First Light Mission

First Light Mission began as the Goshen Interfaith Hospitality Network (GIHN) in October 1995 after a family showed up at a local congregation with nowhere to go. A group of pastors met to determine how to best support this family. When they came across the Interfaith Hospitality Network they decided to start their own IHN-affiliated program in Goshen, Indiana, where the family was initially housed in the basement of a local church. Goshen IHN operated in this same model for the next twenty-two years. As GHIN has grown and expanded to serve individuals as well as families, it led them to re-examine their mission and ways of operating, and ultimately make the decision to leave the Interfaith Hospitality Network (Family Promise). This process led to a new name, visual identity, and vision moving forward. Goshen Interfaith Hospitality is now First Light Mission—a light in the darkness, a source of hope for the hopeless, a place of refuge and fresh starts.