Victory Christian Tabernacle, under the leadership of Pastor Edwin Guy, held its first service (a Sunday School class) on January 19, 2003 at his home in Hempstead, New York.
While still working full-time as a manager for Deutsche Bank in New Jersey, he obeyed the call of God and in December began a radio ministry over stations WBNR/WLNA in Upstate NY called “Listen For God”. After two years at that pace, he finally resigned from his promising banking career and began to focus all his efforts on the ministry.
Victory held its first outreach ministry in January 2005. It collected clothes, coats, and sweaters, went to all the Hempstead-based nursing homes, senior citizens apartment buildings, and community centers and distributed these items free of charge to any and everyone. This ministry expanded quickly and soon the Church began distributing shoes, games & toys, dishes, curtains, small appliances, and other goods so desperately needed in the community. They called the free give-a-ways “The Victory Boutique” and every other month would visit a different location for distribution. This was especially helpful to the senior citizens and those with handicaps who themselves could not get out to the malls or department stores. In addition, Rev. Guy would travel to North Carolina once a month to assist a fellow pastor with her vision to establish a church in Raleigh. He continued these travels until January 2006 when the work in Hempstead became too demanding. In February 2006, God opened a door which allowed Victory to move its Bible Study and Sunday Services from Pastor Guy’s house to a community center in Hempstead.
In August of 2007, with the help of his then assistant pastor, Rev. Medrina Lloyd and the Late Dolores Watson (community activist and former Tenant Association President), Rev. Guy established a community resource agency dedicated to providing senior citizens with free or low-cost services that would improve and enhance their quality of life. He named it “How Can I Help, Inc.” and it continues to be a viable non-profit organization serving people in need.
In July 2012, though still worshiping in the Hempstead community center, Victory held its first “Friday Night Prayer and Praise Service” in a small chapel they established in Brooklyn, NY. Unbeknownst to Rev. Guy at the time, this turned out to be God’s first step in relocating the entire ministry to Brooklyn where he was born and raised.
Step two came in August 2013 when the Lord allowed Rev. Guy to become Pastor of Galilee Baptist Church (a small Brooklyn-based ministry in need of strong leadership). Galilee had purchased a church building back in 2006 however, they were unable to complete the needed renovations to make it habitable. So Victory and Galilee worshiped together under one roof (in Hempstead and in Brooklyn) and the Spirit of the Lord continued to move in their midst.
God put step three into motion on Father’s Day of 2014 when “The Church” (Victory/Galilee) held their last service in the Hempstead community center and moved permanently to their Brooklyn Chapel where they continue to fulfill the charge from Christ who said “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Mat 28:19-20 NKJV
Pastor Guy has since resurrected the renovation project and the two churches are moving together as one to see it through to completion. Come and be a part…
To God be the glory. Great things He has done…Great things He is doing!
