In 1967, Albie and Helen were thrust into ministry shortly after a serious injury curtailed Albie’s baseball career. God had prepared them both to follow the Spirit wherever He should lead and so they became pioneers into new ways of “doing church,” “doing ministry” and how to live a supernaturally natural lifestyle.

Out of Albie and Helen’s brokenness and their profound encounters with the Holy Spirit, they developed a dependence upon Him that has never wained. He led them into revival, fueled by signs and wonders. They created a paradigm of Kingdom training through realms of deliverance and inner healing, evangelism, new modalities of church function, worship, and conceptions of a believer’s identity and authority. They learned to equip, train and send believers into cities and communities, which resulted in numerous church plants.

United Ministries International was birthed at the cusp of a church plant in Lake Tahoe in 1978-9, which became an apostolic hub. It was there, young leaders gathered, eager to be trained and sent. UMI was the corporate “covering” for these activities and over 100 leaders were deployed within a few short years. Churches sprang up not only in Reno and Carson City, NV, but also in Cottonwood, Indio, Ridgecrest, San Diego, and Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

 

________________________________

 

In 1993, Albie and Helen took a strategic role in the establishment of the Desert Springs Vineyard. Almost 10 years later, the same could be said about Desert Christian Community Church. But the founding of Father’s Heart Ranch in the late ’90s epitomizes Albie and Helen’s lifelong burden to help the broken. Father’s Heart Ranch met a niche, in that it became a refuge for young boys who could not fit into the State’s care system. Still successfully functioning, Albie and Helen insisted that Christ-Centered ministry be the core of this vital ministry, despite inescapable State involvement.

Over the years, UMI as a church planting movement changed, but Albie and Helen’s role as a spiritual father and mother has not. Many, continuing to this day, call them for their prophetic insight and blessing. Unbeknownst to most, numerous ministries have been encouraged and even launched through the phone sessions they have today with various ones.

With Albie and Helen in their 80's, the phone calls and visits continue, and UMI itself is still moving forward. As Bill Johnson says so well, "The older generation’s ceiling should become the younger generation’s floor." Although Albie and Helen have input, UMI has new leadership at the helm and new possibilities are being developed and even ideas not yet seen are being birthed.