History

Richard and Judy Jennings met in 1966 while students at Western Carolina University. After they married, they lived in Greenville, North Carolina, where Richard had a successful home improvement business and Judy was a nurse. Throughout the years they spent many vacations in the NC mountains. With twin daughters and a son, in 1981 they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma and both began and graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center.. Having moved back to Greenville after completing Bible school, it wasn’t long before Richard began pastoring a group of people from whom God birthed Greenville Christian Fellowship. After three and half years the congregation merged with another church body. Meanwhile, Judy became president of the Women’s Aglow chapter in Greenville. This opened doors for her to speak in Aglow chapters throughout North Carolina. She also taught bible studies locally and filled pulpits for pastors on different occasions. As a child, God had given Judy visions of ministering to multitudes of people and since the idea of women pastoring wasn’t a popular one, she assumed God would use her as a missionary.

On December 16, 1991, Richard and Judy moved from Greenville to Transylvania Country out of a love for the area. Upon moving to the Brevard area, they had no idea they would be pastoring again, but God began to burden Judy’s heart for the lost and unchurched in this area. As her vision of preaching to multitudes grew, the vision for Joy Outreach Fellowship was being birthed. God took her to Luke 4:18-19 where Jesus stated His mission: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

After talking with their pastor at the church they were attending and receiving his consent and blessing, Judy began a Bible study at the Eastatoe Community Center outside of Rosman, North Carolina. As she taught, the numbers grew and as God lead, Joy Outreach Fellowship was birthed. The first meeting of JOF was held on July 24, 1994 at the Richard and Judy’s home.

Over the next seven years, the church had various locations, but conditions were never just right to buy or build. In May of 1997, a property was finally purchased on the corner of Gaston and Maple Street in Brevard. It was a house with a detached garage on one and a half acres of land. Here they grew and grew until every possible use of the property had been developed. They were holding two Sunday morning services to accommodate all the people. After searching diligently and trying to purchase several properties, God spoke to Pastor Judy and said, “Sell what you have and I’ll show you where I’m going to take you.” They obeyed God and sold the Gaston Street property. God then revealed the present location of 16.6 acres and provided a way to purchase it! (Definitely God!) JOF moved to the new location in January 2001 and met in the house located on the property which is now the office building!

Within a month more room was needed. God then provided a 50’ x 100’ tent which housed their fellowship for 22 months. During this time the sanctuary and fellowship hall was under construction. In November 2002, services began in the new building. More buildings are planned for the future.

Joy Outreach Fellowship is a non-denominational church under the ministerial covering of Evangel Fellowship headquartered in Conway, South Carolina.

“Never be afraid to trust an

unknown future to a known God.”- Anonymous