Between eighth grade and their freshman year in high school, Tim Lynn and his girlfriend found themselves in a crisis, an unplanned pregnancy. Tim asked his mother, who’d raised him to think Christianly, what he should do. “Timmy,” she said, “you should do what you think you should do.”
And so, against all odds, he did just that.
“I think we should get married and have our baby,” he told his girlfriend. She’d been hoping the same thing. He promised her he’d work to support them. But they were both 15, and her parents didn’t like their plan.
When Tim arrived at her house, his girlfriend’s mother told him her daughter was going to Rockford, Illinois (an hour away), to get an abortion on Friday. She would return to school on Monday, and “this never happened.”
Tim tried to negotiate with the parents, but the conversation ended in threats of violence.
That night, by phone, Tim and the young mother planned their exit. She climbed out a window onto a shed and walked down the street where Tim’s older sister was waiting in her car. They drove to a relative’s house far enough away that they wouldn’t be found.
There they stayed for six months – until the young mom was too far along to have an abortion, according to Illinois law at the time.
Tim worked hard. He began putting in 60-hour weeks at a gas station. “I started making a little bit of money, got us on welfare and food stamps, got a good doctor, so she could have proper care,” Tim says. His family was supportive. Her parents were still angry. But every night, the young couple called them to let them know they were okay.
After six months passed, Tim’s older brother negotiated a deal for her parents to come visit, and the parents’ hearts softened toward the young couple. Tim and his young bride were married and living with her parents by the time the baby was born.
Building a business
Hoping to show he could be a good father and husband, Tim looked for better work. He put an ad in the newspaper: “Young, married man will do painting and roofing.” He got a job with a local roofing company, and after just three months, started his own roofing business – at 17. By 19, he had 90 employees.
Tim says he didn’t think or worry a lot about what to do at any point. He felt God stuck with him, and so did the idea that faith without works is dead. “I didn’t even know then that it was a Bible verse, but I knew it from my mother’s teaching – I just had faith, and then I put it into action.”
That was 50 years ago. He now owns one of the most successful commercial roofing businesses in the U.S.
Discovering Christian business
About 10 years ago, Tim heard generous people at his church speak about capping their incomes, so they could give more money away. It caught his interest. For years, he says, people had criticized him, saying he worked too hard and dreamed too big. They assumed he was building his business to make a name for himself. It hurt, but it didn’t stop him. He’d always felt led to grow his business and believed God was with him in that decision.
Now he knew why.
Tim attended a summit of Christian business leaders with an organization called t-factor Leadership Initiative and began transforming his roofing company into a Christian business. He put God first on the company’s organizational chart and hired a chaplain. Now, they have regular Bible studies and luncheons for employees who want to participate, and they invite staff to learn about charities and give together.
“We openly communicate about God during the work day,” Tim says. “And we recognize that people should bring their faith into the office with them and not leave it in their glove box in the car.” As Tim engaged in this transformation process, his eyes were opened. “It just stoked me to realize my vision and dream isn’t for me.”
It never had been.
“I’m so excited to make money and give money,” Tim says. “I want to turn my business into a machine that makes money to care for my customers, employees, and family, but at the same time gives money to God’s kingdom. “It gives me a purpose.”
He also hopes to start a nonprofit one day, so his employees who share big dreams can work with charities, too.
Calling
It wasn’t difficult for Tim to figure out what cause God was calling him to support. It’s been on his heart since he was 15.
At a Global Leadership Network Summit, Tim met Nadia Gordynsky of Save a Life International, a U.S.-based nonprofit that supports women in crisis in the U.S. and Ukraine, whether they are pregnant, victims of domestic abuse, or refugees. Their centers provide humanitarian aid for mothers and children and teach the value of life, sexual integrity, and most of all, help people to know Jesus.
Tim and Nadia began talking. And within two weeks, Tim was on a plane to Ukraine with a group of donors and charity leaders.
“On the plane, I started writing a speech … and next thing you know, I’m giving a speech to 50 women,” Tim says. He spoke Scripture to them and reminded them that they were worthy of God’s love. “I told them it’s amazing what a woman really is and how much they should be honored,” Tim says.
A passion for giving
When Tim returned home, he began looking for what he could sell to support Save a Life International. He woke up one morning and listed a car, a helicopter, and his house, but six months and a number of incomplete deals later, none of it had sold. He’d been introduced by a mutual friend to Joe Pringle from the National Christian Foundation’s Chicago team, so he turned to Joe for ideas.
Joe and his team say Tim now regularly contacts them with ideas about what he wants to sell, so he can give more to charity, and they immediately begin evaluating to determine the best options. “NCF helps people with whatever their giving goals are,” Joe says. “We listen to what the giver is trying to accomplish, examine their balance sheet of appreciated assets, and run gift illustrations exploring the most efficient ways to possibly realize their goals.”
“But it’s so much fun to watch the transformation,” Joe says. “There’s a difference between a well-lived Christian life and a well-lived secular life. They’re miles apart, and now, all of a sudden, there’s this idea that maybe there’s a different way to measure true success.”
Tim loves working with NCF. “It’s so easy to set up a Giving Fund and put your name on it. You don’t have to go through all the paperwork with different kinds of lawyers.” He loves that his balance can grow, providing more for giving and planning with the Chicago team.
Dreaming with God
Undeterred by the fact that Ukraine was now a war zone, Tim returned in 2023. “I had no fear,” Tim says. “I knew I was there for a purpose.”
He’d planned to make a financial gift but didn’t tell Nadia until he was standing in the middle of what he thought was a fundraiser. He was feeling giddy about giving. So, in the middle of the organization’s annual retreat for volunteers and staff, Tim was working with other donors to gather a gift. He stood up and announced it.
“He recently admitted to me that he didn’t realize it was a retreat,” Nadia says, laughing. Still, it meant something to the staff to see someone who believed in them and trusted God so much.
Nadia had dreamed of expanding from 10 to 24 life centers around Ukraine and Poland. She explains that Ukraine is becoming a “country of widows,” many of them with young children. But everyone she’d shared with told her she was dreaming too big. Now, here was Tim, the dreamer, encouraging her to dream bigger.
“He asked me, ‘Why are you limiting God?’” Nadia says. “So, I listened.” She was able to open three more centers in 2023.
“He said God would provide the finances,” Nadia says. “My [staff] said, ‘This is the first time we’re hearing that God is so generous and that our faith has so much to do with giving.’” They never saw anyone so happy to give away money in their life, she says.
Tim keeps telling everyone about his favorite charity. And he’s back to roofing with the dream that his business will fund much more charity. The fact that he’s been working since 15 doesn’t lead him to want to quit now. “Let’s keep working,” Tim says. “I’m so excited!”
Top photo: Save a Life International
