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 Faye Ballance
Heritage. Something that is passed down from preceding generations; a tradition.
Mrs. Chambers, a Pentecostal preacher, came to Avon, NC and pitched a tent. It was in those tent revival meetings that Pastor Faye’s mother and grandmother were filled with the Holy Spirit. For a long time her father thought that they were crazy because of the changes in their lives. But he also noted he felt a comforting presence around her mother. Once, when trying to remove his wife from a service, the power of God hit him and he was saved and was never the same again.
They started the Assembly of God Church in their spare room. It’s interesting to note The Liberty Church started in Pastor Faye’s home, as well.
Pastor Faye remembers as a child during World War II that the church bells would ring to call the town to prayer. Adults and children alike prayed for the boys every day. The result? Not one person from Avon was killed in the war.
Pastor Faye’s childhood revolved around church. She had always been filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues. She couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t because it was such a part of her. She played the piano for services since she was 12 years old.
During her late teen and early adult years, she fell away from the Lord but by age 30 she came back. Music, particularly the old hymns of the church learned in childhood, played a large part in drawing her back into God’s presence. Music has always reached inside and ministered to her spirit.
The call has always been on Pastor Faye’s life. The call is from Matthew 6:5-7. “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
When Liberty Church first started, Pastor Faye did not feel the pastoral call. She saw herself more as a facilitator of the worship service and hired ministers to come and bring the Word of God. The church existed for approximately 3 years prior to her acceptance of God’s call and subsequent ordination into ministry at Gospel Crusade in Bradenton, Florida.
Pastor Faye takes great joy in seeing ministers mature in the Lord. One facet of her call is to birth and train up ministers and ministries. Several years age, Bruce Mitchell prophesied this Word of the Lord over her: “On those who find themselves in your presence, you will have great impact. Then you will feel empty and question what need I have of you. Then will I do great miracles that you cannot believe!”
In 2002, The Lord spoke to Pastor to build a youth center on the property. She woke from sleep to hear God’s voice say, “I want you to build a spiritual and physical house for the youth. A place of ministry for youth to minister to youth.”
Bill Price
 The Bible describes in Chapter 4 of Ephesians the Lord’s plan for bringing His body, the Church, into a mature likeness of Jesus. It says in Ephesians 4:8 that “…He (Jesus) led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”. Verse 11 explains who these gifts are. These are people who were once lost without God and “captive” to the enemy but have been set free by Jesus Christ and called to minister to His Church.
Though I was a teenager in a loving family that was faithful to attend Catholic mass regularly, I was still empty inside. I did not know Jesus or even know that I could have a personal relationship with Him. But Jesus set me free of my captivity by coming into my heart and saving me. That was more than twenty-five years ago and the Lord has remained faithful to me in every situation.
It’s my joy to serve the Lord, and humbling to think that as we give our lives to Him, He gives us as a gift to His Church. The Lord uses the talents and callings that He has placed in us to help His body, the Church, grow ”…unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” Ephesians 4:13 .
~ Bill Price
Rick Nokes
 Rev. Warrick L. Nokes, affectionately called Bro. Rick, was born in Salem NJ. Bro. Rick came to Dover, DE in 1984 via the US Air Force, after years of drug and alcohol abuse. On a Wednesday night at 2:00 A.M., Bro. Rick cried out to God and surrendered his life to the Lord. Rick was ordained into ministry in April of 1998.
Because of the road he had walked previously, Rick has a deep passion for the lost and down and out. His desire is to develop a high quality of life in people of all racial, ethnic, and socio-economic origins through ministry to the total man, spirit, soul, and body. Through God’s divine direction and the Holy Spirit, Rick spreads the positive life changing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Rick shares ministry on Sunday and Thursdays with our other ministers, and Pastor. Rick is the leader of The Liberty Church evangelism team, going out to the streets in our neighborhood, sharing the Good News and reaching the lost. Rick also preaches in Delaware prisons with Prison Fellowship Ministries.
Rick is married and the father of five children.
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