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The Establishment of Churches
 We began a series of tent meetings. Our first meeting was in Temple, Texas, I believe, in 1970, and the Lord healed scores of people at that time. The Jones family and many others began to follow. The church was pastored by Elder Lonnie Jones of Chandler. From Temple, the Lord caused Elder E.J. Jones, of Cameron, to come into this ministry in 1973. The Lord had done marvelous things through him. god raised his mother from death and healed the sick. After going to Brother Jones in Cameron, we went in 1974 into Lufkin, with Mother Beatrice Benemon and Mother Iren Wilson on Sayers Street. After the enemy tried to close us down by burning down the church, we went into a tent revival on Kurth Drive. And the church is now on Kurth Drive. After my pastorage there, elder Marvin Radford, became pastor. The Lord led him into the field and the Lord drew Elder Frank Yarbrough to assist him.
I will draw all men unto me
Before our work began in Lufkin, the Lord had sent us to Fort Worth, Texas in 1974 with Sister King. From that meeting came Mother Jessie Outland, Sister Faye Williams, her sister, Sister Patricia Johnson. Over and over, I could not remember all, we have seen miracles after miracles. A bunch from Houston came in the mid 1970's. One young lady was dying of cancer, and the Lord healed her in a service. The history of this church has been filled with mighty hand of God. I feel him now under the anointing of the Holy Ghost. You could be healed while you read this; while you think about it, you could be healed because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever and over and over again, the mighty hand of God. In April of 1978, the Lord sent us to San Antonio to the Holy redeemer Hall, a Catholic church building located very near where our church is today. In that service the Lord proved himself in a might way. Elder I.L. Johnson, an elderly minister who loved the Lord and who had come into the ministry in Chandler, died. It so happened that attending that service was a local mortician. when this event took place, the mortician waited to claim the body o f "Daddy Johnson" as he was affectionately called. But the Lord raised up Daddy Johnson, and he remained with us until the Lord called him home several years later to "lay hold on eternal life," which was Daddy Johnson's testimony whenever he addressed the church.
We've come this far by Faith
We've come this far by Faith is not just our theme song but the a true testament of the resilience of this body of people. In February of 1998 our founder and Pastor Elder J.D. Poppa Hamilton went on to be with the Lord but he left us in the very capable hands of Elder Malachi Micheaux and Elder Charles Edward Johnson. Under their leadership the Lord continued to greatly bless this people. Both of them along with Elder Curtis Purvey has carried on the ministry just as the Man of God had desired. In January 2011 the Lord saw fit to call another soldier home in the person of Elder Charles Edward Johnson. But we are still carrying on living what we've been taught and continuing to build on the solid foundation. In 2012 the church began to develop a plan to build a new sanctuary. We are steadily moving toward that goal. The last line of our theme song says it best...He's never failed us yet. And we belive that the best is ahead of us. |
