Grace on the Move: One Family’s Journey of Redemption and Global Impact

Currently living in Istanbul, Turkey, the Yales family (Jo, and Diane, and 3 kids) have been on overseas mission since January of 2013. Jo was born again in Dallas County Jail in 2006 after a life filled with sin. Transformed by the Gospel, with extreme gratitude for Jesus’s life-saving gift, his last few years in prison were filled with a zealousness to know Christ through reading His Word and radically obeying whatever the Holy Spirit asked. After prison he joined a men’s ministry in February of 2009.

Doiane met Jo while he was serving in the men’s ministry in Denton, Texas in 2011. Diane was a neo-natal intensive care nurse who had known the Lord all her life and had served in Africa, Iraq, France and at her local church in Texas.

In September 2012 they married and four months later moved to Bihar, North India (the Graveyard of Missions). Thrust into a new culture, they set out to make Jesus known where His Name had not been heard in the most difficult places on earth. Multiple IMB families took them under their wings and began to train them in cross cultural ministry and introduce them to local believers. The Yales family began to train these believers how to establish healthy disciples, leaders and churches. They would enter villages, proclaim the name of Jesus, salvations and baptisms would occur, and they would stay with them teaching them the things of the Kingdom. They would immediately equip them in how to take the Gospel to their neighbors. It was during this time that Madelyn was born, expanding the Yales family to three.

Through obedience-based discipleship and raising up the priesthood of believers, the locals quickly understood God’s plan for themselves to own the core missionary task of not only being a healthy church but taking the Gospel to the villages beyond. Today there are more than 7,000 churches across 3 different states in North India (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa).

There are an estimated 30 million orphans in India. Staring this stark reality in the face the Yales family couldn’t turn a blind eye and started rescuing drug addicted, trafficked orphans from the train station. In 2015 shortly after establishing an orphanage for both boys and girls they were kicked out of India. Having their very own Macedonian Call they moved their family to Northern Iraq, but not before their son was born in Thailand.

Ani (their local partner in India) took the responsibility to continue rescuing more orphans and establishing churches. Today a committee has been established in America who manage the finances and provide high levels of accountability over the home. Today there are 67 orphans that have been rescued from the gutter. Nine of those orphans’ parents have been killed for their faith. By years end they will be finishing up building a permanent home that will house up to 150 children.

Mid-2016 the coalition forces started pushing ISIS out of Mosul. Hundreds of thousands of Syrians and IDP Iraqis were living in refugee camps in and around the city where the Yales family landed. The goal was to establish disciples and churches amongst the Kurds in Northern Iraq and Syrian refugees. God allowed them to lead many Syrian and Iraqi people to faith and to develop house churches amongst these people groups. Facing many different challenges God bore, and is, bearing much fruit. Jesus said when you sow a lot of seed, some will fall on shallow soil, some on thorny soil, some by the wayside and some will find good soil that will bear fruit 30, 60, 100-fold and spring up to eternal life. Today there are multiple house churches amongst Syrians in the refugee camps, low-income housing areas and some amongst Iraqi Kurds.

In 2017 their daughter was born, and Jo met a man from Iran named Nasser who was praying for someone to come and help him reach his people. A plan was birthed to bring Iranians to Iraq to be taught about the Kingdom. After leading them to faith and baptizing them they were sent back to Iran to reach their own people. As more and more people came to faith they were taught to baptize their own people, disciple them, form Bible groups and establish under-ground house churches. Just like Acts, believers and churches started multiplying across the region. During their time in Iraq, God opened opportunities to help Afghans fleeing the Taliban, to rescue Iranian prostitutes and to provide various types of aid to the suffering.

It is illegal to have a Bible in Iran. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God and the need for His Word was great. Ways to move God’s Word through various underground routes were found to get Bibles to the believers and to be used for evangelism. We have averaged sending 100,000 Bibles every year into the country. Every year close to 200 Iranian leaders cross the border for continued leadership development. To date there are more than 2,000 small house churches of 3 to 10 people meeting regularly. Close to 13,000 baptized believers are across all 31 states in Iran. Indigenous mission teams are sent monthly to new areas for the Gospel.

In 2023 the Yales family moved back to Texas to battle cancer. Following successful treatment for Diane’s breast cancer, the family returned to the Middle East region via Turkey in January of 2025. But not before establishing a prison and men’s ministry in Texas. Today two men’s home have been established that are training men from prison how to continue to follow the Jesus they surrendered to as Lord while serving time. Brandon Light gave his life to Jesus in solitary confinement after being in the same cell for 8 years. God transformed his life radically and he now leads this ministry in Texas.

In 2024 Freedom Multiplied (FM418) was established as a 501c3 providing an avenue for God to bring these various ministries under one banner. The ministry has four main pillars, but is not limited to: Bibles, Orphans, Prisons and Church Planting.

John 21:25 “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I would suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.” The Yales family is so blessed to be a part of what Jesus is continuing to do until all have an opportunity to hear!

Your booking with their airBNB fuels freedom, and multiplies worship to the ends of the earth.

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