By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter, karan@nasguard.com

The journey to becoming a man of God is sometimes long and filled with spiritual and personal struggles, and in the case of Apostle Leon Wallace, senior pastor and general overseer of Voice of Deliverance Ministries, Malcolm Allotment East, this was definitely true.

A former devout Catholic, Wallace, who is now a member of the Apostolic faith, is one of the most recognized pastors of The Bahamas. His sermons can be found online, in various books and even on CDs. However he says that his journey to this point has been hard.

"My journey has been long and filled with negative experiences," he said. "Since returning to The Bahamas, I have been faced with at least one major struggle every two years, without fail, and I am sure that the struggles are not over."

Wallace was born Sept. 12, in a year he does not care to disclose, in the quaint settlement of Green Castle, Eleuthera. He is the eighth child of the late Israel and Hadie Hepburn Wallace, formerly of Green Castle, Eleuthera.

"Growing up I was Roman Catholic, a devout Catholic to be exact. I did not believe in any other church, certainly not the Baptist or the Church of God. I could not imagine clapping and making noise in church. But in 1977 after four years of wondering and fighting it, I finally left the Catholic Church and started attending Deliverance Revival Centre."

Explaining that it was in that same year that he first heard the voice of God, Apostle Wallace said that, that was the most remarkable moment in his life.

"In that same year, 1977, while I was laying down, I had a vision. It was almost crystal clear to me, like I was dreaming but I knew I wasn't. I knew I heard a voice call me by my name. I heard it and I knew it wasn't in my mind. It said Leon Wallace, but instead of answering I ran across the street to an old lady who we used to call Auntie. I explained to her what happened and she told me that when I heard it again to say 'Master speak thy servant heareth thee'. Fortunately, I heard the voice again and I said what I was told."

Explaining that the voice replied "I liken you to John the Baptist." Wallace claims that the voice also gave him the whole name of his church — Voice of Deliverance.

"I was a child and it said that to me. It said Voice of Deliverance Disciple Center, not temple — center, and I asked what it meant. In response [the voice] said it again, but he explained that disciple means that my people must be disciplined, know my disciples and live by them. And center is a place where the people will come and worship. I still I did not understand it. It was strange. But it was later down in 1979, that the Lord spoke to me again, and he said, I call you this time as an apostle. And that was the strangest thing in my life. I didn't even know what an apostle was, what he does, the whole meaning was foreign.

"I thought that this couldn't be right, and then in 1980 God made it clear to me. He said, I called you to do the work of an apostle, and it was broken down to me in pieces. I was told what the job and [an] apostle was, and what he does.

"I was told that an apostle is a builder, he is a pioneer, and that he is the one that calls order to the body of Christ, and the church. But even though it was being explained to me, it was still foreign to me because I did not have my own church. I couldn't understand how can I do this, without a church. I was not a pastor or a leader. I had done some pastoring at Deliverance Revival Center but I wasn't in charge, so I didn't know why He was giving me this," he said.

During this time Wallace was living in Spring Field, Miss., U.S.A.

"Soon after this, I heard the voice again," he said. "This time it told me to return to The Bahamas and shelter God's people. But I'd had bitter experiences in The Bahamas, so I didn't want to come. My father was killed here. He was slammed into a wall with a car. So really, I didn't want to come back to The Bahamas. However, because I was told to do so, I came back in 1982. But I left again and moved to Turks and Caicos." God intervened and he returned home.

When he got back, he started his own church on Ragged Island Street in a rented one bedroom house. That was his first church. Now he is a member of an organization with 25 churches from Africa to Haiti, the United States and Jamaica.

Adding that his journey is one that he would not have chosen for himself, Wallace said that it's only by God's grace that it occurred this way.

"I always tell people that the first time I came back, there were so many changes that I had to go through. My whole teaching in terms of the people of God was wrong. I was not used to this kind of preaching and worship. Nor was most of The Bahamas. We were even taken to court for disturbing the peace because our church was too loud.

"I have been lied on, accused of many things, and hurt continuously. And I always have to tell people that my journey has been a long and hard one, but it has been worth it, because I am doing the work of the Lord."

Wallace was ordained to the Gospel Ministry as a minister by the late Rev. Leroy Roker in 1977. His first official appointment was as the pastor of Deliverance Revival Centre in Green Castle, Eleuthera. Currently, he is the Apostolic Assistant and Vice Bishop of the United Pentecostal Churches of Deliverance, Winston Salem, North Carolina.

He is also president of the Unity in Christ Fellowship in Nassau; Vice Bishop Council of Black Churches in Washington, D.C.; and an advisors of the Bahamas Pentecostal Ministerial Fellowship.

He is married to the former Leona Curtis of Green Castle, Eleuthera, and has 15 daughters, 8 sons, 16 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.