I would like to share with you why we are here and tell you a little bit about our journey with the Lord. I’m Bryon Kennedy, the founding pastor of Redeemed Baptist Church. My wife, Missy, along with my 2 daughters, Ashley & Haley, moved from Georgia to Washington in September 2015 after surrendering the Lord’s call to start a church in Deer Park.
I thought I was saved earlier in life, but I later realized I was lost. It wasn't until 2009 that I came to the Lord, was saved, and truly born again. The Lord put me in a great Gospel preaching church, taught me God's word, and showed me God's love and grace.
On the day God saved me, I promised God I would serve Him every day for the rest of my life. God was calling me to preach. I struggled with my call to preach but surrendered in August 2010. I did not feel qualified or worthy to preach the gospel, but God showed me He will use anyone who just says YES to Him. Now, I am grateful for the opportunity to share His word and witness the power of faith in action.
Shortly after surrendering to preach, God directed me to start Bible College. I continued working a full-time job, attended Bible College for 4 years, and served in many roles at my home church. I served and assisted my pastor for 5 years, led our CARE Ministry for first-time visitors, led our Men’s Ministry, and cared for the church's building and grounds. My wife led the nursery, served in the CARE Ministry, handled food for functions, and cleaned the church weekly with our daughters' help. My family served whenever and wherever we could. The Lord impressed upon me to start a Nursing Home Ministry where my family and I preached/sang for 5 years until we moved away. I would preach Jesus whenever given the opportunity.
I graduated from Lighthouse Baptist Bible College in Abbeville, SC, as a Valedictorian of Pastoral Theology in May 2014. I had heard about the need for churches in Washington, but I had no interest in coming to Washington. I kept praying for direction and where God would want me. The Lord had already shown me that I would be pastoring and that I would be planting a church. I still continued to pray for WHERE. I knew God was calling me west. I wanted to go to Missouri because my wife had family there, but God had a different plan. I began to hear God speaking to me about Washington. Again, I did not want to hear this, but finally God led me to come to Washington and scout it out. The opportunity arose very quickly, and I was able to come along with my bible college pastor, who was preaching a revival meeting in Ellensburg, WA. We traveled all over the state that week! The Lord spoke to me while I was in Washington and revealed that this is where He wanted me. The Lord told me to come home, get my family, and bring them out. God provided all the funds for us to do so. God showed me Deer Park, WA. Why Deer Park? This is a very small community with multiple churches, but this is where He has ordained us to be. I was taught, and fully believe, that every town needs at least one Gospel-preaching, Bible-believing church and one man of God who will stand flat-footed and unashamedly preach the word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
My family surrendered the call to come to Washington, but not without resistance. We did not want to leave everything we had known. Our church and church family, our own families (parents and siblings) to move 2500 miles away, starting over and building a church, not knowing anyone! I worked for the same company for 22 years and was in a supervisory role for 18 of those years. I was previously being groomed to become a plant manager. I made a great living, owned a beautiful home, and had everything I needed, BUT God had other plans for me! I began saving all I could to put toward a Ministry Fund to purchase things we would need to start a church. I had one problem! God had not sold my home. I could not leave Georgia before God sold my home. I decided to travel 2 hours to attend a Wednesday night service at the church where I graduated from Bible College. The pastor called me up to share what we needed for our ministry. I told them, “Of course, I need everything that it takes to put in a church, but none of that matters if we don’t sell our house”. The Preacher said, “I feel we should pray for this specific need right now. I pray God sells your house by the end of the month. I want your family to come to the altar, and I want all the men praying over you and all the women and children to be praying over your wife and girls”. There were hundreds of people praying and crying out to God for a mighty miracle. The presence of God was so strong that night, and prayers reached the throne room! Turned out, two days later (Friday), we got a call from the realtor: we had another house showing. The family testified that when they looked at our home, they felt the power of God there! This Godly family was moving to be closer to their church home. We accepted the offer five days later, on the following Wednesday. One week to the day from when the church prayed!
We closed on our home in August 2015, and I turned in my resignation and notice. I walked away from a lucrative job to serve MY JESUS and follow His will for my life! We had not yet found a rental house in WA. We did not know what we were going to do. Our home was sold, and we had 30 days to be out! The Lord provided us a rental house when WE could not find one. My wife had taken our girls to a youth rally in Asheville, NC, nearly 2 hours away. At the church, she met a man sitting beside her. God prompted her to ask him if he went to church there. The man told her, “It’s really funny, but I am from the State of Washington, just visiting with my Fiancés family”. My wife shared our story of how we had just sold our home and were moving to WA to start a church. He asked if we had a place to live yet. She said “no”. He said, “My fiancé, pointing to the lady behind me, has a house to rent in Spokane”. They talked for just a few moments before the service started, and after the service shared contacts. The lady told my wife she would help us by letting us rent her home because God had just told her to! God provided in such a miraculous way that it just reconfirmed that God really wanted us here.
In September 2015, we left everyone behind and stepped far outside our comfort zone, trusting only the Lord. In January 2016, God provided us a building we could use on Sunday Mornings. Our rent was the exact amount of my family’s tithes. The day before our first service, God opened up a door for us to participate in Winterfest. This was a school event, and no other church had been permitted to participate. God wanted us there! We handed out the gospel, passed out 300 bags of free candy, and gave personal invites to our first service. 12 people showed up that Sunday! In January 2017, we moved into our current location, where we can offer multiple service times each week and have our own space.
I am now a full-time pastor, and my entire family serves in ministry at our church. My wife leads the Women’s Ministry, sings in our services, and teaches the Children’s Church. My oldest daughter, Ashley, runs all our sound/IT equipment and handles all our media. My youngest daughter, Haley, plays the piano. My family loves serving the Lord, and we are sold out for Christ! We love people, and we want to reach as many people for the cause of Christ as we can. I hope you have enjoyed reading our journey. We hope you will join us; we would consider it an honor to meet you. May the Lord bless you and make Himself real in your life!
Pastor Bryon Kennedy
