My name is Ryan Hartzel, and I live in Harriman, Tennessee, about 45 minutes west of Knoxville. A year ago, I began a pastoral assistant role at Grace Community Church in Kingston, Tennessee. In the fall of 2022, I met Scott Smith during his college campus preaching tour. He invited me to Raleigh to train under him in open-air preaching. There, I had the privilege of meeting Tommy and many other faithful brothers. The first time I met Tommy was at an abortion mill in Raleigh, where he immediately began mentoring me. He led, guided, and instructed me in all aspects of being a faithful evangelist.

That week in Raleigh was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. Tommy introduced me to Gospel of God Ministries (GGM), and I quickly immersed myself in their podcast, soaking up the truth like a sponge. I took the GGM Open-Air Preaching course with Tommy and had the opportunity to preach alongside him on several occasions. The resources from GGM and the example of brothers like Tommy have taught me so much about evangelizing the lost. I believe preaching is as much caught as it is taught, and I’m deeply grateful to God for role models like Tommy and the other brothers at GGM. Without their influence, I would not be the preacher and evangelist I am today.