"Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers Story"
Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
I am Pastor John H. Woodard, Jr., the oldest son and second child of Pastor John H. and Missionary Shirley M. Woodard. I grew up in a small town in Southern Illinois and was raised in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. Having [COGIC] saved parents, my parents expected me to conduct mysel
f always in a way that would exemplify Christ, His portrayal of love, honor, and humility. God had foreordained my parents and commanded them to raise me up for ministry, for such a day as this. I grew up in the church and the church became an integral part of my life being the son and grandson of SANCTIFIED preachers. My grandfather, Charlie Woodard, built and established four churches in his lifetime, three throughout the delta of Mississippi and one in Southern Illinois. His work in Illinois is currently under the pastorship of my father, Pastor John H. I acknowledged my call into the ministry March 1999 while under the leadership of my father at Whole Truth Church of God in Christ in Ullin, Illinois. As God prepared me for ministry, he sent me to Saint Louis, Missouri, in 2003 to be under the tutelage of Bishop Lawrence M. Wooten, pastor of Williams Temple Church of God in Christ. The one thing that truly attracted me to that church with the enormous amount of prayer services and shut-ins they had available. I stayed under Bishop Wooten’s ministry for three years learning what it took to go forward in the ministry. While under the tutelage of Bishop Wooten, God impressed upon me to begin preparing a ministry to serve and support other ministries. While I was in preparation God had given me a name but only a part of the name—"Bountiful Harvest." I knew that was only a portion of the name and I continued to moved forward in preparing this ministry until gave further directives. These directives came February 15, 2004 while attending Bishop Wooten’s jurisdictional anniversary as Bishop William Scott preached the word of God. The Lord opened my understanding more clearly and gave me the missing links and told me the name of my ministry was to be, "Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers." Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers, Inc. essentially started operations March 2004 headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri as an evangelistic outreach ministry. We took the church to the streets and the streets to the church. Now starting and running Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers, Inc. placed me in a new plateau with new traumas and new experiences. Nevertheless, God did not leave me out there alone and it was here God developed the core value of "It’s All about the Ministry," governing my every action concern this ministry. After a year of struggle and getting my feet wet, 2005 became a year of dynamic breakthroughs and victories for the ministry and set in motion an underlying and fundamental principle of Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers, Inc. The principle of GIVING. March of 2005, God had ordained my father to become my spiritual advisor and mentor and for the rest of that year my father and I spent countless days and hours together in the field training, teaching me that ministry truly was not confined within the church walls but defined by the work we did in the community to win souls to Christ and alleviate the burdens of the people through the knowledge and work of Christ. As my spiritual advisor my father has given me a wealth of information and support. It was through him, Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers stepped out on faith and instituted its present-day donation policy. I accepted the call to pastor March 2006 and began preparing. God sent me from Saint Louis, Missouri [my comfort zone] to Evansville, Indiana to begin my first work. I struggled with the idea of coming to Evansville, nevertheless, I had to be willing and obedient. August 06, 2006, Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers, Inc. officially moved from being strictly an evangelistic outreach ministry helping other ministries to establishing its first church having service at the Executive Inn Evansville. My parents, of course, were there at the first service to welcome me into this phase of ministry. We are believing and expecting God to continue to do big thing for this ministry in Evansville, Indiana. This is a glorious day! I am extremely glad to be able to give you an update. I would also like to take a moment tell you about this great ministry God has entrusted with me. The Lord impressed upon me to begin an evangelistic outreach ministry in the Baltimore, Maryland Metropolitan. Today, Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers COGIC is planning to plant its first church. Giving God all the glory, we open doors August of 2008. Now we embark upon a great endeavor and we need your faithful prayers and support. As we continue to seek God for guidance, we are looking to move into a new facility to further our community outreach efforts. This provides a great opportunity to our friends and loved ones, those who have supported us throughout the years, to rally behind us and help bless this ministry. I understand you are bombarded on every side with obligations and many times it seems hard to meet all the demands that face you. I humbly submit myself and ask you to join with me in blessing this ministry. I am asking you to lay it in your heart and allow God to minister to you concerning what to do to bless Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance – COGIC. You can make your TAX-DEDUCTIBLE donation by mail, by phone, or by internet at our website — BHDC.org. I personally invite you to come see how God is blessing this ministry. Take a Sunday evening and worship with us. Having you here would be an inspiration and a joy. You would be MY special guest and Bountiful Harvest and Deliverance Centers COGIC would love to have you. Call me anytime. I would be excited to share with you all that God is doing, (812) 549 – 6237. Thank you for checking us out on the web at: www.BHDC.org. May God bless you richly and keep you is my prayer,
John H. Woodard, Jr. Sr. Pastor
