While we at Tyler Gospel Chapel do not object to the term: "Missionary", we prefer to use the term "servants".  Our experience has been that the more individuals and groups we meet and endeavor to work with at home and abroad, the more we receive.  Through the years, Tyler Gospel Chapel has seen the Lord add to us naturally and spiritually as we have given of ourselves.

The very foundation and heritage of this local assembly has been rooted in "missions".  While seeking to serve the Lord by building a center in Haiti, a group of men received an encounter with the Lord that would change their lives forever.  Many of the men who went on that first trip are here with us today.  These men continue to be the pillars of this assembly and were the first to recieve a vision of the Body of Christ as we know it today.

Bro. Nick Gruick was God's instrument in planting the seeds of this message deep in our hearts and laying the foundation that this church is built upon.  When we hear the testimonies of those who had the privilege of knowing him intimately, our hearts still burn within us today.  We have much to thank Bro. C.W. Goforth for in continuing this spirit.  He taught us how to give of what the Lord has given us so freely.  For that, we will be forever grateful.

In the following years, Bro. Clyde Patton of Houston made many trips to Tyler.  With each trip we gained a greater sense of ur being a part of a larger work, rather than just a local church.  He carried a burden for the Body of Christ in general and transmitted that to all who heard him.  His committment to further this vision wherever possible only strengthened our desire to work with other churches.  Bro. Patton was instrumental in helping us use the vast talent in the area of construction that the Lord has blessed so many of our men with.  To date, the men in this assembly have either helped construct or remodel over thirty churches.  These work trips have united us together and blessed us so richly.  The spirit of the Body of Christ now resides here in Tyler largely due to the labor of Clyde Napoleon Patton.

Our involvement with the work in Haiti is largely due to the continued support of our former pastor, Bro. Ralph Angelo.  He carried a committment to help strengthen the saints in Haiti that was passed onto him by his father.  Bro. Ralph Angelo Sr. was one of the first men to visit the work Bro. Nick had established in Haiti.  As a result, his son began going regularily himself.  It was his own testimony that in his bi-annual trips to Haiti he received much more than he ever gave.  This committment to the work in Haiti continued for over 30 years.  Additionally, Bro. Angelo was called upon to work with Haitian churches in the United States and the church in the Bahamas.  He often referred to his gift in the ministry as a peacemaker.  It is evident that the Lord used him greatly in that area.  One summer he travelled over 25,000 miles and was in 70 services in less than 2 months!  He was definitely a "Body Man".  In fact, the Lord chose to take Bro. Angelo home while travelling to Orlando, Fl. to build the Body of Christ on October 13, 1998.

In December of 1975, a family of five sold all they had and travelled to Haiti in order to find the Lord.  Bro. John Kennedy, our current pastor, moved his family to Haiti to follow the Lord's call he received while listening to Bro. Nick preaching.  The Lord had impressed him to, "Follow that man."  Not knowing altogether what that meant, they headed to Haiti.  As he endeavored to assist the churches, he soon found that he was the recipient.  He had come in contact with a group of people that manifested the nature of Christ.  They took him under their wings and began to teach him these wonderful truths that we have today.  Upon returning in June of 1977, Bro. Kennedy rejoined the group of saints that were gaining their own vision of the Body of Christ.  Together, they presently continue to work to seek out all those who the Lord has written His name upon.

Whether it is Haiti, the Bahamas, here in the United States, Africa or anywhere else abroad, the congregation of Tyler Gospel Chapel is committed to fulfilling the calling the Lord has so meticulously worked into our hearts.  We have found this to be our salvation as stated in the following passage:

"Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered ; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies." Micah 4:10