Pastors' Testimonies 2005
Amazing Grace Baptist Church
Antioch, Tennessee
I contacted the New Testament Church Pioneer office at Crown College and requested a group to come and assist our new church. Four college gentlemen came on a Saturday morning and stayed through Sunday evening. What a blessing they were to me and my church! The four students, myself, and one other gentleman from our church visited for over eight hours on Saturday. We were able to knock on close to 600 doors, giving out the Gospel message and inviting folks to our services. The Crown College students were thrilled with this opportunity. We had people that we had met on Saturday attend our services Sunday. On Sunday morning, one gentleman played the piano, one led congregational singing, and the others joined them to form a quartet which provided special music. This meant a lot to us because it was Easter Sunday and we had five first time visitors. On Sunday evening, I allowed them each to give a brief testimony. Our members were thrilled to have them be a part of our services. I was able to spend much time with the group of young men and was very impressed with their love for God, their willingness to serve, and their eagerness to do all that was asked of them. So much more was accomplished in these two days than I could have imagined. May God continue to bless Crown College for their heart for the local church and their help to God's man.
Pastor Stephen Stewart
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Calvary Baptist Church
Portsmouth, Ohio
On behalf of the Calvary Baptist Church I want to thank you for this ministry. The girls we recently hosted which consisted of Melanie Turull, Jocelyn Binns, and Jessica Smothers were a tremendous blessing to our church. We could not have had the successful Bible School we had without them. They enabled us to run borrowed buses and bring children to VBS that could have never come otherwise. They were a great help as soul winners, personal workers, bus workers, etc. These ladies are the kind of product that Crown College wants to put out. While they were here we were able to see nearly 25 people come to know Christ and our church saw what could be done when God provides workers. Again, thank you for this ministry and may God continue to use it.
Pastor Ryan Brown
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Faith Baptist Church
Martinsburg, West Virginia
It was a blessing to have Tori, Faith, and Heather with us for the past two weeks. These girls represent Crown College in a very well-rounded way. Their persistent desire to see people saved was a great encouragement to the members of Faith Baptist Church.
One great need of church planters is where to find qualified workers that know the work of the ministry. These girls were able to fill that great void by helping in the office, passing out over 1,000 John and Romans, recruiting new riders for VBS, teaching classes, and running the bus program. We saw six saved for the week and an average attendance of sixty.
Please extend our thanks to those who work with the New Testament Church Pioneers!
Pastor Brad Tenney
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Faith Baptist Church
Tacoma, Washington
Thank you for allowing New Testament Church Pioneers to come out this summer and be a part of our ministry.
Eric and David did a great job in the two weeks they were here. They finished knocking on the doors in the town of Ashford and they completed knocking on the doors in the town of Morton. Many seeds were planted and the Lord will reap the harvest.
They also helped us do a large amount of grounds work and construction work on the parsonage. They have a great work ethic and carried themselves in such a manner thatCrown College and New Testament Church Pioneers have every reason to be proud of them.
Pastor Joe Koehler
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Fremont Baptist Temple
Fremont, Ohio
We were considered privileged to have had your trio of "New Testament Church Pioneers" working with us too short of a period of time.
These young ladies were absolutely wonderful. They did an outstanding job with our backyard Bible Clubs, filling in as Sunday school teachers, etc.
They were in every respect exemplary to your ministry. Their Christian character was displayed in everything they did. What a tribute they were to Temple Baptist Churchand to Crown College.
Thank you for sharing their lives with us; we were truly blessed!
Pastor Dave Iverson
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Heritage Baptist Church
Creston, Canada
Thanks for sending these men to help us. They did great work. We appreciate your vision of helping small churches like ours. Keep up the good work.
Pastor Boyd Stansford
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Heritage Baptist Church
Anderson, California
These ladies were a tremendous blessing to me and my family and I know that they touched the lives of everyone with whom they came in contact. During their stay they made visits for our very first Vacation Bible School. The girls were very eager workers, not only in visitation, but in anything they were asked to do- and I didn't have to ask- they were continually making themselves available to do any type of labor.
The team was very well prepared and these girls were on fire to serve the Lord. It was truly a blessing to have had them in our church.
Pastor Tom Lucatorta
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Heritage Baptist Church
Berlin, New Hampshire
I cannot thank you enough for sending us Ron Hodge and Mike Bird. They were such a blessing! God used them in a unique way here, and I'm sure He has great plans for them.
The fellowship I shared with Ron and Mike was a great encouragement spiritually and also physically as they were very hard workers. There is no way we would have had the new building ready for our Building Dedication Service without their help. They did an excellent job in every facet of their service with us. Please keep this program going as it had a wonderful impact on our church.
Pastor Dana Hoyt
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Hope Baptist Church
Providence, Rhode Island
We celebrated our 5th year of ministry in the city of Providence in June. We had two young men from Crown College in Powell, Tennessee come up and help us for two weeks. These two men are Daniel Rolle and Lonnie Shepherd. These men raised their own funds to make this trip. We, with the help of other local churches in the area, were able to get out over 15,000 tracts.
As a result of the two men that came from Crown College, I was introduced to their school for the very first time. They told me that they were having a "Pastor's College" for one week at the end of July. I was skeptical about it but decided that after five years of the "grind" I might need to get some refreshment.
I was refreshed beyond measure!!! The instruction was just what I needed and I came to back to Providence stirred about the ministry. I had been in a rut and the Lord used these two men to get me out of it. We are grateful for all the Lord did in our church through the work of these young men.
Pastor Reuben Collins
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Lighthouse Independent Baptist Mission
Waldport, Oregon
The Lord blessed the summer by sending us New Testament Church Pioneers Chris Painter and Grady Rowe. They came to serve in whatever way possible and did so in many capacities. The day after they arrived they found three young men "hanging out" in their garage. They shared the gospel with them and two were saved. The next day they went to the local skate board park, and led another boy to the Lord. Isn't God good!
On Saturday the 23rd we went to Siletz, a town of about 2,000 people with no church in it. We were able to do the first canvassing expedition there that we know of...ever. On that day we saw four new births into God's family. We are praying that God would establish a church there as you can see that the field is ripe unto harvest. All in all we saw a total of nine people saved while the pioneers were here.
Chris and Grady left for their next appointment on Monday the 25th, and we hated to see them go. Although it was sad to see them leave we are excited for what God has done through them here, and for what He has in store for their lives.
Pastor Bo Smith
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New Testament Baptist Church
Pauls Valley, Oklahoma
I wanted to write and tell you my appreciation for Tony Sengmany and Christopher Rule ministering here this week. They were such an encouragement to me in their attitude and work ethic and have made such a difference in my life and ministry. Both of them consistently showed an eagerness to work and minister here in Pauls Valley and that was truly refreshing to me. I enjoyed sitting down and talking with them since there is not much opportunity to fellowship with other men in the ministry.
Most of their time was spent knocking on doors, but we had planned to work on the building the Friday that they were here. Since they were doing so good in the contacts they were making I decided to have them keep knocking doors. You know the saying, "If it's not broke, don't fix it!" There have been a lot of people this week saying that they were going to come visit our church so I hope they do and will let you know later of the results of these visits.
Thank you for thinking of us when you were making the schedule for Tony and Chris; they were such an encouragement to us here in Pauls Valley.
Pastor Michael Martinez
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Provo Baptist Church
Provo, Utah
I just wanted to write and thank you for allowing some of your young people come out to be a blessing to us here in Provo, Utah. We had Tony and Chris come and help out and they truly were a help and a blessing.
Living in the heart of the Mormon religion, we appreciated them being real and down to earth. It was obvious that they were comfortable just being themselves without trying to be overly professional, clinical, or super spiritual.
What was truly refreshing, besides having people that have a heart for the Lord and His local church to come out and help us, is that they did not come out here to promote their college and to get any of our young people to sign up for something. Thank you for having faith that if God wants people trained there, He will send them. To me, that makes Crown College and the emphasis there all the more attractive.
Thank you again. I hope we were able to be a blessing to Chris and Tony as they were to us. Thank you for being sensitive to the Lord, His churches, and the young people you are training for the work of the ministry.
Pastor Neal Pafford
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Anonymous Letter
We received the following anonymous letter stating what an encouragement the pioneers are personally to a Crown College Alumni.
Dear Pioneers,
I wanted to write and tell you how much your website has been an encouragement to me. It is such a blessing to see young people still serving the Lord. As a graduate of Crown College, I am grateful to God that the college I graduated from four years ago is still going strong for the Lord. I was so encouraged to hear the testimonies from each young person who traveled last summer to different churches around America. I learned so much when I was in college and there were things that taught me how to be better prepared for the ministry in which I am currently serving. I am so thankful for all of you who take the time to talk with the students and encourage them to trust the Lord. You will never know how much that means to a young person striving to serve the Lord. I will continue to pray for the New Testament Church Pioneers. I will also be praying for the pioneers who will be traveling this summer. God bless you for all you do!
