{"id":5327,"date":"2023-09-11T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T13:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=5327"},"modified":"2023-09-13T10:59:29","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T15:59:29","slug":"5327","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2023\/09\/11\/5327\/","title":{"rendered":"McKenzie Smith: The Reviving Reverend"},"content":{"rendered":"

How often does God open doors, but we are hesitant to step through? Pastor McKenzie Smith took months to step through the door God opened for her and her family, but as God continues to prove, \u201cHe knows the plans He has for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pastor McKenzie Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

McKenzie grew up in the church, but when her brother was murdered in a home invasion, she doubted God\u2019s goodness. For the next few years, she did a lot of rebelling in an attempt to hurt God. At 14, she had an encounter with God that she could not deny, and from then on, she was all in. She met her future husband, Tommie, just two years later, and they were married when she was 19. They have served in full-time ministry ever since. \u201cThe bible says we are one, so we\u2019re one in ministry as well, and we share the load together,\u201d McKenzie declared.<\/p>\n

She and Tommie pastored One City Church in Chesapeake, VA, for 12 years. They inherited it for revitalization, and it grew exponentially under their leadership. They were confident in their purpose and position there. Then, out of the blue, Josh Hannah asked if they would be willing to move to Axton, Virginia, to lead Compassion Church (Appalachian Conference). McKenzie\u2019s answer was a resounding \u201cNO.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pastors McKenzie and Tommie Smith<\/p><\/div>\n

For months, McKenzie avoided the request; there was just no way they were meant to move. Anytime it popped up in her spirit, she would tamp it down saying, \u201cNo, this isn\u2019t fair.\u201d She and her husband would \u201chypothetical\u201d conversations: if <\/em>this were to happen, then they could move, or if<\/em> they were meant to do this, then X, Y, and Z had to happen too. \u201cEverything we said, the Lord would just do,\u201d McKenzie shares. A big piece of the puzzle was their daughter. Torrance was going to be a senior, and they did not want to take her away from her school and friends; however, she shared with her parents that she had asked God to move them to the country. The final piece came together when God gave them their replacement. They had procrastinated as long as they could, so they finally made the move.<\/p>\n

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Pastor McKenzie Smith; her husband, Pastor Tommie Smith; and daughter, Torrance<\/p><\/div>\n

With their move to Axton, the Lord refined McKenzie. As she says, \u201cHe weeded out some things\u201d from her revealing that her assignment was not about her but about Him. He wanted the Smiths to go to Axton to heal those who had been destroyed and show them that ministry can be different. \u201cGod exposed how we [leaders] make ministry about us and our success,\u201d McKenzie says, but it is vital to surrender everything to God.<\/p>\n

Surrendering often requires sacrifice. Their move forced them to trust God on a different level, especially after Tommie\u2019s sister passed away soon after from COVID. \u201cGod will personally destroy you to make sure you are His,\u201d McKenzie shares, and at that time, she told God, \u201cI just want what you want.\u201d Within weeks of their loss, McKenzie began receiving calls to speak at churches and conferences. This had been a desire before, but it never happened. McKenzie knows now that original desire came from arrogance and pride, but after surrendering to God, He opened the door for her to share His message with others.<\/p>\n

As the new leaders, McKenzie and Tommie had to start from scratch, dig deep, and disciple to build a firm foundation. The people at the Axton church were victims of a nasty situation, and McKenzie\u2019s purpose was revealed to her in a dream in which she stood in the middle of a large sanctuary surrounded by bones. Ezekial 37: 3-5 states,<\/p>\n

He asked me, \u201cSon of man, can these bones live?\u201d I said, \u201cSovereign Lord, you<\/em>\u00a0alone know.\u201d Then he said to me, \u201cProphesy to these bones and say to them, \u2018Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

McKenzie and her husband were meant to lead Axton, to bring God back into the church, and God has prevailed with over 600 salvations in the last two years. Her students are finding their place as well. Last summer, they attended The Ramp Conference in Alabama. At the end, the recap video shared the conference\u2019s theme: Dry Bones Live.<\/p>\n

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Pastor McKenzie Smith prays for a student at the The Collide Conference hosted by Destiny Church and DCYouth<\/p><\/div>\n

Near the end of Ezekial it says, \u201cAnd the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there\u201d (48:35 NIV). God is working in Axton, a city in the middle of nowhere, restoring marriages, healing, and saving many. McKenzie is in awe: \u201cWow, this is what I get to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKenzie is grateful for the opportunities God has provided, and she is aware of the importance of being faithful to His Word: \u201cGod crushed us unbelievably but also brought us to a place of total surrender. We\u2019re living the answered prayer. I love our life […] It is a gift that came at a high price, but we were obedient, and God\u2019s been so good and so faithful. Sometimes it feels like a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5330,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"Kelleigh Knight-Whitten","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2023\/09\/family-e1694189695764.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/sb62Bx-5327","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}