A Scrappy Little Nobody: Life Lessons in Faith, Business and Politics

Within days of his birth in 1949, Martin Harder was in hospital, unable to get nutrition into his frail body and fighting for his life. A desperate search for answers brought him under the care of Dr. Cornelius W. Wiebe, who performed exploratory surgery never done before on a two-week-old baby. This rough beginning shaped the person Martin would become: someone who looked for solutions to the challenges of life.

The youngest child born to a large, loving Mennonite farming family, Martin learned early to work hard and be self-sufficient or get left behind. Life would be an adventure, but it would not be easy. Teased and bullied in school, a high school dropout, marrying as a teen to his childhood sweetheart and experiencing the hard knocks of a failed farm, Martin kept his faith in God’s grace and endless provision. Being open to God’s leading in life opened up opportunities he could not have imagined.

Scrappy Little Nobody is a memoir of faith, business and politics. From humble beginnings, Martin developed from a ＂scrappy little nobody＂ into a business leader, entrepreneur and politician, founding Delmar Commodities and serving as the mayor of Winkler for sixteen years. Through sharing his story, Martin teaches us that when you stand up to impossible odds and keep moving forward despite life’s setbacks, you can become more than you’ve ever imagined.