PASTORS RODNEY AND ADONICA HOWARD-BROWNE
SENIOR PASTORS

Rodney Howard-Browne was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and grew up in the Eastern Cape and Transkei. His wife, Adonica, was born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and raised in Johannesburg. Rodney gave his heart to the Lord at the age of five and Adonica gave her heart to the Lord at the age of seventeen. They met and married in 1981 and immediately went full-time together into the traveling ministry. Over the next six years they traveled across Southern Africa, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. In 1983, they pioneered a church in the Northeastern Cape and pastored there for two years. After that, Rodney taught classes in a leading Bible School for another two years.

During this time, they had three children: Kirsten, born in 1982, Kelly May, born in 1984, and Kenneth, born in 1987. Rodney and Adonica knew, even before they married, that they were both called to travel around the world to preach the gospel and they had a particularly strong calling toward the United States of America. In 1987 the door opened for them to go to America. Rodney visited America twice that year, preaching in several churches, and in December 1987 the whole family traveled to America to fulfill the call and plan and purpose of God and to move into the new phase of ministry that God had called them into. The Lord supernaturally provided for their air tickets and they came to America with only $300, four suitcases, and their three children, then aged five, three and seven months. 


PASTOR DAWN SCHEGAR
ASSOCIATE PASTOR

Pastor Dawn Schegar was saved 1979 in South Africa. She had her own school and immediately began ministering to the children and the parents. Many were touched by the Lord and some are even in the ministry today! Dawn saw Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne in a Youth Meeting and the Holy Spirit spoke to her and said, "Mark that young man." She knew there was something special about him. God had marked him. A few months later, he married Dawn's daughter, Pastor Adonica Howard-Browne.

Right about that time, Dawn started a Mission School, which she had for ten years. She then came under Pastors Rodney and Adonica's ministry and was ordained by them. God then opened the door for Dawn to come to America and she knew this was where He wanted her to be. She is now the Children's Pastor at The River at Tampa Bay. She oversees staff and volunteers who assist her in teaching and ministering to the children. Also, she teaches and ministers to the children herself. She counsels and ministers to the parents, and she is responsible for the acquisition and maintenance of the equipment and the curriculum. Dawn has five children, Adonica and Colleen, who were saved at the same time as she was, and Bruce, David, and Earl, who got saved within the same week; they all love the Lord.


PASTORS TODD AND KATIE HOLMES
ASSOCIATE PASTORS

Todd Holmes was raised in a pastor's home and has been around ministry all his life. He was born again and spirit filled at a young age.  After graduating high school he went on to college to pursue a career in music. It was during this time that God made it very clear to him that he was called to full-time ministry. Todd then felt compelled to attend Rhema Bible Training Center. During this schooling he took the position of Associate Pastor at his father's church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which he filled for fifteen years. Prior to that, Todd had done youth pastor work part-time for five years. He has worked in every facet of the local church. He is a skilled musician, singer/songwriter, author, and praise and worship leader. Todd founded World Impact Ministries in 1990 to reach throughout the U.S. and foreign nations with the demonstrative power of the Holy Ghost and the pure Word of Truth.

Katie, after being dramatically born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, also attended Rhema Bible Training Center. It was during this time that she was first touched through the ministry of Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne. After graduating in 1994, she then worked for and traveled with a prominent lady evangelist, carrying revival around the world. Through this she met Todd and they were married in July of 1999. Through their combined ministry, they have traveled throughout the US and in twenty three countries of the world, with several trips to some of those countries.

Todd and Katie left the position in Tulsa in 2001 to go full-time into evangelism and international crusades. In 2004, Todd and Katie moved from Tulsa to Tampa to base their evangelistic ministry out of The River at Tampa Bay. In October, 2007 they came on staff as associate pastors at The River and Todd is currently the Dean of RBI and RSW. It is with great honor that they serve this ministry.


PASTORS ERIC AND JENNIFER GONYON
ASSOCIATE PASTORS

Pastors Eric and Jennifer Gonyon love the Lord with all their hearts and are so thankful for God's supernatural intervention, grace, and mercy that He clearly extended in and throughout their lives. If it were not for God's hand working on their behalf, they realize that they would not be here today for they were not saved until their mid-twenties. In 1991, after being filled with the Holy Ghost, an unquenchable desire and fire entered their hearts to passionately pursue God, the things of Heaven, and to win the lost at any cost. In 1996, Eric and Jennifer attended Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne's meetings in Lake Charles, Louisiana and the Gonyons were never the same again and became partners with the ministry.

When Pastor Rodney announced the River Bible Institute, the Gonyons joined and then graduated as Charter Graduates in 1998. It was also in 1998 when Pastor Rodney hired the two of them. Eric and Jennifer have the privilege of traveling with Pastors Rodney and Adonica and, as a result, they have travelled to over twenty-five different countries. The Gonyons have assisted in organizing many of the soul-winning ventures, such as: Good News New York, Good News Shreveport-Bossier, Good News Tampa, Good News Soweto, Good News Umlazi, Good News Mamelodi, Good News Mdantsane and the Great Awakening Tours. Eric and Jennifer are eternally grateful and thankful for both Pastors Rodney and Adonica and truly count it a privilege to help cast the Gospel net around the world to win the lost at any cost.


PASTOR DAVID BLAIR
ASSOCIATE PASTOR

Pastor David and his wife Julia met at the River Bible Institute in 1999. Having come from very different backgrounds they both had the same vision and call on their lives which brought them together. David was born in Blue Earth, Minnesota and grew up in a big family on a farm. Julia was born in Sumy, Ukraine. David gave his heart to the Lord when he was eight and Julia surrendered her life to Christ at the age of twelve.

David and Julia graduated from RBI in 2002 with a Bachelors of Theology. Julia, then went on to complete her master's degree in Christian Counseling from Life Christian University. They were both involved at The River at Tampa Bay Church, volunteering in many departments of the ministry. In 2003, David had the privilege of becoming Pastor Rodney's Personal Assistant, and went on the road with the Crusade team to many cities and countries of the world. He and Julia were married on November 8, 2003 and since then Pastor David has been working with the ministry.


PASTORS ALLEN AND KRISTIN HAWES
YOUTH PASTORS

Pastors Allen and Kristin came to the River at Tampa Bay starting in 2003. Allen came to be a student at the River Bible Institute in 2003 and Kristin followed in 2004. Both Kristin and Allen were given the opportunity to serve in several different areas of the ministry. In 2005, Kristin was hired on staff to take over the Hospitality department. 

During his time in RBI, Allen had the opportunity to serve Pastors Rodney and Adonica as well as serve under two youth pastors as a youth leader. Then in August of 2006, after Allen graduated from RBI, he was hired by Pastors Rodney and Adonica as an associate pastor at The River and then together they took over the youth department as the Youth Pastors in February of 2007.

Both Allen and Kristin came to The River with experience in the ministry. They had each served for a minimum of 3 years in the Central Florida Masters Commission, both as students and eventually as intern directors over the students of Masters Commission. In 1998, Allen traveled with Eastman Curtis Ministries doing youth crusades around the U.S.  They have traveled together with these ministries to different countries around the world from Romania to Bulgaria, Nicaragua to the Philippines, Paris to the U.S and British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas as well as many cities and states across the United States.  God has birthed a desire and a call to see an entire generation of young people touched and changed by the Fire of God, and to raise them up to fulfill the great commission. Allen and Kristin were married in June of 2005.

PASTOR EVELYN CHAPARRO
SPANISH PASTOR

Noah Chaparro was born and raised in Aguada, Puerto Rico. Born-again at the age of 16 in Long Island, New York,  he immediately felt the calling to the ministry. After graduating from Mizpa Bible College in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he was actively involved in a musical evangelistic ministry and later became an assistant Pastor in a Pentecostal Church in San Juan. His beautiful wife Evelyn also graduated from Mizpa Bible College a year after Noah.

In May 15, 1976 they got married and soon after starting Pastoring Calvary Pentecostal Temple Assembly of God in Staten Island, New York. Noah always had a heart for mass media outreach. In 1976 he and his wife founded the first Spanish radio program in Long Island, New York. Then, in 1980 the Lord opened a door to operate and manage a radio station in his home town in Puerto Rico. Today this is one of the top Spanish Christian radio stations in the country of Puerto Rico. They also founded Christian radio station WAYL FM and worked as Assistant Pastors of Trinity Chapel Ministries now known as Destiny International in St. Augustine, Florida. Noah has worked with other churches and ministries as a radio consultant, management and has built other radio stations in Miami, Orlando, and now in Tampa with Genesis 680 AM. The Lord blessed them with two children, Evie Adina and Noah Abdias, and two grand daughters, Kiara and Adelyn. Since they moved to Tampa, the ministry of Drs. Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne has touched their lives in a special way. They both have a passion for revival and the fire of God and live with the expectation to see a great awakening among the Hispanic people.

PASTOR DANIEL MCGEHEE
OUTREACH/EVANGELISM PASTOR

After serving in the United States Air Force, Daniel went on to achieve his Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Education from the University of South Alabama.  As a public school teacher, he began to experience an unquenchable desire to win the lost, to teach the Word of God, and to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
   
In 2003, Daniel resigned from teaching and answered the call to full-time ministry. He was licensed as a Southern Baptist Minister in 2004 in Mobile, Alabama.  After receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, he went on to become an Associate Pastor in Mobile at  a non-denominational church where he was also licensed and ordained.
   
In December 2006, Daniel began to develop an even greater desire to reach the lost, for the presence of God, and for demonstrations of the Spirit as outlined in the Bible.  As an answer to the cry of his heart, Daniel was introduced to Pastors Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne through a Chronicles of Revival broadcast aired on CTN in January 2007.  Immediately drawn by the Holy Spirit, Daniel began to follow the ministry of Pastors Rodney and Adonica by attending meetings in Fort Walton Beach, Tampa, New Orleans, and Baton Rouge.
 
Daniel and his wife, Shellie, moved to Tampa in August 2008 to attend the River Bible Institute and to support the vision of Revival Ministries International.  Daniel and his wife are both graduates of the River Bible Institute.  He was licensed in 2009 and ordained in 2011 by Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne and now serves as the Outreach Pastor for The River at Tampa Bay Church and as an instructor in the River Bible Institute.                 
 

 


PASTORS JOHN AND NEEDRA HAWKINS
OUTREACH PASTORS

                       
Pastors John and Needra Hawkins, were born in Washington, DC. In 2003, John came to know Christ after a life changing encounter with the Holy Spirit. He became passionate about winning souls and preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Needra gave her life to Christ at the tender age of 9 and was baptized in the Holy Spirit at the age of 16. She too became passionate about fulfilling the call that God had on her life. John and Needra were married June 17th, 2005. Prior to moving to Tampa, FL, both John and Needra, together, served in multiple areas of ministry in their home church in Maryland. They knew that God had "more for them" and that the Lord had a major calling on their lives but did not know exactly where to find their place in the Body of Christ. They heard about Pastors Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne's ministry and shortly thereafter, began visiting the church in Florida and immediately knew that this is where God wanted them to be!

           
John and Needra received scholarships by Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne to attend the River Bible Institute, which was an answered prayer. They left everything (jobs, family and friends) to attend RBI. Needless to say, God honored their obedience by supernaturally providing their EVERY need; including paying their rent and supernaturally putting money in their bank account on a consistent basis as they received a revelation and applied the teachings on sowing and reaping by Pastors Rodney and Adonica.

                 
Since becoming a part of Revival Ministries International, John and Needra have been winning souls by the thousands; hosting outreaches and revivals in project housing communities; conducting training sessions and teaching community leaders how to win souls and conduct Bible studies in their immediate neighborhoods. John and Needra count it an honor and privilege to serve in this ministry. They have a burning desire to see communities, cities, and nations shaken by the power of God and to see the knowledge of the Kingdom imparted in the hearts of mankind.



PASTORS DANIEL AND CLOVER WILLIAMS
ASSOCIATE PASTORS

Pastor Daniel Williams traveled for most of his childhood because of his dad who was in the military. Pastor Clover was born in Washington, DC and raised in Maryland. They met and married in 2008. They both knew that they had the call of God on their life and desired to pursue all that God had for them. They had been very active in the churches that they had been in prior to coming to the River Church and knew that God had more for them. They knew that they needed to become more equipped in God's word and training.

In the fall of 2008, they went to a Great Awakening that was held in Maryland. They were touched and changed by the power of God. As a result, they began to buy all of Pastors Rodney and Adonica's teachings and began gaining a deeper passion for souls. In 2009, they attended Drs. Rodney & Adonica's Winter Campmeeting in Tampa, FL. At that moment, they then knew that God had wanted them to attend the River Bible Institute. They prayed and believed God for an open door. Months later, after applying to the school, they were granted a scholarship. Within months, they immediately left everything to fulfill the purpose and plan that God had for their life.

While attending RBI, Daniel and Clover served in many ministries of helps as well as leading a weekly outreach at Robles Park. Clover was soon later hired on staff as Director of the Ministry of Helps department and, later, Daniel was hired as Manager of the Security Ministry. They both faithfully served in the church as if it was their own church. They later received the opportunity to lead the Singles Ministry "S1ngular" which allows them to share and minister to the single members of the River Church.

Daniel and Clover are soul winners and love to serve and help the people of God. Their desire is to help support Pastors Rodney and Adonica with their vision to see millions of souls saved and changed for the Kingdom of God. They are so joyful to be able to serve God and His people.
               
 
PASTORS NICK AND CAROLINE COETZEE
WORSHIP PASTORS

   Pastor Nick Coetzee was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa and became a born-again Christian in 1977. Knowing that he had a call to full-time ministry on his life and being a gifted musician, Nick began leading worship in a local church in Johannesburg at the age of 24. It was at this church that he met his wife, Caroline, and they were married in 1986.

In 1988, Nick and Caroline moved from South Africa to Australia where they ministered in local churches, and Nick also had the privilege of producing the first version of "Shout to the Lord" with Darlene Zschech. They then moved to the USA in 1995 to serve in local churches in South Carolina and Florida, and to work with Integrity Music and Maranatha! Music. Nick continued to develop as a music producer by producing numerous worship recordings for local artists. In 2001, following the leading of the Lord, they moved their family and recording studio to Tampa to be based at The River at Tampa Bay Church. Over the past 25 years, Nick and Caroline have ministered in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, The Netherlands, and the UK.

Pastor Caroline was born and raised in Zimbabwe (Africa), was saved in 1977, and moved to South Africa to complete a National Diploma in Public Relations. She then moved to Johannesburg where she met Nick at the church where he led worship.

Nick has been on staff at The River as Worship Director/Pastor since 2006, helping found the River School of Worship, where he teaches on various subjects related to worship ministry, and is currently also the Producer for the Riversong label. He holds an Honorary Doctorate in Sacred Music. Caroline is the Worship Department Administrator and is currently pursuing a degree in Theology. Nick and Caroline have a passion for music and creativity - seeing people entering into the Lord's presence through anointed worship.

They have been tremendously impacted by the ministry of Drs. Rodney and Adonica and their dynamic ministry team.They have two children: Chelsey and Christian.

 





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