In 2007, Tina Weir founded HEAL Ministries based on JAMES 1:27. The reason for HEAL Ministries started years before that. Tina understands what it is like to be abandoned with two small children. She understands the grief and pain of a single mom. She also understands how blessed she has been with family and friends, raised in a country of plenty. Because of her travels, she began to see that most abandoned women in the world are not as fortunate. Her personal story is one of grief, healing and faith that God has used to impact lives across the globe.
Tina began leading mission trips for her church all over the world. During her missionary travels, Tina was unsuccessful in adopting two girls in El Salvador. This painful experience made her more acutely aware that the majority of orphans would never be adopted. It was also through her travels that she learned about the universal likeness and the universal difference of all people.
“I remember walking through the slums of Kibera in Kenya and meeting a woman with two boys that reminded me of my own sons.” says Tina. “God allowed me to see in that divine instant that we were just alike: We both needed Jesus. The only difference was birthplace. I was born in a place of provision and hope and she was born to poverty.”
Tina founded HEAL Ministries in 2007 to serve orphans and widows and it began as a sending agency to serve others. She continued to lead teams through Central America, Africa, and several inner cities in the U.S. for HEAL. In 2011, Tina felt the Lord call HEAL to focus in Uganda. This is where the Spirit of God was clearly stirring in the hearts of women and children.
It’s where Tina witnessed very real and very personal responses to the Gospel. HEAL began leading teams to Uganda only in 2011 and then in 2012, Tina relocated to Jinja to see what the Lord was calling HEAL Ministries to do. During that year, it was evident that God was calling HEAL Ministries to be a leader in Uganda in family preservation and sustainability. In January 2013, the James Place opened as a community center for the abandoned women and children HEAL would serve for years to come. Tina’s son, Trey Weir, became the James Place Director of Operations that same year, serving in that capacity through December 2019. The James Place empowers and resources abandoned women to learn sustainability through the various programs that you can read about.
Tina resided in Jinja through 2019 where she was HEAL’s heart, hands, and feet on the ground in Uganda. Her deep commitment to the abandoned women and orphans there was inspiring. Tina is thrilled that the Lord answered her prayers of empowering Ugandans to run the James Place. HEAL recently promoted a couple there to serve as the Director of the James Place and the James Place Director of Operations. Tina believes that the Lord’s ministry will keep shining for years to come.
Tina’s tenacious faith had been challenged over the years but none so much as when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2009. She knew that cancer did not define her. Her heart and soul remained in Uganda where she herself found unfathomable and great healing from God.
Unfortunately, on the evening of September 16, 2021, Tina Weir lost her battle, but we rest in knowing that Tina stands before the King at this very moment, fully restored and in no more pain from her years-long battle with cancer.
Tina’s two adult sons, Trey and Tripp, have grown up with their mother in missions and, today, remain very involved in HEAL and committed to Tina’s calling.
In the spring of 2021, HEAL introduced Rachel Weir as HEAL’s Executive Director. Today, Rachel is joined by her husband, Trey, as they serve as Co-Executive Directors of HEAL Ministries while residing in Jinja with their son, Hudson, and soon-to-be daughter, Hope, to continue Tina’s calling to Love BIG.
