A story worth telling
Gene & Karen Wolfenbarger
Founders
Only God could have orchestrated our story.
Gene & Karen Wolfenbarger couldn’t have envisioned the hundreds of people God would use to bring the Kingdom of God to earth through The LORD's Child. Their hearts were moved after witnessing the poverty in East Tennessee, not only as a child where Gene experienced it first-hand, but also upon their return to the area many years later.
Not only had the poverty Gene experienced not improved, but it had spread like a virus; wider than they could ever have imagined. In 2007, God gave Gene & Karen a dream to begin an organization that supported those experiencing poverty in this area. Gene sought the Lord for a name for the organization, and the Lord graciously allowed the name of the Lord to be used to lead the organization into many different parts of the world.
As The LORD’s Child continues our mission today, Gene & Karen have invited the gifts and talents of others to help lead and grow The LORD’s Child into the organization it is today.
The timeline below is just a small glimpse into what the Lord has been able to accomplish through The LORD’s Child since our beginning. It would be impossible to thank the hundreds of people who are responsible for supporting, aiding, and volunteering with us.
2007
THE LORD'S CHILD IS FOUNDED
In 2007, The LORD’s Child was founded by Gene & Karen Wolfenbarger. They saw the needs in their local communities and across the globe, the needs of orphans; socially and traditionally and widows and single parents. They pledged to help in anyway they were able.
2008
In 2008, The Lord lends His name to The LORD’s Child. The LORD's Child is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and opens its first official offices in Sevierville, Tennessee.
The LORD's Child continues to hold events to feed the impoverished communities in Appalachia.
The LORD's Child visits Uganda and South Africa to open a school for children in one of the poorest areas of this nation.
2009
The LORD's Child continues to grow and hold events feeding hungry children and their families on location in the Appalachian Mountains.
Events are held at our larger facility on Middle Creek Road: Massive Easter Egg Drop and Easter Food Boxes, Back to School Extravanza, Thanksgiving and Christmas In Appalachia.
2010
The LORD's Child continues to grow, feeding MORE people, presenting MORE gifts and holding MORE events to bless others. Operation Grocery Cart begins along with Camp Sneedville. A trip to Orbit School in Kenya, Africa sees The LORD's Child supplying shoes to all of the children.
2011
Gene and The LORD's Child team make more trips to Africa while continuing to keep the home fires burning with events, free food, and gifts to bless our neighbors in the Appalachian Mountains of the Great Smoky Mountains.
2012
Missions is why we at The LORD's Child get out of bed everyday. We know there are many needs but we believe we are the hands and feet of Jesus in this world for today.
2013
2013 was one of the hardest years at The LORD's Child. It was the year our faith was tested and challenged as we lost our beautiful building and LORD's Child facilities in Sevierville, TN during the economic collapse that affected the entire nation. God used this season to grow us all in our trust of Him and plant deeper roots in our understanding of His ways and His nature.
2014
Our biggest event this year at the Smoky Mountain Opry. The school in Uganda continues to grow with children, buildings and water.
2015
Pastor David May, our then Operations Director, saw the need and opened our Food Pantry in South Knoxville. Little did he know that the Lord would take Pastor Dave's faithfulness to serve the one person who came on the first day and turn it into now thousands of children, adults and seniors receiving free food on a weekly basis.
2016
In partnership with Second Harvest, The LORD's Child coordinated several mobile food pantries in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Appalachia.
2017
The Food Pantry in South Knoxville continues to feed those in need and continues the work of the past 10 years with Seasonal Food Boxes, celebrations and gifts.
2018
The Summer Feeding Program begins at the Food Pantry in South Knoxville. In partnership with Second Harvest, a Feeding America Program, our guests receive additional meal items and snacks for every child in their home throughout summer break.
2019
Our volunteers continue to pray and serve the community in South Knoxville, Tennessee with thousands of pounds of free food every week from our grocery partners.
2020
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring of 2020 didn't stop us, but it did change the way operate.
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic changed everything. The old way of raising financial support changed and The LORD's Child realized we needed to evolve. The LORD's Child pivoted to selling Online Christian Apparel to generate income. Our Leadership, through diligent prayer and using lessons Gene learned in his past career, directed the team to begin selling Christian apparel online and wholesale.
2022
In 2022 The LORD's Child launched our new line of apparel and sell our apparel wholesale to retail locations.
Everyone here at The LORD's Child continues to have a singular focus: ENDING HUNGER ONE MEAL AT A TIME.
2023
The Food Pantry has seen record breaking numbers of guests throughout all of 2023. Living expenses continue to rise, and we do not expect the increase in attendance to end. Our immediate goal for 2023-2024 is to
find land or a warehouse to continue to grow the Food Pantry as the number of guests we see continues to grow.
