Jim Stoppenhagen was born and raised in what is now the inner city of Ft. Wayne. He received a Bachelors degree from Purdue University in 1973. Jim studied Outdoor Education at Colorado Mountain College and received a two-year Bible Certificate from a local Christian school. He is an ordained minister through Broadway Christian Church and a state certified Social Worker.
Jim began working with troubled youth in Southern California in 1978. From 1985 to 1990 he served with New Horizons Youth Ministry in the Dominican Republic and Marion, Indiana. Four of those years he served as Personnel Director responsible for recruiting and training all child care workers for their Dominican Republic boarding school and Canadian Wilderness Stress Camp.
Jim, his wife, Elaine, and their two daughters moved onto StillWater Retreat in 1991 and formed StillWater Ministries, Inc., a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization.