About us
Pastor
James Grayson
In 1998, a young reconnaissance Marine named James had no idea that his life was about to be turned upside down. It happened one April night while on the USS WASP off the coast of Malta . . . James had a dramatic encounter with the love of God. He surrendered his life to Christ, and would never be the same! The change was undeniable! Pastor James says, “After giving my life to Jesus, I knew I wanted to serve Him with all of my heart!”
For the past twenty-two years Pastor James has been doing just that. He has served as an outreach and missions pastor at River of Life Church in Jacksonville, NC as well as a missionary church planter in Treviso, Italy. His most recent ministry position was as the site pastor for River of Life Church-Virginia located in Dumfries.
Over the past few years God has made it clear to Pastor James, Pastor Crystal and their leadership team that it was time to take the next step of faith in following Jesus and in August of 2020 Kingdom Ventures International was founded.
Being an evangelist at heart, Pastor James is passionate about missions both locally and internationally. He has a burning desire to see the Body of Christ equipped to reach others with the love of Jesus. He has the heart of a father and is a natural encourager of gifts and people. He has a desire to see the gospel of the Kingdom preached in all the world, especially hard to reach areas where little to no work is being attempted. Pastor James is passionate about working with pastors and leaders to see their ministries be life giving and impacting to the community around them.
Pastor
Crystal Grayson
In 1998, Pastor Crystal met her husband James and they were married the following year. In 2000, she left the comfort of her friends and church family and made the first of many moves to follow the call of God on her life by relocating to California to attend Spirit Life Bible College with her husband.
The next move came in 2004 when she and James would once again follow the call of God overseas to Treviso, Italy where they spent nearly six years engaging in church-planting in the Veneto Region.
In 2010, Crystal returned to River of Life Church in Jacksonville, North Carolina where she and James began pioneering new ways to reach the surrounding area with the love of Jesus. The next chapter of her life came in 2016 as she and her husband would assume the leadership role as site pastors for the River of Life Church-Virginia Campus. In August of 2020 she co-founded Kingdom Ventures International with her husband.
Pastor Crystal is passionate about World Missions and has had the privilege of traveling to many nations, seeing what God is doing to build His church. One of her greatest passions is encouraging women in the body of Christ to discover their calling and develop their gifting. She has a burning desire to see the gospel of the Kingdom preached in all the world and to see communities transformed and discipled.
Pastor Crystal enjoys spending time with her three children—James III, Eliyah, and Miriam—and her grandson, Bradley. She loves hiking and traveling to new places with her family.
