Jeff Deel grew up as the son of a holiness preacher in southwest and central Virginia. He attended Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, earning a degree in English. He accepted a position as a high school English and history teacher but eventually followed in the footsteps of his father and older brother Bruce and entered the ministry. He has served as a youth pastor, family ministries director, and missionary to Jamaica. In 1998, Jeff began assisting Bruce in a new work in Atlanta, which became the thriving inner-city operation, City of Refuge.

For the past twenty-five years, Jeff has worked alongside his brother in their efforts to bring Light, Hope, and Transformation to individuals in crisis. In 2022, he left the Atlanta campus to become executive director of City of Refuge South, a satellite of COR Atlanta, which includes a church, community outreach programs, addiction recovery referral/placement services, and a farm with an equestrian center, animal sanctuary, petting farm, pecan orchard, organic garden, and event business.

Jeff and his wife, Tracy, live on a farm in Williamson, Georgia, with their dogs and farm animals. His life centers around his children, grandchildren, doing the work of City of Refuge, and writing stories.