Founder of Action Chapel International, Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams, celebrated his 67th birthday on Sunday, May 12. In a reflective interview, he shared stories of his early days in ministry, including the challenges and rejections he faced.
Speaking to the media, Archbishop Duncan-Williams recalled some of the earliest moments of his ministry, including the rejection he faced from prominent faith leaders at the time. He specifically remembered approaching James McKeown, founder of the Church of Pentecost, after leaving bible school in Nigeria, hoping to work under him.
“I didn’t have a mentor, I forced myself to be mentored and to get help, but I wasn’t accepted,” Archbishop Duncan-Williams said. “I went to James McKeown, the founder of the Church of Pentecost, when I came back from bible school in Nigeria, and I wanted to be an evangelist at the Church of Pentecost. And they had had a lot of experience with people who left the church as evangelists and didn’t do right, so he said they are not interested in an evangelist. So he prayed for me and he let me go.”
He also detailed a similar attempt to seek mentorship from Archbishop Benson Idahosa, which was unsuccessful. “I went to Idahosa, and I explained to him that I felt God had not called me to Ghana, but to serve in Nigeria, under him. But he asked me to go back to Ghana, because that was actually where I had been called to,” Archbishop Duncan-Williams said.
