May 29, 2025 • 16 mins
What makes Derrick Marrs with Bancroft Gospel Ministry a good neighbor?
Meet Derrick Marrs, Executive Director of Bancroft Gospel Ministry, a century-old organization that's far more than just a children's Bible camp. Tucked away on 22 acres in Kingsport, Tennessee, this multifaceted ministry serves churches and believers through three distinct branches - each addressing different community needs.
Discover how Bancroft Bible Camp creates transformative experiences with its rock walls, zip lines, pools, and summer programming. Learn about their unique Bible Training program that equips laypeople with skills in biblical interpretation and sermon preparation, enabling them to provide pulpit supply for churches throughout the region. Some participants have even transitioned into full-time pastoral roles through this ministry avenue. Derrick also explains how their year-round facility rental service supports countless groups from children's ministries to mission teams.
What makes Bancroft particularly special is their intentional non-denominational approach. As Derrick explains, "We're not affiliated with a specific church or denomination, which allows us to serve all people." This open-handed philosophy has enabled them to support Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and many other congregations throughout the Tri-Cities and beyond.
Derrick's personal journey to Bancroft - from ten challenging years pastoring in South Florida through difficult transitions that tested his faith - reflects the ministry's resilient spirit. His powerful testimony of finding strength during hardship through the biblical truth that "everything God allows happens for our good and His glory" underpins the servant leadership that defines Bancroft's approach.
Connect with Bancroft Gospel Ministry through their website, social media, or simply stop by for an impromptu tour - they're there every day, ready to serve you, your church, or your organization however you need.
To learn more about Bancroft Gospel Ministry go to:
https://www.bancroftgospelministry.org/
Bancroft Gospel Ministry
423-288-4532
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
So I'm excited today to have aspecial guest with us who runs a
special business, and I'm sureyou'll be just as excited as I
am to learn all about them andtheir business, because today I
have the pleasure of introducingyour good neighbor, mr Derek
Mars, who is the executivedirector of Bancroft Gospel
(00:33):
Ministry.
Derek, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thank you, Skip.
It's an honor to be with you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, we're thrilled to have you.
Like I said, I'm veryinterested in learning all about
what you do.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about Bancroft Gospel Ministry?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I got to be honest.
That's a pretty loaded question.
What all we do?
We do a lot.
So Bancroft Gospel Ministrytechnically is our I guess is
our legal name.
So we are Bancroft GospelMinistry and I tell people we
have about three arms to ourministry.
We have Bancroft Bible Camp,which is a 22-acre camp here in
(01:08):
Kingsport, tennessee, where wehave cabins and rock walls and
zip lines and pools andeverything else that you can
think of.
Usually with that we'll dosummer programs like our summer
camps that we'll do so thissummer.
We've technically got fiveweeks of summer camp that we'll
do so this summer.
We've technically got fiveweeks of summer camp that we run
and then throughout the yearwe'll have different events,
(01:31):
retreats, some of the spring andsome of the fall.
Those are all our programmingthat we do.
The other arm is Bancroft BibleTraining.
That's where we teachhomiletics and hermeneutics, so
how to interpret the Bible,hermeneutics and then how to
develop messages and preparethose, and that's homiletics.
So we teach that to laymen andwomen.
(01:51):
And then we use some of the menwho come through that program
to do pulpit supply ministry atlocal churches whether it's here
in the Tri-Cities or it is inWest Virginia, virginia, you
know, just local region.
So we'll do that.
And then the third arm isreally our rentals.
(02:11):
So we are a year round facilityand so we rent out our
facilities chapels, activities,food service cabins, those kind
of things for various groups,whether it's children's
ministries, youth ministries,men's and women's ministries,
missions, teams, schools, allthose types of things.
(02:32):
So we stay pretty busy.
Bancroft itself has been aroundfor a hundred years.
We celebrated a hundred yearslast year and so, yeah, we've
been part of the community forquite some time.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Wow, that's a lot.
A lot isn't there.
You do a lot, well, veryinteresting.
Derek, how did you get intothis business?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
So me personally.
I was a pastor for 10 yearsdown in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I'm actually originally from this area.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I grew up in Bristol and Blumville and then went to
church here in.
Kingsport when I was in middleschool, high school.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
But, anyways.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
So I was a pastor for 10 years down in South Florida
and I knew of Baincroft but Iactually never went to camp here
and actually never stepped footon the property the entire time
I lived in this area.
But I knew the former directorprior to myself, keith Walsworth
, so I would get newslettersfrom them and that kind of stuff
.
So I kind of kept up with whatwas taking place.
(03:32):
But when the Lord, when theLord led us to leave that church
in South Florida, we moved backup to this area and I worked in
the medical field for about twoyears with my parents who owned
their own business at that timeall the while just praying lord
, what do you, what do you havefor me?
what's next?
And through his providence heopened the door for my family
(03:54):
and I to become full-timemissionaries here at bancroft.
So we raised our financialsupport to be here, and we've
been here for six years now.
Uh serving Lord.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Wow, wonderful Six years.
Congratulations, thank you.
So are there any myths ormisconceptions about I mean, you
do a lot of different stuff,bible camps or Christian summer
camps or Bible training anymisconceptions or myths that you
can think of?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I think probably the biggest misconception for
Bancroft as a ministry is thatwe are only a Bible camp for
kids.
I don't think the averageperson knows the extent of the
things that we actually do andthe things that we offer and how
we can serve the local churchand the body of Christ in our
community.
So I think, when they think ofBancroft, they think you know
(04:47):
five, six seven-year-old kidsgoing to summer camp for a week.
You know, and that's it.
But we're so much more than that.
So that's probably the biggestmisconception is that, yeah, we
only serve children, but reallywe serve all ages, at all times
for any purpose.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Awesome, and just asking is there a particular
denomination that you support,or is it?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
that's a great question.
So, bancroft, uh, we're a faithmission and so we're not
affiliated with a specificchurch or a specific
denomination, uh, which I lovebecause it allows us then to be
able to serve all people fromall denominations and everything
else.
So especially from a bullpensupply ministry aspect, I think
that's.
That's a huge blessing as well,because we don't just provide
(05:37):
bullpen supply in a Baptistchurch.
We've provided supply inMethodist churches and Free Will
Baptist churches andPresbyterian churches.
I tell people, if a Catholicchurch reached out to us to fill
the pulpit, we'd do it too.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well now pulpit supply.
Does that mean, if somebody'sgot a preacher that's out on
medical leave or on sabbaticalor something you have, somebody
come in and fill in?
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, pretty much so.
It's for, you know, if a pastorneeds a vacation and they need
somebody to preach on a Sundayor and the bulk of the ministry
really is for churches who don'thave a pastor, like their
pastor has retired, passed away,left for whatever reason, and
so now they're in this interimperiod where they're trying to
seek out their new pastor, andso then they just need someone
(06:21):
to preach on Sundays, and so weprovide that service to a lot of
those churches.
There's one church inparticular out in West Virginia
we've been serving for probablygoodness, probably about five
years now.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Wow, with the same guy or pastor.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
No, no, we have a rotation of men.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
So they go out there, and so we have a rotation.
Every month, every Sunday,every month, we send somebody to
go preach at that church.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And we do give the churches the opportunity to
reach out to the men who comeand do pulpit supply.
You know, maybe to approachthem to hey would you be our
full-time internal pastor.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So that's an option for them.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
But also we've had a couple men who have gone through
that program who ended upbecoming that church's senior
pastor so they've been called tothat church, so it's a really
really cool ministry.
It's a lot of fun absolutelyawesome, awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Well, derrick sounds like there it's a lot of fun.
Absolutely Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Well, derek, it sounds like there's not a lot of
time outside of work, but whatdo you do for fun if you have
time?
Yeah, that's fair, there's nota whole lot of time outside of
work.
Actually, the work that we dois fun which is great, but
that's probably like a cop-outanswer.
No, honestly, what I do for funis I love spending time with my
family.
I've got uh, my wife marie, uh,who today we celebrate 19 years
(07:45):
of marriage, so wowcongratulations.
I'm gonna take her out to dinner, so it's just gonna.
It's gonna be good, um, and soyeah, my wife marie of 19 years,
and then we've got two kids,reagan and Bryce.
Uh, reagan's 14 and my son,bryce, is 11.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I just love hanging out with them, whatever that
looks like.
Awesome, awesome, good answer,very good answer, best answer.
So, uh, um, let's, let's changegears for a second.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you've
overcome, either professionallyor personally, and how it made
you stronger in the end?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
yeah, um, so probably the hardest thing I've had to
overcome.
It kind of marries both theprofessional and the personal.
So, like I said, I was a pastorfor 10 years down in south
florida and um, uh, the majorityof that time was pretty
difficult, roughly eight and ahalf years of those 10 years
(08:42):
that I was a pastor down there,we didn't have senior leadership
, and so there was this constantpower struggle that we were
dealing with.
But that's a really long story.
But the end of it, when theLord finally told me it was time
to leave Um, when I, uh, whenthe Lord finally told me, just
it was time to leave Um, Iresigned from that church, um,
and I had one week to pack upeverything and leave and, um,
(09:05):
during that time, uh, we hadsome pretty significant
struggles that went on.
Uh, not just the struggles inthe church, uh, but like my wife
went through a miscarriage, uh,in between me resigning and me
leaving, um, there were someother issues with my daughter at
that time that we were dealingwith.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
My wife went through a miscarriage in between me
resigning and me leaving.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
There were some other issues with my daughter at that
time that we were dealing withand yeah, I mean it was heavy
and it was hard to the point.
I do enjoy exercising, or atleast I try to and at that time
I was doing a lot of punching,boxing and heavy bags and I just
had to go to the garage.
I was like, babe, I just needto exercise.
I did that.
I ended up punching the heavybag out of the ceiling.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I ripped it all the way out.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
She's like are you okay?
I'm like I just need to go run,I just need to be trying to get
this out of my head as I wasrunning.
Honestly, honestly, I was justpraying as I was running and, um
, and it kind of reminded me ofjoe I'm not saying that I am job
or my situation is anythingremotely like uh, job in the old
testament, but um, I was justreminded of you know, god and
(10:14):
job, specifically when he saysthe Lord gives and the Lord
takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And though he slay me yet willI trust in him.
And I was just reminded thatyou know, everything that God
allows to happen in our lives,he actually allows them, it
actually goes through his heartand through his hands to us.
And everything that he allowshe allows for our good,
(10:37):
ultimately, and for his glory.
And he does that simply becausewe serve a good God.
And it was in, it was in thatweek where God basically was
like Derek, here's this truth.
And and it just hit me like aton of bricks and since then
I've never forgotten that and Ibelieve that that is just that
(10:58):
is that is held true in so manydifferent instances in my life
that whether I'm going through,you know, mountaintops
experiences, or I'm as low asyou can possibly go in a valley.
God has allowed all thosethings to take place in my life
and he's allowed those things totake place for a very, for a
very important purpose thatultimately is going to be for my
(11:18):
good and for an opportunity forme to glorify him and for
people to see him.
Through those times and thenjust resting in the fact that he
allows all those things and hedoes all those things for my
good, simply because he is agood God.
So that's just something thatfor me personally and
professionally, I always have tojust remember it really was
(11:40):
probably one of the hardest,most difficult seasons of life.
Even pushed me into, you know,working through I don't like to
use this term because it's alittle cliche these days but
like a deconstruction of myfaith for a time.
But then just came true, justto know God is good and he's
faithful and he's true and he'sthe only one where you can find
(12:03):
hope.
And so for me, I had to keepgoing back to those truths over
and, over and over again.
There's probably like 12 ofthem right there, but I don't
know.
I just have to keep going backto that, and that's what keeps
me going.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Amen brother, amen brother.
And that's a good thing foranybody to remember.
God is good.
Yeah, thing for anybody toremember, god is good.
So if you could think of onething that you'd like our
listeners to remember aboutBancroft Gospel Ministry, what
would that be?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, we're here to serve them.
So, bancroft Gospel Ministry,we exist to serve the local
church, the body of Christ andour community, for the glory of
God and the advancement of hiskingdom.
And so, yeah, I would just loveyour listeners to know that,
hey, we're here for them, we'rehere to serve them in whatever
capacity that looks like,whether that's as an individual
(12:56):
and we can just come alongsideof and encourage, whether it's a
business organization who'sjust looking for a space to do
team building or some kind oftraining session, maybe it's a
local church ministry, like Isaid, whether it's children,
youth, adults, it doesn't matterto us, they just need a space.
Or a pastor who just needs somerest, like, we're just here to
(13:19):
serve our community, whateverthat looks like.
So, yeah, that's what I wantedto know.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
All right, very good, very good, very good thing.
So for those of us who areinterested, maybe have a
potential of wanting to rentsome equipment or send their
kids to a camp this summer.
How can they learn more?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, so probably the two main places they can learn
more about us is from ourwebsite.
Uh, that's Bancroft,b-a-n-c-r-o-f-t,
gospelministryorg, um.
On there, you're going to findeverything from um, you know our
camp season and what our datesare and how you can register for
that.
Uh, you able to find ourrentals, our pulpit supply of
(14:04):
industry and even our newEndeavor internship that we're
launching in the fall for, like,gap year students who are just
looking for something.
All of that's going to be onour website, so you can go there
, or our Facebook page, which isBancroft Bible Camp Kingsport.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So you can get on there.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
We update that on a regular basis with a whole bunch
of different information justlittle things that are going on
around camp.
There's other ways that you canconnect that way, so those are
probably the two main that youcan follow us.
We do have an Instagram as well, if anybody's on that, and
that's Bancroft Bible Camp.
You can look that up.
We're on there prettyfrequently as well All BibleCamp
you can look that up.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
We're on there pretty frequently as well.
All right, very good.
Well, derek, it's beenfascinating.
You guys do a lot and I want to, on behalf of the community,
thank you for what you do,because you're doing a lot of
good work and you know servantleadership is important.
So thank you for that, and Ireally appreciate you taking
(15:04):
time out of your busy scheduleto talk with me and our
listeners and tell us all aboutuh Bancroft.
So, uh, moving forward, wishyou and your family and your
ministry all the best.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I appreciate that, and if anybody ever wants to
come by for a visit or for atour of the property uh, we are
here pretty much every day, sothey're going to stop by they
don't have to make anappointment.
If they don't want to, they canjust pull in because we're here
.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
All right, Very good to know.
All right, Derek.
I hope you have a great rest ofthe day.
Maybe we can have you backsometime when you've got
something new going on not thatyou need anything new.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
It would be an honor, Skip, for sure we always have
something new happening, so itwould be an honor.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Skip for sure.
We always have something newhappening.
So, yeah, I'm always up there.
We go all right, we'll lookforward to that.
Thanks, so much.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you for listening to thegood neighbor podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnptry-citiescom.
That's gnp try-citiescom, orcall 423-719-5873.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Skip Monty.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
So I'm excited today to have aspecial guest with us who runs a
special business, and I'm sureyou'll be just as excited as I
am to learn all about them andtheir business, because today I
have the pleasure of introducingyour good neighbor, mr Derek
Mars, who is the executivedirector of Bancroft Gospel
(00:33):
Ministry.
Derek, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thank you, Skip.
It's an honor to be with you.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Well, we're thrilled to have you.
Like I said, I'm veryinterested in learning all about
what you do.
So if you don't mind, why don'tyou kick us off by telling us
about Bancroft Gospel Ministry?
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I got to be honest.
That's a pretty loaded question.
What all we do?
We do a lot.
So Bancroft Gospel Ministrytechnically is our I guess is
our legal name.
So we are Bancroft GospelMinistry and I tell people we
have about three arms to ourministry.
We have Bancroft Bible Camp,which is a 22-acre camp here in
(01:08):
Kingsport, tennessee, where wehave cabins and rock walls and
zip lines and pools andeverything else that you can
think of.
Usually with that we'll dosummer programs like our summer
camps that we'll do so thissummer.
We've technically got fiveweeks of summer camp that we'll
do so this summer.
We've technically got fiveweeks of summer camp that we run
and then throughout the yearwe'll have different events,
(01:31):
retreats, some of the spring andsome of the fall.
Those are all our programmingthat we do.
The other arm is Bancroft BibleTraining.
That's where we teachhomiletics and hermeneutics, so
how to interpret the Bible,hermeneutics and then how to
develop messages and preparethose, and that's homiletics.
So we teach that to laymen andwomen.
(01:51):
And then we use some of the menwho come through that program
to do pulpit supply ministry atlocal churches whether it's here
in the Tri-Cities or it is inWest Virginia, virginia, you
know, just local region.
So we'll do that.
And then the third arm isreally our rentals.
(02:11):
So we are a year round facilityand so we rent out our
facilities chapels, activities,food service cabins, those kind
of things for various groups,whether it's children's
ministries, youth ministries,men's and women's ministries,
missions, teams, schools, allthose types of things.
(02:32):
So we stay pretty busy.
Bancroft itself has been aroundfor a hundred years.
We celebrated a hundred yearslast year and so, yeah, we've
been part of the community forquite some time.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Wow, that's a lot.
A lot isn't there.
You do a lot, well, veryinteresting.
Derek, how did you get intothis business?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
So me personally.
I was a pastor for 10 yearsdown in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I'm actually originally from this area.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
I grew up in Bristol and Blumville and then went to
church here in.
Kingsport when I was in middleschool, high school.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
But, anyways.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
So I was a pastor for 10 years down in South Florida
and I knew of Baincroft but Iactually never went to camp here
and actually never stepped footon the property the entire time
I lived in this area.
But I knew the former directorprior to myself, keith Walsworth
, so I would get newslettersfrom them and that kind of stuff
.
So I kind of kept up with whatwas taking place.
(03:32):
But when the Lord, when theLord led us to leave that church
in South Florida, we moved backup to this area and I worked in
the medical field for about twoyears with my parents who owned
their own business at that timeall the while just praying lord
, what do you, what do you havefor me?
what's next?
And through his providence heopened the door for my family
(03:54):
and I to become full-timemissionaries here at bancroft.
So we raised our financialsupport to be here, and we've
been here for six years now.
Uh serving Lord.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
Wow, wonderful Six years.
Congratulations, thank you.
So are there any myths ormisconceptions about I mean, you
do a lot of different stuff,bible camps or Christian summer
camps or Bible training anymisconceptions or myths that you
can think of?
Speaker 3 (04:23):
I think probably the biggest misconception for
Bancroft as a ministry is thatwe are only a Bible camp for
kids.
I don't think the averageperson knows the extent of the
things that we actually do andthe things that we offer and how
we can serve the local churchand the body of Christ in our
community.
So I think, when they think ofBancroft, they think you know
(04:47):
five, six seven-year-old kidsgoing to summer camp for a week.
You know, and that's it.
But we're so much more than that.
So that's probably the biggestmisconception is that, yeah, we
only serve children, but reallywe serve all ages, at all times
for any purpose.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Awesome, and just asking is there a particular
denomination that you support,or is it?
Speaker 3 (05:14):
that's a great question.
So, bancroft, uh, we're a faithmission and so we're not
affiliated with a specificchurch or a specific
denomination, uh, which I lovebecause it allows us then to be
able to serve all people fromall denominations and everything
else.
So especially from a bullpensupply ministry aspect, I think
that's.
That's a huge blessing as well,because we don't just provide
(05:37):
bullpen supply in a Baptistchurch.
We've provided supply inMethodist churches and Free Will
Baptist churches andPresbyterian churches.
I tell people, if a Catholicchurch reached out to us to fill
the pulpit, we'd do it too.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well now pulpit supply.
Does that mean, if somebody'sgot a preacher that's out on
medical leave or on sabbaticalor something you have, somebody
come in and fill in?
Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah, pretty much so.
It's for, you know, if a pastorneeds a vacation and they need
somebody to preach on a Sundayor and the bulk of the ministry
really is for churches who don'thave a pastor, like their
pastor has retired, passed away,left for whatever reason, and
so now they're in this interimperiod where they're trying to
seek out their new pastor, andso then they just need someone
(06:21):
to preach on Sundays, and so weprovide that service to a lot of
those churches.
There's one church inparticular out in West Virginia
we've been serving for probablygoodness, probably about five
years now.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Wow, with the same guy or pastor.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
No, no, we have a rotation of men.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
So they go out there, and so we have a rotation.
Every month, every Sunday,every month, we send somebody to
go preach at that church.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Wow, wow.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
And we do give the churches the opportunity to
reach out to the men who comeand do pulpit supply.
You know, maybe to approachthem to hey would you be our
full-time internal pastor.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So that's an option for them.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
But also we've had a couple men who have gone through
that program who ended upbecoming that church's senior
pastor so they've been called tothat church, so it's a really
really cool ministry.
It's a lot of fun absolutelyawesome, awesome.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Well, derrick sounds like there it's a lot of fun.
Absolutely Awesome, awesome.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Well, derek, it sounds like there's not a lot of
time outside of work, but whatdo you do for fun if you have
time?
Yeah, that's fair, there's nota whole lot of time outside of
work.
Actually, the work that we dois fun which is great, but
that's probably like a cop-outanswer.
No, honestly, what I do for funis I love spending time with my
family.
I've got uh, my wife marie, uh,who today we celebrate 19 years
(07:45):
of marriage, so wowcongratulations.
I'm gonna take her out to dinner, so it's just gonna.
It's gonna be good, um, and soyeah, my wife marie of 19 years,
and then we've got two kids,reagan and Bryce.
Uh, reagan's 14 and my son,bryce, is 11.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
I just love hanging out with them, whatever that
looks like.
Awesome, awesome, good answer,very good answer, best answer.
So, uh, um, let's, let's changegears for a second.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you've
overcome, either professionallyor personally, and how it made
you stronger in the end?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
yeah, um, so probably the hardest thing I've had to
overcome.
It kind of marries both theprofessional and the personal.
So, like I said, I was a pastorfor 10 years down in south
florida and um, uh, the majorityof that time was pretty
difficult, roughly eight and ahalf years of those 10 years
(08:42):
that I was a pastor down there,we didn't have senior leadership
, and so there was this constantpower struggle that we were
dealing with.
But that's a really long story.
But the end of it, when theLord finally told me it was time
to leave Um, when I, uh, whenthe Lord finally told me, just
it was time to leave Um, Iresigned from that church, um,
and I had one week to pack upeverything and leave and, um,
(09:05):
during that time, uh, we hadsome pretty significant
struggles that went on.
Uh, not just the struggles inthe church, uh, but like my wife
went through a miscarriage, uh,in between me resigning and me
leaving, um, there were someother issues with my daughter at
that time that we were dealingwith.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
My wife went through a miscarriage in between me
resigning and me leaving.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
There were some other issues with my daughter at that
time that we were dealing withand yeah, I mean it was heavy
and it was hard to the point.
I do enjoy exercising, or atleast I try to and at that time
I was doing a lot of punching,boxing and heavy bags and I just
had to go to the garage.
I was like, babe, I just needto exercise.
I did that.
I ended up punching the heavybag out of the ceiling.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
I ripped it all the way out.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
She's like are you okay?
I'm like I just need to go run,I just need to be trying to get
this out of my head as I wasrunning.
Honestly, honestly, I was justpraying as I was running and, um
, and it kind of reminded me ofjoe I'm not saying that I am job
or my situation is anythingremotely like uh, job in the old
testament, but um, I was justreminded of you know, god and
(10:14):
job, specifically when he saysthe Lord gives and the Lord
takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And though he slay me yet willI trust in him.
And I was just reminded thatyou know, everything that God
allows to happen in our lives,he actually allows them, it
actually goes through his heartand through his hands to us.
And everything that he allowshe allows for our good,
(10:37):
ultimately, and for his glory.
And he does that simply becausewe serve a good God.
And it was in, it was in thatweek where God basically was
like Derek, here's this truth.
And and it just hit me like aton of bricks and since then
I've never forgotten that and Ibelieve that that is just that
(10:58):
is that is held true in so manydifferent instances in my life
that whether I'm going through,you know, mountaintops
experiences, or I'm as low asyou can possibly go in a valley.
God has allowed all thosethings to take place in my life
and he's allowed those things totake place for a very, for a
very important purpose thatultimately is going to be for my
(11:18):
good and for an opportunity forme to glorify him and for
people to see him.
Through those times and thenjust resting in the fact that he
allows all those things and hedoes all those things for my
good, simply because he is agood God.
So that's just something thatfor me personally and
professionally, I always have tojust remember it really was
(11:40):
probably one of the hardest,most difficult seasons of life.
Even pushed me into, you know,working through I don't like to
use this term because it's alittle cliche these days but
like a deconstruction of myfaith for a time.
But then just came true, justto know God is good and he's
faithful and he's true and he'sthe only one where you can find
(12:03):
hope.
And so for me, I had to keepgoing back to those truths over
and, over and over again.
There's probably like 12 ofthem right there, but I don't
know.
I just have to keep going backto that, and that's what keeps
me going.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Amen brother, amen brother.
And that's a good thing foranybody to remember.
God is good.
Yeah, thing for anybody toremember, god is good.
So if you could think of onething that you'd like our
listeners to remember aboutBancroft Gospel Ministry, what
would that be?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
Well, we're here to serve them.
So, bancroft Gospel Ministry,we exist to serve the local
church, the body of Christ andour community, for the glory of
God and the advancement of hiskingdom.
And so, yeah, I would just loveyour listeners to know that,
hey, we're here for them, we'rehere to serve them in whatever
capacity that looks like,whether that's as an individual
(12:56):
and we can just come alongsideof and encourage, whether it's a
business organization who'sjust looking for a space to do
team building or some kind oftraining session, maybe it's a
local church ministry, like Isaid, whether it's children,
youth, adults, it doesn't matterto us, they just need a space.
Or a pastor who just needs somerest, like, we're just here to
(13:19):
serve our community, whateverthat looks like.
So, yeah, that's what I wantedto know.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
All right, very good, very good, very good thing.
So for those of us who areinterested, maybe have a
potential of wanting to rentsome equipment or send their
kids to a camp this summer.
How can they learn more?
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Yeah, so probably the two main places they can learn
more about us is from ourwebsite.
Uh, that's Bancroft,b-a-n-c-r-o-f-t,
gospelministryorg, um.
On there, you're going to findeverything from um, you know our
camp season and what our datesare and how you can register for
that.
Uh, you able to find ourrentals, our pulpit supply of
(14:04):
industry and even our newEndeavor internship that we're
launching in the fall for, like,gap year students who are just
looking for something.
All of that's going to be onour website, so you can go there
, or our Facebook page, which isBancroft Bible Camp Kingsport.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
So you can get on there.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
We update that on a regular basis with a whole bunch
of different information justlittle things that are going on
around camp.
There's other ways that you canconnect that way, so those are
probably the two main that youcan follow us.
We do have an Instagram as well, if anybody's on that, and
that's Bancroft Bible Camp.
You can look that up.
We're on there prettyfrequently as well All BibleCamp
you can look that up.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
We're on there pretty frequently as well.
All right, very good.
Well, derek, it's beenfascinating.
You guys do a lot and I want to, on behalf of the community,
thank you for what you do,because you're doing a lot of
good work and you know servantleadership is important.
So thank you for that, and Ireally appreciate you taking
(15:04):
time out of your busy scheduleto talk with me and our
listeners and tell us all aboutuh Bancroft.
So, uh, moving forward, wishyou and your family and your
ministry all the best.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
I appreciate that, and if anybody ever wants to
come by for a visit or for atour of the property uh, we are
here pretty much every day, sothey're going to stop by they
don't have to make anappointment.
If they don't want to, they canjust pull in because we're here
.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
All right, Very good to know.
All right, Derek.
I hope you have a great rest ofthe day.
Maybe we can have you backsometime when you've got
something new going on not thatyou need anything new.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
It would be an honor, Skip, for sure we always have
something new happening, so itwould be an honor.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Skip for sure.
We always have something newhappening.
So, yeah, I'm always up there.
We go all right, we'll lookforward to that.
Thanks, so much.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you for listening to thegood neighbor podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnptry-citiescom.
That's gnp try-citiescom, orcall 423-719-5873.
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