Agape Moms Middle TN Celebrates 2 Years!
We celebrated all God has done since Agape Moms Middle Tennessee launched 2 years ago with our 2nd annual Thrift Prom!
In April 2022, we began as one group of 15 mamas in a classroom of The Journey Church in Lebanon, TN.
Laura & April teamed up with a heart for moms to grow in their love for Jesus and His word back in April 2022. Who might you team up with to launch an Agape Moms near you?
Two years later, the Lord has grown our ministry to 8 Tiny Tribes meeting in Lebanon, Carthage and Watertown. Over 150 moms this semester alone gathered weekly for biblical community. This was only possible because dozens of moms said yes to giving their lives to making disciples as Tiny Tribe leaders and being on servant leader teams to help us setup, welcome, live on mission at our monthly park gatherings, clothing swaps, supporting our foster ministry, and so much more. Everyone’s gifts are needed and valued!
Carnival Kickoff, August 2023
Tiny Tribe Leaders for 2023-2024 school year
Little Harrison is showing us how to “bring your mess"
celebrating Agape Moms Baptisms!
Hope’s Story
My life before Jesus was misunderstood and out of place. For many years I have felt very out of place with where I was going and which direction I needed to go. I have been a believer, but I was mad at God and held resentment towards Him for many years for the things that I went through for my family and the things that went wrong in my life, without taking the responsibility for my actions myself.
A little over a year ago I had been secretly praying for a sign of which road I needed to take in my life. As I was scrolling through Facebook one day, Agape Moms popped up on my groups as suggested. That is when I reached out to Mrs. Laura and started attending Agape moms in late September of 2022. My children and I started attending TJC in April of this year. I had been struggling with accepting God and fully opening my heart to Him. (I had been praying constantly about it and the feelings and words within are hard to explain on how they came to me, but I knew in order for me to fully accept God, I had to be saved and baptized. Then the retreat came. It was my first time going and Mrs. Devin sang I Surrender All and I just felt this massive pull. It wasn’t a voice, but it just popped into my head and was a feeling that my next step was to be saved. After the service that night I spoke with my tiny tribe leader, Mrs. Brenda. She explained everything to me and walked me through and I was saved that night. It was like a big thing was lifted off my chest. I felt great. The next couple of weeks were still rough but I finally decided to take the steps of being baptized.
God is now teaching me how to fully open my heart to Him and how to love myself and be follower of Christ. He is teaching me how to learn and understand His word and how to talk about Him with others. He is teaching me how to be a servant of Christ and how to forgive those who have wronged me in many ways. I always thought I would never be able to forgive but here I am forgiving and moving forward every day. I have learned that no matter what, God is and has always been there although I could not see how or why. I have learned that even with all the bad I have done, that in repenting of all my sins, He himself has forgiven me as I have forgiven others. He is the one who brought me through so much when there were a million reasons to give up.
Amanda’s Story
Amanda began attending Agape Moms in early 2023, which led to her getting connected with TJC Women, attending on Sundays with her family and later re-engage with her husband. God used biblical community to help disciple her to place her faith & trust in Christ alone! Listen to her testimony below
“My life without Jesus was unfilled, always chasing what I thought was a “good” choice because I thought that was enough! Growing up I went to youth group but it was all games. I didn’t get a chance to really know Jesus and what it was like to have a relationship with Him. I was in church every Sunday but that was where it ended.
After I returned home from college in my 20’s, I really strayed from God and was struggling to do everything my way and not have Him in my life at all! I was fine, so I thought, relying on myself.
Back in September 2023 | attended the Gather womens retreat and on Saturday night I felt the strongest conviction I have ever felt to really accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior when the worship song I Surrender All was being sung! I’ve never felt so moved to want to read the word as much as possible, to live by His word as well as share His love with others!
I decided I wanted to publicly proclaim as an adult that I am surrendering all to Him and living the rest of my life with Him as my Savior! I thought God would and could only love a perfect person, and I am far from that so when I started attending the Journey and learned how many people aren’t perfect and God still loves them I wanted to experience that love! God is teaching me how abundant the blessings can be when we listen and obey! I want to be an influence for my kids on how to pursue a relationship with Jesus!”
Kendra’s Story
We are celebrating Caleb & Kendra’s baptisms today! Kendra was one of the first Agape Moms who has been faithfully attending since our launch in April 2022. She was welcomed as all moms are who attend different churches or do not go to church. God used the reformed Bible studies that were opened in a loving community to open her eyes to her need for the gospel. Today both her and her husband are proclaiming their faith in Christ alone, by grace and through faith alone! To God be the glory! Listen to her testimony below:
“My life without Jesus was burdensome, overwhelming and full of anxiety. I felt as if I could never be enough. I could never be a good enough daughter earlier in my life and I could never be a good enough wife or mother in my later life. I was on an emotional roller coaster of sorts and was hopeless for many, many years.
No emotional experience or any claims over my life I would chant was making a difference. It felt as though I had been born with an unattainable goal that would hang over me my entire life, never fully being able to pinpoint what that goal even was.
It took many years of God drawing me to Him to fully see my need for His saving grace. The goal that I could never quite pinpoint became so clear to me at last; to be sanctified in truth until my last day.
God is now teaching me that He alone is sufficient and He alone can fulfill my inadequacies. Striving to bring glory to God in everything I do and in everything I am, has drastically changed my life. God is good, all the time!“