Ruins to Restoration
In 1996, God placed a vision into the spirit of Dr. Henry W. Roberts, Jr. The vision consisted of taking the ruins of a shopping center and restoring it as a place of worship. God wanted to bring a church that was going and growing in the things of Him. In the book of Joel 2:28 it states, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” In 1996, God spoke to the spirit of his servant in a vision and said, “I would like for you to build me a place of worship that all who may look upon it shall marvel and know that I am the Lord thy God”. After the man of God received the vision that God placed in his spirit, he immediately took the vision and ran with it. After many days of searching, God took his servant to a place of ruins and said, “Here lies the place that I have prepared for thee.” Thus began the journey from ruins to restoration. In the self-same year, God released Dr. Roberts to share the vision with his designated flock.
He announced the location and tried to describe the vision God placed in his heart,
so he invited the congregation to see what was from the mouth of the Lord. After service that Sunday afternoon,
about 100 cars followed Dr. Roberts to the rocks that God wanted His church to be built upon. To everyone’s astonishment,
the place was truly in ruins.
The 100,000 square foot building that
stood before us was barely a shell. As
we walked into what used to be a huge
discount store, actual birds began to fly
from within as we disturbed their place
called home. The paper, metal pieces,
and other debris were so prevalent that
we could barely see what was supposed
to be the floor. As the congregation
stood speechless, the sun was
shining its brightest through the holes
in the roof so that we could see every
crack and crevasse of the building. As
we looked on, the man of God did not
see any of the things that were just described;
he only saw the vision that
God placed into his heart.
As he spoke, his voice echoed
throughout the building because of its
hollowness, but every word that proceeded
out of his mouth was not from
him, but actually from the lips of the
Almighty Himself.
Dr. Roberts meticulously
explained the floor plan of the
building without any blueprints. It was
evident that the blueprints were embedded
in his spirit. Nevertheless, as we
completed the tour of the bird-infested
remnant of a building, we all stood
amazed by what God had planned for
His people.
As with any visionary and faithbased
believer, along the way we
picked up a lot of opposing forces.
Banks refused to loan us money, but
God provided every need along the
way. When different people inside and
outside of the Kingdom questioned our
sanity, God was still building the facility
and our faith. During this time, we fixed
our faces like flint, stayed on the wall,
and continued to press toward the work
of the Lord in faith. As each phase of
the project was being completed our
faith grew by leaps and bounds, and
every doubter and naysayer’s opinion
was quickly changing. No longer did
people doubt, but they were amazed at
the work of the Lord. It is amazing how
God transformed a condemned building
of obsolete stores into a beautiful
campus with two sanctuaries, a day
care, a K-12 school, a Bible College, a
bookstore, a clothing store, a barbershop,
a recording studio, a television
station and a wellness center for the senior
citizens and the community, respectively.
Today, people come from
miles around to experience and connect
with the move of God like never
before. This anointed campus serves
as a monument as to what God can really
do in the life of someone who believes
in Him and His Word.
By Shundretta Porter
