Ben Greene
Our pastor, Ben Greene became a Christian at 12 although not much happened for about
five years. Then, a friend invited Ben to a different church and a Bible study for teens. Those communities trained Ben to follow Christ. Some people even said he was going to be a pastor — not that Ben had a clue. He worked for 10 years as a journalist before he finally
got it. Then, in 2007, he started studying at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He served two
churches before his family began to worship at Living Hope in 2021. Ben also writes stories
for Converge, a movement of churches working to help people meet, know and follow Jesus. You can see his stories at converge.org/news.
As pastor, what he enjoys most in ministry is humorous, applicable preaching and warmly
encouraging others to apply God’s word and character to life.
As Halley chose to walk with Christ, she committed to her high school church’s youth group,
performing in a student choir and going on a mission trip to Mexico. After high school,
Halley went to college and worked in book publishing, a food bank and serving children and
women in Thailand. Travels abroad have happened a lot in Halley’s life; she’s been to 16
countries!
Ben and Halley treasure their two young boys who keep the Greenes young and tired! Our
family loves being outdoors — the mountains for Ben and beach for Halley. In those places,
we slow down and see the beauty of God’s creation. We all enjoy reading and value deep
relationships where we slow down and experience life to the fullest in Christ.
Emelio and Claudine Gassibe
Emelio Gassibe is our Director of Student Ministries. His previous experience includes serving as Centre Director for Youth for Christ in Cape Town, South Africa. Along with his training with Youth for Christ, Emelio has many years of ministerial volunteer work with youth, including music ministry. He and his wife, Claudine, have two children.
Elders
Janet & Richard Kaiser
Richard and Janet joined Living Hope Family Church in 1998 under the pastorship of Pastor Mike Petzer. We served as Deacons to the church and Richard participated in a Bible Study program that Pastor Mike arranged with Vision Christian Bible College and Seminary to earn college level credits. In 2002 Richard graduated with a Bachelor of Theology Degree. When Pastor Darryl Matherpike replaced Pastor Mike Petzer, we were asked to serve as Elders and Richard continued to serve as an Elder to this day. Thank you Jesus for the wonderful opportunities to serve!
Charlie Markarian
Charlie Markarian was born in Worcester Massachusetts in 1955. He graduated from Babson College in 1977 with a degree in Business Management and Marketing. He also achieved his Master Plumbers license in 1978, after which he moved to Cape Cod and founded a plumbing company called The Pipe Doctor. He is presently semi-retired, and his daughter Marissa now manages the company. The failure of his marriage in 1996, brought Charlie to the Lord where he began his journey on the road of recovery from alcohol addiction and the spiritual damage caused by the world. As he continued in his journey with the Lord, he has hosted many meetings and programs over the years to help others into their own personal relationship with God. These programs include The Alpha course, Christian 12 Step meetings, Bringing up Boys, Home groups, Bible studies, Agape Road and Search for Significance. He has been serving as an elder at Living Hope Family Church since 2003. Presently, God has him focusing on training believers to disciple others to become followers of Jesus Christ, who will continue to make disciples of others – The Great Commission! Matthew 28:18-20 His burning desire is to see the lost saved, families restored, recovery from addictions, and hope found in no other name than Jesus Christ.