Candle-making a labor of love for San Angelo Baptist family.

SAN ANGELO—John-Mark Roller and his family have the will. God supplied the way.

Roller became a Christian entrepreneur and businessman when he and his parents founded John Mark Candles in San Angelo in 2009. But his story began 21 years earlier, when he was born with spina bifida, a congenital condition in which part of one or more vertebrae fails to develop completely, leaving a portion of the spinal cord unprotected—usually in the lower spinal area. The most severe form of spina bifida occurs in about one of every 1,000 births in the United States.

“We knew God had special plans for our baby, and we knew that we wanted him to know this from the very start of his life,” said his mother, Kris Roller. “We believed then and we believe now that this was not by accident but for a purpose. John-Mark has grown up living this philosophy, this belief.”

When they have wanted to question God’s purposes, the Rollers have found answers in the Bible, especially Psalm 139 and its assurance each person is “fearfully and wonderfully made” by a loving Creator.

“There are many other Scriptures we have turned to for strength and courage, and John-Mark knows that 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 could have been written with him in mind,” said his father, Mack Roller, senior pastor of Glen Meadows Baptist Church in San Angelo.

The New Testament passage says: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

Roller sees the experience with his son as “a way that God has provided for all of us to minister to others we have met in doctors’ offices or in the hospital as we witness John-Mark living out the word.”

As their son grew, the Rollers spent spent hours researching business opportunities that fit his abilities and interests.

“As I neared graduation, the need to have a definite way of making my own living someday became more and more important to me and to all of my family,” he said.

“Right now, I’m blessed with having both parents and other family members able and eager to help in my business pursuits. However, some day, they may not be here. I will still need to make a living.

“We learned about making candles, and after some six months of applied learning where we tested and experimented, we learned about fragrances, waxes, wicks, jars—all the steps that you need to be very familiar with before you say, ‘Candles are my business.'”

Roller directly sells John Mark Candles/Bringing Light to Life products, and they are sold at several stores in the region. He even has received orders from across the nation as word spread about his business. Customers in England, Japan, Mexico, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Turkey use some of his products—and those are just the places he knows about.

Roller still deals with the aggravating side effects of having some serious health issues, but he never lets the physical challenges obstruct business opportunities.

Through it all, he finds support from his loving family, including grandparents who relocated to San Angelo to help and three siblings who offer encouragement.

When Mack Roller was called as the senior pastor of Glen Meadows Baptist Church, the family rented a duplex while they remodeled a home that would be accessible for their son. The home sits on a little less than an acre with sufficient room for any projects they might decide to try.

The candle business started out in 600-square-foot detached garage and then took over the house. Before long, the quarters were so crowded, additional space was necessary for the business to grow.

“That’s when we built a 1,200-square-foot workshop complete with a loft for storage,” Roller’s mother said.

“With a completely opened floor plan, John-Mark can navigate anywhere in the building he wants to be,” she pointed out. “The work tables all are on casters so they are easily moveable. And they were all built at a level convenient for him in his wheelchair.”

As the business has grown, so has the need for additional work stations and equipment. Through a grant from the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, the business acquired a much larger, more efficient wax-melting machine that will speed up the candle-making process considerably. The grant also included funding for some advertising and webpage design and production.

With an ever-increasing number of orders coming in, the process needs to be as streamlined as possible. John-Mark Roller does most of the actual pouring himself, adding the selected fragrance to result in a handmade, long-burning candle. He uses soy candles because, through his research and experimentation, he learned they last longer, burn cleaner, give off a better scent and are all-natural. He uses cotton wicks that contain no zinc or lead.

A popular aspect of his business is the fund-raising program he offers to schools, ball teams, churches and various organizations.

“We have more and more groups who are repeating their orders year to year,” he said.

Challenges remain great, but he and his parents know with God, all things are possible.

“God has shown me and my family great things,” he said, “through the way he wonderfully made me.”