Shortly after Pastor Amanda was baptized in the Holy Spirit, the Lord called her to the ministry in September 1996 through a vision that opened up to her and showed her standing in front of a large crowd preaching the Gospel. Through years of preparation: through serving and ministering in the local church to which she belonged, in teaching children’s Sunday School, adult Sunday school, leading youth ministry, creating and leading week-long youth camps, leading and teaching adult Bible studies, forming and leading women’s conferences, leading praise and worship, and much time in the Word and worship and prayer, the Lord began to unfold in each new season a clearer understanding of His calling on her life. She and Pastor Rodney married in November 2002, and they welcomed their daughter, Cesciley, in May 2004. Throughout these years, the Lord prepared Pastor Rodney and Pastor Amanda for pastoring, which they had no plans to do.
Pastor Amanda began ministering weekly in July 2011, and in January 2012, the Lord opened a door that no man could close in pastoring a church in Jerseyville, IL. This would launch Pastor Amanda and Pastor Rodney into full-time ministry, and so a new adventure truly began. With this appointment came a whole lot of changes for this church as the Lord gave specific instructions to Pastor Amanda concerning what He wanted the church to look like. The changes included a new name, a new mission, a new vision, and obviously, new people. Always, however, it has been their deepest desires to be truly pleasing to the Father, to be wholly led by the Spirit, to fully rely on the anointing, to say what they hear the Father saying, and do what they see Him doing, and fully honor the Lord Jesus through it all. They are passionate about keeping the Word of God, guarding the message of Christ, and abiding in the anointing of the Holy Spirit without compromise. They are fully aware that, apart from Christ Jesus, they can do nothing; and their desire is to honor Him by fulfilling their life assignments down to the last detail.
Pastor Rodney leads our children’s ministry. His heart to love the children and teach them the Word of God rings through every aspect. He has a God-given ability to recognize and call forth God’s goodness and purpose for each child. Here are 3 Bible passages that Pastor Amanda considers life passages for her. In them, resounds her and Pastor Rodney’s hearts to see every person in love with Jesus and walking in God’s perfect plan for their lives:
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. Ephesians 2:10 AMP. This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success. Joshua 1:8 AMPC.
But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom). And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 AMPC.
Pastor Peter grew up in tumultuous and abusive home environments and foster care situations
that had led him to a place of brokenness, and by the age of 17 the world had left him so broken he didn’t have any future and even had a hit list that had included both students and teachers. He was so angry and hurt but nobody could help him. God had a plan! A kid in school he had nearly gotten in a fight with several months earlier invited him to a youth group where he poured his heart out to the youth leader and later learned that there was a church he could go to the following Sunday. This was Kingdom Increase Church. That Sunday he surrendered his life to the care of Jesus and everything started to change for the better. His anger began to subside and he began to take an honest look at himself and his need for forgiveness in areas of his life and just a year later at a Tent Meeting, June 11 2015, his life would change again, forever. That night at the tent meeting a call was given for anyone who needed prayer. Peter recalls looking around at the meeting and seeing everyone so happy and feeling miserable and praying a simple prayer to God, “God, What the heck! I’m supposed to be a Christian like these people, but they are happy and I’m miserable. You don’t have to give me what they have but if you just let me understand it I will be happy with that.” Peter responded that night to the call for prayer and went up wanting the Lord to give him understanding but received a whole lot more. As he was prayed for he fell on to the ground overwhelmed with the presence of God and was set free from years of pain and abuse, and the anger he carried subsided in a single moment, and he got off the ground completely different. He recalls feeling like something big was on the inside of him and feeling like he was supposed to do something really big for God but not being able to put it into words. Upon asking a Minister what do you do when you feel like God has called you to do something big, but you have no idea where to start? He got the answer, “You go to River Bible Institute.” From that moment on he was marked for ministry. He spent the next 3.5 years at the church learning everything he could and doing his best to live out his faith receiving many confirmations about the direction the Lord was leading him and what He was calling him to do. This include two prophetic words and a dream in which God simply gave him a couple scriptures confirming the call before attending River University (formerly River Bible Institute) in January of 2019. He learned many great things through his time there including receiving Evangelism Training and personally leading over 1700 people to Christ through various methods of evangelism and participating in many outreaches to reach the community in Tampa, Florida. He completed his studies in January of 2022 where he graduated with his Bachelors in Ministry and promptly got hired on to work for Revival Ministries as the Night Supervisor of the Housekeeping Department of The River at Tampa Bay
Church where he spent the next two years growing as a leader and a person and lifting up the vision of the House. Then in mid 2023 he was asked to pray about coming back to Jerseyville, Illinois and taking a position as Outreach Pastor of Kingdom Increase Church. After months of prayer the Lord confirmed to him through His peace that this was the direction He was leading him. Jerseyville and Jersey County will shake with the fire of God and revival, and salvation will break out! You can count on it!
