Emmanuel Lynch
Origin
Born on the southside of Chicago in the 1980’s, Emmanuel was the 3rd of 4 children delivered to a father and mother struggling with addiction. His mother believed getting pregnant would motivate her to get clean, so she prayed to God that if He would grace her with a son, she would name him “Emmanuel” in honor of God being with her. Emmanuel was conceived, his mother got clean and later moved out of the city to a small town in central Illinois, where he was raised.
Transformation
He never excelled in sports or academics, and after graduating high school, he tried his best at a regular life. He found a warehouse job, married early and experienced an existence that was dull and meaningless. That was until he heard a message, a message that he thought he had heard before. It seemed almost exactly like the messages he heard in "church" and from T.V. preachers, except this time it was minus hypocrisy. The message without the need to pay tithes and follow laws, but instead a set of specific instructions that when followed, would offer him a knowing by experience, that God was Jesus Christ; that somehow, God would be in him and him in God. Emmanuel seen this as an open invitation to an experiment; to know for himself, once and for all, if all of the Jesus talk was truth. He had already went to the front of churches during alter calls and said he was giving his life to Jesus; he had already been "baptized" and claimed he was a Christian, but this was something entirely different. It was actually doing what Jesus had asked his disciples to do as depicted in the Bible, to simply follow Him. To leave your plans, loyalties and identity is something that he thought was not feasible in today's day and age. At the time though, he was starving for happiness, meaning and self-worth, so after a few days of deliberation, he gave it a try and one night before bed he said, "Lord, take my plans for my life and who I am entirely" and this time it wasn't one of those, "I'm in church and I feel bad for some of the things I did" prayers or "I don't want to go to Hell" prayers, it was an actual commitment and an informed decision in 100% understanding the gravity of the seriousness of implications. To his amazement when he awoke the next morning, he actually felt different. He was having thought patterns that he did not recognize or fully believe he should. It was almost as if he felt that he was driving the same car as yesterday, but the AC was blowing much colder and stronger and when pressing on the gas, the acceleration had been altered in some way that the torque was improved and amplified. Most of all, his normal radio stations that he loved now had static, making them hard to hear.
God's Leading
He went on to find out that he had received the Holy Spirit. So did those around him. His wife left him and so did many friends. Through listening to the new presence and voice within him, he watched his entire world change. There was pain, suffering, persecution, but also peace, joy, purpose and access to gifts. With his new heart, he began to use his gifts to bless those around him while serving God under specific instructions.
God led him to serve as a Chaplin in jails: Sheriff's Office | Champaign County Illinois & Corrections & Piatt County Sheriff by bringing incarcerated men candy and the same message that was delivered to him (until COVID policies restricted it) between 2015 - 2020.
God led him to serve as a Domestic Violence Outreach Coordinator for Courage Connection between 2023 - 2024.
God led him to serve as Teen Mentor for Vision to Succeed | Mentoring | Champaign County, IL, USA between 2024 - 2025.
God led him to serve as a Hope Class Mentor for Champaign | Pregnancy Resource Center | Living Alternatives between 2024 - 2025.
God led him to make media production for the Ball Family's benefit at https://www.youtube.com/@BallFacts voluntarily, starting without their knowledge or consent in 2019. By 2021, he met the Ball Family and befriended Lavar Ball.
God led him to get married in 2012, hand-deliver all of their six children at home, serve through justchrist.org and so much more.
Transformed
Emmanuel is a husband, father, film producer, mentor, but most importantly, he is a disciple of Jesus Christ. His goal is to share with others that God is real, that He came through Jesus and He has a wonderful plan for all. Emmanuel finds freedom in not trying to live up to any religious standard or be all-knowing, because he has the Holy Spirit, which is his direct connection to the One who is righteous, perfect and all-knowing enough; for everyone who decides to follow Him, God. Giving into God (by following Christ's instructions to receive the Holy Spirit), has allowed him the freedom to not try to be holy, but to simply do his best every day to listen and obey God's voice, which leads him to love and serve.