A gentle ministry for life’s hardest seasons.
Begin Again Living Ministries exists to walk alongside individuals and families navigating grief, caregiving, serious illness, hospice, spiritual discouragement, and life’s difficult transitions.
We believe beginning again does not always mean starting over. Sometimes it means discovering how to live forward when life has changed.
Through compassionate support, spiritual care, education, practical resources, and meaningful conversation, BALM helps people find hope, understanding, and a way forward — one step at a time.
It started with a gift — and a decision to give back.
The vision for Begin Again Living Ministries began years before the organization itself.
In 1997, Derrick Hall began carrying a vision for a ministry dedicated to helping and supporting people through difficult seasons of life. For years, that vision remained something he hoped one day to bring to life.
Then, in 2005, while performing at a church concert, Derrick and his family were invited to lunch. During that gathering, he was unexpectedly presented with a check for $2,000.
Derrick could have treated the money simply as compensation for his music or used it for something personal. Instead, he remembered the ministry vision he had been carrying since 1997.
That $2,000 became the seed that helped turn the vision into reality.
In February 2006, Derrick filed to establish Begin Again Living Ministries as a nonprofit.
What began as a vision years earlier had now become a ministry.
From meeting needs to walking through life's hardest seasons.
The mission grew, but the heart remained the same.
In its early years, Begin Again Living Ministries used donations to help individuals facing practical hardships — including groceries, utilities, and other immediate needs.
As Derrick’s work in hospice deepened, he continued encountering patients, caregivers, grieving families, and people trying to make sense of lives that had suddenly changed. That experience helped further shape and focus the ministry’s work with serious illness, caregiving, hospice, grief, spiritual care, and difficult life transitions.
And the words Begin Again took on an even deeper meaning.
- Beginning again could mean finding strength while caring for someone you love.
- Beginning again could mean navigating a serious diagnosis.
- Beginning again could mean learning how to be present during hospice.
- Beginning again could mean waking up after the death of someone you love and wondering how life continues.
The ministry’s work became more focused, but its original purpose never disappeared:
Help people find hope and a way forward when life changes.
What Begin Again means.
Beginning again does not mean forgetting what happened.
It does not mean pretending everything is okay.
And it does not mean leaving behind the people or experiences that have shaped your life.
Sometimes beginning again simply means taking the next step — with support, faith, understanding, and hope.
That is the space Begin Again Living Ministries seeks to provide.
Compassion led by faith. Care led by listening.
Compassion First
We meet people where they are. We listen before we speak, honor each person's story, and offer compassionate presence without rushing the journey.
Christ-Centered Hope
Our ministry is rooted in the love of Christ and shaped by grace, prayer, Scripture, compassion, and hope.
Whole-Person Care
We recognize that difficult seasons affect the emotional, spiritual, relational, and practical dimensions of life. Our approach honors the whole person and the whole story.
Practical Support
Compassion should have hands and feet. Whether through education, resources, spiritual care, workshops, grief support, or community outreach, we seek to turn caring into meaningful action.
The same heart. A continuing commitment.
Today, Begin Again Living Ministries continues its founding commitment to helping people through difficult seasons. Our focus is grief and bereavement support, caregiver encouragement, chaplain-led spiritual care, and practical education for individuals, families, churches, and communities.
Through compassionate listening, prayer when welcomed, helpful resources, and community outreach, we seek to offer encouragement and connection when life feels uncertain.
Our ministry is rooted in the Christian faith and offered with respect for each person’s beliefs, experiences, and preferences.
Ministry shaped at the bedside.
Derrick Hall is the founder of Begin Again Living Ministries, an ordained minister, hospice chaplain, Certified Grief Counseling Specialist, author, and speaker.
He brings more than 25 years of ministry experience to his work with individuals, families, caregivers, and communities. His approach is shaped by bedside presence, conversations with grieving families, and a commitment to listening with compassion.
Through BALM, Derrick helps people find encouragement, spiritual support, and meaningful next steps after loss and during difficult seasons.
The heart hasn’t changed.
Begin Again Living Ministries has grown considerably since that first $2,000 gift.
But the heart of the ministry remains the same: helping people when they need somewhere to turn and reminding them that life’s hardest chapter does not have to be the last word.
Walking with you, one step at a time.
However life has changed, you do not have to find your way forward alone.
There is still life ahead. There is still hope. And there is still a place to begin again.
Begin Again Living Ministries is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization providing faith-based grief and bereavement support, caregiver encouragement, spiritual care, and community education.