Freedom Thru Jesus Fellowship (FTJF) started over 30 years ago in Ralph and Gloria Gilbert’s home with a Friday night fellowship. People came from a three-state area for ministry. Many received healing and discovered first-hand what the Bible says about healing and deliverance is true. People found that the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is active and working powerfully today, just as it was in the time Jesus walked on this earth. Many have witnessed that the works in the Book of Acts are still happening today. These Friday night meetings and personal ministry birthed pastors and many prayer-healing ministers.

In 2020 Ralph finished his earthly work and went home to be with the Lord and ministry time came to a temporary halt. Then in 2023, Bill and Lisa Fizer came back and joined their ministry, Crossing Jordan Ministries, with Freedom Thru Jesus Fellowship. Bill and Lisa trained under Ralph and Gloria and worked along side them for many years before they were led to start Crossing Jordan. We believe God opened the door to bring the two ministries, with very similar visions, together to continue this important work with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Through these two teams hundreds have received help for early life abuse, sexual abuse, addictions, depression, anxiety, demonic torment, and spiritual confusion, to name just a few of the problems troubling people that came for ministry. They received healing and experienced the awesome power and connection with love and grace of God in a very personal way. There have been many testimonies of changed and redeemed lives, miracles, healings, and marriages saved. As a result, many of these people answered a call to ministry and service to God, locally and around the world, attesting to the anointing on this ministry. The ministry has the spiritual oversight of a global ministry and a dedicated Board of Directors.

At FTJF/Crossing Jordan Ministries, we are not secular “therapists” or “counselors.” We are a team of trained prayer-healing ministers offering discernment, healing, deliverance, spiritual direction, and restoration to individuals through personal ministry and spiritual direction in a safe, comfortable environment.

When seeking or considering a prayer-healing ministry, you may wonder how it aligns with the maize of the services provided by psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors and secular counselors. Quite simply, the perspective and the remedies used by many of these counselors are viewed and approached quite differently than the approach of the prayer-healing minister. As Christian prayer-healing ministers, we use our God-given authority with the anointing of the Holy Spirit to pray for healing of emotional wounds of the soul, the heart, healing of the physical body and deliverance from demonic forces. We are not against psychiatrists, psychologists, medical professionals and secular counselors; in fact, we work in collaboration with many of these professionals who desire for their clients to have the spiritual portion of healing available to them. This has been a beneficial relationship both to us, the professionals, and those receiving ministry.

This ministry is based on prayer and operates through the presence and power of the Lord Jesus Christ and the anointing, gifts and leading of the Holy Spirit. We adhere to the highest ethical standards of Christian integrity and we are committed to providing excellence in ministry by submitting to the spiritual authority of mature Christians, continually studying the Holy Scriptures and following biblical principles in our own lives and in our spiritual walk. We take part in continuing education in the areas of inner-healing, spiritual warfare, spiritual mentoring and Christian counseling. We do not hold mental health credentials and we are not licensed as such, but whenever possible, we have and continue to work in conjunction with other healing and health professionals to provide for every aspect of a person's freedom and healing.

Since we do not hold mental health credentials we cannot bill insurance companies, so each person is responsible for the reasonable cost of their session. God's Word does tell us that a laborer is worthy of his wages. At the same time, because FTJF/Crossing Jordan is a ministry, we do not turn anyone away because of financial burdens. In these cases we accept a reduced donation and in special cases no fee is required. God has called us into this ministry in a full-time capacity and we trust that He will provide for our needs. He has and continues to provide partners that help support this ministry and we are always looking for more supporters. In many ways it is our supporters that become the “insurance company”. They too become the hands and feet of Jesus.

This ministry follows the biblical dictates to bear one another′s burdens, disciple those in need of guidance, comfort and heal the wounded hearts, and set free those who are spiritually bound or oppressed. The essential components of this ministry are prayer, prayer for healing, freedom from spiritual oppression, spiritual mentoring and direction. All is done under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit. Ministry to the person is also a process for building joy in the person, giving them strength to go on. The whole person is taken into consideration; spirit, soul, heart, and body. Spiritual healing is as important as emotional and physical healing.

Ministry consists of providing a safe place in which to discover the root of the individual′s issues. Then, with the Holy Spirit′s direction, revelation, and guidance, we explore these root causes and their impact on the individual and thus find direction in praying for them. This leads to finding a place for God to intervene in their lives and an opportunity for them to interact with God. Sound spiritual direction and biblical principles are applied together with prayer for God′s healing. With spiritual direction, each individual will be taught how to apply effective spiritual interventions and use proper biblical principles in his or her life′s situation for their healing process.

We also recognize as we explore these root causes that spiritual torment and strongholds may have been opened in the individual′s life. As God interacts and speaks encouragement and truth about the lies, false beliefs and anger, it becomes possible for healing to take place and strongholds are broken. At this point, these spiritual influences have no right to torment the individual and are simply told to leave. After this the individual generally will experience peace and joy. 

Trust – It is of the utmost importance for the prayer minister to build trust with a person and help him or her receive ministry in a safe environment. There are many causes and factors that hinder a person and affect their relationships, their spirituality, and block their peace and joy. The prayer-healing minister works with the help of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to resolve the issues that hinder, or block, a person from receiving their healing and blessing. We invite people with these impossible problems and situations to pray with us to receive Jesus Christ in their heart. When a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their spirit is renewed and connected to God. Once the Holy Spirit is working within the heart of a person, they are in a position to understand the reason for their problem and receive supernatural help in resolving their problem and receive healing.

Jesus speaks truth – As the Holy Spirit brings His illumination to the heart of a person regarding a problem, Jesus speaks truth to the heart of the person. When Jesus speaks truth to the person and they receive the truth, healing takes place. The Holy Spirit will bring to the person’s awareness, as well as to the prayer minister’s, the issues, strongholds and flawed beliefs that need to be addressed, as well as the demonic strongholds and entanglements that are blocking the healing process. We work to help the person eliminate false beliefs and dysfunctional patterns of coping, and help them to put into place healthy coping mechanisms from a biblical perspective. This is the bulk of the work done in this type of ministry.

We approach healing and recovery from the perspective of how God created people – God made humans with four basic parts: spirit, soul, heart, body. Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” NKJV
We have witnessed that each of these parts can become wounded or damaged in some way, physically, emotionally or spiritually. Psychology limits itself to the study of the body (soma), and the soul (psyche). Often this point of view does not take into consideration the spiritual part and condition of a person. We understand how demonic forces obtain a legal right to inflict pain or torment on a person and how to eliminate their legal right to the person and make them leave. As Christians, we have been given the right and the commission of Jesus Christ, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to take authority over demonic forces to remove them.

Dysfunctional living patterns – When a person has lived in a dysfunctional lifestyle for years, without outside assistance, that person will usually continue in the same dysfunctional way of life, even after being healed. The minister has the opportunity to help the person put in place new biblical based elements of coping, relating, and living that lead to peace, joy and connection.

Life brings hurt and that is a simple fact of life. It can be traumatic and have a profound impact on their life and it can be the "normal" hurts that most experienced in life.
We minister to those who:
- Have been the victims of childhood and early life abuse or sexual abuse
- Experienced trauma and are suffering from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or
Dissociative Disorders (MPD /DID)
- Addictive issues (alcohol/substance/sexual)
- Struggle with marital or family issues

We also work with people to:
- Locate and break spiritual strongholds in their lives
- Provide spiritual direction to those who seeking their identiy
- Pre-marital Counseling - Certified SYMBIS Assessment Facilitators

Appointments for personal ministry are made on a first-come, first-served basis, as space is available. If there is no immediate opening, you can request to be put on a waiting list and you will be notified when space is available. We will be happy to discuss your situation with you to determine if we can be of help to you. If you are in a crisis situation, every effort will be made to see you as soon as possible. If it is impossible to see you, we will refer you to a qualified professional. Freedom Thru Jesus does not have any housing facility for those seeking ministry.

The length and frequency of sessions will be determined by your present condition and situation, the complexity of the problems presented, your progress, and if a minister has space available.

In 1999 a training course was established so the lessons learned were passed on to others who could be empowered in ministry, furthering the growth of our vision. The original 33-week training program was established to train and disciple others to carry out this work in their areas of influence. As a result, several have come for supervision of their ministry work. Many of God’s people who have completed the majority of their healing journey have taken the training course to be involved in this type of ministry because of the healing and understanding they have gained in their own healing journey. Over 100 students have graduated, many going on to part-time and full-time ministry. We continually receive testimonies of how this training and material is touching lives around the world.

Training Center - We are currently working on moving many of the lessons into web-based courses focusing on specific areas of prayer-healing ministry. Stay tuned for the updates as we develop these courses.

Webinars/Workshops – We are available to provide seminars, workshops, and conferences. We address and promote a broad spectrum of spiritual dynamics and healing models that we believe to be beneficial to the healing community.

The focus of our sessions can be directed towards:
Care-givers who work with persons coming out of sexual, religious, emotional or ritual abuse, cults, the occult, Satanism, and other forms of bondage.

Individuals looking for spiritual insight and deliverance into the strongholds they are battling in their lives.

Spiritual Warfare Prayers – We provide a collection of the latest spiritual warfare prayers with instructions on how to use these prayers and information on the hindrances that could be encountered when praying with people. We use prayers from many different sources as others have discovered ways to overcome roadblocks to healing and freedom.