Meet The Pastor
Pastor Gary Malkus Jr.
"Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. For Your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great." Psalm 25:6-1
I grew up in the High Desert and have been a pastor’s son since a young age. Early on, growing up in church, everything became a routine – something my parents wanted me do. Jesus was just a story told in Sunday school. So, needless to say, when I was old enough to make my own choices, I chose the wide, more popular path that leads to destruction. I started drinking to overcome my shyness until I slowly became an alcoholic.
When my drinking destroyed my first marriage, I was at an all-time low. I met a new girl, who had as much anger and hate in her heart as I did. We both had hurts that alcohol could not fix. We tried to fill the void with partying and continued to walk the path of self-destruction. I came to a crossroad and I knew we needed to change.
We thought moving out of the High Desert would allow us to escape, so we moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Shortly thereafter, I started working with a drug dealer, and things got worse and much darker for us. But, the young lady who lived with me had had enough and wanted to change her life.
So, Easter Sunday, 2004, she went to church, and dragged me along with her. That day, she heard Pastor Ray preach the Gospel and my girlfriend met Jesus for the first time in her life. She told me things were going to be different; I just laughed and told her she would forget about it in a day or so.
Sure enough, she did change and stopped using even with me trying to keep her high. I watched Jesus Christ transform an 87 pound tweaker girl into beautiful woman before my eyes. As she grew closer to Jesus, she realized we were living in sin and convinced me to marry her so she could live right in her Savior’s eyes.
Shortly thereafter, I surrendered my life to Jesus, and He grabbed a hold of our hearts. We got involved with the church quickly as we knew we needed accountability. The pastor and church in Havasu loved us like their own family and now the Lord has put a burden on our hearts for the lost. Our heart’s desire is that the lost would hear about the unending love of God for them. We have both experienced the life-changing forgiveness and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we want to share it with whoever will give us an ear.
In His wisdom, the Lord has called us back to the very desert that chewed us up when we were teens. I am excited to be able to work with the community here in Victorville. I look forward in great anticipation of the awesome work God has for my wife and I as His instruments of hope and salvation to our new community and beyond.
Lastly, after hearing for many years that we would never be able to have children of our own, God has done the impossible and blessed us with two wonderful daughters, Sofia and Lola, and our son, Freedom.
If you need to contact me for anything, please email me at garyjr@calvaryvv.org.