FM HISTORY

Skid Row: Jonah Project

Over a decade ago, Jeremiah Herrian visited Skid Row in LA as a non-believer. Witnessing over 3,000 homeless individuals in a four-block area overwhelmed by brokenness and addiction deeply impacted him, leading to his surrender to the Lord. He met and married Sarah, a Skid Row missionary. Together, they recognized the overwhelming amount of work to be done there, so they stayed in LA for many years, founding the Jonah Project. They were on the streets daily, ministering and preaching the gospel to anyone who would listen. Throughout their time there, they saw many pimps, drug dealers, prostitutes, and addicts’ changed forever through the Gospel.

The Need for Forgotten Ministries

Fast forward, God called Jeremiah and Sarah to Enid, Oklahoma. While ministering in neighborhoods, they discovered that the issues they saw on Skid Row—brokenness, addiction, rape, abuse, and hopelessness—were present in Enid behind closed doors. Local churches had overlooked the lost in their own communities. Seeing the need for empowering churches to reach the lost and prevent a Skid Row in Enid led to the creation of Forgotten Ministries.

The Church Has Left The Building

After Forgotten Ministries began, they created mobile outreach vehicles to share the Gospel, starting with a school bus converted to a music bus, then a mobile clothing closet, a carnival truck, and more. Those mobile outreach vehicles became tools made available to any churches who would use them to make Jesus known in their communities. The ministry believes the church is a body of believers with a mission to reach the lost, leading to the saying: “The Church has Left the Building.”

Five80 Coffeehouse

As they ministered and partnered with churches, they met many people either following Jesus or needing guidance. To provide a casual environment for connection, they renovated a downtown building into Five80 Coffeehouse, named after Enid's area code. The welcoming space catered to everyone, from businesspeople to the homeless, and operated on a "Pay what you can" system. It encouraged the homeless to have free coffee in the mornings and shelter from the weather. Five80 fostered relationships that deepened through Gospel conversations.

Forgotten Ministries Center

As the ministry expanded its reach with various mobile outreaches, they needed a place to store their supplies and vehicles. In 2014, Jeremiah, Sarah, and their staff broke ground in southeast Enid to build a ministry center. After long days of construction and with many helping hands, they completed the Forgotten Ministries Center by the end of 2015.

Kids Program

God placed the Forgotten Ministries Center directly across from an apartment complex mostly occupied by Marshallese families. Enid is the home to the third largest Marshallese population in the United States. Quickly realizing the need for investment in children’s lives, volunteers started a Sunday school with around 100 children attending. The ministry then started afterschool, pre-school, and youth programs where children learned Bible stories, played games, gained life skills, ate, and had fun. Many children gave their lives to Jesus and joined mission trips, ministering to their community. Today, the ministry hosts block parties, VBS, and afterschool programs.

Oasis

While constructing the Forgotten Ministries Center, men from the Enid Department of Correction helped and began sharing their stories. This led to the creation of the Oasis Program, a faith-based, Bible-focused program for men from incarceration, homelessness, or rehab. It included community living, Bible classes, budgeting aid, legal aid, and mentoring, aiming to build a firm foundation in Christ. Some graduates even became staff members, their lives transformed and called to ministry.

Mercy House

After the Ministry Center was built, a story emerged of a homeless person freezing to death in Enid. To prevent this, the ministry retro fitted the building into the part-time emergency shelter: the Mercy House. Thanks to straightforward systems, the involvement of churches and individuals made it all possible. The shelter provided anyone in need—whether drunk or high—a warm meal, Gospel message, shower, clean laundry, and a warm bed for cold nights. The Mercy House helped individuals experience Jesus' love and find lasting hope in their difficult circumstances.

Paradise Garden

On the property opposite the Forgotten Ministries Center, a community garden was established with an eighty-foot cross as its focal point. Known as the Paradise Garden, it became a place where volunteers could serve, a source for providing food, and a peaceful environment for worship and prayer.

Refuge @ The Well

Many women at the Mercy House shelter needed extra support to get back on their feet. To address this, the ministry renovated a building nearby and started the Refuge @ the Well, a women’s transitional program. It offered a safe place to build a foundation in Christ, similar to the Oasis program, and provided community housing, Bible classes, mentorship, and life skills training for women out of incarceration, the streets, or rehab.

Tellgate Grill

Over the years, Jeremiah explored various ways to inspire the church to share the Gospel. He accidentally discovered that using a mobile grill to offer free food while knocking on doors could effectively encourage church members to start gospel conversations. This led to the creation of the Tellgate Grill, a custom mobile grill with an accompanying video teaching series. Since then, 27 grills have been distributed to 15 states, resulting in hundreds of salvations. The Tellgate Grill has played a significant role in fulfilling Forgotten Ministries' mission to mobilize the Church and reach the lost.

FM Food Ministry

Recognizing the ever-present need for food in Oklahoma we launched the FM Food Ministry which partners with local churches to provide groceries and foster lasting relationships within their communities. This initiative enables ongoing, Gospel-centered connections beyond a one-time event. In Enid, we also host monthly grocery giveaways every first Saturday and various outreaches to address local food needs. These efforts have led to meaningful Gospel conversations and transformed lives.

Our Mission Remains

Throughout every season of Forgotten Ministries, our unwavering commitment to the Enid community has been a testament to God's call. With His guidance, we have shared His truth, hosted local mission trips, empowered and equipped churches to reach the lost, and conducted weekly park outreaches providing resources and preaching the Gospel. God opened the door to partner with Send Relief Serve Tour to take the Tellgate Grill outreach to five states each year. We also offer internships, host block parties, VBS, and more. May God receive all the glory. Even as seasons change, ministries grow or fade, and people come and go, our divine mission endures—to mobilize the church and reach the lost with the Gospel.

WHO WE ARE

Forgotten Ministries is a local missions and para-ministry based in Enid, Oklahoma. Our mission is to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth, as Christ has commissioned us, and to empower God's church to do the same. We believe that every place is a mission field and recognize that Satan is actively trying to steal, kill, and destroy the body of Christ. In our nation, we witness sin rampant in communities and in the lives of individuals. However, we are confident in the power of the Gospel; Jesus triumphed over Satan through His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. We are pushing back against the enemy's schemes and proclaiming the Gospel through various channels, including mobile outreach initiatives, meeting physical needs such as food and clothing, hosting local mission trips, internships, community gardens, and more.

We strive to be a community of dedicated, unwavering believers who live by God's Word at any cost. Our purpose is to serve God through the love and assistance we provide to our communities. We aim to create simple and effective pathways to share the Gospel, empowering churches to fulfill their true calling of living out the Great Commission.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.


- 1 John 3:16-18