OUR MISSION
Building lives for the glory of god
We address poverty by caring for widows and orphans through the provision of education and healthcare.
Life Builders Ministries International is an indigenous, faith-based organization that is called to respond to human needs in a holistic way so to empower orphans and widows to rise up against the challenges of life with self worth and dignity. Founded in 2001 by Pastor Emmanuel Oluwayemi and his wife, Blessing, in Lagos, Nigeria, Life Builders has a successful track record. To date, our ministry has helped over 100 poverty stricken families receive low-income housing, 85 widows and program graduates have benefitted from the Small Business Loan program, and over 140 orphans and vulnerable children are receiving sponsorship through the home-based orphan sponsorship program with potential to grow. Additionally, we built Life Builders Hospital which serves a local community of 35,000 people who would otherwise be without healthcare. Life Builders Academy now features a boarding school and current enrollment exceeds 200 students from Kindergarten through 12th grade. We envision a truly transformed Nigerian society free of poverty where all orphans and widows receive holistic care and become important contributing members of society.​
Life Builders Ministries International is fully incorporated in the US and is recognized as a 501c3 by the IRS. In Nigeria, we are incorporated by the Nigeria Corporate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) as a non-profit faith-based NGO, with a functioning board of directors comprised of respected African church leaders.
Meet The Team
The Founders
Emmanuel Oluwayemi
Co-Founder & President
Blessing Oluwayemi
Co-Founder & Board Member
Life Builders Ministries International was founded by Dr. Emmanuel Oluwayemi & Pastor Blessing Oluwayemi as a divine call to respond to the holistic needs of orphans and widows who are impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. The passion to yield to this call made them hurriedly return back to Nigeria and abandon the lucrative opportunities to stay back in the USA after Emmanuel completed his PhD at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois in 2008. Dr. Oluwayemi (formerly Ogunyemi) spent twenty years on the faculty of the West Africa Theological Seminary (WATS) in Lagos, the region's largest non denominational seminary, serving as a Professor, Academic Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Governing Council of the same seminary in addition to serving as Chair of the Board of two other seminaries in Nigeria. He also serves as the Deputy General Overseer of The Gospel Faith Mission International, an indigenous evangelical church with over four thousand branches spread across five continents of the world. Blessing, a full time minister of over thirty years, currently serves as the International Women Director of the same denomination. Blessing is currently completing her M.A in Christian Leadership in WATS. Through over three decades of ministry, Emmanuel and Blessing have built a network of Nigerian church leaders who now form the core of Life Builders' leadership team. Emmanuel holds a PhD degree in Educational Leadership from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. He is a member of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria; a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultancy of Nigeria; and a Fellow of the Centre For Public Service and Productivity of Nigeria. The Oluwayemi's have four young adults as their biological children.
Our Story
Board of Directors
Tony Losinger
Chairman of the Board
Tony Losinger has served as Chairman of the Board since November, 2020. He holds a B.A. in Life Science Secondary Education from Bethel University and a M.A. in Outdoor Education from NIU, and has worked as a science teacher at Antioch Community High School for the past 13 years. He is an active member in the NorthBridge Church Bridge To The Nations (BTTN) Team as well as the Ironmens' Ministry.
Tony is married and has four children.
Jenifer Locklear
Secretary
Jenifer Locklear has been an active board member since 2020 and currently serves as secretary. She served on the medical team for the 2019 Life Builders mission trip to Lagos, Nigeria. Jenifer holds a BA in Nursing with an Oncology Certification and has been working as an oncology nurse for 13 years with Northwestern Medicine and McHenry Cancer Center. She currently serves on the NorthBridge Church worship team and as a mentor for Kindred Life Ministries. Jenifer and her husband have been married for 32 years and have two sons and two daughters as well as four grandchildren.
​
John David
Board Member
John David joined Life Builders in 2020 and currently serves on the board. John was born in Nigeria and graduated from Baylor University with a Masters of Divinity and Masters in Social Work and is currently a PhD student in Theological Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) in Illinois. John is an ordained minister with Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and has 16 years of pastoral ministry experience. He also serves as an elder at Northbridge Church. John is married and has two children.
Marshall Reavis
Board Member
Marshall Reavis has been an active board member since 2020. He holds a B.S. in Economics from DePauw University (IN). He currently serves as a member of the DePauw University Board of Trustees and was Board Chair for four years. Marshall founded SVM Prepaid Gift Cards in 1997 and later sold it in 2020. He also worked for Mobil Oil Corporation for eleven years. He serves on the Board of Directors for ScholarLeaders International, Life Builders Ministries International, and ReNew Communities. Marshall is married and has four children and three grandchildren.
Joseph Ahn
Board Member
Joseph Ahn has been an active board member since 2012. He first went to Nigeria with the Life Builders Ministries International medical missions team in 2012 and has gone back numerous times since. Joe holds a B.S., MBA and MPH from the University of Illinois in Chicago and a M.D. from the University of Michigan. He is a practicing Emergency Medicine physician and medical director of a community-based hospital emergency department in Wisconsin. Joe is married and loves to travel and ski!
Jamie Lee
Board Member
Dr. Jamie Lee joined the Life Builders board in 2020 and currently serves on the fundraising subcommittee. Jamie holds a B.A. in Spanish from UW-Parkside, a M.Ed. in Special Education from UI-Chicago, an M.A. in Intercultural Studies from Wheaton College, a M.Ed. in Education and Organizational Leadership from UI-Urbana Champaign, and an Ed.D. in Global Executive Education from University of Southern California. She currently works as a public school principal. Jamie is married and has sponsored many foreign exchange students throughout the years.
Ryan Burroughs
Board Member
Ryan Burroughs joined the board in 2023. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wheaton College and a J.D. from the University of Illinois. He has worked as a Trusts and Estates attorney in Illinois and Wisconsin and recently relocated to California where he is working toward admittance to the California Bar. Ryan is married and has two children.
Tina Isoue
Board Member
Tina Iosue re-joined the Board in 2024 following a three year hiatus. She previously served as Treasurer, Secretary and Co-chairman, along with Orphan Coordinator. She has accompanied two separate mission
teams to Lagos, and is affectionately known as “Mama Tina” to orphans and staff there. Tina holds a Bachelor of Music Education and has taught pre-school music and private piano lessons for many years. She is a long time member of her church choir and has served as church organist and piano accompanist in several different churches. She currently facilitates two Small Group Bible Studies through Christ
Church Illinois. Tina and her husband co-founded Iosue Associates, Inc., a sales and marketing company in Lake Forest, Il. She has been married to Carmine for 49 years and has six adult children, three sons-in-
law and six grandchildren.
Nigerian Board OF Directors
Emmanuel Oluwanimotele
Chairman of the Board
District Pastor, The Gospel Faith Mission International
Folaranmi Jacob
Secretary
B.S., PDGE, General Overseer, Soul's Preparation Bible Church
Pius Usenu
Board Member
B.A., M.A., Seminary Administrator and Lecturer, West Africa Theological Seminary
Aleem R. Ola
Assistant Secretary
HND, Technician, Chevron Oil Company
Olubambi Francis
Board Member
B.A., M.A., National Executive Director, Vision International Christian Ministries
Olusegun Okundare
Treasurer
NCE, Senior Pastor, District Pastor, The Gospel Faith Mission International
Administrative Team
Bosede Glory Olumide
Orphan Coordinator
​
Lagos, Nigeria
Adekunle Stephen Adeyemi
Assistant Orphan Coordinator
​
Lagos, Nigeria