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The Story Behind FHLGM
Written July 2008

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are writing to share our story of God’s leading in our lives in regards to Faith, Hope and Love Global Ministries.

Our sense of calling to global ministry goes back to our seminary days (1980-84), when God first put Africa on our hearts, and Jill spent two summers there as a short term missionary (in Zaire, which is now Congo, and in Malawi). After years in the pastorate, and teaching in college and seminary, Tim felt a renewed calling to teach and minister to pastors and other Christian workers in the U.S. and abroad.

As Executive Director at TreeHouse (2000-2005), Tim led “Bible Study for Ministry” for staff members every other week. His teachings were designed to help youth ministers go deeper in their relationship with God and learn how to better minister out of greater spiritual vitality. During this time, in 2002-2004, Tim conducted retreats in Bulgaria for pastors and other Christian leaders. There, he discovered that pastors from underdeveloped countries are hungry for biblical teaching, spiritual nurture, leadership training, and encouragement.

In 2006, as part of a year long sabbatical, we walked 500 miles across Spain on pilgrimage to seek God’s leading in our lives for the next phase of our ministry. In January 2007, we served as short-term missionaries in Myanmar (Burma), teaching seminarians, lecturing on spirituality, preaching and ministering in local churches. Burma has suffered under an oppressive military regime for nearly 50 years. Our presence was a tremendous encouragement to the faculty and students at the Myanmar Institute of Theology, and they were eager for us to teach and minister.

In October 2007, we traveled with the Rev. Paul Tshihamba, missions pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC), to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We had been invited by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church to lead a Pastors Leadership Conference based on Tim’s book, The Spirit-Led Leader: Nine Leadership Practices and Soul Principles. Our hearts went out to the Congolese, four million of whom had died through war, disease and starvation in the previous ten years, and who are still experiencing thousands of violent rapes and murders every year in the country villages. We saw that by helping the pastors, we could help the people. While in DRC, Jill built a labyrinth and taught pastors how Christians may use it as a prayer tool. Jill is one of the world’s leading experts on the labyrinth, and has written seven books on praying with the labyrinth and related topics over the past ten years.

Soon after arriving home from Africa, we concluded that God had answered our prayers for leading for the next phase of our ministries. We were being called to serve together as missionaries in Africa, Asia and Europe in ways that are still unfolding. In response to this calling, we have spent the past six months on the following:

• We formally established Faith, Hope and Love Global Ministries (FHLGM) as a 501c3 non-profit organization in February. Our mission is to creatively inspire, teach and encourage leaders, ministers, and other motivated individuals to live fully, grow spiritually, and serve Christ more effectively.

• We have now received permission to accept tax-deductible contributions.

• Tim finished writing a book on growing spiritually and personal transformation, entitled, One Step at a Time: A Pilgrim's Guide to Spirit-Led Living.

•Jill finished writing a memoir on our Spanish pilgrimage, What Was I Thinking? Leaving Behing Illusions While Walking and Praying the Camino. She is currently seeking an agent to help find a publisher for it.

• Jill led a spiritual pilgrimage (retreat) in Chartres, France in April, and now we are preparing together to lead another pilgrimage there in October 2009.

• We have been laying the groundwork to return to Africa in October 2008.

• We are preparing for our upcoming mission trip to Burma (Myanmar) for half a semester (9 weeks) this coming winter. Tim will teach a course on New Testament Theology and lecture on Christian spirituality at the Myanmar Institute of Theology, the leading English-speaking seminary in the country that currently has no New Testament professors. Jill will be building labyrinths, facilitating prayer experiences in churches and at the seminary, and ministering in various ways to the suffering people there in the wake of the Nargis Cyclone, which killed over 120,000.

• In the U.S., Tim will be teaching seminarians and pastors in 1-3 week courses at several seminaries in 2009: Luther Seminary, St. Paul (April); Princeton Theological Seminary (May); and Pittsburgh Theological Seminary (September).

• Almost daily, we are corresponding with Burmese, African and/or French students, faculty members, administrators or pastors to offer guidance and spiritual encouragement to them.

• Already we are receiving requests to translate some of our materials into French and Burmese.

We are very excited about how God has been leading and blessing Faith, Hope and Love Global Ministries. At the same time, we are keenly aware of our need for others to partner with us in this national and international mission. Our ability to fulfill the vision God has given us depends on a solid base of fellow Christians who will undergird our work in prayer and financial support. We have been financing this ministry mostly by ourselves for over 18 months, and now we need others to join with us in order to sustain and grow the work God has called us to do.

If you want to be part of this exciting and growing work, please email Tim.

Thank you for listening to our story and for considering joining us in these ministries of inspiration, teaching and encouragement to pastors and other Christian leaders from around the world.

In Christ’s service,

Tim and Jill Geoffrion Co-Founders

 

Eating together, Pastors' Conference.
Jubilee Center at HEAL Africa in Goma, D. R. Congo, 2007