CRISTA Ministry founders Mike and Vivian Martin prayed for a youth home to house and feed teenagers in need. They knelt just outside the abandoned Firland Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Shoreline, Washington with no idea it would become the headquarters for the CRISTA Family of Ministries and eventually serve people locally and internationally through education, international relief and development, senior care, and media.
The sanatorium was named King’s Garden and opened as a home to disadvantaged youth. King’s Schools would be formed a year later to meet the youth’s educational needs for Christian education, and the school celebrated its first graduating class of less than a dozen youth in 1951. Today, King’s is one of the largest Christian schools in Washington state, serving over 1,300 students.
KGDN went on-air when the King’s Garden 15-minute radio program on a local station was cancelled. The radio ministry grew over time to include current stations PRAISE 106.5, SPIRIT 105.3, and KCIS Radio that are listened to 29,291,600 times annually, and a strong online presence through LIFT Radio, Quiet Time Radio, Purposely Podcasts, and All Mom Does.
King’s Garden won the bid to purchase The Firlands Tuberculosis Sanatorium for $100,001. (The starting bid had to be more than $100,000 and King’s Garden was the only bidder.)
King’s Garden purchased 70 forested acres on Horseshoe Lake on the Olympic Peninsula and named it Miracle Ranch. By 1966, the camp served more than 600 campers each summer. That number grew through the years as day and overnight camps, weekend retreats, and seasonal festivals were added, and today we serve more than 12,000 campers each summer with hundreds more throughout the year.
World Concern, previously named Medicine for Missions, joined the CRISTA Ministry family as our international relief and development ministry. Today we serve 1,278,270 men, women, and children annually as we partner with communities to provide clean water, sustainable food sources, economic development, protection from trafficking, education and training, and spiritual transformation.
King’s Garden was renamed CRISTA, moving forward as a Christian church community continuing to make known the love of Jesus Christ through demonstrated works of service and ministry.
Today, CRISTA Ministries serves more than 30 million people annually around the world through poverty alleviation, Christian education, senior care, and media.
Join us for any of our many celebrations as we reflect on God’s faithfulness over 75 years and look forward with faith to all He has next.
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