Anniversary: Many wrote us off when we started Dunamis Church 30 years ago – Enenche

The Senior Pastor of the Dunamis International Centre (DIGC), Paul Enenche, has said many people did not give him and his wife any chances of survival when they founded the church 30 years ago.

He said this during a special healing and deliverance service at the church’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday to mark its 30th anniversary.

Mr Enenche and his wife, Becky, both medical doctors, began the church on Sunday, 10 November 1996. That first service was held in a restaurant at the Centre for Arts and Culture (now known as Cyprian Ekwensi Arts and Culture Centre), Garki District, Abuja, with 55 people in attendance.

In a sermon titled “The faithfulness of God,” to mark the anniversary, the pastor praised God for His faithfulness in the past 30 years.

Drawing from 1 Thes 5:24, he said God had been faithful to His calling, word, praise, promise, and covenant.

Mr Enenche said the church was founded based on the power of the Holy Spirit, as stated in Acts 1:8, adding that Dunamis is a Greek word for power.

“You cannot talk about Dunamis without talking about power, the power of the Holy Ghost,” he said.

The clergyman then narrated the early beginnings of the church, stating that some people they encountered along the line at that time wrote them off.

“When this ministry started, many people didn’t give us any chances of survival… of anything. Some wrote us off from scratch. And I don’t know why human beings think that they can predict a person’s future, how they think in their minds!

“At one point, they said it was only strugglers, the masses, not classes but masses that are members. ‘Oh, they are plenty, but they are just full of struggling people. Big men are not there, rich men are not there, and wealthy men are not there.’ They thought that was our focus.

“At a time, almost every church has a sponsor, identifiable. You can say, ‘This one is the person behind this church. For us, we have nothing but God and that God brought us to where we are.”

Likening the beginning of the church to a mustard seed, Mr Enenche said some of the people who looked down on the church at the beginning have approached him and the church for multiple helps, particularly in the area of finance.

He added that the church has impacted the world so much that he receives invitations from across the world to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“Some people who looked down on us and said, ‘They are just a small church, strugglers, have looked for our help multiple times, help that bordered on finance. It was a small mustard seed that has impacted every inhabited continent on the earth. We have calls from literally all places around the earth that we cannot meet,” he said.

Turning to the congregation, the pastor prayed, “That is the God you are connected to. He will disappoint the voices of the wicked people. He will disappoint the expectations of negative people for your life, your family, and your destiny. He will prove wrong people who are waiting to see that it didn’t work. ‘You say you are a doctor, your wife is a doctor, you decided to become a pastor, you will soon return; we are waiting for you.’ Those who are waiting to say that it did not work, they will never see it.”

Recounting the construction of the church’s 100,000-capacity sanctuary called Glory Dome, Mr Enenche said, “When this construction was going on, we were spending more money every month than the offering of the whole year. So, resources were coming beyond what the offering would account for.”

He added, “One of those people of those days said, What is the source of your people’s money? How are you getting the things done? We said, ‘It is God.’ Do you know what he said – ‘only ’? It’s like saying God alone is not enough. It’s like saying there has to be something more. Is that all? Is there nothing else? Is there no business going on somewhere? It is God. God alone is enough for you, for your life, for your family.

“The faithfulness of God is the reliability of God. He is reliable, dependable, trustworthy, and constant. You can actually trust Him and go to sleep.”

Earlier, Mrs Enenche, while recounting how the church began, said the first service in November 1996 at the Arts and Culture Centre was attended by 55 people, adding, “See where God has brought us.”

She subsequently led the congregation in a brief prayer of thanksgiving to God,

Mr Enenche and his wife, who were medical practitioners in Jos, Plateau State, moved to Abuja to establish the church after an encounter with God. Although it began with 55 members, some of whom still worship there, the church now has thousands of branches and members worldwide.

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Although the church’s first service was held on 10 November 1996, it marks its anniversary in the last week of November every year with a conference known as the Kingdom Power Glory World Conference (KPGWC). This year’s edition, themed “Open Heavens,” is scheduled for 23 to 29 November.

With its 100,000-capacity sanctuary called Glory Dome, Dunamis Church had the biggest auditorium in Nigeria until last week, when the 120,000-seater “Five Fingers of God Cathedral” was dedicated by the Salvation Ministries in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South-South Nigeria. David Ibiyeomie founded Salvation Ministries in April 1997.

Yet Glory Dome, dedicated on 24 November 2018, may soon become the third largest, as Living Faith Church, founded by David Oyedepo, a bishop, is currently constructing a sanctuary, “The Ark,” that will accommodate approximately 109,000 worshippers. Messrs. Enenche and Ibiyeomie are spiritual sons of Mr Oyedepo.