Michael Murphy
Senior Pastor/Founder aka Pastor Mike
Michael is a pastor and businessman. As a leader and senior pastor he is known and well respected for his transparency in the pulpit and his love for diversity in the church. Pastor Mike’s passion is to build a diverse church where all ethnicities can come to learn about the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to promote an atmosphere of love, spiritual growth through worship, praise, teaching and preaching of the Word of God. He wants to provide an atmosphere where every member feels that they are wanted and a needed part of the local body of Christ (1 Cor.12), and to provide programs that are specific to the needs of our community. He is also the founder of The Woke Man Project where he ministers to men about how to be the men God called them to be by being fully present in every area of their lives, leaving behind past hurts and living a life that brings glory to God.
His desire is to effectively deal with the ever-present problems of our community and to train other ministers, so that they may realize their God given potential and abilities. Pastor Michael accepted the call into ministry in 1982, since then he has served in many capacities and has held various positions in several church and ministries including the position of Elder and Minister before becoming a pastor in 2011. He lives in Akron, OH with his wife Anita Murphy. They have 5 adult children and 8 grand children.
Anita Murphy
Director of Marketplace Ministry
Anita grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. She came to know the Lord at the age of 24 and has served in several ministries before being led to marketplace ministry at the age of 34, where she founded her first company and built it from nothing to a thriving business with 32 employees in less than 3 years all while single parenting her special needs son. She is by nature a builder and enjoys business building, which has led to her love to help others strategically start their companies and scale them God’s Way.
After 6 years of running her first company she sold it and started coaching and training other business owners on how to start a company, systemize their business, grow sales and increase productivity among employees.
Anita is currently the Founder of the Onebridge Center where she focuses on setting the strategic direction of the company, providing operational direction and setting company values. Onebridge focuses on providing computer and job readiness training in addition to job placement so that individuals who are neuro-diverse can gain an advantage in the modern workplace and in their communities. Anita is customer-service driven and consistently instills that within the organization. Anita is passionate about doing God’s will and God’s way.
Anita was honorably discharged out to the Army Reserves two days before 9/11 after 7 years of service.
Anita enjoys reading, traveling, studying biblical principles for life and business and spending quality time with her family and friends.
She lives in Akron, OH with her husband Michael Murphy. They have 5 adult children and 7 grand-children.
Paula Jones
CIP Instructor
Paula was born and raised in Akron, Ohio where she graduated from Central-Hower High School in 1984. After high school, she followed her mother’s footsteps and immediately took a position as an accounting clerk for various small companies while obtaining an Associate Degree in Accounting. She then served 10 years in the HVAC industry and has spent the last 23 years in the Hardwood Flooring industry serving Williams Hardwood Flooring of Akron since 1998, and became Vice President in 2007.
She has had the enormous pleasure and challenge of single handedly raising two children, Jacob 26 and Jada 21. She has served in various ministries over the last three decades leading Sunday school classes, women’s ministry and bible studies, and sharing my journey with Christ in small groups and individually with folks giving them the opportunity to accept and know Christ personally.
She has been part of LOGOS Bible Institute since the early 2000’s and recently graduated in 2021!
Paula enjoys studying God’s Word and reading other’s works, eating out, traveling, and her favorite pastime is spending time with family and close friends.
Bianca Marie Badong
Administrative Assistant
Bianca is a 23 year old Graphic Designer and an administrative assistant in Prevail Church, who lives in the Philippines and studied Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship. She lives with her parents and two little brothers. Bianca loves to help her mom decorate and bake cakes for their family business and do her role as the graphic designer and social media marketing.
Creativity fascinates her ever since she could remember. Theater, fashion, music and arts are her favorites. Even when avenues to develop and channel her crafts were scarce, she still found ways to enjoy and hone them. Luckily, she has God and her supporting parents to guide her all the way.
When she was in college she started joining church organizations at her university. There she developed her love for God and created art pieces to express her God-given talent to the people. Bianca also joined church choirs and volunteered in outreach events to help a lot of children especially in the orphanage. She believes that music, laughter, food, kindness, art and being with God will make the world a better place for all of us. Bianca wants to continue serving God by sharing her talent, helping people and being part of Prevail Church.
Kelly Blystone
Pastor of Outreach Ministries
Pastor Kelly has been serving the Lord Jesus in various positions since 1992. He has been in ministry with Pastor Mike since the Spring of 2014 and was officially ordained in April of 2019. Pastor Kelly has a heart for those that need a touch from the Lord the most and has worked with organizations like “Jesus said…” ministries to bring hope, food, clothes, or a hug to those very people. He has a heart for evangelism, outreach, and men’s ministries. Pastor Kelly is the son of a pastor and is proud of it. His father has been a pastor for almost 50 years. Pastor Kelly is the husband of Janet and the father of Bryan, Dana, Nick, and Kayla, and the “bonus dad” of Daniel and Amanda. He is the grandfather of Malachi, Braxton, Aubree, Oliver, and Dawson. He is the “bonus grandad” of James, Jacek, Logan, Braden, and Caliope. He also loves to ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, cook, watch sports, play cornhole, and spend time with friends and family.
Pastor Kelly has the desire for the full Body of Christ to come together and be the leader in our communities that it once was. 2 Chronicles 7:14 states that “if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Before we can worry about the condition of our country, we must first begin in our own neighborhoods. Young people need to be taught the value of human life and how to love others, even those that they don’t agree with. It starts with “me”.