I mark the stages
in my early life by two major milestones – my birth year (1975) and Triumph’s
birth year (1983). You see I had the
distinct privilege of being in prayer meetings as a young boy listening to
Uncle Irvin and Aunt Weece (Bro. and Sis. Marshall), Bishop Randy and Pastor
Renee’, my grandmother and others cry out to God to do a new thing in Southeast
Texas. Of course, as a 7 year old, I had
no idea what was going on, but I knew it was something significant. In the months to follow, our family watched
from Mississippi with great interest as Triumph New Testament Church began to
come to fruition. I remember coming to
Texas many, many times to visit the fledgling church with chicken wire on the
walls and bed sheets that divided the “rooms”.
How exciting for a kid to see all of these strange things and know that
God was in the middle of it all.
I can take you to
the spot in what is now Exciteland where I was baptized with the Holy Spirit in
1987. I remember Bishop Randy praying
for me and then sitting beside Pastor Renee on her piano bench as she led the
congregation in “Lord Prepare Me To Be A Sanctuary”. I remember being baptized in a FREEZING horse
trough in the same building a few months later.
Then came the amazing tent. How
incredibly hot that was!! However, I
remember one day when Bishop Randy prayed for me in that tent. He said nothing, but the weight of his hands
and the power of the Holy Spirit that settled on me at that point have stayed
with me to this day.
Fast-forward only a
few months… I remember Bishop Randy and
Pastor Renee’ coming to Vicksburg, MS to hold the first official meeting of
Triumph Church – Vicksburg in the living room of Wayne and Joyce Fields. As a then 14-year-old kid, I knew exactly
what was happening – I was living a moment in history. A church was being born, and I had a
front-row seat! The entire rest of my
high school and later college years were focused on one thing – I would move to
Texas and learn from my mentors, Bishop Randy and Pastor Renee’ Clark. My dream came true in May 1999. Over the next few months, I was witness to
the birth of two more churches – New Covenant Church in Humble and Harvest
Church in Jasper. God had given me the
opportunity to have a front-row seat to two more church plants through the
ministry of Triumph Church.
In 2002, I had the
opportunity to be on the set-up and tear-down team for the very first service
for Triumph-Beaumont. What an amazing
adventure to see something that not very many churches in the nation were doing
at the time – going multi-campus! In
2004, in the middle of all of this excitement, I married my beautiful wife,
Sara – a member of Triumph since she was 12!
Then, in 2006 I was sitting in the front row of the choir loft in
Nederland during a service when Pastor Mike Hayes delivered the word from the
Lord concerning a new church in Houston, TX.
Once again, I was strapping on my boots to go to work to help plant
another church in Sugar Land, TX.
As I now sit here
in the Washington, DC Metro area, I am dusting off my boots and going to work to
assist in the planting of triumphDC! Now,
I get to give my boys, who were dedicated in Triumph’s sanctuary, the
opportunity to have a front-row seat to history in the making. I stand amazed at the impact of Triumph
Church on my life. Bishop Randy and
Pastor Renee’ Clark, through the power of the Holy Spirit, have worked and
sacrificed everything to offer people just like me the opportunity to go out
and change the world as we spread the Gospel of Christ. Thank you, Triumph, for being an amazing part
of my history and my future.
Happy birthday,
Triumph Church! Congratulations, Bishop
Randy and Pastor Renee’. May the story
that is written of the next 30 years of Triumph be greater than the first 30!
Pastor Neal Price
triumphDC (by way
of Vicksburg, Nederland, & Beaumont)
