About Us

History

Temple Zion Church, which is part of Jesus Unity Ministries, started with one man, Pastor Marvin Willis, who dedicated his life to the service of the Lord Jesus. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised by his aunt (his mother's sister). Unfortunately, his mother passed away when he was very young. His aunt was Catholic. He remembered going to church with her in New York.

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At a young age, possibly nine or ten years old, his aunt sent him to Jeffersonville, Georgia to live with his grandparents. This was where most of his family lived. That was a big change in his life--moving from the big city to a small town in the country. His grandfather worked at the sawmill and was a farmer. He went to church with his grandparents, who were Baptists. As a young man, he enjoyed Sunday School. Pastor Willis never knew his father. He started praying, and one day he asked the Almighty if he would be his father.

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He went back to Brooklyn at the age of 17. He was a country boy back in the big city. He was lost. So eventually he became a seaman and travelled the seas on a Norwegian ship. He left being a seaman and wound up in Port Arthur, Texas. He decided to visit New Orleans, where he met a young lady who would later be his wife and the mother of his children. He enlisted in the Army and was sent to Vietnam for several months. After the army, he returned to New Orleans, married his girlfriend, and got a job.

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He started his family working as a construction worker. Eventually, he would have a family of nine children. He realized that he needed help. So he prayed and began searching for the real Jesus. He went from church to church. One day, he heard a record by Edwin Hawkins. They were singing: He was wounded for my transgressions; He was bruised for my iniquities. He searched the scriptures and found that the song was taken from Isaiah chapter 53. He referenced it and found the writings of the Apostle Paul, where he said, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16) That scripture took him to Romans 10:16 where Paul said But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Esais (Isaiah) said, who has believed our report? Then he realized that the song he heard was about the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

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Later on, Pastor Willis heard a song by Al Green called How Great Thou Art where he sang about how God sent His Son, sent him to die that our sins might be forgiven. Before that, he believed that Jesus was God. When he heard that song, he realized that Jesus was the Son of God and began his search through the scriptures that would prove that. From then on, he preached Jesus the Son of God.

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As he continued his studies, he found that in order for a man to get into the kingdom of God, he must be born again, born of the water and of the Spirit. His search then began for the kingdom of God. He found that the Lord Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom, and he used the keys on the Day of Pentecost, which is written in the Acts of the Apostles chapter 2.

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Pastor started a bible class in his home when he was young in the Word of the Lord. The church grew as the Word was preached that you must be born again. First, you must hear and believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Son of God; repent which means to turn away from your way and turn to the teachings of the Lord Jesus; get baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission (forgiveness) of your sins and you will get filled with the Holy Ghost which is a gift from the Lord Jesus.

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He built his ministry on these teachings the teachings of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone.