Loving With Truth
Many studies reveal that the majority of Christians suffer from sexual and relational brokenness, but most churches lack effective strategies for leading their congregations into safe, transformational recovery.
According to Scripture, sexual, relational, & identity wholeness by God’s standards is both possible and readily available for everyone through surrender to Jesus.
Love & Truth Network empowers churches, Christian communities, & individuals to experience God’s restoration by providing leadership training, teaching, and discipleship resources in the context of a safe, loving community. Love & Truth Network is a donor-supported 501(c)3 non-profit ministry with ECFA accreditation.
What We Believe
Every human is created with God-ordained value and purpose (Genesis 1-2).
Everyone has rebelled against God, suffers the consequences, and needs to be rescued from their brokenness (Romans 3:23-24).
No one can save themselves (Ephesians 2:8-9), but Jesus freely offers rescue and restoration to anyone who will believe Him and repent (Romans 5:8, 10:9-13).
Because of accepting Jesus’ offer of salvation, the identity of a Christian has become “child of God” (John 1:12), and from this relational position flows all the good gifts that God gives to His children, including the power to be restored and live God’s better way (1 Peter 2:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:13-26, James 2:26).
Restoration is a journey of learning to live like Jesus (discipleship), and while miraculous progress does occur sometimes, it is not the foundation and majority of the discipleship process (Luke 2:52, Hebrews 5:8, 1 Corinthians 11:1).
Restoration happens best in a safe, compassionate, and truthful community of local Christians rooted in God’s Word (Hebrews 10:25, Galatians 6:2, Acts 1-28).
All Christians have a God-assigned responsibility to first remove sin from their own lives and then invite others to do the same (Matt 7:5, 28:18-20, Jude 1:17-25).
Our History
Love & Truth Network was founded in 2013 by Garry and Melissa Ingraham.
At a young age, both Garry and Melissa were deeply broken sexually and relationally, which resulted in struggles including pornography addiction, identity confusion, pre-marital sex, and homosexuality. Even after becoming Christians, their addictions to compulsive sin remained. However, as their Christian friends compassionately and genuinely loved them as fellow travelers on the journey to becoming more like Jesus, they began to experience freedom from sin and satisfying joy about their new identity in Christ that powerfully changed their lives. While temptations to sin are not completely gone (including same-sex attraction), their former captivity to compulsive sin is now broken; godly desires and joy are now growing instead.
Today, Garry and Melissa are married and have two wonderful boys. Garry and Melissa founded Love & Truth Network to help others find the same life-giving, restorative arms of Jesus that so wonderfully blessed them.
Leadership
Garry Ingraham
Founder & Executive Director
Garry grew up in a Christian home, and he struggled with same-sex attraction, pornography, and masturbation beginning at an early age. Due in part to the silence of spiritual leaders on issues with which he was struggling, Garry left Bible College in frustration, turned away from God, and fully embraced a gay identity. While the new sense of acceptance and belonging Garry felt in the gay community was initially intoxicating, it eventually eroded into a profound sense of emptiness. In desperation, Garry came to authentic faith in Christ by surrendering his life. After experiencing years of genuine acceptance, support, and restoration in a healthy, life-giving church, Garry met and married his wife, Melissa. He later served on pastoral staff at a large church in upstate NY for 12 years. Garry is an ordained pastor.
In 2013, Garry and Melissa founded Love & Truth Network, a national, non-profit ministry focused on equipping Christian leaders to develop safe and transformational environments with the purpose of restoring sexual wholeness and Biblical identity. Garry and Melissa have two wonderful boys and are humbly grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord together.
Melissa Ingraham MA, NCC, LMHC
Co-Founder
Melissa is a licensed professional counselor with over 16 years of counseling, small group, and large group experience working with men and women facing depression, anxiety, the effects of abuse, sexual addiction, and gender-identity issues. Using a blend of approaches, including Internal Family Systems, Psychodynamic therapy, EMDR therapy, and listening prayer, she supports clients in resolving relational, emotional, and spiritual problems on the journey to wholeness. In 2006, she graduated from Regent University with a Masters of Arts degree in Community Counseling. After her own journey of healing and freedom from brokenness and trauma, Melissa chose Regent because of the focus on integrating the truth of God and spiritual interventions with psychology and clinical counseling.
Prior to founding Overflow Christian Counseling, Melissa served as Director of Counseling Services at Arizona Christian University, where she provided clinical supervision for Masters-level interns and counseling for students, staff and faculty. While living in New York, she worked for a church-based Christian counseling center. She has been married to her husband Garry since 2007, and they have two boys. She enjoys reading fiction, listening to worship music, and watching movies with her family.
Melissa's goal is to help clients experience Romans 15:13 for themselves. It says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Jeremiah Sheppard
Director of Operations
Jeremiah suffered many years of abuse as a child, and though he became a Christian at age 13, he continued to find himself trapped in patterns of sexual promiscuity and addiction. However, the Lord never gave up on him. Through genuine repentance and a walk of discipleship, Jeremiah is experiencing greater and greater freedom in Christ and a life made new by His grace.
Jeremiah currently serves as Director of Operations for Love & Truth Network. He has two grown children, and is excited to see what else God has in store for his future.
Transformation Resources
Learn how to experience the authentic freedom Jesus bought for you (1 Peter 2:24) and the power to transform into the image of Christ (Galatians 5:13-26).