Our Story.
TEAM Restoration Ministries was founded in 2005 by N. Joel Fry and his wife Heather.
The story of the ministry began at Denali National Park. Tucked into small beds in a makeshift motel, Joel, Heather, and their two toddler-aged boys began their night’s sleep. Little sleep would come to Joel, however, as he awoke thinking about a new ministry.
He and Heather had volunteered in marriage ministry together, had developed a passion for seeing marriages restored, and had dreams of doing more together in that area. Joel was serving on the leadership of a church, which gave them a heart for pastors, leaders of ministries, and their spouses. That night in Alaska, the Lord graciously provided ideas that would collide with their dreams of ministering to marriages and pastors.
With excitement pulsing through his mind and body, Joel tried to gently nudge and stir Heather. Usually this was no problem, but on that night, she would not be awakened. Joel continued processing the ideas alone with the Lord for the remainder of the night.
When Heather began to stir in the wee hours of the morning, Joel made certain the sleep was over for her as well. In a frantic whisper, he started chattering about all the ideas that were birthed during his sleepless night. His excitement was unmistakable.
Joel wrote notes about his ideas on the back of a grocery list as they toured Denali National Park. The three main themes of the new ministry were to provide counseling, support for pastors and church leadership, and marriage retreats.
Weeks later and after much prayer, Joel and Heather came up with the name TEAM Restoration Ministries. The acronym TEAM stands for Trust, Energy, Authenticity, and Motivation.
Trust is the basis and foundation for all relationships. As trust builds, energy is gained to invest in the relationship. With that energy, authenticity and transparency grow within relationships. As relationships heal through that process, the motivation to be all that God has asked us to be increases because we have those restored relationships.
It was about nine months after the Alaska trip that TEAM Restoration Ministries began serving clients. It has become a ministry that partners with numerous local churches to provide Christian counseling to bring relief to pastors and leadership and healing to those communities.