Summer Stories — Hunter & Ashley Fleming

But tonight we are going to wrap up summer stories and go out with a bang. I am so excited for what God has in store for all of you. Got to speak with this couple a couple weeks ago now and hear just a little bit of what God is doing in their life and where he brought them from. And I think this will just be like the cherry on top of what we've been already hearing through the previous stories and couples that we interviewed here. And I just hope and pray that you can take some of this and like let it build faith in your own life. That it would increase from a measure of faith to a gift of faith. First Corinthians tells us there's a spiritual gift called faith, like a supernatural level of faith that a human couldn't possibly have. So I hope and pray that what you hear tonight stirs up that desire for like an actual supernatural gift of faith. Who wants a supernatural gift of faith on their life? We want to be known for it. So ask him, ask him as you're hearing something tonight and you're like, wow, how could you get through that? As you're hearing it say, God, like increase my faith. Give me the gift of faith tonight. So as we prepare for that, love to invite up our invitees this evening. We are gonna hear from Hunter and Ashley Fleming. Would you please join me in honoring them?

All right, we'll have a seat, welcome. Remember, like we discussed, if you get nervous, just look at me, you don't have to, there's only two people out there. It's just, it's just, it's just Mr. Rich, okay? He's the only one you'll hear anyway. Okay, so will you guys please introduce us? And we've got a picture of your beautiful family here. Let us know how long have you guys been married and the names and ages of your kids? Hey guys, I am Hunter Fleming. I'm Ashley Fleming. Hi Ashley. We, sorry, what all was in that question? The names and ages of your kids and how long y'all been married? Yeah, we've got four kids. So Larkin is 14. She's sitting up here on the front row with us. So she skipped students a lot tonight to come watch us. So that means, means a lot. So she said that she wouldn't skip students unless like her arm got cut off. So here she is. We also have Branston, he's 10. Yeah, and then we've got our two littles. So Hadley just turned three and Sonny is gonna be two in August. So good. Well, we love your family.

I mean, as you can hear, you guys have made quite an impact here at the Altar Fellowship, but you haven't been here since 2019. Oh, how long have you been married now? 10 years in October. 10 years in October. All right, hallelujah. Now you have not been in Johnson City for very long. How long have you been here? So the beginning of June, May the year. So celebrate our one year anniversary here. We haven't been in our house for a year just yet though. So our first two months here, we were homeless, but bouncing between Airbnbs for about two months till our house got ready for us. Amazing, yeah. You were in my neighborhood somewhere. Yeah, I didn't realize there was an Airbnb in my neighborhood until he messaged me. He's like, I think I saw your house. Cool. So we gotta know, how did Hunter and Ashley, how do you meet? How do you meet? Yeah, I'll start. So we have been together since sophomore year of high school. High school. High school, yep.

So that is fall of 2009 for us. We did not meet at school. So she went to school, the county south of me in Western Kentucky. So she sent me a friend request on MySpace. Hey, MySpace. Yeah, so pre-Facebook. So she adds me and I send her the whole, do I know you? And yeah, the story's been being written ever since. Let's go. And then of course, you made it into each other's top eight on MySpace. I'm sure some of you guys remember that. Dr. Rich doesn't know what we're talking about, but that's okay. Beautiful. Okay, so you guys have known each other for so long at this point. So we wanna hear a little bit of like the backstory, right? So what was, as you guys later, of course, started dating, and then obviously you got married because you're here, but what did your examples of marriage look like growing up? What had you seen? Yeah, so growing up, I grew up, an only child. My parents were together, got divorced when I was in second grade. Leading up to that, you know, there was never any, you know, examples of a healthy marriage in the household. A lot of, a lot of arguing, a lot of violence involving, you know, firearms and things that I witnessed growing up. Some substance abuse in the house, you know, not necessarily in my presence, but the effects of that were felt. And it was often used as, you know, ammo and fighting and, you know, at the dinner table, which caused it to be really

difficult for my dad to hold down a job. So he, you know, floated through jobs every few months, which led up to, you know, their divorce when I was in second grade. And he left and hasn't really been a big part of my life ever since then. That's, that's kind of that in a nutshell. He did make a brief appearance later in middle school, kind of freshman year of high school, and they kind of rekindled things and got divorced for a second time after a few months. So it was kind of like, you know, nothing, nothing really changed. So, but that, yeah, that's a little bit of that. Yeah. What about, what about you, Ashley? Well, growing up, we were really poor. My mom and dad, they never married. They're still not married. They fought all the time. There was also drugs being used in our household. My dad was a very angry, very jealous man, racist. He still is a little bit very much angry and stuff. So they didn't really, they say they were believers of Jesus, but they never prayed. They never went to church. So they didn't do the lifestyle at all. Yeah. Of that. Yeah. So, I mean, neither of you really, you know, had a godly marriage to look up to and like had an example like in that way for you to follow in your own life. So, you know, I want to hear how, I know that you knew Pastor Matty before he was Pastor Matty. He was Screamer Matty. So tell us how you first met Pastor Matty. Yeah. So I always kind of say Pastor Matty was like a thread that was woven into our lives from the very beginning. So we, we grew up, you know, we were the, the, the hardcore kids, the scene kids, you know, we, my hair was much longer in high school than it is today. Did you like flat iron it or was it like ponytail long? Absolutely. Yeah. Had the straightened long, it was beautiful. The girls were jealous. But yeah, we, we grew up going to, you know, to, to small concerts and house shows all the time. Like that was our, that was our weekends for, for years. I think we saw, you know, four today, six, six or seven times. But, you know, part, part of that story is, you know, sophomore year. Oh, well, sorry. We've been together since sophomore year. The, the summer between junior and senior year, Ashley found out she was pregnant. So, you know, I, as you know, the dad of the baby did not take to the news as, you know, as excited as I should have. And I made the decision at, you know, 17 years old at the time that I wasn't ready for fatherhood. And I just ran from that. And I was told, you know, I told Ashley, you know, good luck with that. I'm sure, I'm sure you'll be a great mom, but I don't want any part of that. And, you know, a couple of days later when, you know,

my mom at the time found out and teachers at the school were starting to hear things through, through guidance, like I was being encouraged by everyone in my life to just, to just leave. You know, nobody was encouraging me to go back to that life and pursue fatherhood at 17 years old. And I just had a lot of resentment build up in me and anger. And I just became, you know, the, the rebellious teenager at 17 years old. So, you know, what did I go do? I went and got a tattoo. So my very first tattoo happened, you know, shortly after I found out, you know, Ashley was, was pregnant with Larkin and I got Ignite the World tattooed across my chest, which. Ignite the World? That's right. Ignite the World, yeah. It's a For Today lyric. Yeah. So For Today fan, right? You know, for me as a teenager that was angry, you know, that was, hey, I just want to set the world on fire. You know, I didn't, didn't care about anything and I was okay if it all burned. And I just, you know, I didn't know that God was marking me at that moment as somebody that was just going to just be radically. be saved and really be able to be a fire in his army one day. But yeah, having said that, big For Today fan, you're still in the band at this time. Roll through summer of 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a big festival. There's a bunch of bands playing, and I go out to the show by myself. Just want to get away and get my mind taken off of all the things that's kind of racing through my mind. And I'm listening to For Today, and Pastor Matty comes out and does his thing and just starts preaching the gospel during their set, as he's done time and time again for several years at this point. And when he comes out to preach, for me, that's the perfect time to just go to the bathroom

and take a bathroom break. So that's exactly what I do. So you weren't sticking around. You were trying to burn it all down. No, I didn't, yeah. Didn't want anything to hear about this Jesus guy or the gospel. So I come back from a bathroom break and get my spot right there at the front of the mosh pit, ready to go. But he's still going. And then he kind of transitions from sharing about Jesus. And he says, hey, I just got some really amazing news that I just feel the need to share with you all. And he shared how he had just found out a few days before that his wife, Candace, is expecting their first child. And he was on stage just weeping with joy on how he was going to be a father. And he was so excited and so just excited for fatherhood, the exact opposite of where I was at, having ran from fatherhood. And he just goes on to say, kids are a blessing. I'm so excited to be a dad, thinking about all the fun things that they're going to do and how much he loves his wife. And then they go on and finish the set. But after the show, I go find Maddie at the merch booth and pick up a t-shirt so it's not too awkward when I want to go up to him and say, hey, it's the price of the conversation is a t-shirt.

And yeah. I've never thought about it that way. That's right. So anyways, I strike up a conversation. And I'm like, that's so cool you're going to be a dad. And he's just once again like, yeah, I'm going to be a dad. I'm like, OK, I don't think this guy's faking it. He's really legitimately excited. It's not just an act. He's putting on for stage presence. And for the first time ever in my entire life, I look at Maddie and I say, I'm going to be a dad too. And it's something that I've never really admitted to myself or really said to anyone else. But he just looks at me and puts his hands on my shoulders and says, that's wonderful news. You're going to be such a great dad. And at the time, I couldn't grow a beard. I was very much a young kid, 17-year-old, looked like 13. So to Maddie, it was very obvious that I was like this young kid saying, I'm going to be a dad. It was very clear that I've made decisions that got me to where I'm at. And I have no idea what I'm doing. But his reaction wasn't judgment. It was just like, man, you're going to be a wonderful father. As long as you want it, you're capable. And nobody in my life had really instilled that or spoke that into my life until the guy at the Hardcore Show. Not my parents, not my teachers, nobody.

And yeah, he laid his hands on me and he prayed over me. And that was the first time in my entire life I've been prayed over in my life ever. It was by Pastor Maddie. So yeah, having said that, left that concert. This was about two months after I told Ashley, good luck with pregnancy. And I drove back to her and just asked for forgiveness and said, this is what I want. And I'd love if you'd just take me back. And we'll figure it out. I don't know what to do. I'm a high school student. But I'll give you everything I can. And yeah, that's a big part of it. Yeah, no, it's huge. I mean, it's so wild how everyone in your life, not just peers, but adults, and family, and teachers that should be guiding you correctly, they were all saying, just leave that alone, as if a child is a problem and not a blessing. And then here comes this Christian guy screaming at the show, and you thought you ditched the message in the bathroom break and he just gave you an earful. at the table and laid his hands on you. I just, I love that so much. It's so powerful. I was like blown away the first time I heard that. And who, I mean, can you tell us who that was?

I mean, your baby. Oh yeah, that was Larkin. That's Larkin. She's sitting over there. Right there. She's sitting over there. We're so glad you're here. Yeah. Yeah, and I, you know, I'd love to say that, you know, at that point, you know, I just got totally drownded in the Holy Spirit. We live this very Christian life and stuff. And that was absolutely not the case. You know, I shared this story. You know, I'm a memorable guy sometimes, but I know Matty's not gonna remember me from 15 years ago when this happened. So, you know, part of this story I shared with him through a letter that I wrote him. I just said, you know, hey, you planted this seed 15 years ago. And now, you know, my daughter that I, you know, have had, you know, the biggest impact raising, you know, she's going to camp with your son now. And they're praying over each other and they're sharing their burdens with each other. And I just think that's such a beautiful thing to see. And I, you know, I just encouraged him, like you planted a seed 15 years ago. And, you know, it didn't harvest anything for a long time.

It didn't even start growing for a long time. So yeah, I just, I continuously try to encourage myself in that, that sometimes the seed takes a long time, especially when, you know, the seeds are as stubborn as the ones I always seem to get. Yeah, absolutely. And look, the seed eventually did grow a beard too. So. That's right. That's right. She said, thank goodness. That's so good. You don't look 13 anymore. Just the right. Keep the beard growing. I'll take it. So, okay, now you mentioned that, you know, after that moment, it's not like you just fell out in the Holy Spirit and changed your whole life after that moment. So what did the rest look like? You know, you guys eventually get married. Tell us a little bit about that story. Yeah, so like I said, we've been together for a long time. So a lot of our stories really intertwined. So, so we'll go back and forth a little bit here, but yeah, so, so graduated high school and, you know, Larkin came a few months before high school graduation. Ashley, excuse me. Ashley just moved in to our house

and we were just knocking out the last few months. Well, I was knocking out the last few months of high school and then about 10 days after I walked the line at graduation, we packed up and moved to Lexington, Kentucky to go to the University of Kentucky. And, you know, it's very evident that, you know, God was making a way for us the entire time. Now, when I look back on it, because I went on a campus tour at UK and I took Ashley when she was about eight and a half months pregnant to walk all over campus because I didn't know pregnant women's feet hurt, you know? And yeah, we did about 20,000 steps that day all over UK's campus. You're lucky she didn't give birth right there in the soccer field. Right. So yeah, and Lexington was about three hours away from where we grew up in Western Kentucky. And on the way home, they called me and said, like, we'll try to give you some hope here. Here's a full ride to college. So they gave us not only, you know, full tuition, but also room and board that just came in the form of a stipend. So we had our apartment for four years covered. So that, you know, that wasn't a huge burden. So what a blessing. Now, and you were pretty smart too. You got some amazing grades going into this.

Yeah, I think I was pretty gifted. You know, school always came pretty easy for me. So I think that helped. I ended up going to school for engineering. I did my mechanical engineering degree in seven semesters, did about 30 credit hours per semester because I wanted to get it done with as quick as possible. And I can definitely, definitely thank Ashley. There were so many times where I just wanted to quit. And I was like, you know, I'll go get the factory job and just work a thousand hours a week to support our family, whatever it takes. But please don't make me do any more, you know, chemistry or physics. Sorry. So, but yeah, it was tough. And, you know, we clearly didn't learn how, where babies come from because Branston came sophomore year of college. So yeah. So we just kept it going and yeah, graduated college and immediately turned around and Ashley took her turn. in college and I'll let her speak a little bit about that and but all throughout this time you know we we didn't get married we were trying to you know get as much assistance at the time as possible and you know we didn't have a healthy relationship so we fell into a pattern of a lot of anger I personally became you know really abusive during this time frame physically mentally verbally just the whole just the whole shebang really if you can you can think it you know I've probably put Ashley through it at some point and you know

our kids grew up just seeing exactly what you know I grew up with and you know there was just a point to where we were really in the valley and we were like maybe it's better off for us better off for the kids if we just just call it quits you know and we were on you know starting to have conversations about divorce but obviously you know what about the kids well let's just fight through it for the kids and then there was a you know nationwide pandemic that hit and you know thank the Lord for that for us because it put us at home for about the first year and things got really bad when we were locked up in the house together things got really violent in our household we did there's a lot here so you ask questions do you have something to say I got really bad into alcoholism when the pandemic hit and like all that was going on so that's yeah yeah yeah we you know I think it's part of it was coping with some of the things I was putting her through but there were a lot of things happening in our household we got into a lot of debt at the time and had a guy at work say hey I've uh I've got this class that that you should go take to learn a little bit about financial literacy it's this guy named Dave Ramsey I like it I like it and it's kind of that whole like let's trick you into to church right so I'd never I'd never really stepped foot into to church in years at that time so I went into church and we took the Dave Ramsey class and learned how to just manage our finances really well you know at the time I'd graduated I had you know gotten a decent job at my company and was making more money than anybody in our families had ever made and we were making terrible decisions with it and yeah just just weren't doing our money well and we we learned a little bit about that I dare I know I know so but my you know the guy at the time was my manager at work and he saw that and he was kind of like you know I want to speak into this a little bit and he offered to pay he paid for your class right for it yeah he paid like a hundred bucks for it so that was great you know and this guy you know was constantly inviting us to church and I was like you know no thank you but we we eventually managed to pay off a lot of debt through you know just just savings and putting like things like income tax

money towards our debt and everything and just got out of a lot of debt and then you know circling back around to the pandemic hitting and they started sending out stimulus funds like thousands and thousands of dollars especially to these young families and we got all this money and and bought a house with it so it was uh it was pretty cool you know we literally took all of our stimulus funds and just gave it right back to the bank and they gave us a house that's really cool yeah and it was a it worked out so I think I want to stop there and circle back I'd like to talk a little bit about when we got married maybe yeah please do I'll just keep going there so okay we got married about a year before we bought our house like I said this would have been a time when we were in a lot of debt not making good financial decisions a lot of violence in the household and you know we at this time we had been together for like seven years and you know we had conversations everybody was like you know what why don't you all just get married and it's like what's that gonna change like I'm sure people have heard that excuse right so eventually we just decided to say hey instead of you know splitting up for the kids, let's just get married for the kids because getting married is gonna solve all of our problems. And all the marrieds in the room laugh. Yeah, yeah. And that it did not. So, but we, yeah. So we got married and like there wasn't a honeymoon phase because we went right back to where we started. And it wasn't until about a year and a half later, maybe a couple of years later, we bought the house and we were like, okay, now we've got this beautiful house, we've got our two kids, we're just, we're doing okay in life. We've already done better than our parents.

This is what life is. Who cares if we argue and fight? Who cares if our marriage is broken because we have a nice house. And we're broken on the inside, but from the outside, like people don't really see it because everything that was going on was definitely behind closed doors in our house. But when we bought the house, the couple that we bought the house from, they were an older couple, they were in their 80s selling the house because they just couldn't keep up with it anymore. And we ended up developing a relationship with them after we bought the house. And do you want to talk a little bit about them? Their names were John and Janet. They were very Christian. Her faith was, I mean, I've never seen anything like it. She like prayed over me in a letter and I'm like, what? Like who prays over people in letters like this? Like I didn't understand it, but something about the house, when I walked in the house, I could feel like the spirit in the house, which I didn't know that back then, that's what that was. But now that I'm, you know, developed more in my faith and stuff, I can just definitely say that that's what that was. And you could just feel her prayers in that house. And I feel like that was a lot of the stepping stone for me.

But obviously I was still drinking every day. It got to the point where I was drinking during the day and then staying up late at night, every night. I would, a lot of the times, lay down and not get back up till the next day and not remember, you know, how I got in the bed. I'll let you tell the story of the night. Yeah. So like Ashley mentioned, you know, a lot of alcohol use and the pandemic didn't help with that because we were just locked in the house. But there became a time to where, you know, once the school started opening up, you know, sometimes like Ashley mentioned, she'd still be drinking the next morning. She'd offered to take Clark into school just after she finished drinking. And there were just a lot of things that we had to watch out for during that time. But I might be going into your next question. Well, I do wanna know how you guys came to know Jesus. Yeah, cool. That's where I'm going. Perfect. So. You're just doing so good. I don't wanna like pause you cause you're like on a roll. Okay. So just roll us right into the coming out of that tune.

Yeah, there was this one night. For me, it was spring of 2021. It was a little over five years ago where Ashley had been all up all night drinking. I'm sure we fought and got into a fight or something, but the, you know, our two oldest kids at the time, Larkin and Branson were asleep. And, you know, I just, I put her in bed. You know, I used to think, you know, the sooner I can get her to pass out, like the better. The craziness will be over for the night. So I just put her in our bedroom and she went to sleep that night in the bed. And I sat against the door in our bedroom to keep her from being able to get out of the house or to get out of the room, get out of the house or whatever. And that morning, like the sun was starting to come up. So it was the next morning. I'd been sitting on the floor in front of that door. And like for the first time in my life, I heard, you know, like God audibly tell me like, this isn't how your story ends. Because, you know, we had gotten to that point where we were having the conversations about divorce and it was beyond what was good for the kids at that point. You know, somebody was going to get hurt or arrested or, you know, have lifelong consequences. But yeah, you know, God just, like I said, he just whispered in my ear and said, this is not how your story ends. And I felt like I could physically feel him just warm my heart, like from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

And you know, this is coming from a guy who wasn't seeking Jesus. I wasn't, I wasn't looking for Jesus. No, nobody had knocked on my door. There was no evangelist that I was speaking or listening to. I would go back and revisit some of, you know, Pastor Matty's evangelistic material after 4Today ended. You know, every now and then I'd look up and be like, you know, I wonder what this guy's up to. And I'd listen to it and think, man, I can be a, be a better father, be a better husband because of the message that this guy's sharing. And I'll just filter out all the Jesus stuff, like I don't need the Jesus stuff. He's a good guy. He's a good man. I remember, you know, him praying over me and how he, you know, encouraged me to be a good dad and I don't need the Jesus stuff. And but yeah, that, that not, that morning, after that rough night, I felt like my heart was just changed and, you know, God just sought, sought me out. And I, honestly, in that moment, I was forever changed. And there's a, there's a lot there, but I'll let, I'll let Ashley talk here. I noticed a difference almost immediately because he used to just, you know, leave me in the bedroom, leave me alone and stuff. But I felt him pray over me a few times after that. And I, he used to never care whether I was covered up or anything like that. He would cover me up and get me a wet towel to put on my head and, you know, and that, I seen Jesus through him and that's what got me, that's what saved me. Wow. That's beautiful. So what happens next, Hunter? Yeah, so, so, you know, kind of look at her and I'm like, hey, you know, things need to change around here.

Let's be intentional about saving what we have here. And you know, I kind of go back to regeneration, right? Like tearing apart the house back to the studs and just having to rebuild it over from the very beginning. And that's what, that's what I really felt like the spirit did to me because, hey bud, do you need something? Okay. Larkin, can you handle the blowout, please? This is real life, it's okay. That was perfect. I think every parent that I've ever interviewed up here is like, I just, you know, hopefully my kid doesn't have a blowout or something and it just came right on in and announced it. What, what they don't know yet is that we totally forgot the diaper bag. We have diapers. We have diapers. They'll figure it out. They'll figure it out. Where were we? Okay. So you, you realize, you were talking about regeneration. Regeneration. We got to tear the house down to the studs. So, um, I didn't know what, I didn't know what to do. Um, kind of like this moment, um, I, I just knew that, uh, you know, I, I wanted to be, I wanted to be a better man. I wanted to, to fix all of the problems that we had and, uh, I'll just highlight what I said there. I knew that I wanted to fix it because I was the one that caused the problems and I needed to fix everything.

So, uh, I get on the phone and text my, my former manager who, uh, paid for the Dave Ramsey class about three or four years ago and I'm like, Hey, I need a church. And this guy's like, yes. And uh, he recommends a church there in town. Um, and we go first, first service is on Easter Sunday. Um, so we weren't even the, the creaster, you know, it was our, our very first service. Um, going to church together as a family and, uh, it was, it was just, it was just different from then. And, uh, we, you know, I, I went zero to a hundred in my, my walk with Christ. I was like, you know, I'm, I'm getting the t-shirt, I'm getting, getting it all. Like, you know, Jesus, my life is yours. And I did that to the best of my ability. I knew how, and when I say like, you know, I tore the walls off and went back to the studs, right? Like, I didn't know how to live life as a Christian, because I was like the baby toddler Christian, and I didn't have any really mentors around me or anybody walking along the faith, so I was like, am I allowed to watch that on TV anymore? Like, I don't know, so I'm just not gonna do it. So I just cut everything out of my life. Like, if it wasn't PG, like, it wasn't in the Fleming household anymore. And let's say Larkin left, but I really wanted to highlight her because it wasn't until, it was about a year into my personal walk with Christ where Larkin looked at me, and she was about maybe only 10 or 11 years old at the time, but she was like, dad, you've changed.

And just hearing it from your own child that they can see a visible difference in how you've become a new creation in Christ just really, really hit me. And I was like, you know, I'm doing this for my family, but just to have the evidence and the confirmation from her was really amazing because she grew up getting to see both sides of us. And maybe that'll be part of her testimony one day. But yeah, Branson was a little young, but Larkin has really kind of spoken about that. And, you know, it's been a few weeks since Pastor David kind of said, hey, I think I might want to interview you on stage for your testimony. And Ashley and I have been spending a lot of time together thinking about what we want to share. And, you know, obviously I wanted to share what I had talked to Pastor Matty about in the letter about me kind of running away from fatherhood. Well, this was actually something I had never shared with Larkin before. So it was just a few, it was like the night before she left for church camp, I decided to sit her down and I said, hey, Larkin, this is part of my testimony that you don't know about. And I just want to let you know that like, you know, I came back, but there were mistakes that were made. And, you know, there's regret there,

but I just want, you know, there shouldn't be any information that we don't share with you. So in the process, there was some kind of confession to her. And I was like, you know, perfect time. I'm going to tell her before camp and she can get it out at camp. If there's anything that she's got to wrestle with there. But- Send it to the youth pastor. Yeah. But she received that as if nothing had ever happened. She was like, I've seen, you know, who you were and who you are now. And she's like, you're a new person. You know, she looks at me and she's like, it's extra biblical. And she's like, you've been washed clean by the blood of Christ. Hallelujah. Let's go. And there's blood for that. So, yeah, it was amazing. And, you know, our walk with Christ, like I said, it's been a thousand miles an hour, but yeah, I'll go back to that night and let Ashley talk a little more. Yeah, one, I just wanted to highlight too, like I think while we're here, you know, I mean, I think like now you guys are obviously

on the other side of that story where you're probably the ones like, you know, extending the invitation for someone to come to church or offering to get someone to a class or whatever that might be. And I think a lot of people in the room have probably been there. Like I know I have, you know, when you're extending the invitation to someone to come to, you know, come to the Easter service or come to the 4th of July or come to the revival night or whatever that might be. And you just don't see the fruit. And your old manager was, you know, making those offerings like day in and out. And then four years later, you just like send him a message like, hey, I need a church. And like, I know for sure he was on the other end, like, yes, got him, you know? And so just want to encourage you guys, like don't stop sowing seeds. If like some of them don't pop up out of the soil right away keep sowing for you will reap a harvest in due time if you do not give up, says the word of God. So that's right. We're so glad to see you guys here as fruit of that. So awesome. So you, now you said Ashley wanted to, well, I don't know if she wants to, but you said she might continue some of that.

I'll just keep talking. She can just put her hand down. Well, I want to hear from Ashley. So tell us, I mean, your husband has not been real great before finding God to you and it's led you off the deep end as well. And now you're like seeing this visible change in him and you guys go to church on Easter. Like, what was it like for you that next 12 months finding God for yourself? And what were you seeing in Hunter? Well, when we first started going back to church, I was like, you know, I went to church. It wasn't a big deal. But then when I started seeing Hunter standing up and worshiping and like leading our family and reading the Bible. and just following that lifestyle with it. That's when it mattered to me, because my parents always said, like I said, they believe in Jesus, but they didn't live the lifestyle. So that really mattered to me. I was still drinking. I didn't stop drinking until one day, I just got fully delivered from that. Let's go. Yeah, I just didn't want it anymore. And we actually renewed our vows. And we did that over, you know, we'd had communion and we had people praying over us.

And I met my kid's godmother, her name's Misty, and she's a very, very spiritual woman. I love her. She just taught me a bunch of things and a lot of, you know, to be, listen to my husband and be supportive of him and stuff. So, you know, I was when he said he wanted to move to Johnson City, so. So let's hear that, right? God's transformed your life. How in the world do you get to Johnson City? The pandemic was all crazy. You meet Jesus, you come out of the pits, up in the glory now, and you're just like, I need to go from glory to glory, straight to JC? What happened? I mean, that sums it up. Yeah, so like I mentioned, I like, I've come off as like a For Today fanboy. I promise I'm not. But I go back and I, maybe a little bit. And I did, I did see a quilt in the house. There's a quilt in the house. With every For Today shirt ever sewn into it. And he saw one of the quilts. Franston showed me. But yeah, so like I mentioned, I went back and I would revisit some of Matty's evangelistic stuff and listen to some of the conference.

Like, that guy's pretty cool. You know, I used to really look up to him and enjoy his music. So once I got saved, you know, I'm a year in and I'm like, hmm, I wonder what that guy's up to. So I look and he's got a church. And I'm like, I'll check that out. And like I mentioned before, you know, I used to listen to Pastor Matty's messages and thought I could be a better father and a better husband and just filter out all the Jesus stuff. And I had come to realize that, you know, I can't be a better father or I can't be a better husband without the Jesus stuff. And it was a huge turning point and, you know, how I just processed what it means to be a Christian. And so I was going back listening to all of the Revival Nights from 2020, you know, and just some of those early messages. And I was like, this is like, first and foremost, it was very different from the church where we were attending regularly and where we were for, you know, five years until we moved here. Saved at one church, were there all the way until we moved here, left on good terms. Love it. Yeah, we'll get to that,

because I'd like to talk about that a little bit. But we absolutely loved our church, but I kind of nickname it Country Club Christian Church, because they're great for new believers, which is what we were, and they walked us so far. But then we started having more questions about, you know, what are the gifts of the Holy Spirit? You know, I love Jesus and I want more, but why can you all only sing three worship songs and it cuts off and like, no matter what the Spirit's doing, you won't sing another song. So, but like I said, very grateful for the stepping stone that that church was for us. You know, Ashley and I actually were leading a small group, a couples group there. And we were leading a group and we were also visiting the altar. I think we visited here, you know, a dozen or more times over the course of, you know, after we got saved and we knew eventually it was gonna be home, but the first few times, God was just saying, not yet. You know, and during this time, God says, hey, I think you need to grow your family. And I look at Ashley and it's like, we legit wake up at the same time in the middle of the night, it's like two or three o'clock in the morning and connect eyes. And it's like God laid the message on our heart at the same time. And I was like, no way.

I mean, yeah, so, you know, I had- You mean like have more babies. Yes. Yeah. And I- Is my wife in here? Yeah, but no, I had taken surgical precautions. caution to make sure that wasn't going to happen before after Branson was born and uh... i mean he was a handful but yeah that's right so physically that wasn't going to be able to happen yep so it wasn't going to happen unless unless i got you know the procedure reversed which we did uh... very painful don't recommend a big part of that is hey you know the doctors like this is going to cost you like five thousand dollars insurance isn't going to cover it it's elective and i was like you know we just bought a house we don't have money uh... so we drained every dollar out of our savings account to pay for that operation for like i think it was like a forty three percent chance of being able to to have another baby and they were like you know surgery's done at least six weeks to make any attempt and i think six weeks and we were pregnant so it was great and now we've got we had two under two so uh... hadley came and then sonny came they're fifteen months apart so so yeah we had two babies and uh... we were leading a small couples group at

the same time and uh... i'm going to mention this i said i wouldn't mention this because ritual comes to my hand uh... he shared in his spiritual authority class about being in rebellion to the to the house that you're supposed to serve and we loved our church that we were in i mean we were serving we were leading uh... a couples group i was serving in youth ministry for the high schoolers we were very involved and uh... but we we slowly saw ourselves you know like i said asking for more and uh... we were starting to kind of like implement the core values of the altar into our small group and they were like whoa this isn't what we heard on sunday and i was like but jesus wants more and i i started to feel uh... sense of rebellion to the house that we were a part of and uh... at that time we decided to to meet with our pastor and uh... we're just kind of sharing the conversations that we were having and the group because we were seeing couples kind of get uncomfortable or they just weren't enjoying our group because of the conversations we were having and uh... our pastor just looked at us and he said your all's hearts already in johnson city and uh... you know as we were kind of having conversations we knew that this small group that we were leading was kind of you know our tie to kentucky where we were

and uh... we couldn't just disband our small group and leave to go to another church you know we didn't want to leave that way so after our pastor said that you know our small group unfortunately kind of dissolved and all the couples actually ended up moving to different churches uh... we just felt god kind of organically orchestrating our move here and breaking ties with a lot of friendships and a lot of you know our families because we we moved a lot further away from our own biological families coming here as well and we just felt like him kind of giving us assurance that we're making the right decision and now is the time even though we've been visiting here for a couple of years and yeah sonny our youngest was six weeks old when we put our house on the market and uh... that's a that's a story in itself but yeah that the house took forever to sell took about eight months to sell multiple repairs had to be done it almost got hit by a tornado it touched down about a hundred yards from the house just a whole bunch of stuff and I really started questioning like god is this what you want and I remember messaging pastor Zach I don't think he's here tonight but he just messaged me back and he said how bad do you want this and I was like more than anything you know and uh... the the third time around that we got our house under contract we managed to get it sold and uh... and moved here

and like I said it's been a year now it's been the the best decision of our life and even if even if it wasn't the right decision for us we know it was the right decision for our kids because we moved here and we had been here about forty eight hours before I put Larkin on a bus to the the first youth camp and I didn't know a single person and I just look at pastor John and I'm like please don't murder her please bring her back and uh... I'm just like you know I've prayed on this the spirit said send her and like she came back from church absolutely on fire and has never been the same we're so glad you're here there's like so many little nuggets you've dropped all throughout your testimony and now that you're a Christian and so I want to I want to highlight a few of them you said a long time ago in your story I mean, you guys are expecting a child at 17 years old? You're expecting a child at 17 years old and you go ahead and try and go through school and go to college and then you finish in, what did you say, seven semesters? Yeah, I did college, seven semesters. Seven semesters, so you finished early. You did more studies than a full-time student would do and you finished early and you said it was hard and then you just moved on. And I think those three words, it was hard, are something that young people in the house need to hear. Life really is hard if you want to have success and see fruit in what you're working in. And that was really hard, but you didn't quit. And I'm so proud of you. I just think we need to hear that, that like, man, all odds against you guys, 17 years old,

you didn't have a family teaching you how to do this, everyone was telling you to run and you chose each other and you stuck it out and you studied and worked and I bet it was really hard for Ashley those four years at home during that time too and you didn't quit and now look at the fruit on your life, man. It's so good. This is what happens when you don't quit. Yeah, absolutely and I will say, you know, we definitely got each other through a lot of that time because I, we got our apartment paid for through stipends from the scholarship which was wonderful because we could just go drop a check off for a whole year's rent with the landlord and he was like, you all are the best tenants ever. He loved you. Yeah, so that, you know, was a huge blessing, but at the time, you know, I was initially working full time while going to school with like 30 credit hours. I was in the geek squad at Best Buy and actually, and long story short, I ended up, you know, taking another job and losing that job for reasons that don't really matter, but Ashley ended up working. So she was the closing supervisor at Kmart. So at the time. RIP. Yeah, one of the last Kmarts ever in Lexington. So I would get home from school and she would go to work and she would work six, seven hour shifts, get home at one o'clock in the morning. So you'd come home from school and take care of baby Larkin while doing your homework and then you're working all night after taking care of baby Larkin all day long. That's really hard. Absolutely. It's really hard. So there was a lot of balance, you know, it couldn't have been done for either one of us without the other. So it was amazing and like I said, I don't want to discourage the fact, I think Ashley

should talk about it a little bit, but after I graduated and got my first salary position at Trane, which I'm still there today, she went to college for cosmetology. So she's got her degree as well. Yeah, you can clap for that. It's great, but yeah, you know, she doesn't cut hair today. So I think there's a lot there about that story and her embracing motherhood with open arms as well. So. Well, my dream was always to do hair. I loved hair. I used to cut my Barbie doll's hair when I was little. I'm sure a lot of girls did. But then I graduated cosmetology school and then COVID hit, so I had to like stay home. I couldn't like I didn't learn anything new or anything like that as an apprentice because, you know, the virus, yeah, you can't be six feet distancing and all the things. So then after all that happened and the salon started opening back up when we moved to Richmond, Kentucky and got a house, I started working at a salon. And then when God put it on our hearts to have more kids, I decided that I wanted to not work and be a stay-at-home mom. Yeah. And Hunter said deal. Yep. I love it. Yeah, that's so good. So, OK, now you guys have been here a year. What has it been like the last 12 months being at the altar in person instead of listening from afar? Tell us like some highlights. You can you can tell us a low light, too, but tell us some highlights. Oh, it's been amazing.

Everyone that I've met here, I could just tell has been touched by Jesus in their lives. I really love it here for my kids, my family. It was definitely God's blessing on us to put a call on us to be here. That's beautiful. We're so glad you're here. Yeah, I talk a lot, but I've got I've got a lot to say about this. This church, I think I've heard. It may have been Pastor Anna when she was sharing her testimony, but she's just like, the altar is just different, and it is. And that stands true for anybody that could sit on their couch and watch the live stream every single Sunday. So after our pastor at our last church told us that our hearts were in Johnson City, and like I said, it took about eight months to sell our house, we fully tuned in to the altar fellowship. We stopped going to our church in Kentucky in person, and we pulled our tithe, we shifted our tithe to the altar fellowship at that time, because this is where we were getting our instruction, and this is where we felt like, you know, we were sheep in Pastor Matty's shepherd and his pastor at that point. But I was going back, and I was like, I'm going to go listen to all the core value messages. I'm going to go back and listen to every single message Pastor Matty's ever preached, and I did. I was the most well-educated person to come into the altar ever. Like if you ask me what Pastor Matty said on this day at this time, I could like regurgitate it. Let's go. I was more of an altar fellowship expert than I was a Bible expert, and that became a problem. And I realized that once I got here, so I got highly convicted of being able to quote Pastor Matty than I did to being able to quote scripture. And yeah, I had to take a step back from that, because I thought I'd be able to walk into this house, and I would be just grasped with open arms, because I was the most knowledgeable

on where the altar came from, and you know, where the roots came from. And while I think all of that's important, and I think everybody should go to the Worth Tribe and study the core values, they are very, very important. But yeah, that's a little bit of my confession for when I came here, honestly. But we've been here a year now. We came with, you know, obviously not knowing anybody. We knew everybody vaguely, had a lot of acquaintances, right? But very first Sunday, you know, Kashif came up to Branson and was like, what's up, Branson? And I'm like, like, our pastor at our last church didn't even know my kids' names. And I'm like, this is already family. And we've gotten, you know, just built so many relationships, and just people that I know in this room right now that would just give the shirt off their back for us, and probably my dog if it needed it, because I feel so just absolutely loved. But what's experienced here on Wednesday nights, and you know, serving, and at camp, and like all this stuff just isn't experienced through a live stream. So as well educated on the altar fellowship as I thought I was when I got here, it wasn't the same. And like, there aren't a lot of, you know, cons to our move here. But part of it is, like, when we moved here, we realized that, dang, that these are just people too, with stories like mine, stories, you know, way different than mine. Because I would look at Ashley, and it was a lot like when we got married, I was like, you know, we're safe now. It doesn't mean our marriage is perfect, but moving to Johnson City and being part of the altar fellowship, then our marriage is going to be perfect. And yeah, and I said those things, but we got here, and we were still having, you know, some struggles, like nothing, you know, that I think we need to share anything, but just difficult days, like we're raising two kids under two, and like I said, we had no house for a couple months. Like, it was a tough season to be in, but then we came here, and I was just, you know, a little caught off guard sometimes when, well, why is my life not perfect here?

But this church has been the biggest blessing of my life. It's been the biggest blessing on my children's life. And when I say the church, I don't mean this building, I mean the people in it. The worship, the small groups, I think we've had, we've hosted over 30 dinners at our house now for different families in the church, and it's just been so amazing to build relationships and share testimony and have our, you know, kids wreck each other's rooms at their houses and, you know, break their back doors. Josh knows all about that, and just everything. It's been absolutely amazing, and I hope to be here forever. And you know, during our move, when Pastor Zach said, how bad do you want it, and I shared that with Ashley, she's like, you know, you're being called to Johnson City, and I'm going wherever you go. but like what if Pastor Matty said he's gonna leave and I'm like I think I'd still go and then she's like well what if Pastor Zach leaves and I was like well if we lose two of them that'd be really tough but I think I'd still go and and she's like well okay then I think you're going for the right reasons because there was a season of you know we got to make sure I'm not seeing Pastor Matty and and where I came from on the move here and it just got to a point to where like right now like you know if you all decide to go to back to Ecuador and plant a church with the altar you know the altar fellowship to like like this is home you know and these these people are home and I think it's just amazing to get that confirmation from God that we had the right choice yeah that's beautiful well again we're so glad you're here I think it's so neat what you mentioned before we close you know you kind of described like the land of cows and bees you know the the Israelites they were promised that they were going to go and inherit the land where it's flowing milk and honey but milk and honey come from cows and from bees and that's hard work that's the real stuff and you got to get through a lot of manure and a long time before you get the milk and the honey and so I just think that you know that could be a message there might be people watching this four years from now on the

website and they're hearing you guys like this is the best place to ever you know and then it's like when you get here it's like you see rich elder rich you know who you see on the stream loving the Lord every week he's still human you know you meet the pastors and they're still human you meet other families that you've seen it's like yeah they're still human too and it's like we're all coming here together to grow in the Lord and to grow in family together and so I think that's that's a beautiful lesson like to be learned but yeah I hope you're here forever too absolutely that's great is there anything else that you guys would like to share before we close I've got one more thing maybe actually does probably not I knew you had it in you yeah I just I just want to say like you know it's been a few weeks since you you know said hey I want to interview you and it's given given me and Ashley a lot of time to to sit down in our secret place and really chase after the Lord on what he wants us to share because in full transparency you know I've shared my past of abuse with a couple of guys in the past it's the only time I've ever shared that part of my story and you know a couple days later they got a word from the Lord that we shouldn't be friends anymore and so I think sometimes it can be very nervous to share your testimony and be open about your faith but I think there's a lot of power in testimony yes but when Ashley and I sat together saying you know there's so much that we could share and tonight's just a fraction of really what what we've had the opportunity to go through and grow together in our life but taking the time to reflect on that the last few weeks has been a huge gift so we're really grateful for that it's given us an opportunity to to think about the good times and get closure on some of the difficult times that we've had and have opportunity for for confession and to just really pray together on you know where we're at today and where we've come from so I think revisiting your testimony as a couple or as a person is important and I just I want to encourage everybody to take the time to do that because I think there's always something there that kind of reinvigorates a relationship to just talk about what you've walked through. Yeah it's

beautiful and like to think you know that was just five years ago right that you know six years ago it was the BC you know the before Christ Fleming's and now it's like here we are you know just on year five like just beginning this journey you know and so I mean late toddlers at this point it's amazing it's so good it's I can't wait to meet the teenage Fleming's and the grown adult Fleming's like spiritual Fleming's like one day is gonna be grandpa Fleming that's a good thing it's a really exciting thing to think about like what God can do in five years look at how he redeemed the time like won't he do it you know like you probably looked back and there were so many years and you're like oh I blew it or I missed that you know oh I can't get those years back and it's like but you have five years now running after the Lord together and growing and cutting those chains that were holding you down and they were left there in the grave and it's buried so it's buried remember that it's buried yeah so we're so glad you're here Ashley I had some things that I have not told Hunter yet when when you ever you asked us for the summer stories because I was so ashamed I'm not gonna share that tonight with what they were but I confessed to him and we just held each other and he forgave me and stuff so that was good for that and then from that I I'm gonna get baptized again Like, you know. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's beautiful. Did you... Great job, honey. Yeah. Yeah.

So proud of you. Yeah. Proud of you guys. You know, that's so beautiful. Like, you confessed that to him. And then what you said, right? That he forgave me. That's something that Christians do. Right? That's something that we do when we have this example of Jesus. And so, just proud of you. You know, both of you for being a man of God and a woman of God, like, from where you've come from. And I think it will give hope to people that are listening. They're like, okay, like, there's hope for me. Like, maybe my upbringing wasn't what I would have wished. Or like, maybe the way we started our marriage wasn't how I would have hoped. And it's like, God can redeem all things that's in his name. So, we believe that. We see that in you guys. And so thankful that you're here. And I know you guys, you serve behind the scenes in so many ways. Serving our children, serving small groups, and so many other ministries. And I know there's more to come. Like I said, can't wait to meet, like,

teenage Christian Flemmings. Like, this is exciting. I can wait. You can wait. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, hey, would you guys, would you pray for the house tonight for perseverance, pray for faith, and just for marriages, right? Like you saw your marriage restored. So, release some faith for that tonight in the room. If you're in here, I want you to receive in faith tonight and just receive what the Lord has for you. Father, I just thank you for this house. I thank you for every voice and every story in this house. And I just, I just pray that, that if there's any, if there's any shame left in this house, that it just be eradicated in your name, Father. I just pray that, that we just open the mic up and people just stream forth, just wanting to share how God has been so good in their life, God. And I pray that, you know, there's courage and bravery to do so. And that that's just a practice that never dies off. God, I just pray that husband and wife find comfort in each other. I pray that there's just salvation

over every person in this house, Father, that's seeking after you, God. I just pray that no matter how long it's been since the seed has been dropped or planted, that it finds fertile ground and just begins to bloom. God, I pray that, for those that are scattering the seed, that they don't lose faith and they just maintain their stride and continuing to just scatter seeds so that the harvest just becomes continuous and abundant as they continue to live their life. God, we don't scatter seed for us, God, but we scatter it for you. And we just thank you for the opportunity to be able to do that as a part of your will, God. Father, we love you and we say all this in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen.