TFI HISTORY

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea”
(Habakkuk 2:14)

The history of The Fellowship International (TFI) is one founded upon and built through one man: Jesus Christ.

Pastor Don Leavell, our founder and Senior Pastor of Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship, was given a calling from the Lord to bring simplicity and clarity of the Gospel to His people. This call extended internationally through the creation of The Fellowship International, known as TFI. For years, Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship had been working in the Philippines and other nations through Pastor Don. In 2012, TFI unofficially launched in the United States of America when Pastor Don began to personally pastor, mentor, and father, three young Filipino pastors he had been supporting through Corpus Christi Christian Fellowship. This was a shift in the way he had been doing ministry internationally.

Those pastors were the beginning of this international family network of churches and ministries, known as The Fellowship International. In May of 2014, The Fellowship International was officially created. These pastors came on board and began telling other pastors about the work of TFI. The Fellowship International Board knew there had to be a solidifying of commitment to the relationships we had. This ministry expanded as more doors were opened in nations, including the Philippines and Ghana. Pastors were laying hold of the Christ-centered message Pastor Don preached and wrote in his books, and they were introducing TFI to pastors and leaders all around them. We officially launched TFI-Philippines in October 2014, and soon thereafter, TFI-Ghana was launched in March 2015. We began to show pastors from these nations more about preaching and teaching a Christ-centered message and the necessity of living an uncompromising Christ-centered lifestyle, and more nations began to join. TFI was officially launched in Togo and Benin in 2016, in 2017 in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Zimbabwe, and in 2018 in Pakistan, Zambia, Croatia, and Serbia. Pastors committed to preaching a Christ-centered message and began sharing with other pastors about the work of TFI. By the end of 2023, The Fellowship International had partners in and from Albania, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burundi, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Montenegro, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, USA, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe with invitations to at least five more nations.

The Lord goes before us, and we pursue all He has said. We look forward to the life-giving work the Lord is doing. This is a work that is both effective and influential in reaching the lost, in teaching a Christ-centered message that brings change to its hearers, and in building of unity within the Church in the cities and nations with whom we have a relationship, a partnership.