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History
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see also Future of Abundant Life Apostolic Church
Abundant Life Apostolic Church
started in the heart of God and with the desire of a man to follow the heart of God. Bro. Rick Kielley and a handful of saints followed the call of God to Oconomowoc.
Our first service was held on July 2, 1978 in a SMALL,
four-room office space above Michael's Clothing Store near Lac LaBelle. Counting children, we had a congregation of 20.
[Those in attendance in that service that are still at Abundant Life were Bro. & Sis. Kielley & kids, Bro. & Sis.
Lauersdorf & kids, and Sis. Hickey & kids.] There, in those cramped
quarters, 2 six-year-old girls were the first to receive the Holy Ghost in our small church. One of those girls was Sharyl
Kielley. We spent the winter and spring there, praising God and praying of someday owning a church building such as this. But it was not yet to be. In June, 1979, the owner told us to either buy or get out. If we did not buy the building, he wanted to sell off the pews and stained glass windows, and sell the building itself to possibly a commercial venture. We could not afford to buy the building, so we fixed up a garage on a channel of Nagawicka Lake. It belonged to one of the saints at Abundant Life. There Bro. Kielley and Bro. Blank, our assistant pastor, baptized people while standing knee-deep in muck. It was there that we came to church one Sunday morning and saw Bro. Kielley up in a tree in Biblical dressed as Zachaius, the man who climbed the tree to see Jesus. He attracted a lot of attention! After the summer, beside the lake, we moved to a store front on Wisconsin Ave. in Oconomowoc in September, 1979 We were in the building that used to stand next to Rayner's Florist shop. Here, in December, 1979, we took a man to Lac LaBelle and had to break to ice to baptize him. We had a baptismal tank, but this was the way he wanted it, to be baptized in the lake. Many cars stopped or slowed down on Main Street to see what was happening. In June, 1980, with the direction of God, we decided to buy the church building on Oakwood Ave. It seemed impossible, but when God wants something done, He makes a way! God had dealt with the owner's heart and we were able to make a deal with him that was very much in our favor. The pews and stained glass windows were still there. The owner had not been able to sell them. God kept them for us! We held our first service there on June 29, 1980, with 43 saints in attendance. By April, 1981, when we had our building dedication, we had 76 in our congregation. We spent the next 16 years in this building. We had preaching, worship, singing, and prayer. Abundant Life Christian Academy was started. We had sheep and shepherds and small angels. We remodeled, and we had fun. (Remember Old Time Religion?) Bro. & Sis. Robert Meyer were sent by God from our congregation to start a church in Hartford. And all the while, we grew.
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In
November, 1995, we broke ground for this building. Construction seemed to take forever, but finally on July 1,
1996, we had our first service here. Since then, we've had preaching, worship, singing, and prayer.
And, oh, yes, we still have angels. What started in the heart of God and one man has grown to
hundreds of saints. And we're still
growing. To God Be The Glory!
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Abundant
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