Formed and equipped, together.

A relational discipleship journey rooted in the truth of Scripture and empowered by the Spirit of God

2018

OUR STORY

Built on the conviction that every disciple is called to make disciples, and every believer should be equipped for that work.

Spirit & Truth Global, Inc. began in 2018 under a simple conviction: that believers who are hungry to grow deeper in their walk with God deserve a dedicated space for the kind of intentional formation that turns disciples into disciple-makers.

Originally launched as E3 Ministries, the organization was founded by Bristan and Latondra Heaven — ordained and commissioned into ministry by their spiritual parents, Rev. Courtney Richards and Rev. Beverly Henley, who continue to provide accountability and oversight. From the beginning, it was built around intentional discipleship that moves people from consumers to ministers. It’s genuine formation that produces people who know who they are, walk in their calling, and can bring others along.

That conviction has driven everything we do. We believe followers of Christ are meant to grow — from spiritual infancy into genuine maturity — and that maturity is measured by how closely a person is being conformed to the image of Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. Walking in your calling and equipping others are the natural outflow of that. You cannot consistently produce what you have not become. And you can’t become and not consistently produce the fruit that evidences it.

Over the years we have also found ourselves repeatedly in conversation with pastors and church leaders who want to build a stronger culture of discipleship in their churches but are not sure how to get there. The desire is real. The people are there. What is often missing is a clear framework and the practical tools to actually develop and equip the people they lead. We are now making it an official part of what Spirit & Truth Global does — coming alongside church leaders to help them establish intentional discipleship as a way of life in their congregations, so the people they lead are genuinely formed and not just informed.

The Apostolic Equipping Center is the primary expression of our mission — a relational discipleship community where believers are not just taught but genuinely formed and equipped for the work of the Gospel ministry. Through consistent engagement, personal accountability, and real ministry assignments, participants develop into mature, mission-ready leaders who are prepared to bring others along. As the ministry moves forward, our primary focus is the next generation — young adults — who are spiritually serious but often find themselves without a real place to grow in the context of authentic community. We welcome anyone who is ready to do the work, but this is the generation we are most intentionally building toward.

Spirit & Truth Global is not a church and is not trying to be one. We come alongside the local church, not in place of it. Participants are encouraged and expected to remain connected to and planted in a local church body. What we provide is a focused equipping environment that some churches are not resourced or structured to offer consistently, and we have no interest in competing with what God has already established.

We are currently building that community here in Central Florida, with plans to create local and national ministry opportunities for those we are equipping — putting real assignments in front of real people as part of their development. We are also extending our reach internationally, beginning with the Caribbean in 2027 and expanding to other regions and nations as leaders are raised up and ready to carry it.

THE FOUNDERS

Bristan & Latondra Heaven

Co-Founders

Ordained and commissioned into ministry by their spiritual parents, Rev. Courtney Richards and Rev. Beverly Henley, who continue to provide accountability and oversight.

VISION

Formed, activated, deployed.

To be a trusted equipping environment where the next generation of believers are formed, activated, and deployed as mature Kingdom disciple-makers locally, nationally, and globally.

PURPOSE

Bridge belief and maturity.

To be a catalyst in addressing the growing gap between belief, community, and maturity within the body of Christ.

MISSION

Equip the saints for the work.

To equip the saints for the work of the ministry through intentional community and discipleship, preparing them for effective Kingdom impact.

THE APOSTOLIC EQUIPPING CENTER

The Equipping Journey

Encounter & Exposure

Alignment & Formation

Activation & Service

Deployment & Multiplication

OUR BELIEFS

Ministry Rooted In the Word - Jesus and the Scriptures

DOWNLOAD FULL STATEMENT

The following Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of our faith at Spirit & Truth Global. The Bible itself, as the divinely inspired and infallible Word of God that speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind, is the sole and final source of all that we believe. (2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 1 Jn 2:17)

Who God Is

There is one true God, who is the sovereign Creator, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe. He is eternally self-existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is infinite in love, beautiful in holiness, flawless in judgment, light without darkness, abundant in mercy, compassionate in justice, consistent in character, and relentless in performing His Word in order to fulfill a glorious plan for the fullness of time.

(Deut. 6:4; Gen. 1:1; Heb. 1:3, 13:8; Col. 1:15-17; Acts 5:3-4; Lam. 3:22-23; 1 Jn 1:5-7, 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:15-16; Ps. 29:2, 33:5, 96:9-13, 103:17; Rev. 19:1-2, 11; 1 Tim. 6:16; Jam. 1:17; Mal. 3:6; Eph. 1:9-10, 2:4; Jer. 1:12; Is. 55:11; Num. 23:19; 1 Thess. 5:24)

What He Has Done

Man was created good because he was made in the image and likeness of God. However, because of voluntary rebellion against God’s command, humankind provoked not only its physical but also a spiritual death (separation from God). Man is sinful by nature and is powerless within himself to remedy this consequence of sin.

(Gen. 1:26-27, 2:16-17, 3:1-7; Rom. 3:10-18, 5:12, 7:18-24)

Jesus Christ is the literal manifestation of the Jewish Messiah and the second Person in the Godhead — the eternal, only begotten Son of God who existed in the form of God before taking on flesh in the form of a man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, lived a sinless life on Earth, was crucified on the cross as the penal substitution for sinful man, was raised from the dead on the third day, and now sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He is preparing an eternal residence for those who believe on Him as Lord and receive the gift of eternal life through Him. Salvation is by grace, through faith, in Jesus Christ alone.

(Jn 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 4:25-26; Heb. 1:8, 4:15; Matt. 1:20-23; Col. 1:19-20; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Eph. 1:20, 2:8-9; Jn 14:1-3, 20:31; Philip. 2:5-8)

How We Should Live

The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ promise of the actual indwelling presence and power of God to all Christians. He is responsible for guiding in all truths of salvation and empowering the believer for faithful and fruitful Christian service; to live a life of godliness that bears fruit of the Spirit; and to be passionate about God, His Word, and His work. The gifts of the Spirit are available and relevant to believers today, and only through His enabling is the Christian able to exercise these gifts and be a witness to Christ.

(Jn 14:15-18, 16:12-15; Acts 1:8, 2:42-47, 4:13; 2 Peter 1:3; Gal. 5:22; 1 Cor. 12:7-11; 2 Cor. 3:16-17)

In keeping with the example of the early Church apostles, water baptism and communion (the breaking of bread in remembrance of the Last Supper) should continue to be practiced until Jesus returns.

(Matt. 28:19; Acts 2:41, 10:48; Lk 22:14-23; 1 Cor. 11:23-26)

Who We Are in Him

The Church (Ekklesia) is the body of Christ made up of many members (born again believers) whose primary call is to love and be loved by God. Members of the Ekklesia are called out of the world to be representatives of the Kingdom of God who bring God’s will to Earth as it is in heaven. Christ solidifies the believers’ identities in Him, and out of this vertical relationship comes service. Jesus is the head of the Church, and God has assigned gifts to each member so that together the entire body functions properly. Leaders — given by Christ as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers — have a mandate from God to equip the members to operate in these gifts and to do what God has called them to do.

(1 Cor. 12:12-20; Eph. 4:7-16; 1 Jn 3:16-17, 4:9-12)

Members of the global body of believers in Jesus Christ have become family to one another by the Spirit of adoption received upon salvation. As such, members are sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Christ, and siblings to one another. The Church is to be a family of faith, prayer, fasting, purity, power, authority, and sacrificial love that has been empowered to live free from sin, sickness, and spiritual oppression.

(Rom. 6:17-18, 22-23, 8:14-17; Acts 13:38-39; Lk 4:18-19; Gal. 5:1; 2 Cor. 6:16-18)

The Church is to be the agent for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a vessel of edifying and encouraging each other in the Lord, and an assembly to worship God. Since the ultimate purpose of the Church is to glorify God and not self, members are to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit so that the world may believe and receive the testimony of Christ.

(1 Cor. 12:24-25; Eph. 4:3-6; Matt. 28:18-20; Jn 17:20-23)

What We Look Forward To

Just as Christ was resurrected from the dead, there will also be a resurrection of those who died in Christ. At the Second Coming of Christ, when He returns, those who are resurrected, along with those who are in Christ and still alive, will be caught up to meet the Lord to be with Him forever. During the final judgment, 1) those who have rejected salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior — those who have not been “born again” — will be sentenced to eternal punishment, together with Satan and his cohorts, and 2) believers will give an account for their works done on Earth and will receive eternal rewards accordingly.

(Mark 13:26; Matt. 24:30; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; Cor. 15:20; 1 Thess. 1:10; 1 Thess. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:7-15, 22:12; Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:9-10)

Marriage

Marriage is a sacred covenant designed and sanctioned by God during Creation. This covenant is to be a natural representation of the spiritual relationship between Christ and the Church (His bride). Biblical marriage joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture; and it is only through this covenant union that God intends sexual intimacy to occur.

(Gen. 2:18-25; Matt. 19:4-6; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:25-33; Rev. 19:6-8; Heb. 13:4)

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