TESTIMONY

My name is Audria Hempel and my family and I have been at Trinity for 7 years. My husband is Robin and he is a detective with the Buncombe County Sheriff. We have been blessed with 7 wonderful children. Hannah is 21 and a senior at Appalachian State University where she is majoring in English and will be certified to teach High School. She will be getting married next May to a wonderful Christian man, Ben Heise. Kyle is 15 and is currently home schooled. Ben (13) and Daniel (11) are students at Enka Middle. Erica is 11 and a student at Candler Elementary as well as John (10) and Makenzie (8).
In 2001, I began to feel that we were not doing enough for the Lord so I said a prayer for God to use us in a bigger way in our community. Two weeks later God sent Erica and John to us. They were in need of a new foster home and a family member had contacted us. Three days later they moved in on Easter Sunday. I knew that this was God’s answer to my prayer.
That same year Robin and I chaperoned a youth ski retreat with Kenny and Beth Adcock. We were members of a church in West Asheville, however, it was at the retreat where we experienced the in-filling of the Holy Spirit and our lives were changed. We did not feel free to worship the way we were being led by The Spirit, so over the next year we prayed what God would have us do. Slowly God revealed that we needed to move on and find a fellowship that would encourage our spiritual growth and freedom in Christ. Kenny and Beth had joined Trinity and Kenny was the youth pastor. They invited us to come visit. They knew we would love it and we did. It was just where God wanted us to be. Once I convinced Robin that the 30 minute drive was not so bad and after our second visit, we both knew that God was moving us to TOF.
Also in the same year just a month before joining Trinity, God sent us Makenzie. The children were all released for adoption and our family was complete. Our church family here at Trinity has added so much to our lives. My children have come to know the Lord and our family continues to learn and grow in the Lord. God is good and He always has a plan- Jeremiah 29:11.