Our church was established in this area in1983 in Lehigh
Acres, Florida. Pastor Ella M. Davis purchased a second home in Florida,
for health reasons, by the advice of her doctor.
As she began to witness to various people, the following grew
quickly. One of the members opened their home for church meetings, and when the residence was no longer large enough to accommodate
the members, Pastor Davis began to seek another place of worship. The new location was in the midst of the Michigan Links
Housing Project, in Ft Myers, Florida. Shortly after moving into the new location,
incorporation status was filed. It was granted on October 31, 1984.
Pastor Davis was also the pastor and founder of House of Prayer
Church I, in Kankakee IL, about 45 minutes outside of Chicago,
which had been established some 26 years prior to this time. With the help of family members and established ministers of
the home church, House of Prayer I, the governing body was then set in place. In this location, the church continued to grow.
In the latter part of 1989, the housing project changed management,
and the new management would not renew the lease agreement. Due to the lack of notice given to the church by the new management,
the church was forced to relocate. There was a span of time in which the members
(numbers had increased to about sixty at this time) had to worship in a different location each week.
Determined to keep the mission alive, the church even conducted
morning service at a park. In about six months, the church entered an agreement with Pastor Burnside Miller of the Unitarian
Church in Ft Myers. He agreed to allow
the church to worship in their building, after their Sunday service, for three hours a week. We also were allowed to conduct
a weekly night Bible class. This was not the most ideal situation, but we thanked God and began a building fund drive. We
operated in this manner until about 1992, when the Unitarian Church
was bought by a local hospital, Lee Memorial Hospital,
which planned to convert the church into a day care facility for employees. As a result, we had to relocate once again.
Up to this point, our building fund drive had continued, and had
been successful. We had been searching beforehand, but had yet to find a building that suited our needs or budget. Thus, we
rented a little building in the inner city area of Ft. Myers, in a subdivision called Harlem Lakes, which was located about
one and half mile from our first location, Michigan Links Housing Projects. Soon, we acquired a church directly across the
street from the building we were renting. It was an old church located at 2112 Mitchell Ct.,
which had been stricken by fire.
With the help of God and the brothers of the church, the building
was remodeled and ready for worship by 1993. This is our current place of worship. We have fully paid for it and have
acquired several lots adjoining to our property.
Below are pictures of the other locations mentioned
in our history. We invite you to become a part of the church today and a piece of its history tomorrow.
