You could say that Dr. Paul Freed, minister at Living Hope Fellowship, sits among the greats when he is studying at his office desk below the 18 framed photographs boasting of an 85 year legacy of ministry and family faith.
High above all the beautifully framed picures is a scripture bearing the later part of Psalm 16:6 which says, "Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me." Each family member's picture is professionally framed and bestowed with a gold label below it bearing their name and their place in this lineage of believers in God, who have accomplished much for the cause of Christ. Now, Pastor Paul, as he is known by many, is carrying on that torch to his own 3 children and the world.
According to Pastor Paul, his grandfather left quite the mark on history as he was the first modern missionary in Syria and later pastored in Jerusalem in the 1920's during the establishment of the state of Israel. He spoke 9 languages. He and his wife lived on the Street of Prophets and he was the only Christian pastor there in that era. Pastor Paul even has a telegram with the date of May 14, 1948 from his grandfather that originated there and talked of the state of Israel being formed. His aunt had the longest running radio program in Christian history, called "Woman to Woman," running daily for 50 years. Pastor Paul's uncle, Dr. Armstrong, was President of National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) for over 20 years, building it from 15 members to 10,000. Dr. Kemeny, great uncle to Pastor Paul, worked with Albert Einstein on the theory of relativity, serving as Einstein's mathematician, held 20 doctorates, worked on the Manhattan Project and also wrote the computer language of Basic. Pastor Paul's family has been photographed and associated with 11 Presidents and his adjoining wall shows many of those pictures. From Presidents Ford, Reagan, Eisenhower, George Bush Sr., Truman and Carter. The magnolias on the White House lawn were planted by his great great grandfather and brought from North Carolina. Sadly 5 family members were lost to death camps.
His father, speaking 5 languages, founded a worldwide ministry, Trans World Radio, in 1952 with 27 cents and one tank of gas that got him to one church while a young Pastor Paul rode in the back seat. He started the organization in Spanish from Morocco and it now has worldwide missionaries. "It's the largest privately owned radio network in the world, sharing in over 200 languages," said Pastor Paul. "In 1960 he was offered 100 million dollars for the rights to the network but he was unwilling to sell. People ask me why I didn't go with Trans World Radio and I tell them it just wasn't how the Lord led me."
He was led to work with Promise Keepers and was their International Vice-President but left about a decade ago. About 10 years ago Pastor Paul began Mighty Men of God, also called Mighty Men. He and his son work together on this ministry. A local group also meets at his church on the first Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. offering free pizza and open to males ages 12 and up. He described it as a basic men's ministry to help men become good fathers, good sons, good men. "I think the key to being a good father starts with being a good son," he said. "We recently held a Mighty Men Conference in Parris Island with the Marines and with their sons."
His wife and high school sweetheart, Sandra, have been married for over 30 years and together offer Marriage Makers conferences. From South America, Europe and nationally, the couple have conducted 350 seminars with some 20,000 couples. Marriage Makers is based on the Song of Solomon and takes it back to its original Hebrew principles as he researched while studying for his doctorate at Oxford.
Sandra is also the worship leader at Living Hope Fellowship as well as a songwriter and composer. She has performed across the nation, in South Korea, Eastern and Western Europe and South America. When they travel, Sandra will sing to churches woldwide.
Pastor Paul is the author of The Marriage Makers, Mighty Men of God, Reaching Muslims for Christ (with Dr. Ralph Freed) and Call of the Captain (forthcoming). Their 2 years at Living Hope Fellowship have brought the marriage and men's ministry but also the name change of the church based on a scripture in I Peter that talks about being born again to a "living hope" to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. "I took this little church thinking it was a great location and had some real possibilities to grow here," said Pastor Paul. "We wanted to reach out with something that wasn't putting up so many walls so that is why we changed the name. We have a nice worship team. We do a nice mix of contemporary music and great hymns of the faith. We want to reach all generations. Our Marriage ministry, Marriage Makers and Mighty Men are our speciality. Our ear-mark is offering depth of scriptural teaching. With my Jewish heritage and studies at Oxford we get into fascinating aspects of scripture. I always bring in an international flavor from being in 70 nations and bring stories from around the world, but our hallmark is the depth of scriptural teaching."
Living Hope Fellowship offers Life Groups at 10:15 a.m., worship on Sunday at 11:00 a.m., and Prayer at 6:00 p.m. and Mighty Men at 7:30 p.m., on Wednesdays. His family supports organizations such as Christian Help, Christians United for Israel, Christians & Jews for Israel, Salvation Army, and Trans World Radio. Living Hope Fellowship is located at 4500 Dike Road in Winter Park (on the edge of Winter Springs off Tuskawilla). Their number is 1-800-494-HOPE.