Dear Pastor, Fellow Minister and Co-laborer,

For a long time my heart has been yearning to begin a fellowship for pastors and ministers of the Gospel and to provide them with impartation and ordination, yet I have waited until now for the Lord’s timing to ensure that this is His will and His time.

I did not want to move without His guidance, nor did I want to move too quickly because of something born of the flesh. I wanted to make sure it was truly of the Holy Spirit.

For many months I have thought and prayed about this, and I truly believe the time has come to launch a special fellowship for pastors and ministers who need encouragement, strength, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

As I have been waiting on the Lord, to my amazement and surprise, many have approached me over the last few months, bringing the subject up, completely unaware that God has been dealing with me.

I began looking into research done by groups such as the Fuller Institute, Barna Research Group, and Focus on the Family. What I learned was devastating:

• Between 1,500 and 1,700 pastors leave the ministry every month!
• Fifty percent of pastors’ marriages end in divorce.
• Eighty percent of Bible school and seminary graduates who enter the ministry leave the ministry within the first five years.
• Seventy percent of pastors report constantly fighting depression.
• Seventy percent admit that the only time they spend studying the Bible is when they are preparing their sermons.
• Seventy-five percent of ministers report being extremely or highly stressed.

These statistics and findings both stunned and awakened me!

The main reasons cited for quitting the ministry are discouragement, feelings of failure, loneliness, moral failure, financial pressure, anger and resentment, physical health, marriage and family problems, church contention, and burnout.

I’ve been in the ministry more than forty years, and I understand what it means to go through trials and tribulations. And often as leaders, we have no one to talk to about our deepest needs and feelings.

At different times in my own life, the lack of individuals I could go to in times of need has been shocking and distressing!

In the past when I’ve faced struggles in my life and ministry, in addition to Pastor Hayford, I have been blessed with seasoned leaders such as Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard.

Their friendship and help during my darkest hours made all the difference in the world for my marriage, family, and ministry. But Oral Roberts and Rex Humbard are in heaven now, and Jack Hayford is now in his eighties.

Truly I worry about the future of pastors who are hurting, discouraged, and find themselves overwhelmed because their marriages, families, and ministries are in trouble!

That’s why we are entering a new era with World Healing Fellowship, now offering encouragement, impartation, and ordination credentials!

• I am committed to share with you what I have learned and seen in forty years of ministry, to teach you the secrets of the anointing and how the Holy Spirit can work in you and through you.
• I am determined to help stem the tide in what’s happening in ministry, for I know that God’s best belongs to each of us, and I am convinced that God wants to use you in a greater measure than you have ever dreamed!
• I am committed to helping build a worldwide fellowship where we can learn from each other, pray with each other, encourage each other, and help carry one another’s burdens.

I am launching a Website specifically for World Healing Fellowship, which will include materials from the greats of the past and present that will enrich your life abundantly. And one of your benefits is that you will also be able to send your urgent prayer requests so other leaders, pastors, ministers, and I can pray for you immediately.

Let’s join our hearts and our hands, marching as a mighty army of pastors, ministers, and lay leaders, declaring the name of the Lord together for the nations.

We know that Jesus is coming soon! We must be steadfast and solid until the end. Let’s finish the race with His glory emblazoned on our lives!

I am eager to hear from you,