The Story

In 2000, Champions Church began with a heart to see more people experience the eternal, abundant, and supernatural life made possible by Jesus Christ. In 2004, the church relocated from a leased space, purchasing and extensively renovating an existing church facility in South Abilene. The Mansion property bordered the church’s property to the north. Even before locating adjacent to the Mansion, many had begun to pray and believe for the 17,000 square-foot facility.

In 2005, a group of church leaders walked through the property with a real estate agent. Before leaving, they anointed the wrought iron gates of the facility, declaring life over the dilapidated property and proclaiming, “Open wide you gates, that the King of Glory may come in!” Around that time, the church sent a letter to the owner requesting the opportunity to meet with him. Several weeks after sending the letter and receiving no reply, Senior Pastor Richard Humphries was in prayer before a Sunday morning service when the Lord spoke very clearly to him, “Pray and settle it—the Mansion will be restored as Kingdom property!” After praying and “settling” it, he opened up a local news website for a quick check of the local headlines: “Mansion sold.” And not to the church.

Despite this development, church leadership continued to stand on the Word from the Lord, even as the new owner approached them about purchasing the property for a higher than anticipated amount. The leaders felt the Lord give them peace that it was not the right time, and not the right purchase amount.

Around this time, a local family that, at that time, did not attend Champions Church, informed a church elder and his wife that they had received a dream they believed was from the Lord, in which they were involved in helping the church to obtain and restore the Mansion. Nearly three years later, they became church members and began to see their dream become a reality.

Fast forward to 2008. That spring, Pastor Richard informed church leaders that the Lord had spoken to his heart that the Mansion would change hands in the spring of 2009, and the church was to prepare. In October of 2008, the son of Amity and Associate Pastor Thomas Humphries was turning two years old, and had outgrown his existing bed. Amity had been watching a twin bed posted for sale on a website for several months. One October day, she called on the bed and was told, “It’s amazing you called about that bed today. It’s the only thing left unpacked in my home. If you can come today, I’ll still sell it to you.” The location of the bed? The White Mansion. As they picked up the bed, Pastor Richard and Thomas had the opportunity to minister to the man who was departing that very day for another opportunity in another town—the Mansion property was soon be foreclosed upon, only adding to its infamy within the community. The current economic climate of our nation means the facility, once restored, will stand as an even greater symbol of God’s restorative and redemptive power.

After the pastors laid hands on the man and prayed fervently for God to lead him and restore him, he looked up at them and said, “Your church was supposed to have this place all along. It’s going to happen.” Months before anyone else in the community knew about the latest developments, the Lord revealed it to the Champions Church leadership, preparing them to proactively pursue the property.

Soon after, the pastoral team had a brief but very favorable meeting with the real estate team that would ultimately market the property. During the meeting, Pastor Richard asked if it would be possible to obtain the original building plans. “Not likely.” The very next day, the agent contacted them and with excitement informed them that someone had brought the plans to his office after having them stored in the corner of a garage for many years. This only served as additional confirmation that the Lord’s favor would be with the leaders throughout the process.

But the process of faith and believing was not over yet. Despite the fact that the initial offer was the highest received, the bank decided to accept another contract. Even the real estate agents were surprised, and were discouraged, saying, “We did our best, it just was not meant to be.” Early in the process, while praying and preparing the initial offer, a church elder submitted a date that he felt the Lord had showed him which would be a significant date for the property. After the other contract had been accepted, Pastor Thomas shared this date with the discouraged real estate agent, telling him the church’s faith was not shaken and they were still believing for the property. Several weeks later, on the very date mentioned, an exuberant real estate agent contacted the church: “The previous contract was withdrawn!”

The church was now able to resubmit its offer, but was told it would probably be several weeks before another decision would be made, as all previous parties would likely have an opportunity to revise and resubmit their sealed offers. The next business day, this uncertainty was removed as news came back that Champions Church’s offer was accepted!

During the process, before church leadership had communicated corporately about the need, one church member stepped up to provide a necessary letter from his business banker that allowed the contract to be accepted. A few weeks later, with only hours to spare, another church member contacted the church to say that their family would provide the entire amount of down payment money needed to purchase the property. The Lord continued to move, showing Himself to be so faithful to his Word.

On April 7, 2009, the community of faith called Champions Church became stewards of the Mansion property, with an even greater sense of responsibility to also steward the ministry vision that we believe will involve many other Kingdom-minded people from our community, and all around the world.

Currently, we are believing for the funds necessary to renovate and transform the mansion to become a thriving center for ministry and hope. The local church is giving sacrificially to support the vision, but we believe that the project is so significant there will be Kingdom-minded partnerships not just from within our community but from all around the world. For more information on how you can support the vision, click here. For more information on the vision for ministry within the facility, click here.