DYLLAN AVERY-SMITH

My Story

Growing up, I rarely went to church, had no knowledge of God nor a desire to pursue any sort of relationship with him. The desire to know God wasn’t sparked for me until college. A man in my fraternity, who would end up being my best man, began to pray for me and invited me to a Student Mobilization event where I would meet the man who would lead me to Christ, Andrew Barber. Andrew began to meet with me weekly and walk through the Bible with me, and transparently it was overwhelming. I knew nothing. At the same time, I was really struggling in college finding my identity and my place. All my friends, accomplishments, and reputation from high school were gone and my joy went with it. 

On March 29, 2016 Jensen Smith died in a car crash. Jensen was my friend. Jensen was a believer. As I went to his funeral God was beginning to really move in me. I recognized two things that day. One, if that was me in the crash and the Bible is true, I would be heading towards an eternity in hell. Two, I needed a Savior. Soon after getting home I would meet with Andrew and confess with my mouth that I believed Jesus rose from the dead and died for my sins. My life radically changed after this day. I knew I was a new creation. I had a new purpose and I had a new joy. 

After graduating from Missouri State, I moved to Memphis to do the Emerging Leader program with Downline Ministries. During that year, I got engaged to the girl of my dreams, Tessa. We got married in September of 2020. We have two children, Hosanna who is three and Jensen who is one. I am currently enrolled at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

My Hope For Harvest

My hope for harvest is that we would grow in unity so that the world would know the love of Christ. That we would be a church known for prayer and boldness and that we would leave a mark not only on Memphis but the entire globe.