Faith Builders International Ministries

In 1989 God gave Pastor Pruitt's father a dream to start a church in Beloit, Wisconsin. He obeyed the Lord. Pastor Jeff and his wife Robin joined his mother and father in planting the then New Ark Christian Fellowship in a small town hall on July 4th weekend. Although the church was small, they saw tremendous potential and it began to grow.

From 1989 to 1997 Pastors Jeff and Robin served in the ministry in a variety of capacities. They served as Youth Pastors and as Directors of the Men's and Women's Ministries. Pastor Jeff was the Assistant Pastor, Music Pastor and the Production Director. Pastor Robin managed the Day Care and was Director of the Children's Ministries. Through serving in these various roles, Pastors Jeff and Robin learned a tremendous deal about ministry and church structure.

In 1997 God spoke to Pastor Pruitt that it was time to "leave the nest" and start a church of his own. He, his wife and two children, Nick and Olivia, left Beloit and launched a church in Madison, Wisconsin. They were there for a total of 18 months and it would become one of the greatest pains of Pastor Pruitt's life.

After over a year in Madison, the church had only reached 45 members. Pastor Pruitt became very frustrated and often wanted to quit the ministry. Up until that point it seemed everything he touched turned to gold. However, he couldn't seem to make that church grow. He began to cry out to God for answers.

One Sunday morning, after he had finished preaching to his small congregation, he went to his office which was just outside the sanctuary. As he entered to put his bible away, the Holy Spirit filled the room. Pastor Pruitt was completely taken by surprise. With a flood of tears he asked the Lord, "What is it? What do You want?" In that moment Pastor Pruitt had a vision. He saw a cloud. Protruding out of the cloud were arms of all ethnicities motioning to him to come. He heard voices in the cloud saying, "Come, please come. We need you here." He then heard the Lord say, "Son, you are in the wrong place. I need you in Milwaukee, Wisconsin."

Pastors Jeff and Robin obeyed that voice and launched the Milwaukee church in May of 1999. They started out in a small rented hotel hall. They soon outgrew the hall and began renting a school building for their church services. What started with three people in 1999 had grown to over 200 people by 2001.

The year 2001 turned out to be a very unique year for the Pruitt's. Pastor Pruitt's father had come to him and told him he was leaving Beloit to go to Phoenix, Arizona to start a church. This news was difficult to hear and to understand. Nonetheless, Pastor Pruitt decided to pray with his father as to who the successor of the Beloit church would be.

In June of 2001 Pastor Pruitt was in his downstairs office in Milwaukee when the same overwhelming presence of God came upon him as it did in Madison. God spoke to him and said, "I am going to give you your cake and allow you to eat it, too." He said, "Beloit is your inheritance. I want you to take it and you will pastor both churches!" Through a series of incredible circumstances, God had been speaking that very same thing to his father.

In October of 2001 Pastor Pruitt became the Senior Pastor of Faith Builders International Ministries in Beloit, Wisconsin. Now with the theme "One church, two locations" the Pruitt's began to build.

What does the future hold for this couple and this ministry? To have seven (7) Faith Builders locations within the upper Midwest region to allow for unified regional penetration of the Gospel. They then would like to take that model to the world. Their goal is summed up best with the following statement: "Building faith to go your farthest; connecting people to reach the harvest."