OUR HISTORY
7971 KIPLING AVE, A SOVEREIGN PRESERVATION
Woodbridge is one of the four historic villages in the city of Vaughan. It is interesting to note the rich history behind the still standing 7971 Kipling Avenue ground. It is amazing to note the sovereignty of God in preserving this land throughout the years, where the message of His gospel would one day be preached. Established in 1877 as Woodbridge Presbyterian Church, 7971 Kipling Avenue remains, now as an Apostolic Church (Faith Deliverance International Ministries.
Dr. Hazel Hanson
THE CALL OF PASTOR HANSON
Pastor Hanson started out as a young girl in her early 20s, coming to Canada, ready to live life! She hadn’t been so much into church; she had lavish dreams for herself, but God had a different plan for her life. She had started attending Bethlehem United Church (BUC), where she grew, serving in various positions as a Sunday school teacher, missionary, evangelist, cook, and youth ministry president.
At one point, she was sent out by her bishop to continue a work he had started in Florida. She had been in her late 40s. She had left her job, went down to Florida, and started the work. But, as recounted by her son Michael Hanson, though the work was impactful, things didn’t go as planned.
However, there was an encounter.
One day at the altar of BUC, Pastor Hanson found herself wrestling with God over His spoken word.
“Full-time ministry” she heard.
She struggled for about two hours, she said, but finally she surrendered, saying “speak Lord, thy servant heareth”.
THE BIRTH OF FAITH DELIVERANCE INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES
Here comes Faith Deliverance International Ministries (FDIM). It started in 2006, in the home of the late Pastor Hanson. Among the first members were her own children, husband Silbert Hanson, and our present elder, Elder. Junior Brown. This operation of service would have proceeded until 2007, when God spoke to Pastor Hanson to get more space. That is when FDIM moved to the Chancellor Community Centre. But, it wasn’t long until God spoke to Pastor Hanson again, and the assembly went back into the home. They hosted service in the home for a couple months until the miraculous happened.
In her book “God’s Mighty Movement” the late Pastor Hanson recounts being invited back in 2008 to Calgary, where she received 26 benches for the church she Pastored, not knowing God was about to bless them with a church building. She retells God leading her to contact Real Estate Agent, Mr. Arsen Gulesserian, to find a suitable location for FDIM, and the expansion of COFI (Compassionate Outreach Foundation Inc.). Pastor Hanson desired for God to bless her with a building next door to her home in Woodbridge.
After searching, Mr. Arsen was unable to find a location in Woodbridge, but Pastor Hanson refused to give up. She believed God led her to carry out this mission.
She depended on God.
A long time had passed before Mr. Arsen was able to find the desired building, next to her home. But the time came when, to her surprise, the desired building was found; not only next to her home, but an actual church building; not a commercial unit or an industrial structure, as she thought it would have been.
What Pastor Hanson said of FDIM back then, can be said the same today, FDIM “strives to walk right, applying these driving forces in our daily lives, which includes God’s Word, faith and works, forgiveness, prayer, fasting, love, and compassion.”
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