Mark Rusinko

Living in Niagara Falls, New York while he was growing up, Mark attended a Russian Orthodox church where his father was the choir director and reader, and he was an altar boy for many years.  Mark grew up believing that he had to be good and obedient to what the church told him so that hopefully he might earn his way into heaven. Even though he spent many hours each week at church, he never heard the Gospel because it was never preached. 

He met his late wife, Paula, as a freshman at Penn State and she was the first person to talk to him about a personal relationship with Jesus. While he resisted this idea at first, the more they talked about it, the more interested he became. He eventually accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior the summer before his sophomore year at a revival service that he went to with one of his good friends back home. Mark shared this news with Paula when he returned to school and their relationship grew in the Lord through the remainder of college and grad school. They were married in a PCA church in Butler, PA and then had their only child, Leah. While there, Mark studied about reformed theology and was eventually ordained as a Deacon at Westminster Presbyterian church in Butler. 

They moved to Delaware in 1988 for a new job opportunity and because they wanted Leah to go to a Christian school (Wilmington Christian School). They became members of Evangelical Presbyterian Church and attended there until they started coming to Cornerstone back in the late 1990’s. Paula and Mark were married for over 38 years until she went home to be with the Lord after a nearly 20-year battle with breast cancer. Her loss was very difficult for Mark, but he was always encouraged by his faith, knowing that she is now in the presence of her Lord in Heaven.

After her passing, Mark was encouraged to start attending a men’s bible study in which he is still active. He also enjoyed having the time to become more involved with activities at Cornerstone. Miraculously, later that year, he felt an unmistakable leading from God to begin a relationship with Jan Keen, a friend at Cornerstone and a member of their life group. God brought them together and they united in marriage in front of Cornerstone’s congregation in June of 2019.  

Throughout his life, God has been working in mighty ways to shape Mark into the man he is now. It took many trials, hard times, and deep losses, but God was always there to take care of him and his family. Looking back, he can now see how God had a plan for him, even before he had come to know Him. Whenever he thinks about how his life has unfolded, he is always amazed at just how great our Lord is.