History
The year was 1981. Doug Stringer was a fitness instructor, running his own exercise studio. Tired of his own hypocrisy and disgusted with his life, he sat down one night in the back room of the studio and prayed a simple prayer: “Lord, if you can use someone like me after all I have done to wound Your heart, I make myself available to You.” God took him at his word. It seemed the Lord couldn’t find enough needy people to send Doug’s way. He ran the exercise studio and then took a group of believers to the streets most nights after the studio closed. There we encountered runaways, topless dancers, and drug addicts. We couldn’t meet every need, but we were willing to do what we could.
We transformed the exercise studio into an outreach center. By 1983, we renamed it, “Turning Point Studio: A Christian Activities and Fellowship Center.” We were a bunch of young people without money or official church support, yet we provided temporary housing for the homeless, conducted street witnessing and evangelistic crusades, did “Jericho marches” around rock concert venues, and sponsored activities geared toward fellowship and discipleship.We began linking with other ministries in Houston and distributing ordinary business cards that simply read:
Somebody Cares at Turning Point Ministries
Call 24 hours a day
“A true witness rescues lives…” Proverbs 14:25
Turning Point Ministries was recognized as a church in 1984 and now collaborates with affiliate ministries throughout Houston, the U.S., and internationally. TPMI is the parent ministry of Somebody Cares Houston and Somebody Cares America/International.
We believe we have a mandate to shape the destiny of this generation through a message of consecration, commitment and action–we call this “The Four Corners Mandate.” We desire to make an impact with the Gospel of Christ, which is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. As an outcome of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we are called to be ministers of reconciliation and witnesses who rescue lives.