Hi, I am Pastor Henry Funkhouser. I was born in Woodstock, VA in May of 1982, and spent most of my life growing up there. I joined the Virginia Army National Guard at age 18 where I served as an infantry soldier for six years. It was not until I was 25 when I was first confronted with the gospel, and knew I had an important decision to make. On August 8, 2007 after a Wednesday Night Bible study, a man by the name of Terry Bosworth took me down the Romans Road, and showed me from the Bible how to be saved; and that night I called upon the Lord to save my soul.

Two years later I felt the call to preach while reading through the Word of God, and I came across the verse, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel” (I Corinthians 9:16)! I really didn’t know what that meant at the time, but just that this is what the Lord wanted me to do. I tried to shake it for a while, not feeling worthy for such a high calling.

Upon my parents request, I went to trade school at Tennessee Technology Center in Morristown, TN, and earned an Industrial Maintenance degree while I was there. I got a good paying job, but the call came again, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” I decided to leave and answer the call of the Lord. In January 2013, I enrolled at Ambassador Baptist College as an Evangelism Major, and switched to a Pastoral Major a year later. It was during that time that I met my wife, Sarah.

The Lord stretched me and taught me many valuable lessons while at Ambassador. I am eternally grateful for the professors who invested in the life of this young man who was rough around the edges, having never been discipled. On May 2017 I graduated with my Pastoral Major degree.

It was during that time that Sarah and I were waiting on the Lord’s leading for ministry. Pastor Norman Johnston, the missions professor at Ambassador, and his wife Joy took us under their wing where he was serving as interim pastor at Miracle Baptist Church in Sanford, NC. I pastored there for a year, and then the Lord clearly led us down to First Baptist Church of Prosperity, SC. We love it here and would not trade it for the world.

I can truly say that Jesus led me all the way. Psalm 143:8 – “Cause me to hear THY lovingkindness in the morning; for in THEE do I trust: Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto THEE.”