Condensation clung to the tent’s tarp ceiling as the warm bodies below it embraced one another. Shouting in praise for God and the Golden Triangle to hear, Bishop R.J. Matthews took the stage. It was Kingdom Vision International Church’s sixth revival along Highway 82 just west of Columbus but, to those passing by, the tent may seem a bit out of place. As for Matthews, the location has been a 20-year dream come true.

Matthews can still remember when his 5-year-old self sat in a tent revival, much like last Friday’s, with his parents. They were in the fourth row on the left side of the room when he heard Pastor George Cane call out, “Is there anyone here tonight that wants to give their life to Jesus?” As he walked toward the stage, he recalls the moment when his parents looked toward the front of the room inquisitively. Matthews never forgot the confirmatory look his pastor responded with.

This young faith he had at the time of his salvation stayed with him until his preteen years when it began to take a new shape. “At five I knew the story, I knew of Jesus, I had a sense of what it meant. So I did have this pure childlike faith,” Matthews said. “But at 12 I understood, ‘hold on, so this changes the way I live.’”

In the years that followed, Matthews says he wrestled with his calling to become a preacher. One day while at school, he turned to the security guard, who was also a pastor, for advice. “God’s dealing with me,” he said. “I think I’m supposed to preach.” When he returned home that night after a basketball game, Matthews confided in his mother about his vocation. Through tears, she told her son she had always known. Weeks later she would reveal to Matthews that God had already informed her of his plan for her son’s life. At 13 years old, he took the stage to preach for the first time.

The loneliness of not being able to identify with his peers persisted until he left for college and moved into the young adult phase of his life. During those years he found two mentors: Dr. Rod Parsley at Valor Christian College and Bishop Shelton Bady at Harvest Time Church. When his hometown pastor Gus Walker retired from Divine Healing Temple Missionary Baptist Church for health reasons, Matthews decided to move home to take on the church’s leadership role.

Over the 12 years since Matthews became pastor, the church has seen many changes. The once Missionary Baptist church is now non-denominational. Matthews refers to Kingdom Vision as “Bapticostal” because its expression of faith most aligns with Baptist and Pentecostal churches. Kingdom Vision also joined a fellowship of churches called The Preparation Fellowship, which is led by Houston Bishop Shelton Bady.

When conversations of expanding to a new facility began, Matthews told the congregation about a moment of divinity that occurred more than a decade earlier.

At 15 years old, Matthews was driving along Highway 82 with his mother when he pointed out the window and said, "Hey mom, one day God wants me to build a church out here.” The property was purchased in 2011 and, 20 years after he pointed it out, the church is being constructed on the site.

The current structure has been built debt free. Although it is over half-way funded, Matthews says they still need to raise about $700,000. The goal is to move in early next year.

Thursday night of Glory on the Grounds, the church’s fall revival, a young boy left his seat and walked toward the stage where Matthews asked, “Is there anyone here tonight that wants to give their life to Jesus?” For Matthews, having felt called to preach on that very ground, the feeling never gets old.

“You never know who’s out there in that revival. You don’t know what 5-year-old is one day going to be a 35-year-old who’s preaching the gospel and living their lives to try to impact someone else. You just never know,” Matthews said.