Citizen Tribune Articles 2005 | Prophesy | Statement of Faith

Pastor Jeff Wells has a passion for helping others, whether it's in his own backyard or a foreign country.

Wells, pastor of Rock of Refuge Church in Morristown, recently returned from a trip to Sri Lanka to help deliver more than $148 million in medical supplies to the
thousands of survivors of the recent tsunami.

"I was blessed to be able to meet with people who received the missions donations," he said. "The last count I read was 289,000 died in the disaster, but I don't think the officials will ever know exactly how many lives were lost."

Wells, along with a group of ministers, began his aerial journey in Houston, Texas, where the group boarded a chartered 747 headed for Galle, Sri Lanka.

Following his trip to Southern Asia, Wells attended a Bible Conference in Belize, where more than 12,000 families were fed with eight tons of beans and rice donated from the National Pastors Conference, of which Wells is a member.

"The church has been doing the feeding program in Belize for six years," he said.

For the past 13 years, Wells' church has held its annual Coats for the Cold event to help people in the Lakeway Area have cold-weather clothing.

"It all started when my youngest daughter came home from school at John Hay Elementary and told me about a little girl in her class that didn't have a coat to wear to school," he said. "She asked if we could buy one for her, and that made me wonder just how many other children didn't have warm coats to wear during cold weather."

Last year, the church's drive supplied more than 3,000 coats to needy people in the area.

"We try to make it a community effort-a humanitarian, Christian effort," he said. "It needs to be where people receive from the Lord and not from man."

The church is also involved in donating food, clothing and household items to impoverished families in Cawood, Ky., gifts to nursing home residents in Hamblen County and maintaining a warehouse of donated items that are
distributed to those in need.

"We are a very mission-minded church filled with wonderful, Godly people," he said. "We've seen some awesome miracles within the walls of this church and hundreds of souls saved over the last 13 years."

Rock of Refuge began in Wells' basement and eventually moved to a larger facility before building its current Christian Learning Center on Old Liberty Hill Road in 2000.

"I've seen God leading and blessing us in every step of our ministry," he said. "My goal is to serve the Lord and be a blessing to the people."

Wells entered the ministry at 32, but not without serious consideration.

"I knew five years before I stepped out into the ministry that was my calling, but I wanted to make sure," he said. "The call of God is a very serious responsibility, and I was very cautious in accepting that responsibility."

Wells had previously served as Sunday school superintendent of his home church, Morristown Church of God, and served at New Direction Christian Center for two years.

"Our goal at Rock of Refuge is to someday build a 3,500-seat sanctuary," Wells said. "But that depends completely upon God."

The church is home to one of the largest stated-funded day care centers in Hamblen County with an average of 70 children per day. The Rock of Refuge Early Learning Christian Center is available to families in the Lakeway Area and is open 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Service times at Rock of Refuge Church are 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sundays, Prayer Intercessory Service 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Worship Service 7 p.m. Wednesdays.

Wells has two daughters, Crystal Long and Taylor Wells. He has two grandchildren, Hannah and Isaiah Long.

For more information about the church, call (423) 581-4404.