Rev. Jarryd Raynes (jarrydraynes@upperroomcrusades.org) (www.facebook.com/jarryd.raynes)
President and Founder of Upper Room Crusades and Senior Pastor of Upper Room Church
When those who know me are asked to describe me in a word, the consistent adjective used, seemingly without fail, is "passionate." It is this passion and zeal for life and the Lord that consumes me daily from the inside out.
However, this was not always the case.
I was born and raised in this Apostolic Pentecostal truth but strayed away from the Lord for a period in my life. During this time, I faced many hardships, struggles, trials and tribulations and often found myself facedown on the floor crying out to God. During this extremely low point in my life I was not sure if God even heard my cry or cared at all. But what seemed to be a road headed for self destruction was actually a road to redemption.
God heard my prayers, along with the prayers of many loved ones, and soon a prodigal son came home.
I came back to the Lord and afterwards decided to give everything I had to the work of the Kingdom. I have worked in a variety of ministries within the church, such as: Usher, Worship Leader, Sunday School Director, Youth Pastor, College and Career Director, and it was during that time that I felt the call of God to preach the gospel.
At first, I was very hesitate to step out into this new area that God had spoken to me about because I felt so unworthy to preach because of my past failures. However, God had different plans and used several people to confirm and reassure me about this new direction and since accepting the call, I have not looked back.
I have my license with the United Pentecostal Church International, and as my evangelistic ministry has begun to grow, I felt that I could do so much more for the Kingdom and began to pray to God for direction. The Lord, once again, heard my cry and answered me with a vision for crusades, a vision of revival! So I established Upper Room Crusades with the sole objective of reaching the masses with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission includes planting and establishing churches in target cities (the first being in Hessmer, Louisiana), as well as reaching out to additional communities with evangelistic crusades.
Since then, God has continued to bless me and draw me closer to Him. He has blessed me with a godly, anointed wife who is always willing to give, go or do anything she can for the Kingdom. And He has given me some godly friends who desire to see and experience the extraordinary things of God. I am thankful for each of them and their commitment to this ministry.
It's time for a REVIVALution, would you join us?
However, this was not always the case.
I was born and raised in this Apostolic Pentecostal truth but strayed away from the Lord for a period in my life. During this time, I faced many hardships, struggles, trials and tribulations and often found myself facedown on the floor crying out to God. During this extremely low point in my life I was not sure if God even heard my cry or cared at all. But what seemed to be a road headed for self destruction was actually a road to redemption.
God heard my prayers, along with the prayers of many loved ones, and soon a prodigal son came home.
I came back to the Lord and afterwards decided to give everything I had to the work of the Kingdom. I have worked in a variety of ministries within the church, such as: Usher, Worship Leader, Sunday School Director, Youth Pastor, College and Career Director, and it was during that time that I felt the call of God to preach the gospel.
At first, I was very hesitate to step out into this new area that God had spoken to me about because I felt so unworthy to preach because of my past failures. However, God had different plans and used several people to confirm and reassure me about this new direction and since accepting the call, I have not looked back.
I have my license with the United Pentecostal Church International, and as my evangelistic ministry has begun to grow, I felt that I could do so much more for the Kingdom and began to pray to God for direction. The Lord, once again, heard my cry and answered me with a vision for crusades, a vision of revival! So I established Upper Room Crusades with the sole objective of reaching the masses with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission includes planting and establishing churches in target cities (the first being in Hessmer, Louisiana), as well as reaching out to additional communities with evangelistic crusades.
Since then, God has continued to bless me and draw me closer to Him. He has blessed me with a godly, anointed wife who is always willing to give, go or do anything she can for the Kingdom. And He has given me some godly friends who desire to see and experience the extraordinary things of God. I am thankful for each of them and their commitment to this ministry.
It's time for a REVIVALution, would you join us?
