FJ Ministries is the vision God laid on the hearts of Bryan and Tara Riley. Their Mission of F.A.I.T.H. is "Families reaching families as Avenues to the Nations, Igniting passion for God and compassion for people, Teaching and training with Hearts and hands revealed." Colossians 2:6. They hope God will enable them to reach families and show that they too can participate in the Great Commission.  May their passion be for God and for serving others and in so doing encourage others to do the same. They have joined together with an organization known as YWAM to help them accomplish these goals.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) encompasses thousands of people and hundreds of ministries in almost every country of the world. In every case, the passion is to know God and to make Him known.

It is a mixture of people from all over the world, from 149 countries in fact. In many of the locations, people from a wide variety of nations serve side by side. They come from numerous different Christian denominations and speak hundreds of languages. Nearly half of the staff come from "non-western" countries, such as Brazil, Korea, Indonesia, India and Nepal.

In addition to the full-time staff, many YWAM locations host short-term outreach teams made up of individuals, youth groups, families and churches who get to participate first-hand in "making God known" through both words and actions. They send out over 25,000 short-term missionaries each year and provide University of the Nations to help train those entering the field.

We need your support. YWAM is a faith mission, all of us volunteer our time and service, trusting God for our living expenses. No one receives a salary, not even the President. We all live the same way: we raise financial support by communicating with friends, family and home churches, asking them to prayerfully consider joining our support team. This was Jesus' way of sustaining traveling and missionary ministries outlined in Luke 8:1-3 - they were supported by those who knew them and believed in them and their calling. This type of financial backing provides a strong relational and prayer base, creates accountability on our part toward those who commit to support us, and ensures that 100% of the funds given go directly to the mission of FJ Ministries.

Please read the Commendation Letter to the Riley family from Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, and consider supporting FJ Ministries' mission of faith.

Donation Options
We have set up a very convenient and secure online method to give your support using Paypal. Use the links below to give on a monthly basis. If you would like to make a one time donation please click here.



Commendation Letter from the Founder of Youth With a Mission

August 2006
 
Dear friends and family of Bryan, Tara, Tanner, Keaton and Regan...
 
Warm greetings! I am writing to you on behalf of the Riley family. Just as the Apostle Paul commended Phoebe in Romans 16:1-2, I highly commend Bryan and Tara to you in their character, commitment and calling. As you may be aware, they will be working alongside my wife, Darlene, and me in some very key roles within the international missionary organization we founded, *Youth With A Mission (YWAM), and YWAM's global university, **University of the Nations (UofN).

One day this summer, the leadership and staff at the University of the Nations campus in Kona, Hawaii were praying for God to send laborers to the UofN for the work and support of missions. God specifically laid on my heart that we needed people with business and professional experience for the harvest. I later learned that on that same day, Bryan quit his job with Tyson Foods, Inc. as a senior attorney in their Legal Department to work as a missionary! Tara also laid down her work as an occupational therapist with the public school system to follow God's call.

After making arrangements with a friend who works with YWAM, Bryan, Tara and their three children made the journey to Kona to start the process of becoming missionaries with YWAM. They had no aspirations for leadership or new roles; they were only seeking to serve as a family called to missions. But upon meeting them, hearing their passion for God and their background experience, God urged me to invite Bryan to assist me in leadership at the UofN Kona, as the elder who has been leading the Operations and Development is transitioning into a different role with YWAM.

When I first asked Bryan to consider overseeing the area of Administration, he said he felt incapable and did not think that was what God was leading him to do. But thankfully, he also said he and Tara would pray about it. They asked God to provide a clear indication that this was right for their family, and He do so! I am sure they would love to tell you the story of how God did that!

Bryan has agreed to serve by leading the Administration Department for the UofN Kona Campus, overseeing people involved in admin as well as walking me and the leadership through some key legal and financial areas. He will assist me in other endeavors as well. Darlene will connect Tara with others on the campus who together will work on developing educational curricula for the children of missionaries, including those who have disabilities. YWAM and the Rileys share a calling to see families serve together in missions, and providing schools and educational curricula that are mobile are critical to this pursuit.

As friends and family of Bryan and Tara, I would like to ask you to prayerfully consider partnering with them in financial and prayer support as they take this huge step of obedience. From my Founder and President role, I could not commend them to you more highly as missionaries worthy of you investment. Bryan is a man who desires to lose his life for God's purposes. He is blessed with a sharp, strategic and analytical mind, a love for God's word, and a commitment to see ALL of the Gospel reach into the ALL the world. I marvel as I realize how broadly, how deeply, and how wonderfully God has equipped him to give leadership and impact not only our mission, but I believe, many other Christian organizations worldwide.

Tara is a profound intercessor and equally committed to the ministry. The Rileys bring with them their three great kids - Tanner (7), Keaton (5), and Regan (2). They are a whole family called to missions, so as you consider supporting them, you are not investing in just one missionary, but five! They see their ministry as one of "families reaching families" and hope to facilitate bringing many families into a greater passion for God and His work. What a powerful ministry they will have for God's kingdom!

Since YWAM is a faith mission, all of us volunteer our time and service, trusting God for our living expenses. No one receives a salary, not even the President. We all live the same way: YWAMers generally raise their financial support by communicating with friends, family and home churches, asking them to prayerfully consider joining their support team. This was Jesus' way of sustaining traveling and missionary ministries outlined in Luke 8:1-3 - they were supported by those who knew them and believed in them and their calling. This type of financial backing provides a strong relational and prayer base, creates accountability on the part of the YWAMer toward those who commit to support them, and ensures that 100% of the funds given to directly to the missionary.

Please prayerfully consider being a significant part of God's provision for sustaining the ministry of Bryan and Tara through your financial and prayer support. With their commitment to come to UofN Kona - having never raised funds before, and coming to a location with a very high cost of living - they are in serious need of partners who will give on a monthly basis. Your support will not only be a persinal blessing to them, but will bless the ministry of YWAM and the University of the Nations as well. I believe your partnership with them will also enrich the lives of you and your family, as their firsthand reports keep you abreast of the new ventures for God in world evangelism.

Thank you for prayerfully considering this opportunity, and thank you for your love and commitment to the Riley family.

Yours in Christ

Loren D. Cunningham
Founder, Youth With A Mission
President, University of the Nations

* YOUTH WITH A MISSION
Youth With A Mission (YWAM), an ever-expanding global "family of ministries" born in 1960, has reached into every nation with the Gospel through evangelism, training and/or mercy ministries. The work of YWAM is manned by nearly 20,000 full-time staff from more than 150 nationalities and a wide variety of denominations who serve at more than 1,200 YWAM locations in 173 nations. More than four million students, volunteers and staff have served with YWAM since its inception.

** University of the Nations
The University of the Nations (UofN), is YWAM's global university. Since its inception in 1978, the UofN has grown to offer more than 800 different kinds of courses and seminars (some of which are offered in 60+ languages), held at more than 460 locations in more than 140 countries. There are currently nearly 150,000 students registered within the global UofN system who have completed at least a Discipleship Training School and can go on to pursue degrees. There are approximately 20,000 students per year in YWAM/UofN training schools worldwide.