How It Started
This is a story of God’s kindness, guidance, and support of His ministry. See how The Lord has prepared us and this organization to continue in his good works.
Gideon Crump (left) & Tyler Powell (right)
Gideon Crump, one of the founders of the organization, became a Christian around the same time he started long distance running. On the morning of his first marathon in Beaumont, Texas in 2014 he read from his daily devotional, My Utmost for His Highest by O. Chambers which quoted Romans 8:37. Through hours of running and prayer that verse about God’s love stuck with him and planted the seed of this organization. Being discipled by peers at his church, he decided he wanted to combine his love for The Lord and fitness so he started a prayer running group. However, this immediately failed due to both of those disciplines being difficult, especially in tandem. After some time and guidance from friends, he started a group fitness class on the local college campus as a way to spend time with fellow believers and invite others in to see Christ’s love.
MTC Fitness thrived as a community and on campus ministry for many years with very little organization or business structure. We were just a group who believed that reaching people for Christ meant meeting them where they were. One such person was More Than Conquerors (nonprofit) co-founder Tyler Powell. He came to MTC Fitness as an atheist college student attending Lamar University. He loved fitness, later he came to know the love of Christ.
Early 2020 COVID-19 shut down our weekly MTC Fitness meetups on campus. Everything closed and we continued with the new “normal” that was 2020. We discussed whether or not we should bring MTC Fitness back. We acknowledged MTC had done amazing things for many people over its years of operation, but maybe this was our sign to let MTC go and continue on with other projects in life.
On August 9th, 2020, Tyler’s wife, Sheena Dae Yarbrough-Powell, who was an active MTC member and leader, was killed while on duty as a Police Officer by a wrong-way drunk driver. This sent shockwaves through the MTC community and changed our lives forever.
After some time of grieving Tyler was looking for ways to remember Sheena and carry on her memory. While weighing his options, M.T.C. was a recurring theme. M.T.C. is where Tyler and Sheena met and re-met. Tyler first asked her to go on a date there and they even got engaged at MTC! As Tyler was considering this possibility, he listened to, and then shared with the group a podcast Sheena was a guest on 2 weeks before she was killed. On the podcast she talked about how MTC was, “the most important thing that we do.” She talked about how we are able to reach people in the community because we are out in it. After hearing this final affirmation from Sheena herself, and with guidance from the Lord, Tyler approached Gideon about More Than Conquerors being reformed and recreated. MTC had always been Gideon’s dream and so they setout to create More Than Conquerors - the nonprofit organization.
Since then, we have been devoted to our mission: to showing the world the light of Christ by sharing the Gospel through good works and Christ-honoring relationships. Since MTC’s official nonprofit start, we have ministered to young adults and Lamar students during one of life’s most pivotal and important stages. Through His goodness and provision to us, we have been able to witness lives changed and souls saved all because of what Jesus did on the cross. It is the upmost blessing for us to be used in His plan as a vessel for His message. We do it for His glory and that alone.
Every Thursday we meet, workout, and share a meal together. We host fun events, movie nights, and Bible studies that strengthen and grow our community and spiritual lives. Our goal is not to be an organization that goes with us when we leave. Our goal is to be an organization that puts God at the center of all we do. We desire to be a place where God can easily be found for those who are seeking Him.
Whether you come for the workout, free meal, or the community, we want you to know that God loves you. He loves you so much that He sent His only son to die for you on the cross and raised Him from the dead 3 days later. He walked out of the tomb so that we could walk with Him in relationship. He did this so that we could know Him.
If you have any questions about More Than Conquerors or about Jesus, the Gospel, or our faith, email or direct message us! We would love nothing more than to meet, workout with, eat with, and talk with you!!
“No, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
- Romans 8:37