Our Vision & History

God Encounters Ministries was founded in Missouri in 1993 and was originally called Ministry to the Nations. This season was filled with zeal, prayer and activating many into the prophetic. It was a natural — supernatural overflow of the relationship that James (Jim) and Michal Ann Goll had with Jesus and with each other.

After moving to the Nashville, TN area in 1997, the ministry was renamed Encounters Network — a ministry to the nations. Teaching and training, networking leaders, and hosting regional and national conferences made up a large part of this second phase of growth and outreach. Several pivotal ministries were birthed during this time which became expressions of Encounters Network.

On September 15, 2008, the season changed yet again as Michal Ann graduated to heaven after a lengthy battle with cancer. She left a huge hole and yet the legacy of her life has had an impact on thousands. Her love for serving the poor of the earth motivated her to found a unique expression of love for God called Compassion Acts. She will always be loved, honored and deeply missed by many.

As we look to the future, we will continue the vision to equip and mobilize the body of Jesus Christ by teaching and imparting the power of intercession, prophetic ministry, and life in the Spirit. Put simply, we believe that God Encounters are for everyone! And we want to see people all over the face of the earth changed through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So while honoring and stewarding the best of the past, we are excited about what God has for the future of this ministry.

God Encounters Ministries will continue to give expression to the voice of James W. Goll as a watchman and a teacher of the ways of God. Whether through prophetic blogs, social media posts, online webinars, inspirational and practical classes, books, study guides, and curriculum kits for personal use and small group settings, James’s heart remains the same. Let’s equip the church to impact the world!

We will demonstrate the life of Jesus Christ and proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom with signs following. This will inspire a new generation of servant leaders around the world, Jews and Gentiles alike. As the body of Christ is equipped to fulfill her destiny as the “House of Prayer for All Nations”, it will become an “exceedingly great army sent out into all the earth.”

Our covenant is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and strength and learn to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. As stated by the Moravians in the 1700’s, we intend to “win for the Lamb the rewards of His sufferings.”  Will you do it with us?

On December 12, 2015, the Lord spoke to James to choose others to empower and release into spheres of his ministry. As a result of his obedience to this word, the ministry entered a strategic season of fathering, equipping and empowering others to carry many of the spheres that James and Michal Ann had birthed as expressions of Encounters Network.

The Women on the Frontlines Conferences in 1997 under James Goll and his late wife Michal Ann Goll. They desired to gather trail-blazers of the faith and impart the life and power of Christ into an emerging generation of women who would change the world. Later on, James Goll invited Patricia King to oversee the vision and officially appointed Patricia as Director, with James Goll remaining as the Founder and Advisor. In 2019, Patricia King commissioned Wendy Peter as the new Director for Women on the Frontlines Global. This movement calls women to engage in radical commitment, character, and service in the Kingdom of God.

Compassion Acts was founded in 2004 by Michal Ann Goll, as a humanitarian aid organization. She traveled the globe demonstrating the power of Jesus’ love positively impacting others through service. Upon Michal Ann’s departure, her ministry of Compassion Acts – where love takes action – is carried on today in the hearts of many in various expressions, just as she desired.

In this same season, James had birthed Prayer Storm. For a season that ministry was stewarded by Jon and Jolene Hamill of Lamplighter Ministries. Eventually this prayer ministry was returned back into GEM’s oversight and renamed Global Prayer Storm: Where Every Prayer Counts and Every Sacrifice Matters.

It is exciting to see the visions of these ministries not only continue, but find fresh life and new direction for the days to come.

Once I was given a dream where I was searching for G.E.M.’s. These precious jewels were to be presented to the King of Kings and added to the Lord’s crown. We cannot fulfill this vision alone. I believe that thousands of believers just like you will join us by finding G.E.M.’s for the Lord’s crown.

One way you can help is to become a monthly financial partner or give a one-time donation. Together we can see Jesus Christ “receive the rewards of His suffering.” We would be honored to have you partner with us in this exciting and yet humbling journey where Jesus Christ is crowned Lord of All!

Remember, Together in Jesus, We Make a Great Team!

James W. Goll and the Team of God Encounters Ministries

Our Structure & DNA

God Encounters Ministries is a DBA of Encounters Network, a federally approved, tax-exempt religious organization based in TN and governed by a Board of Directors. Our aim is to walk in integrity and accountability in moral, financial and doctrinal issues. As a result we also periodically receive counsel from an international apostolic council.

James W. Goll is one of the primary apostolic leaders of Harvest International Ministries founded by Dr. Che Ahn of Pasadena, CA. He is one of the original instructors in the Wagner Leadership Institute and has his Doctorate in Practical Ministry from WLI. A firm believer in the local church, James is an active member of a church in Nashville, TN.

Click Here for more information about Harvest International Ministry, the primary apostolic family to which we are aligned.

With any effective business or ministry, “core values” shape the culture of the organization and how decisions are made. These 12 Key Phrases identify the core DNA of God Encounters Ministries. Without a vision the people perish. But with proper progressive revelatory vision from the Lord Himself, we can move mountains!

I hope that these 12 ingredients resound within you as they did in me when I shared them with our leadership team some time back. They exemplify who we are as a multi-faceted ministry.

1. Kingdom Advancement
2. Prayer Assignments
3. Presence Awareness
4. Prophetic Activation
5. Purity Aspirations
6. Supernatural Anointing
7. Compassion Acts
8. Mission Ambassadors
9. Diversity Advocates
10. Relational Affinity
11. Israel Alignment
12. Apostolic Application

We are called to make a difference in Christ Jesus by joining the generations, genders, races and people of various economic strata. This modern “justice generation” has many Hope Ambassadors arising who will bring forth God’s revival, renewal, restoration and reformation in the earth, welcoming the Kingdom age and culminating in the return of Christ Himself! Now that is worth living for!

I was taught by my late uncle, who was in full-time ministry for over 60 years, “If you aim at nothing, you will surely hit it.” So let’s aim high together and see God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven for Jesus’ sake.

Remember, Together in Jesus, We Make a Great Team,

Dr. James W. Goll

God Encounters Ministries has adopted the National Association of Evangelicals Statement of Faith as its own:

• We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God,
• We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
• We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
• We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
• We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
• We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.