What a great opportunity! God has opened the door for me to teach and minister in Albania & Kosovo. This is especially amazing because Albania was actually the first country in the world to officially declare themselves as atheist – of course now they are mostly muslim. I ask for your special prayers & support for this ministry – I am still praying for God’s will about having my radio programs being broadcast in Albania (praying for the necessary finances.) As you know, I am currently broadcasting to over 13 million people in two countries (Turkey & Iraq) in 4 languages (Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic & English) every week. I am hoping to expand the radio broadcasts into several other countries that desperately need to hear the Truth of the Word of God.
I ask you to please pray about being a monthly prayer & financial support partner with this ministry – the radio programs are very costly to broadcast & I cannot do it without the support of wonderful people like you. One hundred percent of your financial gifts go toward sharing the Word of God in some of the most spiritually challenging countries of the world. Just click on the “Donate” button to help change the world for the glory of Christ!

Thank-you all for your prayers for my ministry trip to Azerbaijan and Iraq last December – God moved in amazing ways as He allowed me to share with the great people of those countries! As you know those are a couple of the many countries around the world who need to know about the grace and mercy that God has extended them through His Son Jesus Christ. Of course, these trips are quite expensive but very worth the investment. Would you please pray about how God would use you to support what He is doing through this ministry. Your prayers are very important, so I thank-you for your faithful prayers. I also ask that you would pray about giving financial support to this ministry – all you have to do is to push the “Donate” button and it will make it easy for you to give a financial gift. Always remember that your financial gifts are 100% tax deductible.

Thank-you so much for your prayers and support for the mission trip I made to Kazakhstan in August, 2010. I have been there a couple of times now, and am so happy to see that God is still doing great things in many people’s lives there.

God is obviously working in the hearts of the people of Kazakhstan. Remember that the country of Kazakhstan was carved out of what used to be Russia, so many (most) of the people come from the communist atheistic way of thinking.

I am always excited when God opens the door for me to go to a country where the people have not effectively heard the message of how God loves them so much, and wants a personal relationship with each one. Many times, in many countries around the world, I have seen God soften very hard hearts, and then speaks His saving truth into their lives. I have been privileged to see thousands of people accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior in the middle of cultures that actively reject God’s truth, and even persecute believers. Let’s pray that God would prepare many hearts to hear from Him as He works in Kazakhstan.

Your financial support makes a huge difference – these ministry trips are very expensive, but they are an incredible investment in building the Kingdom of God in very needy places around the world. Just push the “Donate” button on most pages of this website, and invest in what God is doing through JSL Ministries, Inc. God bless you for your faithful prayer and financial support.

I  was so privileged to serve as a full-time missionary to the West Indies over a 14 year period of time from 1991-2005. Now I try to go back there at least once a year to do a lot of ministry at the schools, churches, radio stations, and other ministries that I worked with while a full-time missionary. God blessed me with so many wonderful friends in Puerto Rico and elsewhere that it is always an awesome experience to be able to renew those relationships and spend time with people I love and respect.

This year I was blessed to be able to visit from May 15-30 and had an amazing time. I preached & ministered over 20 times, recorded several weeks of radio programs on WBMJ to be broadcast after I leave, spend a lot of wonderful time with the people of Wesleyan Academy, had the best fellowship with the great people of the En Tus Manos Gang, and basically had every minute filled with spending time with so many wonderful friends. I also had the privilege of ministering twice to a group of amazing college-aged students from the University of Puerto Rico – they call themselves the Solomon’s Porch and are led by Melito – this is one of the most awesome Christian groups I have seen in a long time – they love the Lord, they challenge themselves to go deeper in prayer and studying the Word, and they help and encourage each other in a way that allows Christ to do great things in their lives. I want to thank all of the people who were a part of my visit – you are awesome people whom I love and whom I miss a lot when I am not able to be there.

Hello my friends, I want to thank everyone who support JSL Ministries, Inc. – you made it possible for me to go to Haiti to help the over a million people who were devastated by the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit them on January 12th. I led a team of doctors from the In His Image Family Medicine Residency Program in Tulsa (www.inhisimage.org). We were the first medical team on the ground in downtown Port Au Prince, where the epicenter of the earthquake hit. I encourage everyone to go to my Facebook page (Joel S. Leitch) to look at many of the pictures I took while we were there. Since we were the first doctors there we immediately began treating absolutely horrible injuries, most of which would have had people in the United States admitted into the intensive care unit of most hospitals. We treated horrible gashes & punctures & crush wounds the people sustained by concrete buildings falling on them, and trapping many of them for extended periods of time. There were numerous reports from people who had lost their entire families in the quake – mothers would share that they had lost several of their children, etc. It was truly horrible. We did not have any general anesthesia  so the days were filled with screams and crying as we cleaned & sutured their wounds. We also amputated about 100 various body parts. In the midst of it all there was still reason to rejoice! Several hundred people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! We also delivered several babies which we interpreted as God’s way of saying that He wasn’t done with Haiti yet – it was amazing to see the new life come out of such total destruction.

None of this would have been possible without your prayers and financial support. There is still much to do in this world – I ask each of you to support the ongoing outreach efforts of JSL Ministries, Inc. with your prayers and financial support. You can support us financially by simply pressing one of the “Donate” buttons on this website. I encourage you to consider being a monthly financial supporter – that helps us plan ahead as we consider what God would like to accomplish through us in the future. Feel free to contact us if you have any prayer requests, comments or questions.

Thank-you so much and may God richly bless each of you, Pastor Joel

1981 – 1986: Served as Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor, and then Senior Pastor of several United Methodist churches in rural Oklahoma. The churches were small and so the pastoring positions were part-time.

1986 – 1988: Because of a significant change of ministry direction and style in my life, I felt God was leading me to transfer my ordination credentials to an independent, missions oriented ministry called Full Gospel Assemblies International. I have been ordained with them since May of 1985. God put a strong burden in my heart for the people of the West Indies after a trip to Puerto Rico with a friend in the summer of 1986. After that trip I began to go on several short-term mission trips each year to minister as much as I was able and to discern what God was wanting me to do as a result of the burden He had given me. I also became a volunteer Youth Pastor for Calvary Assembly of God in Stillwater, Oklahoma, during that time period.

1988 – 1991: A career advancement made a move necessary – to Tulsa, Oklahoma, which resulted in me becoming an active member of the Broken Arrow Assembly of God in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. During that time I served in many different leadership positions. I taught middle school and high school Sunday School classes and was the High School Fellowship group leader. I was a speaker and/or counselor in summer camps, retreats, Youth Conventions, and Discipleship camps.

I provided leadership for such activities as the Aimfest Olympics Outreach team, youth rallies, Grad Nights, street ministry, praise & worship, sports activities, and numerous other events. I also coached the church youth basketball team for several years and was a member of the adult Sanctuary Choir. I also consulted regularly with the Director of the church’s school on several family and behavioral challenges concerning their students.

1991 – 2000: God spoke very clearly to me that He wanted me to become a full-time missionary to the West Indies. To fulfill that call, I moved and established my ministry in Puerto Rico. I saw an unmet need for youth ministry activities so, after a great deal of prayer, felt led to commit myself to work with local Pastors to recruit and train people to meet that need. I started several English and Spanish speaking youth groups which are still going strong today, preached, taught, and ministered in many churches, jails, prisons, Teen Challenge facilities, and held regular youth camps and retreats.

I went to Puerto Rico as an independent missionary (what I call a Philippians 4:13-19 tent-maker missionary) unattached to any particular denomination, and without any consistent support from any organizations or individuals. That was definitely the more challenging way to go on long-term full-time missions, but I trusted God to meet my needs and He has always proven Himself faithful. I have taught and preached to adults and youth in churches, camps, retreats, and schools from many different denominations all over the United States and West Indies.

I was Senior Pastor of The Palmas Community Church in Palmas Del Mar, Humacao, Puerto Rico from 1994-2000.

I also founded the Christian Workers Institute, for which I wrote the curriculum and taught the classes on various ministry issues including Leadership Dynamics, Youth Ministry, Family Ministry, Responding to non-Christian religions, etc. I also was the Chairman of the Bible Department, and taught High School Bible classes, at a local Pre-Pre Kinder through twelfth grade Christian school called Wesleyan Academy in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, for eight years. During much of that time I also hosted an hour-long live youth call-in show called “Real Life” each Saturday night on an English speaking Christian radio station that had a potential audience of over two million people in the West Indies.

I was also the Caribbean Director of the International organization called Alpha-Omega Research Institute, which has the following purposes: 1. To research subjects relating to Theology & Christian Apologetics, and to educate people on such topics as cults, the occult, comparative religions, aberrant religious movements, eschatology, and general Christian apologetics. 2. To conduct various evangelistic ministry activities which have the goal of bringing people from various religious and philosophical backgrounds to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. 3. To assist evangelical pastors and churches in the awareness of cults & spiritual error. 4. Provide pulpit fill in the absence of pastors.

I began to sense that God was calling me back to my home state and city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a season. Through much prayer and listening to God, it began to be clear to me that He wanted me back in Iowa for two distinct purposes: to minister to my family and to help build a church. At the time I did not know the details but set about to be obedient and to follow the leading of God.

May 2005 to Present: After just a short time in Iowa God opened the door for me to expand my ministry around the world. I was invited to become Behavioral Medicine Faculty for the In His Image Family Medicine Residency Program – an amazing ministry that trains medical doctors how to be godly Family Physicians, treating the whole person – Spirit, Soul and Body. When our doctors graduate they are Doctors with the Family Physician specialty. They are also ordained to minister the Word of God through medicine around the world. Many of our graduates are now full-time missionary doctors in countries all around the world.

God has made it possible for me to minister in many countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Turkey, Kazakhstan, India, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea, The West Indies, etc. etc. You will also see on this site how God has opened up Turkey and Iraq for me to have daily radio programs on stations that have a combined potential listening audience of over six million people! I am currently praying about expanding the radio ministry into several other countries.

I am also privileged to serve as Associate Pastor of Hope Christian Ministries in Broken Arrow. God has blessed me in so many ways & I am thrilled to be able to serve Him wherever I am at the time!

It is true! God can open doors that noone else can open – He showed Himself to be so faithful during my recent mission trip to Turkey and Iraq. God has given me the vision of reaching the unreached populations around the world with His Good News. It was easy to see that God was giving me great favor with many people as He made opportunities to minister to people that would not normally be available – especially people who have leadership responsibilities in the areas of medine, mental health, and radio. I want to thank all of you who were with me through your prayers and financial support – you make the difference – without your support JSL Ministries would not be able to accomplish anything of true value. My prayer is that God would multiply your kindness and blessings back to you.

Hello Friends!

For over 25 years, we have given our time, our energy, and financial resources to bring the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ to people groups who have not been reached by other mission agencies.

We sincerely appreciate your financial partnership in helping us bring the love the Christ to others through medical missions, practical teaching, and Biblical preaching.

Please continue to support us with regular donations as we expand to touch even more lives in the coming months and years.

Your donations are 100% tax deductible.

That the world might be saved!
Pastor Joel

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