HISTORY
Evangelist Homoki is the son of “Nevada Steve” and Esther Homoki who were missionary for 33 years on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. He attended Baptist Bible College in Denver, Colorado; Rockmont College in Longmont, Colorado and Arizona Bible College in Phoenix, Arizona. It was while attending Arizona College of the Bible that he and Darlene were married and immediately began pursuing the work of a preacher. He actually began preaching at the age of 18 and for the following 21 years pastored churches in Arizona, California, Ohio and Indiana.
It was while Lee and Darlene were in their tenth year of pastoring at the Gospel Lighthouse Church in Tipp City, Ohio, that he came to see the Word of God rightly divided. They both recognized the great value of understanding and defending what the Apostle Paul declared was a “precious deposit” (1 Tim. 1:12-14). It was during this time that the Lord laid a burden on Lee’s heart to put some of the “grace truths” into print. This writing and printing ministry greatly prospered in the Lord, and soon was being distributed to churches across the country. This would seen lead to invitations to speak in evangelist and Bible conferences throughout many parts of the United States.
On February 18, 1981, Bible Doctrines to Live By, Inc. was born. Lee and Darlene carried on the publication and itinerant ministry for many decades, crossing the United States and traveling abroad. With a passion for Bible study, Lee began a publishing ministry to preserve Grace writings and to offer sound Biblical literature, including Gospel tracts for sharing with the lost. With the passing of time, having grown up as a cowboy and living the life of the cowboy, he uses his cowboy skills to roundup souls for Christ at schools, civic groups, colleges, youth groups and churches. In 2005 he started the first of his “Cowboy Adventure Youth Camps” was started in Pennsylvania; others followed in Michigan, South Dakota and Missouri.
In 2005, Joel and Susan McGarvey joined the ministry, taking up some of the travel for Vacation Bible Schools and conferences. Before this time, Joel served the Lord as a pastor for over 25 years. Then, he felt the urging of the Lord toward an itinerant style of ministry.
In 2008, Joel took over as Executive Director of Bible Doctrines to Live By as Lee focused on his writing ministry and his Back to the Future project. Since joining the team, Joel and Susan have traveled thousands of miles to proclaim the Gospel of the Grace of God through Vacation Bible School and Bible conferences. Many books and tracts have been put into print, and the Truth Aflame magazine continues to be sent to homes.
Matthew Ritchey joined the team in 2015 to focus on Family and Youth materials and ministry.
Lee Homoki, after years of struggling with health issues, went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in February of 2020. The physical building of Bible Doctrines to Live By was renamed “Lee Homoki Ministry Center” in his honor. The vision he had decades ago still remains the same today – to see people saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. The COVID pandemic of 2020 created time for BDTLB to work at expanding their presence online through this website, Facebook, and Youtube.
Two things happened in 2023. First, Paul and Rebecca Turner joined the BDTLB team to continue the summer Family Bible Schools. The Turners also have a heart for family ministry and are working to create resources to strengthen families and couples in God’s grace. It was also decided that Matthew Ritchey would become the new President of Bible Doctrines in January of 2024. Joel and Susan continue their ministry for Christ. We are excited to see how the Lord continues to use Bible Doctrines to Live By in the years to come!