master’s degree, all from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Gail married the love of her life, Gary Marten, in 1985, and they have three adult daughters who all serve Jesus. Gary and Gail founded Marten Ministries in 1985, singing and teaching across the state of Illinois for more than a decade. Gail taught alongside her husband since they married in many areas, including marriage and parenting. Professionally, Gail taught high school business classes from 1986 until 2001 when she stepped into her first role as principal of a small Christian school that she and her husband helped pioneer. Starting in 2003, she served as Dean of Women for a large Christian school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and then served as an Online Principal for three different online schools from 2006 to 2023. Pioneering has brought great joy in Gail’s professional life. She helped start a Christian school in rural Illinois in 1998, laid the groundwork for the ORU eAcademy in Tulsa in 2006, revamped the online school for John Hagee’s CCS Online based in San Antonio in 2012, and recently started a brand new online school for grades 3 thru 12 for RCS based in Colorado in 2021. During her 18 years serving as an Online Principal for these various online schools, Gail had the opportunity to speak to fellow educators on local, regional, and national stages with regard to online learning in a Christian environment. Her gifts of detail, organization, and discernment have allowed her to enjoy several decades as an educator before stepping down to pursue the opportunity to hold up the arms of small-church leaders with her husband, Gary via Reset Joy Ministries.

    God has placed a desire in their hearts to come alongside those in ministry to encourage them and hold up their arms as they fulfill their ministry calling.