~ Statement of Faith ~ Heart To Heart was established in June, 2000 as a result of an invitation from God to partner with Him in work that He was already doing in Flanagan, IL. Because of the ministry perspective, it was decided that all services at H2H would be provided on a donation basis, based on need, rather than ability to pay fees. The plan was for the financial funding to come from private donations, church gifts and grant monies. A Board of Directors was developed and began providing leadership to the ministry. June 2000 - The first offices were located in the Prairie Central Coop Grain elevator office building on Main Street in Flanagan. H2H rented 2 furnished offices from the Coop. Word spread like wildfire in the area that “something new” was happening at the grain elevator. This “wildfire news” was our first form of advertisement which then transitioned into word of mouth advertising for the new services. June 2001 The ministry quickly out-grew the office space at the grain elevator and the offices were moved to the second location on Main Street in Flanagan. This was a very nice and comfortable location for the ministry, housing the counseling services and W.E. C.A.R.E. Volunteer Tutoring program. 2003 – Nickie Moulton, Gridley, IL, became the first volunteer, part-time counselor after having a year-long internship with Sandy Egle. 2002 – 2008 During this period of time, Sandy Egle became a Regional Director for PastorCare, a national clergy support ministry headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina. PastorCare is a support ministry to pastors. PastorCare was discontinued in August 2008, due to ministry time limitations caused by the increasing number of counseling clients being served at H2H. 2005 As more counseling clients began to access services, the ministry continued to grow by inviting Acorn Ministries led by Lon Alderman, Pontiac, to join the H2H ministry umbrella. June 2005 Once again, we outgrew our office space. The building owners invited H2H to relocate and use the front office space of their newly acquired building at 101 W. South Street in Flanagan. They had purchased this building for the purpose of using the unfinished back storage area for their private business supplies and equipment and committed to fix up the front office space to house the H2H offices. Due to the past growth patterns of H2H, an agreement was made that if H2H outgrew the front office space, the owners would renovate the back storage area into new office space and they would find other storage space for their supplies.
We believe the Bible to be the infallible Word of God.
We believe that Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and that His life on
earth was the perfect example of Christian love and dedication to God.
We believe Jesus’ death on the cross was ordained by God to be the final blood
sacrifice that would allow once again for a direct communion with God leading to a
true love relationship with Him.
We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again to claim His children as
his own to live with him and God our father in a life everlasting.
We believe that God has ordained this work and we are committed to maintain God’s
Lordship, leadership and direction for this ministry.
~ Story of Heart To Heart ~
"God, where are you working and how can I partner with you?”
In 2007, the Board of Directors made a decision that all full-time staff would be considered
“missionaries” and that each individual missionary would be responsible for gathering their own financial support from private donors to cover their salaries. This plan would allow for more staff to join the ministry team more quickly and would then be able to meet the rapidly growing requests for ministry services. 2007 brought new staff: Dona Downing, Bloomington, joined H2H as missionary Administrator; Cyndi Mock, Gridley, is the volunteer Bookkeeper; Phyllis Bend, Normal, became the first Tutoring Program Coordinator.
January 2008 - After two years at the third location and the addition of more staff and expansion of the ministry services, it once again became time to expand the office space. The building owners were true to their word and renovated the back storage area into 4 more offices and a beautiful conference room. The H2H staff joined the renovation efforts by redecorating and adding warm colors to all of the office areas.
June 2008 - During the time the office space was being expanded, the decision was made to expand and rename the W.E. C.A.R.E. Volunteer Tutoring Program to be called Heart Spring! Student Support Center. The previous office space on Main Street was renovated and rented to house the new Heart Spring! Student Support Center. This new program was developed to run year around and provide tutoring services during the school year and activity camps during the summer.
January 2008, H2H moved into the new office area in the back of the current building and ministry continued. A new ministry aspect was developed, providing internship opportunities for college students going into the counseling, psychology, education and ministry fields.
January 2009, an official name was given to the counseling ministry. It is now Hope For Hearts Counseling Ministry. April 2009, Paula Upchurch, Streator, joined as a volunteer counselor.
September 2009, A tough decision was made to end the tutoring ministry and to focus on expanding the counseling ministry. Currently the two “branches” of H2H are: Hope For Hearts Counseling, and Acorn Ministries.
It is our anticipation that God will continue to stretch and grow the H2H ministry in the days, months and years ahead. The Board of Directors’ plan for future growth is to maintain the current offices and to open satellite offices in regions and areas that concentrated numbers of clients are coming from.
God began this wonderful work almost 10 years ago and has provided, and continues to provide financially for His ministry. We are very thankful for all of the support and encouragement we have received over the years and ask that people continue their support so that this ministry will be able to serve in the same manner that God has called each of us to.