About
SPARROW FALLS is a small place with a big heart, a haven for those carrying burdens they never chose.
Our mission is to create resources that helps the hurting see the stunning beauty of Christ in and through their pain, encouraging them to trust Him again in a world that is unrecognizable.
From the depths of our own pain, we produce films, documentaries, podcasts, writings, and storytelling media that provides a refuge where the suffering can be ministered to and strengthened.
We educate the church to embrace the necessity of grief and the practice of lament, to enter the house of mourning to find a wisdom within it’s walls that can only be found there.
Who We Are
We are Todd & Melissa Shaffer. Six years ago, we lost our eighteen-year-old son, Tristan. In our own suffering, we found a God present in the ashes — and a church often unequipped to sit with us there. Sparrow Falls was born from that collision.
Melissa has ministered to bereaved parents since 2020 through her writing at Christian Suicide Loss, now read by nearly 1,000 followers.
Todd has served as a preaching elder at Renaissance Church Montreal and Grace Church Verdun, and has filled pulpits at churches across North America. He spent over two decades as a writer and director in film and television, with credits including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros., and HBO Max — a craft that now shapes how Sparrow Falls communicates suffering through story. He is a contributing author to Held Through the Storm: Stories of Suicide Loss and Hope in Christ, published by the Our Hearts Are Home ministry.
Our Doctrinal Convictions
We hold to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, the same confession affirmed by Charles Spurgeon.
Our Funding
100% of our funding comes from the donations of people like you. We invite you to partner with us in our work.
Questions
If you have a question about our ministry feel free to reach out to us.
Our Project
SURVIVING CHILD LOSS is a documentary effort that we are producing in public, meaning, we make our content available as we produce it so that it can minister to people now.
More than a documentary about survivors, it’s a cinematic lament of the fragility of the human condition and the transcendent truths that can only be learned through the beautiful side of pain.
Our Story & Publicity
While We’re Waiting Podcast
September 2022. Brad & Jill Sullivan, cofounders of the While We’re Waiting Ministry, interviewed Todd & Melissa in a two part podcast in 2022. They talked about Tristan’s loss and how they survived those two years. Part 1 54 min. Part 2 50 min.
The 700 Club Canada
May 30, 2025. Bill Markham interviewed Todd & Melissa about their Surviving Child Loss documentary. 12 min.
The Grief Mentor Podcast
June 3, 2025. On The Grief Mentor Podcast, Teresa Davis interviewed Todd & Melissa about Tristan’s story and our Surviving Child Loss documentary. You can also listen to this on YouTube. 1 hr 25 min.
Pearls of Promise Ministries POP Talk Radio
August 22, 2025. If you have ever lost a child, we know that it is one of the most difficult things a parent will ever have to endure. That’s why Todd and Melissa Shaffer, who lost their teenage son to suicide, are trying to help other parents. It’s the focus of this week’s POP Talk Radio show.
Our Hearts Are Home Podcast
June 10, 2026. In this Our Hearts Are Home podcast, Todd and Melissa Shaffer share the story of their son, Tristan, and the journey they have walked since his unexpected death by suicide. As a homeschooling family of six, they cherished a close-knit home filled with love, joy, and deep family connections. Losing Tristan was a tragedy they never imagined they would face.
With honesty and vulnerability, Todd and Melissa talk about the grief, questions, and heartbreak that followed, as well as the ways God has met them in their suffering. They share the lessons they have learned through lament, the spiritual truths that have sustained them, and how their faith and perspective have been transformed through profound loss.
Held through the Storm
Fourteen Christian parents walk us through their stories of losing a child to suicide.
“For those who have not experienced the loss of a child by suicide, we hope that the book will help equip you to come alongside a bereaved parent in their greatest time of need. We also hope it will enhance your understanding of the journey of suicide grief and perhaps remove some of the stigmas which are so commonly associated with this type of loss.”
Todd contributed his story of losing Tristan in the book “Held Through The Storm: Stories of Suicide Loss and Hope in Christ.” The book is published by Gary & Laura House of the Our Hearts Are Home ministy.
It can be purchased at Amazon.com and Amazon.ca