Moving from The Proven To the Promise

Pastor Lealand Henry was born in Trinidad and Tobago. However as a child, he was given up to die by the doctor who delivered his mother's eleven (11) children. Nine (9) of these died very young or in childbirth. His problem at birth was that he was born with a so-called "incurable" disease; meningitis. His mother, determined that her child should live, called on Nazarenes from the theological college to pray for her son’s survival. Miraculously, in two short days there was no further sign of the disease.

Shortly thereafter, his mother, Violet Henry, received a vision from God in a dream. This message she pondered in her heart for many years, not mentioning this dream to her son until 1984, at his ordination as a pastor. She said "I saw an angel giving me a ship for you, my son, to take the gospel to the world."

At the young age of twenty-one (21), Lealand Henry started pastoring and directing the Youth for Christ ministry in the city of Port Of Spain, the capital city in Trinidad. He then attended and graduated from Bible College in 1977 and continued in pastoral ministry. He pastored three churches on the Trinidad District; The Cumuto Church of the Nazarene for three years, the Five Rivers Church Of The Nazarene for one year and the . Rev. Henry is a well-traveled evangelist, preaching in the USA, Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia. He served at the Caribbean Youth Camp and Congress which he directed for fifteen years. The congress brought together the French, English and some Spanish youths of the Caribbean region. These congresses attracted hundreds of young people from the Caribbean and the USA.

In 1980 Rev. Henry took up His last pastorate in Trinidad and Tobago and began his pastoral relationship with the Nazarene Worship Centre, one that lasted for twenty-four (24) years. He and his wife Joycelyn took the church with as little as five to ten persons in attendance. God had given him a vision to build a purpose-driven church in the Santa Cruz Old Road area. In the space of five years the church was recording up to 100 members. It was then that Rev Henry decided that, even though the church was located in a low-income area, it was his responsibility to empower people to learn to give and to break free from some of the social bondages they learned to live with.

Through the years under his leadership the church had seen drastic changes. These same folks constructed a beautiful two-story building to accommodate up to one thousand (1000) members. Rev Henry was known for empowering leaders among the congregation to run the affairs of the church. Through his leadership they laid hands on 13 lay pastors, six of whom run the local church and seven assigned as elders and lay ministers in other churches in Trinidad.

With a membership of four hundred and fifty (450), the church was doing ministry in a multiplicity of ways. They ran ministry to school children, adults and preschoolers. They developed a ministry for providing food to the needy, a project which touched over twelve hundred (1200) participants per year.

At the end of his twenty fourth (24) year in this ministry, the Lord called the Henry family to move to a far country, the City of Indianapolis in Indiana. They had to decide to leave their support systems behind, saying goodbye to their close family, friends and contacts in government, leaving grandparents, cousins and members, all of whom made sacrifices to make this pastor and his family comfortable. Their last Sunday (in Trinidad and Tobago) was the saddest ever experienced by Rev. Henry and family. It was filled with emotions and tears as they said farewell. They had finally decided to obey the call of God to uproot and leave to be a pioneer on the Indianapolis district where he started the Whole Person Ministry church and was able to complete his doctoral programme in the area of Counseling.

Rev Henry was the third person awarded the Nazarene Youth International Prestigious Timothy Award. He received his Masters of Art in Counseling at the Caribbean Nazarene Theological College. He earned his Doctor of Ministry Degree from International Bible College and Seminary.

Rev Henry testifies that: “As I look back at what God has done, the way He provided and how He worked on our behalf was what gave us the strength and the courage to look to this new mission field. The familiar songs of worship, the warmth of the rising sun, the beautiful beaches, the green mountains were all tempting us to stay, but not enough to keep us away from the high adventure that God was calling us to experience.

We have now crossed into the land where we are expecting God to move us from the success of building a church both physically and spiritually. Now we are expecting God to take us into a dimension of significance as it relates to empowering citizens of this strange land, and to being a servant of the Most High with an apostolic anointing."

Dr Lealand Henry successfully planted the work in the east side of Indianapolis. He was a parachute planter touching and connecting with over two hundred people in the community. Whole Person Ministry, the name of his budding ministry, touched the John Marshall Middle School, reaching children and their parents physically, spiritually, mentally and spiritually. Dr Henry had started the Whole Person Ministry Steel Orchestra, a fifteen (15) member orchestra ministering to East Indianapolis .

Life changed at the beginning of January 2006 when his first born son died at age 26. This began another episode of a man and his journey towards significance. Words cannot express the hurt and pain of losing a son who suffered from internalization of an acute depression. He was found beneath a lake in the city.

Dr Henry testifies. That:
"This pain was the mother of all pains. Losing my first born in a strange land, there was a feeling of disappointment with God. The loss clouded my mind from seeing purpose and rationalization of this event. I developed a feeling of anger mixed with frustration and disappointment. To me this was a difficult emotion I had to cope with. My best friend and personal assistant was dead, and I wished I could bring him back. I could hardly see beyond my tears, my pain and my confusion. The conclusion of this episode of my journey was that I returned to the country of my birth, a decision made by my family and I because of some difficult experiences. I am now pastoring for another season of my life with a fresh out look on ministry. My ministry has been affected for the better. I now see my self as an equipper of men and women to lead God’s church. One of the greatest things to take place in my life was the consecration of nineteen (19) lay pastors and deacons to carry out Ministry at the Santa Cruz Old Road Church. I wait to see what God will do next as we journey toward His purpose and destined plan for me, His special child.”
 

Lealand Henry

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