Jelly Valimont is the widow of Dr. Randy Valimont, former pastor of Griffin First Assembly, an Encounter Life Network church. She was born in McMinnville, Tennessee into the home of a pastor and spent her PK life growing up in Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. While attending Southeastern University, she met and married the love of her life, Dr. Randy Valimont. Upon graduating together, they moved to Arkansas where Dr. Valimont began the role of youth pastor and Jelly began teaching school.
This is also where their first daughter, Jordan, was born. In 1984, they followed the call of God to Toccoa, Georgia to become pastors of Glad Tidings Assembly of God and to add two more daughters, Danielle and Alayna into their family. They ministered in Toccoa for almost 10 years, forming lifelong friendships with many of their congregants.
In Toccoa, Jelly was the administrator of Little Learners Preschool where she developed and managed all aspects of the school including staff, parents, children, and curriculum. She also operated as janitor, cook, nurse (unlicensed, of course) counsellor and spiritual advisor. In addition to this, she was the minister of music and the leader of women’s and girl’s ministries for their time as lead pastors. As a member of the local community, Jelly was responsible for organizing and producing the annual Christmas parade for the city of Toccoa for many years. God began to move on the hearts of Dr. Valimont and Jelly that their time in Toccoa was coming to an end and in 1993, they relocated to Griffin, Georgia where Jelly continues to live. During their time in Griffin, Jelly has been involved in the local church in women’s ministry, Celebration Choir, worship teams and the ministry of costumes for which she is uniquely gifted, considering the many costumes she has donned throughout her life. She was also an administrative consultant for GFA during Dr. Valimont’s tenure, where she helped manage Dr. Valimont’s many schedules, planned and facilitated staff events, hosted guest speakers and teams, mentored young men and women from Valor, and performed various other duties as Dr. Valimont saw fit. In other words, she was General Flunky.
Jelly has been used by God to speak in the local church and at conferences throughout the United States and internationally. She has written two books, “I Have Issues,” and “Tapestry: a Story of Adoption, Acceptance, and Destiny.” Jelly was also the ghost writer for some of Dr. Valimont’s periodical materials and books.
She occasionally writes blogs for her personal Facebook page and continues to post some of Dr. Valimont’s meaningful materials on both his Facebook page and his fan page, keeping his memory alive through #RV Legacy. On October 31, 2019, Dr. Valimont entered into his eternal rest and left behind a broken and grieving family, church network, and community. Jelly and her family purposed in their hearts that they would go on, continue and finish the work that God has called them to do. Jelly continues to live in Griffin with her mother and two nephews for whom Dr. Valimont and Jelly became guardians after the death of their parents. Jelly’s heart’s cry is to do the will of the Father, wherever and whatever that might be, to bring souls into the kingdom and to facilitate spiritual health and well-being to the body of Christ. If she can do it while laughing, so much the better!
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Jelly Valimont is the widow of Dr. Randy Valimont, former pastor of Griffin First Assembly, an Encounter Life Network church. She was born in McMinnville, Tennessee into the home of a pastor and spent her PK life growing up in Tennessee, Florida and Georgia. While attending Southeastern University, she met and married the love of her life, Dr. Randy Valimont. Upon graduating together, they moved to Arkansas where Dr. Valimont began the role of youth pastor and Jelly began teaching school.
This is also where their first daughter, Jordan, was born. In 1984, they followed the call of God to Toccoa, Georgia to become pastors of Glad Tidings Assembly of God and to add two more daughters, Danielle and Alayna into their family. They ministered in Toccoa for almost 10 years, forming lifelong friendships with many of their congregants.
In Toccoa, Jelly was the administrator of Little Learners Preschool where she developed and managed all aspects of the school including staff, parents, children, and curriculum. She also operated as janitor, cook, nurse (unlicensed, of course) counsellor and spiritual advisor. In addition to this, she was the minister of music and the leader of women’s and girl’s ministries for their time as lead pastors. As a member of the local community, Jelly was responsible for organizing and producing the annual Christmas parade for the city of Toccoa for many years. God began to move on the hearts of Dr. Valimont and Jelly that their time in Toccoa was coming to an end and in 1993, they relocated to Griffin, Georgia where Jelly continues to live. During their time in Griffin, Jelly has been involved in the local church in women’s ministry, Celebration Choir, worship teams and the ministry of costumes for which she is uniquely gifted, considering the many costumes she has donned throughout her life. She was also an administrative consultant for GFA during Dr. Valimont’s tenure, where she helped manage Dr. Valimont’s many schedules, planned and facilitated staff events, hosted guest speakers and teams, mentored young men and women from Valor, and performed various other duties as Dr. Valimont saw fit. In other words, she was General Flunky.
Jelly has been used by God to speak in the local church and at conferences throughout the United States and internationally. She has written two books, “I Have Issues,” and “Tapestry: a Story of Adoption, Acceptance, and Destiny.” Jelly was also the ghost writer for some of Dr. Valimont’s periodical materials and books.
She occasionally writes blogs for her personal Facebook page and continues to post some of Dr. Valimont’s meaningful materials on both his Facebook page and his fan page, keeping his memory alive through #RV Legacy. On October 31, 2019, Dr. Valimont entered into his eternal rest and left behind a broken and grieving family, church network, and community. Jelly and her family purposed in their hearts that they would go on, continue and finish the work that God has called them to do. Jelly continues to live in Griffin with her mother and two nephews for whom Dr. Valimont and Jelly became guardians after the death of their parents. Jelly’s heart’s cry is to do the will of the Father, wherever and whatever that might be, to bring souls into the kingdom and to facilitate spiritual health and well-being to the body of Christ. If she can do it while laughing, so much the better!
The Rev. Dr. Randall Lane Valimont was born on June 8, 1960 in Johnson City, New York and died on October 31, 2019 in Griffin, Georgia. He was married to Jelly Jordan Valimont for almost 40 years. He and Jelly had three beautiful daughters Jordan Valimont, Danielle Valimont- Bala, and Alayna Valimont, one amazing son-in-law, Praveen Bala, and two grandchildren, Jaeli and Shiloh. After his death, another grandvson, Jase, was added to his growing family.
Dr. Valimont was a graduate of Southeastern University where he received his bachelor’s degree in theology, Logos University, where he received both his master’s degree and doctorate in Pastoral Leadership. He was also the recipient of two conferred doctorates. Dr. Valimont served in many ministry capacities through his years of ministry and preached in more than 60 nations of the world. He served as youth pastor at First Assembly of God in Oxford, Florida and at First Assembly of God in Springdale, Arkansas. In 1984, he and Jelly moved to Toccoa, Georgia where he served as senior pastor at Glad Tidings Assembly of God. In 1993, he received a call to become the senior pastor at First Assembly of God in Griffin, Georgia, where he served for 26 years. The constituents of the church grew to more that 7000 at seven separate locations. The congregation of Griffin First Assembly also included Griffin Christian Day Care Center, Griffin Christian Schools, SAGU Valor School of Leadership, Touch of Healing Counseling Center, Prayer Mountain Boys Academy, and Fresh Touch Radio and Television. Dr. Valimont was instrumental in developing a mission program at Griffin First Assembly. This program supported various mission projects throughout the community and around the world. These missions were primarily to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ but also provided humanitarian relief. During the 25 years of his pastorate at Griffin First Assembly of God, Dr. Valimont raised more than $28 million for missions.
According to statistics, this translates in 99,319, 997 people who accepted Jesus Christ as Savior as a result of this money going to the mission projects. This does not include lives that were changed through humanitarian endeavors. During his years in Griffin, Dr. Valimont also served as chaplain to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Department, ministering to local law enforcement officers and the community both in times of
crisis and celebration. Dr. Valimont served on many parachurch boards as a board member, but also as a leader, helping meet the need of people who might otherwise be overlooked. Although he served on numerous governing boards throughout the years, his most recent commitments included the following: as president of Calcutta Mercy Ministries, a ministry he led in feeding, educating, and medically assisting 25,000 children per day; as a board member of Emerge Ministries, a crisis counselling center for pastors and leaders. Other boards on which Dr. Valimont recently served included Southwestern Assemblies of God University, Global University, Network211 (a world missionary outreach focused on global evangelism and discipleship via the internet), Global Teen Challenge (an international residential program forthose suffering from substance abuse and self-destructive behaviors), and Unsion Television of
Ecuador. Dr. Valimont was known for his dauntless vision and passion for Christ. He inspired people to live bold and innovative lives, using every means available to convey the message. His passion and vision was conveyed to many throughout the years, encouraging and enabling them to also serve the Lord as missionaries, pastors, and in marketplace ministry. People were the most important aspect of Dr. Valimont’s life. He was always reaching out to the hurting, the destitute, and the lonely, sharing his faith so that others could come to know Jesus. He was a man of great faith and knew that nothing could stop the power of God. He believed in the miraculous. There was no task, no problem that could stand in the way of what he felt God wanted him to do. In the words of so many, Randy Valimont was larger than life. The last month of Dr. Valimont’s life was devoted to missions’ emphasis at Griffin First Assembly. His final sermon was entitled, “Do We have Enough Lifeboats?” This sermon has become one of the most viewed sermons of his life and relayed his passion for God and the importance of reaching the world for Jesus Christ. One of the core values that he developed at Griffin First Assembly was that one church could change the world. He believed and lived this message daily until the end of his life. Not only did one church change the world during his lifetime, Randy Valimont changed the world and eternity for untold numbers. Pastor Valimont trusted the Lord. He leaned on him for guidance and dedicated his life to the
work of the Lord. We, his family, will continue to do the same. God has never left us, never forsaken us. We will move forward to continue the legacy that Randy Valimont began and we will not be defeated.
Jelly, Jordan, Danielle and Praveen, Alayna, Jaeli, Shiloh, and Jase.
The Rev. Dr. Randall Lane Valimont was born on June 8, 1960 in Johnson City, New York and died on October 31, 2019 in Griffin, Georgia. He was married to Jelly Jordan Valimont for almost 40 years. He and Jelly had three beautiful daughters Jordan Valimont, Danielle Valimont- Bala, and Alayna Valimont, one amazing son-in-law, Praveen Bala, and two grandchildren, Jaeli and Shiloh. After his death, another grandvson, Jase, was added to his growing family.
Dr. Valimont was a graduate of Southeastern University where he received his bachelor’s degree in theology, Logos University, where he received both his master’s degree and doctorate in Pastoral Leadership. He was also the recipient of two conferred doctorates. Dr. Valimont served in many ministry capacities through his years of ministry and preached in more than 60 nations of the world. He served as youth pastor at First Assembly of God in Oxford, Florida and at First Assembly of God in Springdale, Arkansas. In 1984, he and Jelly moved to Toccoa, Georgia where he served as senior pastor at Glad Tidings Assembly of God. In 1993, he received a call to become the senior pastor at First Assembly of God in Griffin, Georgia, where he served for 26 years. The constituents of the church grew to more that 7000 at seven separate locations. The congregation of Griffin First Assembly also included Griffin Christian Day Care Center, Griffin Christian Schools, SAGU Valor School of Leadership, Touch of Healing Counseling Center, Prayer Mountain Boys Academy, and Fresh Touch Radio and Television. Dr. Valimont was instrumental in developing a mission program at Griffin First Assembly. This program supported various mission projects throughout the community and around the world. These missions were primarily to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ but also provided humanitarian relief. During the 25 years of his pastorate at Griffin First Assembly of God, Dr. Valimont raised more than $28 million for missions.
According to statistics, this translates in 99,319, 997 people who accepted Jesus Christ as Savior as a result of this money going to the mission projects. This does not include lives that were changed through humanitarian endeavors. During his years in Griffin, Dr. Valimont also served as chaplain to the Spalding County Sheriff’s Department, ministering to local law enforcement officers and the community both in times of
crisis and celebration. Dr. Valimont served on many parachurch boards as a board member, but also as a leader, helping meet the need of people who might otherwise be overlooked. Although he served on numerous governing boards throughout the years, his most recent commitments included the following: as president of Calcutta Mercy Ministries, a ministry he led in feeding, educating, and medically assisting 25,000 children per day; as a board member of Emerge Ministries, a crisis counselling center for pastors and leaders. Other boards on which Dr. Valimont recently served included Southwestern Assemblies of God University, Global University, Network211 (a world missionary outreach focused on global evangelism and discipleship via the internet), Global Teen Challenge (an international residential program forthose suffering from substance abuse and self-destructive behaviors), and Unsion Television of
Ecuador. Dr. Valimont was known for his dauntless vision and passion for Christ. He inspired people to live bold and innovative lives, using every means available to convey the message. His passion and vision was conveyed to many throughout the years, encouraging and enabling them to also serve the Lord as missionaries, pastors, and in marketplace ministry. People were the most important aspect of Dr. Valimont’s life. He was always reaching out to the hurting, the destitute, and the lonely, sharing his faith so that others could come to know Jesus. He was a man of great faith and knew that nothing could stop the power of God. He believed in the miraculous. There was no task, no problem that could stand in the way of what he felt God wanted him to do. In the words of so many, Randy Valimont was larger than life. The last month of Dr. Valimont’s life was devoted to missions’ emphasis at Griffin First Assembly. His final sermon was entitled, “Do We have Enough Lifeboats?” This sermon has become one of the most viewed sermons of his life and relayed his passion for God and the importance of reaching the world for Jesus Christ. One of the core values that he developed at Griffin First Assembly was that one church could change the world. He believed and lived this message daily until the end of his life. Not only did one church change the world during his lifetime, Randy Valimont changed the world and eternity for untold numbers. Pastor Valimont trusted the Lord. He leaned on him for guidance and dedicated his life to the
work of the Lord. We, his family, will continue to do the same. God has never left us, never forsaken us. We will move forward to continue the legacy that Randy Valimont began and we will not be defeated.
Jelly, Jordan, Danielle and Praveen, Alayna, Jaeli, Shiloh, and Jase.
