History of Wine and Bread International
Wine and Bread International really was birthed in my youth when, as a missionary kid, I was around many different missions kids coming from different locations around the world. My parents were also missionaries, but we lived stateside, and our stories were much different than many of the other kids I was around. Most were home on furlough, and most of them had some serious hurts and wounds from the field.
Of course, I did not understand all of that, but it did have an impact on me.
My father, Jack King, and my mom, Janet King, raised me and my siblings to the best of their ability, and within the normal context of Christian Church and missions. I do not have poor memories of my youth, but some of my siblings do. That is not abnormal. I think my parents tried to do what was right.
Perhaps the hardest thing for me was the lack of good communication, not just in my home, but in the Church in general. Many things were swept under the rug, and many people were getting hurt. The lack of dealing with reality became an issue as I grew older. Many of the things which I was experiencing just did not line up with scripture, but when I asked about it, I was the one that was the troublemaker. Increasingly I began to recognize why Jesus faced criticism and anger (and eventually crucifixion) because he really focused on telling the truth, about not settling for religion or status quo, and always pointing to the heart of the issues.
That is my life in a nutshell…always wanting to seek the truth, and most of the time running up against the traditions of man. Certainly I was not perfect in doing this, and in hindsight I still was swayed by teachers and tradition more than I wanted to admit.
As I married and became a husband and father, my view of raising children in the ways of the Lord, in a loving home where we tried to deal with things in honesty and truth, was paramount. Still, we failed. We didn’t do everything correctly. We still had failures that bordered somewhere between truth and tradition. No matter how hard we tried to live otherwise, we seemed to be in this place where the traditions of our past would have an impact on how we raised our kids and pursued Jesus.
Of course, when we went into full time ministry ourselves in 1993, we brought that baggage with us. No matter how hard I tried to personally go after God, I was still limited. It was frustrating. Still, our lives were full and good. Our kids were great, and they grew up with a relationship with God that we admired. That does not mean that we raised them great. We did what we could, and God showed mercy and grace. That is the simple truth.
As we grew older, leading the other non-profit for many years, the truth of how impactful tradition affected us became clearer. I took many different teams from all over the world, from many denominations and beliefs. On the mission field I noticed that the differences were oftentimes not a big deal, but back stateside they were very big deals. The disunity of the body of Christ was a concern, and I did not like that.
Even within the non-profit that I ran there was not consensus in what I felt like God was calling us to do. Most of the pushback I received was based on traditional teachings, and yet I told my Board that it is our sincere responsibility to listen to what God is telling us, and to respond in obedience regardless of what tradition we pushed against. Also very important was a second witness, a person agreeing with the direction that I felt God was leading us into. Oftentimes, the second opinion is based on tradition and not truth, but a second (or more) is important.
I did a lot of things outside the box. Really, I don’t think God has a box that is based on traditions. The boxes are built by fear. Maybe, just maybe, I wanted to believe that God was who He said He is, and that His love for us was real, and that obeying Him produces a life that is radically shaped by following His leading regardless of opposition.
The organization that I led was about using sports teams that were Christian, taking them international for competition and clinics, and using that platform to share the Gospel. I spent a lot of time with young athletes teaching them how to share their faith, how to lead another person to faith in Christ as their Savior. It was powerful and effective. The hardest part of that equation was the second half of the Great Commission (Matthew 28) where Jesus tells us to “teach them (new believers) to obey all that I have commanded”.
I am both an evangelist and a disciple maker, perhaps leaning more towards making disciples. It is hard. It takes time. It takes opening up your own life, walking through all the challenges that are faced when leading another person into the sanctification process.
So, I was always drawn to the impossible, the improbable, simply for two reasons. First, because God put it on my heart to obey regardless of reason and logic. Second, because He had people who needed to hear and obey His calling to repentance, and to become disciples. Again, having a group of solid, Biblical, Christ-followers that will give the needed witness, was part of it.
When I was asked to do things out of the normal sports mission vision, I thought it natural and amazing to say yes. God blew my mind by what He called me into. It made no sense in the logical, earthly realm. But obedience oftentimes makes no sense. The Bible is full of examples if we will just open our eyes and ears to the Spirit. Building a camp in the mountains of Honduras that can house 125 people was not in my expertise area, but over 10 years and 36 teams of men and women who were moved to follow and obey the calling of the Lord, it became a reality.
Orphanage teams, conferences, food and humanitarian aid teams, building churches and houses, partnering with local health clinics and public schools. Teams to Micronesia, Spain, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Brazil, Guatemala and Honduras. How could I have ever thought that this is what my God had for us as a couple?
I have been blessed beyond belief at the examples of obedient sons and daughters of God during my three plus decades in ministry. People who give up everything to do incredible works for the King. They are heroes of the faith, oftentimes unsung heroes, or unknown. I could go into a lot of stories where I was just amazed at what God had called people to do, and their impact for the Kingdom was profound. Generational impact.
The partnership between the financing people and the people on the ground is one that I would say is supernatural if done well. It takes both. All the amazing people that I have had a chance to work with were financed by someone. That means that it is a very spiritual connection. Anytime two people join to do a work it is spiritual. I know of very few people doing work around the world that are not backed by people, groups, Churches, or businesses that have vested interest in the people going out, and the people receiving.
That is what I have visioned for Wine and Bread International. Radical people who are willing to go into places, to build platforms for sharing the Kingdom of God through a variety of means, leading these people to relationship with the Savior, and being willing to walk alongside new believers to a life of obedience to the commandments of God. It is also about the friendships forged by time and belief with our financial partners. It takes both.
If you are one of the funding partners, thank you so much. WABI will only charge a small fraction of the total giving so we can have an office to communicate and bank for the mission partners. My goal is 5% or less.
Thank you in advance for your commitment to our mission. I am deeply grateful for each mission partner, and each financial partner. To God be all the glory.
James King
Executive Director
Wine and Bread International
January 2026