Our Journey

The term “set sail” has a number of meanings. For Jeffrey and Kristine Moore, the founders of Set Sail Ministries (SSM), the first meaning is a personal one. They have a long history with and love of the ocean and with sailing, so it was no surprise that when God first began to call them to start this journey He spoke to them in sailing terms; phrases like, “set sail” “docking in port cities”, etc. So “set sail” is first a reference to God’s personal call to the Moores.

Not long after God first spoke to Jeffrey saying “Set sail with me”, a close friend mentioned Matthew 4:1 which says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” In the verse, the English word “led” is translated from the Greek word ‘anago’ which is a nautical term and means, “to launch out, set sail, put to sea.” This seemed to be a very important connection indicating that even in times of struggle and temptation, the Holy Spirit is in fact “launching” us out into the deeper things of God, always at work to bring about Father’s will in our lives. Soon after this revelation, God began to give Jeffrey the picture that is on the header of this website, which was later graphically redesigned by James Nesbit, a prophetic artist with Prepare the Way Ministries.

At first the ministry was just a concept, but as God began to refine His call to us over several months, we began to feel more and more of His heart for orphans around the world. As of the spring of 2007, there are more than 1.5 million children (under 18) around the world who go to sleep each night with neither mother nor father.

In Psalm 68:5, God is referred to as the “father of the fatherless”: “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation.” Here and in many other verses, His heart beats fervently for those who are helpless in our world, especially those who are without a family to care for them. We believe that for so many children in the world to be without family is tragic in God’s eyes. He wants to do something about it. And as always when God wants to work on the earth, He looks for a person or persons who are simply willing to listen and obey. We want to be ones that hear clearly and obey readily when the Father calls.

After many overwhelming confirmations of God’s call to us, we began to pursue any door that was open to us in caring for orphans. Through the process of establishing this ministry through us, God began to call us to a radical first step of obedience. Adoption. Literal. Physical. Cross-cultural. Cross-racial. Adoption was not something that we had considered in the past, but with the peace that God gave us, we began to explore the options. We feel a very strong leading to adopt a daughter from West Africa (likely Burkina Faso or Mali). Neither of these countries allow adoptions to U.S. Nevertheless, we pursue what is impossible in the physical because we know that all things are possible through Jesus. (Note: as of April, 2008, the United States has now ratified the Hague Convention for Intercountry Adoptions, which will allow access to adoptions in countries like Burkina Faso!)

About Jeffrey & Kristine Moore

Jeffrey and Kristine met at Baylor University during their college years and were married in 1996.  They were “docked” at the “port city” of Aurora Alliance Church in Aurora, Colorado for ten years, where they served in a wide variety of ministries.  In February 2007, they “set sail” to a new port where they are today, which is Freedom Church led by Apostle Dutch Sheets, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  They consider this their “Antioch” preparation time before they are launched out into fulltime ministry.  They have one son named Joshua.