Our Humble Roots
In 1989, Pastor Sal Bellini started Word of Life
Christian Ministries as a simple Bible study attended by five hungry souls at a VFW hall
in Whippany, NJ. The intent was very simple: to teach and preach the Gospel of the
Kingdom, the eternal redemption of all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not long thereafter a group of young rock musicians and some of their friends gave their lives to the Lord. These young believers later became a part of the music ministry team at Word of Life.
The first Sunday service was held in the den of the Bellinis' home in Randolph Township, NJ. Intercessory Prayer was quick to follow on Friday nights.
Early on in the ministry, the Lord spoke to Pastor Sal's wife, Linda, on two separate occasions saying, "I am building this church brick by brick:", and "though your beginnings may be small, your latter days shall be great." Our beginnings were small, but the Lord has added to the church each year just like He said, "brick by brick."
After Sunday services commenced, we moved to the Madison Hotel in Madison, NJ for Sunday morning worship. Tapes of contemporary Christian music were used to lead us in songs of praise and worship before Pastor Sal preached the Word.
After a short period of time, we found a Methodist Church in Boonton, NJ that was willing to rent their church to us on Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons. We were excited and quickly began services there. It was there that we began to set in place the foundations for our children's ministry, a dynamic praise and worship ministry, and evangelism. People were being saved, and other believers were being attracted to the ministry. The Lord had been good to us. It was here that the ordination ceremony was held for Pastor Sal.
However, it wasn't long before we had to move again due to a change in leadership at the Methodist Church. The Lord brought us to a new location immediately. A church member's uncle owned an old car dealership on Blackwell Street in Dover, NJ, which was made available to us until we could relocate. Looking back, it's hard to believe we actually held services there. On Sunday mornings we could be seen in the glass showroom from the street worshipping God, guitars twanging, drums beating, voices praising, and the Word being preached. A buzz had gone out into the city of Dover. Townspeople were wondering who we were.
It wasn't too long after we arrived in Dover that we found our current
home here at 67 Bassett Highway. This large commercial building was originally open
warehouse space. But the owner was good to us and renovated the space to meet our
specifications for offices, a children's facility, and a sanctuary. This was
awesome! We now had a place of our own to call home, a place where we can
meet whenever we desire. We now hold prayer meetings, special outreaches, seminars,
and special events.
In
February 2002, Pastor Sal was diagnosed
with a terminal illness. After battling for a
over a year, Pastor Sal went home to be
with the Lord on June 8, 2003. His funeral,
which over two hundred people attended,
was a testimony to the great impact
Pastor Sal's ministry has had in Dover and
the surrounding area.
Pastor
Salvatore Bellini,
Founder of Word of
Life
Christian
Ministries,
April 8, 1947 - June 8,
2003
During the time
Pastor Sal was fighting terminal illness, the Lord led Pastor Sal to ordain his wife, Linda, who had been
helping to lead
Word of Life since its
inception. When Pastor Sal passed away,
God led Pastor Linda to become Word of Life's Senior
Pastor.
While we greatly miss Pastor Sal, we praise God for all that he taught us about
God and all the love that he showed us. Even in our sadness, we rejoice because we know that Pastor
Sal is now in that glorious
place called heaven and one day we will see him again. We are also excited
about what God is going to do as He continues to help us grow spiritually under
the leadership of Pastor Linda.
God has brought us to a mission field in Morris County and Dover, NJ. He has blessed us with a multicultural church that has zeal for the Lord and for making Him known to all who have ears to hear. We worship with enthusiasm. We pray with passion, and we seek to bring the LIFE and LOVE of Jesus to all who come in contact with us.
To date, we have had many victories to encourage us on to greater things. We've seen souls won into the Kingdom, God heal our sick when doctors said it could not be done, and hopeless lives transformed into lives with hope and dreams. We promise this GIFT to you:
Give you hope,
Instill faith into you,
Fill you with Godly confidence, and
To cause you to dream greater dreams.