M.F. Jackson (Millard Fillmore) was born in 1938, in Corona, New Mexico. He was the second of three sons, and became the third generation of preachers in the family. He was born again in 1954 and married Linnie Dickey in 1956. Together they raised four children, all who are serving the Lord today. From them, have come 12 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild (to date). Entering the navy in 1957, MF served as a self-styled and recognized lay chaplain throughout much of his naval career of 19 years. It was while assigned to a ship in Norfolk, Virginia in 1965 that he was first ordained as a Pastor, of a small rural Baptist church.
Subsequent transfers found them in Hawaii in 1971 which began over 20 years of ministry throughout the Western Pacific Region in varying capacities. Under the covering of Grace Bible Fellowship, MF and Linnie served in two churches in Hawaii, mostly in teaching and support roles until being ordained as pastor in 1981. They moved to Guam in 1982 where they pastored for their last 10 years in the Pacific. Also, worthy of note: during his entire Guam tenure he attached himself to a small group of pastors where it was his privilege to meet on a weekly basis with several of them for the purpose of building mutual trust and cultivating relationships in an island wide inter-church endeavor. Throughout those years he traveled at various times to Japan, Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, on mission trips and as visiting pastor. The church in Guam is now pastored by their eldest son, and first grandson, extending the preaching call to the 5th generation.
Back to the mainland-New Mexico and Texas, in 1992, for the better part of a decade.. Serving still – in ministries dedicated to the unity of the body of Christ, both here and with Jewish believers in Israel. These were years when they sensed a shift in what the Lord wanted to do with them on the one hand, and years when He also deepened strands of their calling and gifting for the future.
In 2001 they moved to South Carolina to help and be closer to family. Attending Redemption World Outreach Center, they came to know Dr. Paul Gaehring who was just beginning to develop Redemption Ministerial Fellowship International. In 2002 MF accepted the privilege of assisting Dr. Gaehring in designing and implementing RMFI into a viable fellowship/mentoring ministry for pastors and other ministers of RMFI. The preliminary research for this included traveling, periodically, with Dr. Gaehring for about a year or so, mostly in the Southern states, but also to Ohio, in an effort to gather information and seek the guidance of ministries already flowing in various types of mentoring endeavors.
Relationship building, the faithfulness and unity of the church and the role of Israel and Jewish believers in the body of Christ have been long-standing passions of the Jacksons. MF and Linnie still retain a vision to be facilitators for the “one new man” of Ephesians 2 – the joining of Jewish and Gentile believers into one body. To that end they have recently established a ministry they named, A Heart 4 Israel …Israel First Among Nations. The current work with RMFI is another chapter of a longstanding, passionate commitment to all ministers of the gospel and the church they are called to serve. MF & Linnie presently serve with Pastor Byron Jones in, Refiners Fire Christian Assembly, a Redemption World Outreach Center church plant in Greenwood, South Carolina.
