The church where Jesus is Lord!
HAVEN OF REST, SANCTUARY OF PRAISE
Matthew 11:28-30(KJV)
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The scripture that fitly describes her anticipation and anxiety is recorded in Luke 14:28-30:
For which of you, intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying this man begun to build and was not able to finish.
In 1989, Pastor Dena and her faithful, loyal and God-fearing husband, Elder Albert Jobes founded the One in Spirit, One in Mind Ministry, Inc. This ministry met weekly in the home of the Jobes’ and was a vehicle of intense prayer, supplication, and intercession before God for pastors, ministries, saints, world concerns, and any other paramount concerns that God would give to the hearts of these leaders. God truly blessed this ministry tremendously; for many, many prayers and petitions were answered and souls were healed and set free.
However, this alone did not satisfy heaven because the call of God to pastor His sheep pressed heavily in the heart, mind, and spirit of Pastor Dena, causing restlessness and many nights of sleeplessness.
While Pastor Dena and Elder Jobes were retreating in the mountains of Virginia, seeking the face of God with great intensity, knowing there would only be a “rest in their yes” to the call of God. God was faithful to His servants, for on Saturday, September 24, 1994 of this retreat, God unfolded the name of the church from the scriptural passage in Matthew 11:28-30(NIV).
Come unto me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
The name of the church was confirmed in His Word, recorded in heaven, and established on earth in Baltimore, Maryland.
HAVEN OF REST, SANCTUARY OF PRAISE CHURCH
Still after much reluctance, fear, and spiritual opposition, the first service was held on Sunday, April 2, 1995 at 4301 Mary Ridge Drive, Randallstown, Maryland as directed by God with approximately seven (7) persons.
The Lord was again faithful and proved Himself to this newly called, chosen, appointed, and faithful servant of God, Pastor Dena S. Jobes and the Haven of Rest, Sanctuary of Praise Church Family; for on Sunday, February 4, 1996 the church moved into their newly acquired worship facility at 2552-2554 Greenmount Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland, which was an old, dirty, black dilapidated, longtime vacant factory warehouse. With the blessings of God, the congregation worked together, children and adults, to make God a house to dwell in. They had a mind to work. The finished product was a beautiful, spacious sanctuary with adjacent offices and rooms, which were magnificently decorated by Pastor Jobes.
Above all else, God has built and blessed the house where His Spirit dwells. There are such great supernatural outpourings of His Spirit in the midst of the people at every service. So much so that Pastor Dena often cannot minister the “Spoken Word”. The people can only bow down and worship. Souls are saved and delivered, demons flee and are compelled to loose their captive at the mighty presence of God.
OUR HISTORY
In 1992, while attending the Choice Manna Family Worship Center, there was a call from God to Pastor Dena Jobes (who was then Pastor of Women at that local assembly) to go forth from that place of spiritual birth to pastoring, overseeing, and birthing the flock of sheep whom God would give to her care.
Through much pain, contemplation, agony, and struggle, the call of God began to take place in the spirit of Pastor Dena. The struggle was not in that Pastor Dena did not know the voice of God nor that He was calling her to a greater work, for she had spent many, many hours in His presence as an intercessor; the struggle was how to do, when to do, what to do, and an extreme self-examination of “Lord, am I ready for this? Lord, do I really want to do this?”, as well as many other questions one encounters when called to such an awesome responsibility. The woman of God loved the Lord and desired to please Him in all of her efforts and ministerial undertakings; therefore, she did not want to make God ashamed.
