From a Firehouse Prayer to a Global Fellowship

Formation of Firefighters For Christ
Like the early church, Firefighters For Christ ministry began in a prayer meeting. Beginning in 1973, two firefighters from different denominations met to pray each morning on their shift. They were assigned to Fire Station 3, which was also the headquarters of the Los Angeles City Fire Department. A vacant upstairs room was available for their use and before long their prayer meeting spread to all three shifts.

In 1974, twin sisters asked FFC Co-Founder John White how they could pray for a ministry to firefighters. He started to say, Pray that our fire station prayer meetings will spread throughout the nation, but found himself saying, Pray that our prayer meetings will be spread throughout the world.

That prayer has been answered, starting with a visiting firefighter from New Zealand in the early 80's to an expanding network of FFC chapters in Europe, Australia and the Philippines and training and relief missions throughout Latin America and Asia.

In 1975, the firefighters, who had been praying at Station 3, agreed to have a breakfast meeting and invite firefighters from many different departments. In January of 1976, their first breakfast was held at the Holiday Inn in Hollywood, California. They expected twenty to forty guests but to their surprise, one hundred forty firefighters showed up. After breakfast, firefighters from Northern California met with Los Angeles area firefighters to discuss formalizing the organization. They agreed to name the group Firefighters For Christ and started to plan additional events. The idea of formal membership or formation of individual chapters was not on the minds of FFC's first leaders. 

As time went on, the Lord made it clear that membership was needed so the firefighter, who worked in a remote area and thought they were the only Christian firefighter in the world, would be encouraged to know that there were other firefighters living their lives for Jesus Christ.

The Lord also made it clear that through prayer, He alone would call people He had chosen to be chapter leaders. He desires a person of God that is seeking His direction through prayer and are following the Holy Spirit's lead in their individual lives and ministry.

In June 1978, Firefighters For Christ was officially incorporated as a non-profit organization with the mission statement, "To encourage firefighters to live their lives for Jesus Christ." It is derived from Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (NKJV)

The ministry encompasses a pretty large field, but there are three types of firefighters FFC ministers to. One is the person who has never before invited Jesus into their heart, so we encourage them to take that vital first step. The second is a person who may go to church, but when they get to the station, they are intimidated by the people they work with and nobody really knows that they are a Christian. We want to encourage them be the person God has called them to be. The third is the person who is living fully for the Lord, and we just want to encourage them keep at it and provide opportunities for them to do so.