FROM A LIVING ROOM TO THE MISSION FIELD

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

In January 2023, a small group of believers began gathering in a home for Bible study under the leadership of Pastor Harold Nichols. There was no building, no organization, no ministry budget, and certainly no grand plan for what would come next. We simply wanted to study the Word of God, pray together, and grow closer to the Lord. Meeting four or five times each week, God began to knit our hearts together in a fellowship unlike anything any of us had ever experienced. As we grew in the Word and in our love for one another, our prayers began to change. We started asking the Lord to direct our paths, open the doors He wanted opened, close the doors He wanted closed, and above all, use us. The words of Isaiah 6:8 became the desire of our hearts: “Here am I; send me.”

GOD OPENED A DOOR IN MORRISTOWN

In June 2023, the Lord answered that prayer by opening a door for ministry in Morristown, Tennessee. We began preparing and serving hot meals to people experiencing homelessness behind the Daily Bread on days when its regular services were closed. What started as simply providing a meal quickly became something much greater. We met people who were hungry, hurting, struggling with addiction, sleeping outside, and desperately needing someone to remind them that they had not been forgotten.

Eventually, because of pressure from the City of Morristown, we were informed that we could no longer serve from that location. We did not know where we would go next, but we knew the work was not finished. So we prayed, packed up our supplies, and kept serving. For a time, ministry meant setting up tents and tables at various locations throughout Morristown wherever we could. We did not have a building, but we had food. We had willing hands. We had the Gospel. Most importantly, we believed that if God had called us to the work, He would provide a place for the work to continue.

And He did.

Through a partnership with First Baptist Church of Morristown, we were blessed with the opportunity to use their former biker church building known as The Crossing, located at 122 S. Jackson Street. Operating our outreach under the name Sneedville Mercy, we were finally able to open doors instead of setting up tents.

The Crossing became a place where people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity could come inside, escape the heat or cold, sit down at a table, and be served a hot meal with dignity. We began providing hot showers, clean clothing, hygiene supplies, and other basic necessities. But from the beginning, we understood that meeting physical needs was only part of our calling. Jesus said in Matthew 25:35, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in.” We believe those words are meant to be lived, not simply read.

Most importantly, every Saturday and Sunday we hold church and share the good news of Jesus Christ with those we serve. We want every person who walks through those doors to know that there is hope beyond a hot meal, a shower, or a clean change of clothes. There is hope beyond addiction, homelessness, and the circumstances that brought them through our doors. There is hope in Jesus Christ.

Since this ministry began, we have helped more than 30 individuals enter recovery, working alongside them as they pursue sobriety, stability, permanent housing, and a new beginning. We have watched people who were living on the streets begin rebuilding their lives. What makes this even more remarkable to us is that this tremendous undertaking was being carried out by what was still, at its heart, a small Bible study group.

TRUE FAITH MISSIONS IS BORN

As the work continued to grow, it became clear that God was calling us to become more organized so that we could faithfully steward what He had placed before us. On July 20, 2024, we chartered True Faith Missions, formally organizing as a church with one central purpose: to preach Christ, serve others, and put the resources God provides directly into ministry.

At our founding, we made several decisions that continue to define who we are. We determined that no member of our church staff, including our pastor, would receive a salary from the church. We also determined that we would never make purchasing a traditional church building our priority. Instead, our commitment is to direct 100% of the tithes and offerings received by our church into ministry and missions.

Buildings have their place. Salaries have their place. But God had shown us hungry people who needed food, homeless people who needed shelter, addicted people who needed recovery, children who needed homes, and souls who needed Christ. We knew where we wanted our resources to go. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, “freely ye have received, freely give.”

THEN GOD CALLED US FARTHER

We could have stopped in Tennessee. The work in Morristown alone was greater than anything our little group had imagined when we first gathered around a Bible in January 2023. But God had other plans.

Shortly after the founding of True Faith Missions, our hearts began turning toward Liberia, West Africa. Pastor Harold had previous connections to Liberia, and as those relationships were renewed, another door began to open. Once again, we prayed. Once again, we stepped forward in faith. And once again, God provided.

Through God's provision, True Faith Missions planted a church in Gbarnga, Liberia. What began as another step of faith has grown into a congregation of nearly 100 members, worshipping Christ and becoming the foundation for something much larger than we initially imagined.

But God was not finished.

THE CHILDREN

As we became more involved in Liberia, we could not ignore the tremendous number of vulnerable and orphaned children. Knowing about such a need from thousands of miles away is one thing. Seeing it firsthand is something entirely different. Once the need was placed before us, we knew we could not simply walk away.

True Faith Missions established a children's home in Gbarnga, where today approximately 30 to 40 children live full time. We provide their food, clothing, shelter, care, education, and daily necessities. More importantly, these children are surrounded by people who love them, pray for them, teach them the Word of God, and point them toward Jesus Christ.

These children are not statistics to us. They have names. They have faces. They have stories. They are family.

Psalm 82:3 commands us, “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.” We cannot read those words and then turn away when God places the fatherless directly in our path.

TRUE FAITH ACADEMY

Then God provided again.

Through the generous help of our good friends at Eternal Truth, we were able to build and open True Faith Academy. During the day, the school provides education for our children. At night, its mission expands as the facility is used to help prepare and train men for Gospel ministry.

Our vision is not simply to continually send missionaries from America into Liberia. We want to help raise up Liberian pastors who will preach the Gospel, disciple believers, establish churches, and then train others to do the same. Romans 10:15 asks, “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” We want True Faith Academy to become a place where men are prepared to be sent.

Our prayer is to see the Gospel carried far beyond Gbarnga. We want to see pastors trained, churches established, believers discipled, and communities reached throughout Liberia. We want the work to multiply until people we may never personally meet hear the Gospel because someone was trained, equipped, and sent.

THE WORK CONTINUES

Today, God continues to place new needs before us. We are currently working toward creating dedicated housing and educational opportunities for the deaf and other marginalized populations who often face tremendous barriers to education, employment, community participation, and access to the Gospel.

The need is enormous, and the financial responsibility is significant. Our church currently funds 100% of the day-to-day costs associated with our work in Liberia. We have several full-time Liberian employees who must be paid. There are dozens of children and staff members who must be fed every day. There are clothes to purchase, school supplies to provide, buildings to maintain, medical needs that arise, ministry expenses to meet, and countless other needs that come with caring for a growing work.

For a small church, the responsibility can seem overwhelming.

But then we remember how this started.

A few people gathered in a living room with open Bibles, asking God to use them.

WE HAVE CHOSEN TO LIVE BY FAITH

From the beginning, we have been deeply inspired by the example of George Müller, who cared for thousands of orphans while trusting God to provide for the needs of the ministry. We have determined that fundraising will not become the focus of True Faith Missions. We do not want to spend our time constantly asking people for money. We would rather spend our time doing the work God has placed before us.

We gratefully and humbly receive the help God sends through His people. Every person who gives, serves, prays, provides supplies, or helps carry the burden becomes part of this work. But our confidence cannot rest in fundraising campaigns, wealthy donors, or the size of our congregation. Our confidence must remain in God.

Philippians 4:19 declares, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” We have watched Him prove that promise over and over again.

We do not know how large True Faith Missions will become. We do not know what village, family, child, or person God may place before us next. We do not know what the next open door will look like.

We simply know what He has taught us since January 2023.

When God opens a door, walk through it. When He shows you a need, serve. When He sends you, go. When the task is bigger than you are, trust Him.

From a living-room Bible study in Tennessee, to meals served on the streets of Morristown, to The Crossing, to a church in Gbarnga, to a children's home filled with children, to classrooms filled with students, to pastors being prepared to carry the Gospel farther than we ever could ourselves, the story of True Faith Missions has never been about what a small group of people could accomplish.

It is about what God can do with a small group of people willing to say, “Here am I; send me.”

“The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few.” — Matthew 9:37

The harvest is still plentiful. The work is still great. And by the grace of God, we are still going.