The Church was started in 1996 in a small living room (Im Steeler Rott 12) in Essen by Rev. Edmund Sackey-Brown and his wife Mrs. Theresa Sackey-Brown under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The vision then – which is still the vision now, was to build an international, multiracial, multicultural and multilingual church. The membership increased to four, six and then ten. It was at this point that the church moved from Essen to the Uhlandstraβe 25 in the nearby city of Mülheim an der Ruhr.
The move to the Uhlandstraβe 25 was once again under the direction of the Holy Spirit and it led to a double increase in the membership from 10 to about 20 members. This move proved to be the launching pad for yet another move to the Zionskirche in 1997.
With about 20 to 25 members in regular attendance, the church once again moved to the Zionskirche which was in the same vicinity (just about 100 – 150 metres away). Here again, as in the previous places, the church went through incredible struggles (what one might call birth-pangs) in the initial stages. However, through the faithfulness of God who continually blessed the work, we steadily grew in number.
What began as a tiny seed took root and eventually became a mighty oak tree under which the Lord brought many to find refuge and shade from the storms of life. By the time the Church was ready to move to the Weigle-Haus for its services, regular Sunday attendance had grown to about 250 to 300 people. Certainly, the regular Monday prayer meetings at the Steinstraβe, Essen also had a role to play in this development; for every time people pray, God intervenes in their lives with blessings.
Pastor Edmund Sackey-Brown often says that the force an aircraft requires to take off from the runway is the same force that must sustain it in flight. This simple analogy implies that if God launched the vision of this ministry through prayer, then it has to be sustained by the same means. We take this maxim seriously and that was the basis for our regular Monday prayer sessions.
In 2002, as a result of our numerical growth, the Church had to move out of the Zionskirche to the Weigle-Haus in Essen – meanwhile, by the leading of the Holy Spirit, we started looking for a place of our own. As a result of persistent searching, we finally secured our next place of worship on the Aktienstraβe.
We began renovation in earnest as well as prayer meetings in the building in the latter part of 2003. We finally moved our Sunday worship services to this location in mid-2004. In the meantime, renovation was still on-going. The lesson learned through the years of God´s faithfulness to us is this: whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. The struggles and battles we fought on the way have only provided us with more victories. We can gladly and thankfully say that these have been years of success and the good news is – this was just the beginning of greater things to come.
During our annual International Believer´s Convention in November 2009, we were compelled to leave the Aktienstraβe due to discrepancies with regards to the emergency exits requirements on the premises. Just when we had begun to settle and feel comfortable, we had to once again temporarily move to the Weigle-Haus in Essen, as this was the only place available that could contain our number. During this period, we earnestly went in search of our own property. After one and a half years, the faithfulness of the living God whom we serve was once again made manifest in our Church. God has made it possible for us to purchase a former supermarket in Mülheim an der Ruhr that will be transformed into a unique and magnificent house of God. We call this place our Rehoboth – “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
